Iron Man: Fatal Frontier #4

[arbre_rieur]

'The core of the story was actually my original idea for my "Iron Man" run, which I've talked about before; fundamentally, "Deadwood" on the Moon, done in a hard science fiction way. However, when the idea of Tony as a Guardian of the Galaxy turned up, I quietly retired it, as it didn't fit into the larger space-superhero adventure aesthetic . . . However, when the idea of doing an Infinite Comic co-written by Al [Ewing] came up, it seemed a natural fit.' -- Kieron Gillen

(Note: Keep in mind that this is one of Marvel's online Infinite Comics. They're designed to be read on a digital device, with each page replacing the previous one on your screen. When the pages are instead side-by-side, stacked vertically, like in this post, it can make for an awkward reading experience. Also, the format makes page count a tricky matter, but if you count each "slide" as a page, then this is well under 1/3 of the issue.)







The cause of the disturbance is Tom Wilkins, a.k.a. the super-villain Endotherm.







Flash back to one hour ago, when Iron Man visited the Symkarian lunar embassy. As "governor" of Tranquility Gulch, he performs regular check-ins on all the embassies. There, he and Arthur of the Circle got into a friendly sparring match. (Don't let the similar armors throw you off. Tom Wilkins and Arthur are completely separate characters.)





















Back in the present, Iron Man deals with Endotherm.

Comments

[silicondream]

There is a mundane Earthly science that deals with issues like megalomania, obsession, psychosis and hallucinations, Tony. It's called "psychology." It's a little odd to see a man who builds AIs and electronically backs up his own consciousness talking about threats to the "soul" that cannot be understood by us mere mortals.

And if no one knows how 451's tech works, and even Reed Richards couldn't understand it, how does Tony know how to interpret its results, and whether it can be trusted? 451 turned out to be spectacularly wrong on a number of important points, and both Tony and his dad managed to outsmart the guy, so it's not like he's some proven oracle of omniscience.

[icon_uk]

Yeah, if this phlogiston thingy has psychoactive properties (Which is what the end result would be, regardless of what it does to the soul), then that should be identifiable and explicable.

Magic is a weird thing in the MU, Reed Richards loathes it because, it more or less by definition, defies the standard laws of nature and I can understand and accept that POV from a scientist; If gravity is a fundamental force of the universe, then defying it shouldn't be possible, never mind easy, but there are plenty of people in the MU who can wave a wooden stick or chant a word or two and suddenly the laws of gravity are throw out the window and starting to plummet skyward (just to be perverse in my metaphor)

Then again Warren Ellis had magic be an identifiable wavelength. In his Excalibur run, he had the transfer of the magical soulsword from Ilyanna to Kitty be something that the X-Men's medical scanners could monitor and track as an energy exchange.

[stolisomancer]

You can't use psychoanalysis to cure neurotoxic exposure.

[silicondream]

Psychoanalysis doesn't have much to do with psychology as a modern science, and clinical neuropsychology is a very active subfield.

(Although presumably phlogistone isn't a neurotoxin in the first place, or you wouldn't need magical transcendent soul-scanning technology to prove that it's harmful.)

[skjam]

Endotherm's rant reminded me of the old Champions villaiin Rampage, aka "The Recession Raider" http://marvel.wikia.com/Stuart_Clarke_(Earth-616) Who apparently at one point became Jigsaw. Wow.

[razsolo]

"All due respect to my AI friends, a robot will never truly outthink a human being."

Vision and Jocasta would like to have words with you about how much respect you think they're due, Tony... ;P

Also, the line about 'LOL even HANK PYM has a pet Doombot PPFFT'...poor Hank, I miss the WCA days when all the old-school Avengers used to go to bat for him instead of being science bullies! :(

[icon_uk]

Not sure if the stress is so much on "Hank Pym" in the sentence (Which would be insulting to Hank) as it's on "As a pet", which would be insulting to Doom, since it implies his Doombots are crap because they can be repurposed so completely.

[michaelhealy]

But then he repeats "Hank Pym" with a bolded "Pym", it comes across insulting to Hank.

[icon_uk]

Ah, good point, I hadn't noticed the repeat of the name, which definitely puts it back into the insulting to Hank.

[md84]

I keep forgetting, is Tony supposed to come off like a condescending jerk? Cuz he's certainly being one here, what with his remarks about his AI friends, Hank Pym, and even Reed Richards.

Maybe it's supposed to be a symptom of moonrock poisoning?

[psylynce]

[razsolo]

Haha that's the best :D

[cainofdreaming]

Reed Richards wouldn't understand the science behind the readings? The same Reed Richards who has deciphered everything from Galactus to Celestial tech? All due respect to my Rigellian friends, but if you were still wondering if you were under effects of the stuff, Tony, well the time has come to stop that.

[md84]

Why is it the phrase "all due respect" is always followed by something incredibly disrespectful?

And really, it's a huge revelation that the super powerful moonrocks are dangerous? ANYTHING that's powerful is also dangerous.

[icon_uk]

Generally speaking if you feel the need to start a sentence "with all due respect" then at some level you are already aware that you are saying something disrespectful. I would say it's human nature as much as anything.

The same way that "I say this as a friend", is usually followed by something no friend would ever say.

[starwolf_oakley]

An episode of "Law & Order" had "All due respect" in a scene between Lt. Van Buren and D.A. Arthur Branch. In the context, it was shorthand for "I'm about to say something you aren't going to like, but I'd be remiss if I didn't say it." That usually how I associate "All due respect."

The episode was "Gaijin." Van Buren didn't like the tactics Branch was using to lure a Japanese suspect back to New York to arrest him.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Agreed; I think that's usually the intent.

Like "Tony, I like you as a friend, a colleague, and a genius, but with all due respect, your drinking is out of control, you're running your company into the ground as a result, and being in the suit makes you a danger to yourself and everyone around you. You need help."

It's when you throw in something like "Your breath also stinks somethin' fierce" that it starts to get more insulting.

[md84]

"All due respect to my AI friends, a robot will never truly outthink a human being." sounds a bit more like the second case.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

With all due respect... heh.

But seriously, you're absolutely right in this specific case. All I (and I believe Starwolf Oakley) are saying is that it's not always used that way, though there are those who either don't know how to use it properly, or are just unaware that what they are saying is, in fact, quite disrespectful, regardless of what they preface it with.

As you said, this is definitely the latter. But writing off anything following those three or four words is not generally a good idea, just because they do follow them. =)

Incidentally, I think ego tends to play into it a bit, and as we know, Tony has no shortage of that.

[donnblake]

Ah, and the seeds of the return to status quo are laid.

Incidentally, the Circle seems like a really cool premise. A bunch of armored heroes who take King Arthur as their model, and hang around waiting for a chance to ruin Doom's day? Cool.

[md84]

I'm happy with anyone trying to ruin Doom's day. It's not like he doesn't deserve it.

[damar148]

If I were Tony I'd be worried about Eli hiring supervillains.

[alan_smithee]

Nice of Warren Ellis... sorry Ell Warren to turn up...

[psylynce]

It's weird, I couldn't get on board with Gillen's Uncanny X-Men, but other than that I pretty much love everything he's been writing, even this, and I am not an Iron Man fan.

[angelophile]

I remember when Tony's 2020 counterpart said a similar thing, before getting his ass handed to him by Machine Man.