All the King's horses...

[colonel_green]

Four scans from Invincible Iron Man #20.

The issue is divided into some sequences in Tony's head, where he seems to be continually repeating a sequence of trying to dig something up before some robots arrive and kill him; and scenes in the real world, where the heroes decide what to do about him, and Madame Masque orders Ghost to find coma-Tony and kill him.

So Tony has prepared a lengthy message for the assembled heroes:



He goes on to explain that he's eradicated essentially the whole legacy of the Iron Man tech between the virus and Stane's earlier wrecking of Stark Industries, so if he doesn't survive he'll at least have done that.



He pops back in again briefly to say that Osborn's operation will eventually fall apart, then also that they should expect heavy casualties whenever the time comes to take him down. It's a realistically rambling possibly-final-message.

Anyhoo, the assembled heroes marvel briefly at his astonishingly complicated plan.




I assume you mean in a cosmic sense, Pep, because I'm sure Tony would like all those people to come back too (though it feels a bit weird for her to be talking about "Steve" and "Bill"; she didn't know either of them, so far as I know).

Either way, the answer is:

$585,133,287 cumulative worldwide box office.

Comments

[theanswer]

In her defense he is a class A douche bag. <_<; Also, I thought it was Potts in the ugly Iron Lady suit?

[colonel_green]

It is, but the suit has an independent AI too (in a sense, the pilot is unnecessary).

[jarodrussell]

How do you spell Tony Stark? D-O-U-C-H-E-B-A-G

What a douche bag.

Whatever. Anyone want a copy of a used Iron Man DVD? I forget how to use it.

Put another way...

[jarodrussell]

[janegray]

Now, now, there is no need to get rid of a great movie.

The solution is simple: always keep in mind that the Movieverse is AU of the Comicverse, so that you can hate comic!Tony while still liking movie!Tony. It works for me, I want comic!Tony to die painfully yet I cheered when movie!Tony was saved ^_^

[warpedhand]

Probably should have asked that question before you started to try saving him.

[freezer]

You'd think he'd realize that "I'm not apologizing" thing just might have been an impetus to say "Stay dead".

And if he knows Osborne's inevitably going to melt down, why do they need him for anything?

[warpedhand]

Because Cap, Thor, and Iron Man are the Avengers.

[twomasks]

Is...is that a Jack McCoy icon?!

[arilou_skiff]

Yes, I'm fairly certain that's the point, actually.

[neuhallidae]

....Yeah, there went any hope I had that this new arc might not suck.

[neuhallidae]

Also, Fraction's utterly stupid railroading in of Tony/Pepper makes me lose any sympathy she has for missing Happy right now. Sorry, but I wouldn't fuck the man I asked to take my husband off life support, and then whine that said husband doesn't get to come back from the dead too.

[book-of-daniel.livejournal.com]

He lost me when he invoked Bill Foster's name. Right then I'd have voted to let him rot. It's not fair that Tony gets the full brunt of that mess when Richards is equally if not more guilty but the FF seems to have gotten past Reed's little war crimes and moved onto happier days.

Still, that's a really well written scene and the art is amazing as usual. Fraction is really writing the hell out of this series.

[jarodrussell]

Yes, isn't it amazing how the general consensus is that the hero of the book is a douche bag.

[tsunamiwombat]

If by writing the hell out of you mean "has no idea what the fuck he's doing and has dragged a 4 to 5 issue arc out to god knows what because he has no concept of pacing whatsoever and halfbaked plot idea's", then yes.

When Tony Starks work was used to harm others, he declared war on the world, even going as far as to destroy US government equipment. Now, after all this, whats Tony's solution for destroying lives again? Some lame slow acting brain dissolve. To hell with that Tony. Either put a blasting cap in your ears or grow some balls and get out and fix it like you used to do. You stopped being a Superhero the minute you stopped WORKING for the good and expected it to come to you.

[valtyr]

Still, that's a really well written scene and the art is amazing as usual. Fraction is really writing the hell out of this series.

I'd just like to say that even though I do not understand you or your people or anything about your no doubt non-Euclidean civilization, I hope we may co-exist peacefully. I will even cede to you the pages of Iron Man that you may see your strange alien tastes gratified. Just, uh, stay away from the comics I like. D:

[sethgray]

Oh, fuck you, Tony.

[warpedhand]

As a question, how exactly is Tony being a douchebag here?

