Time for a very long arc. I have to say, this creative team has really grown on my–these are some of the most complex issues of Iron Man I’ve read in a long time, and this is especially welcome given that we’re in a time that many comics are portraying him pretty much as a one-dimensional “sell out” who is interested only in power, as opposed to a pragmatist and tech visionary whose moral code and values don’t always sync up with the rest of the world precisely because of the special way he sees the world.
The tale starts in Nebraska where two local Initiative heroes get trashed by Graviton.
We then see Tony haunted by memories of the now-dead Captain America and researching the recent goings-on in China that indicated Iron Man’s old enemy Mandarin has returned. We the readers know that not only is Mandarin alive but he’s living in Nebraska and has managed to hire Maya Hansen, a co-creator of Tony Stark’s Extremis armor. And they appear to be contemplating human experimentation.
The rest of the world thinks Hansen is dead after her body was found in a hotel, but Tony is suspicious. Tony also finds himself haunted by the ghost of one of the Initiative heroes killed by Graviton. There’s some nice development of these minor characters, who are shown to have idolized Tony Stark while he had never even met them. Other hauntings across this storyline include Happy Hogan, who was critically wounded as a result of his connection to Tony. Obviously, the theme here is that Tony’s risk-taking, high-adrenaline attitudes and his drive to achieve his goals at any cost has been both a source of inspiration and death for those close to him.
Over the first half of the story, we learn that one of the heroes, Paragon, had been injected by Mandarin’s Gentech company with the Extremis Virus, and that in fact it was he who killed the other Initiative hero–not Graviton. Paragon, justly, is later killed by Graviton. This story unfolds over several issues and it’s really well done, but it’s only part of the overall “Haunted” storyline. The main storyline, of course, continues the return of Mandarin. I love how this is very drawn out–in some ways it reminds me of another great extended espionage series–the old Master of Kung Fu books.
We learn that Gentech has connections to the U.S. Department of Defense–and that Tony is unaware. In fact, the Secretary of Defense himself knows that Hansen is now working with them, but she doesn’t know that Gentech is starting human trials of the Extremis virus.
Tony starts to see some of these connections and becomes increasingly convinced that Maya Hansen is still alive, but nobody believes him–including the other members of the Commission on Superhuman Activities, which we see includes the corrupt Secretary of Defense, Norman Osborn, Valerie Cooper and Ray Sikorsky. I don’t think we knew that before it was shown in these issues.
Osborn is only there as a guest, but it’s the first time we’ve seen that his role as head of the Thunderbolts has now made him a D.C. insider.
In fact, instead of believing them, they order him to be examined by Doc Samson, who, under the Commission’s authority, “grounds” Tony for a two-week rest and neutralizes his ability to activate his Extremis armor. Thus we see another “haunting” of a sort–the very Act that Tony has supported is now being used as the basis to neutralize him.
And so Tony takes a “vacation,” going back to Nebraska. And since his Extremis armor is restrained, he’s got one of his old suits.
Side note: The cover of issue #24 pays tribute to one of the best artistic teams in Iron Man’s history: Layton and Romita Jr. In particular, they were known for stories where Tony had to use different kinds of armor for different situations, which is exactly what’s happening here.
With Tony “off the grid,” Samson goes to Captain Ultra for help, but Ultra tells him to fill out a form about a missing meta-human. I love that. It shows again that the Registration Act is becoming a bureaucracy unto itself. I love that rather than do what everyone else was doing at the time and make Tony Stark the face of overly prescriptive government interference, the Knaufs go one step further to show it’s really an evil deep state who are using the Act for their own ends and refusing to take action on real and meaningful issues, like the fact that the Director of SHIELD was just found to be unbalanced enough to be placed on administrative leave and has now disappeared.
The web tightens as Tony hunts for the secrets of Gentech, SHIELD hunts for Tony, Samson begins to see the corruption within Department of Defense, and Maya Hansen begins to suspect her employers’ motives. When Mandarin and Iron Man finally do face off, it’s pretty kick ass. Mandarin’s rings are now fused to his spine so he can access their power through his central nervous system–much like Tony accesses his Extremis armor!
Tony’s armor isn’t as powerful and he’s out of practice with it, but he still overtakes his enemy. Mandarin withdraws and unleashes soldiers who are infected with the Extremis virus. Iron Man fights them until there’s a big explosion, and wakes up having been blown clear of the Genetech lab.
SHIELD had been tracking the battle and when Mandarin threatened to release Extremis into the environment–infecting all of Nebraska–they literally nuked the place. The fallout (see what I did there, fallout from a nuke?) has the government bringing Maria Hill and Tony Stark in for questioning, while Maya Hansen is arrested as a terrorist–despite that she didn’t know Mandarin intended to weaponize Extremis.
We appear to be wrapping up the story in issue #27, which establishes that Hansen has her own Extremis “kills switch.” To avoid being charged as a terrorist, she gives that formula to Tony only…
…It’s Mandarin. Hansen is NOT in custody–that never happened. It’s all been in Hansen’s mind. Mandarin built that fiction to get the formula from her, and he moves ahead with plans to turn Extremis into an aerosol and launch it, using missles, into the heart of America. Wonderful and completely unexpected misdirection!
And now we get to the conclusion. Tony has to explain why SHIELD bombed a company owned by a Chinese business, and ends up being arrested by The Commission on Superhuman Activities and fired as SHIELD Director.
Dugan leads a black op to rescue Stark from custody, surreptitiously supported by Maria Hill, who is now acting Director.
Iron Man then rescues Hansen and we have the final fight. But Tony is losing, so he has to rip off the ankle bracelet that neutralizes his access to Extremis.
Then he pulls out the rings from Mandarin’s spine.
Badass.
Tony believes he has captured Mandarin but in the end we are shown that the villain escaped.
Incredible story, and a great end to the “Director of SHIELD” era. The book retains that title for a few more issues, but this is the end of the Knauf’s run. It has become one of my all-time favorite Iron Man periods.