[tsunamiwombat]

He won't apologize.

To be fair Tony got WRITER jacked big time, he was handed to so many different writers during civil war and everyone but his own series decided to portray him as the Iron Dick. This is the problem with crossovers, this is the problem with transient writing teams, it fucks with characterization bad.

[darkblade]

Do we really need Tony to have an Iron Man? Rhodes could take over again or a bolt of lightning could hit one of his suits and bring it to life or something.

[bariman]

Or Tony 2.0 from Hypervelocity can show up!

[valtyr]

Did Tony just quote Babylon 5? Heh.

I really don't like the way he seems to be making 'bringing him back' synonymous with 'forgiving him'. Yeah, no.

I have some sympathy for Pepper, it's not long since her husband was in the same place. And Tony didn't warn her. He never does.

I like Tony. D: It's a lot of work though.

[freezer]

See, I've never really liked Tony Stark. Iron Man is cool - as an Avenger. But he was just as cool - if not moreso - when Jim Rhodes was in the suit.

In his own book, when he wasn't playing out the Upper Class Twit trope, he was constantly having to deal with his own tech going rogue or being stolen and his solution to said clusterfuck was to create an even bigger one. He's :"living" proof of the old gamer's maxim that knowledge and wisdom are separate stats..

Point blank: Tony Stark is a self-righteous dick who can't leave bad enough alone.

comment crossposted

[jazzypom]

I respect Tony's stance re: him being rebooted. The whole, "Can you forgive me? I'm not apologizing. What happened, happened." I do respect that in that he believed in the cause he gave his time and efforts to defend and uphold. Even though it cost him various friendships, and deaths. You know what? I am down with that. Because Tony Stark can be a bastard, that's the trait in him that can be infuriating and admirable. If you want him to come back you have to accept his terms.

That is irondickery, Tony.

I can understand why people say that he's taking his friends on a guilt trip, but not really. He's offering them a choice. Knowing me, I'd tell him to take a long walk off a short pier, but that is how I roll. I'm no superhero.

Also, I can understand why Pepper felt the way she did. Out of everyone, why would Tony come back. You see, unlike everyone, Tony plans, and plans, and then thinks on the fly. But Pepper, you

No lie, I'd (probably) buy the comic if the art wasn't so bloody mediocre though. Larroca's lack of pride in his work offends me on such a visceral level, I just can't care anymore.

Like, I'm just pretty agnostic re: the comic. It's going to be six issues of navel gazing, then people standing outside Tony's navel gazing, and he comes back in time for the siege.

Okay, Fraction and Larroca. Okay.

The book has an Einser, so what do I know?

Re: comment crossposted

[valtyr]

If you want him to come back you have to accept his terms.

They don't, and I hope they realise that. They're heroes, and Don's a doctor; they have to bring him back. They don't have to forgive him, though. He's trying to force their hands by saying they need Iron Man, and that they can't bring him back without moving on from all the shit he did.

He's been able to sincerely apologize for other crap he did. And that was the Tony I liked, the one who faced up to his cock-ups and told the people he loved that he'd understand if they couldn't forgive him. He never tried to force forgiveness on people, and he felt genuinely grateful when they gave it to him.

[catbird]

Awww. That was well written. I especially liked the bit where Tony basically says "I'm an atheist but you were my gods" because it's so weird and creepy and dysfunctional. He may be guilttripping them, but the way it's written, it sounds quite sincere, like this is the way Tony has rationalised it all post facto.

[bariman]

Regarding the "gods" thing, I interpreted it more as Tony thinking "What Would Cap Do?" or "What Would Thor Do?" in difficult situations.

[proteus_lives]

Ecchh, Tony should shove it up his ass sideways.

They should bring him back so Steve and Thor can spend a month curb-stomping his ass.

LMAO

[jazzypom]

They should bring him back so Steve and Thor can spend a month curb-stomping his ass.

I LOLed. Cheers, my good man.

[cygna_hime]

RARRRGH TONY STOP MAKING IT SO HARD FOR ME TO LIKE YOU!

Excuse me, I need to go find Fraction and hit him with a stick until such time as he understands how to write a redemption arc (hint: not like this). I may be some time.

[cmdr_zoom]

Breaking this out into its own comment:
Whoever compared this to a "shrinkwrap" EULA is spot on.
I hope someone tells Tony that bringing him back does not constitute, or require, agreeing to his terms.