Iron Man: Fatal Frontier #11

[arbre_rieur]

'It's funny — people say that Comic Tony is so much more responsible than Movie Tony to me, and I find myself thinking, "Well, which one is managing an adult relationship with a serious woman?" I'm not saying they're wrong, but I see the differences as more complicated. And that, for me, is a useful device to make stories that are both interesting and accessible." -- 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 under 1/3 of the issue.)









Remember that device Dr. Doom used to steal the Power Cosmic from the Silver Surfer in that one classic Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four story? Tony's found a variation of it inside the armor Doom left behind after their fight. Doom was planning to use it absorb the cosmic energies of phlogistone. Tony should be able to use it to de-power every last trace of the super-substance.



Tony pays a visit to Cora Birch, the journalist writing a biography about him. He drops by at the balcony of her lunar hotel suite.











They're here so Tony can have some words with C. Anderson Sixty, the Cortex regional director on the Moon who has a mysterious secret. Tony has a surprise for him.

















In the end, Tony's behavior gets bad enough that he realizes the phlogistone's already compromised his mind. Even the hallucination of Ho Yinsen he had during his first encounter with Udarnik in issue 3 might have been an early symptom.

Rendering all phlogistone harmless is now a priority, so he get Doom's device all set up for use, but Udarnik interrupts him.

Comments

[drtechnobabel]

You know, I'm glad to see that in this issue and the one before, they're actually addressing the idea of civil rights for A.I.s and clones. Considering all the A.I.s and clones running around the Marvel universe already, it just seems logical that this would eventually come up.

On an unrelated note, nice to know that Tony was in fact acting horribly due to phlogistone poisoning, but did Udarnik really have to be evil? I mean, if I think about it, it fits his whole 'keep people coming to the moon' mentality, but I still really hope Tony's hallucinating right now, because if he actually knows what phlogistone can do, surely he also knows it'll kill everyone, leaving him alone again anyway, so... it comes off as just giving Tony an excuse to kill him off.

[nyadnar17]

He was made in Russia. Want made in Marvel's Russia can be trusted. Like seriously. Name me a single thing from Marvel's Russia that doesn't have "betray people's trust" built into its DNA.

Sentinels kill mutants, Marvel Russians betray trust.

[arilou_skiff]

In this case it's more like Tony is betraying Udarnik, no? He's taking away the reason people come to the moon, which he promised to make them do.

[skemono]

Natasha Romanov?

[md84]

Funny how the spy is one of the more trustworthy people in Marvel. Ultimate Black Widow...not so much.

[masterdick161]

Colossus? He gave his life to save the mutant race at one point.

[donnblake]

And occasionally struggled with the feeling that he was betraying his Russian roots.

[cainofdreaming]

There was that one time he went to become an Acolyte. And when he tried to beat Wisdom to death.

[cainofdreaming]

Well, Udarnik has been exposed to the phlogiston longest. Who knows how it has affected him. It'd be easy to excuse his behaviour by saying that he's mad as a hatter by this point.

[freezer]

Note that Odarnik has, throughout this series, has come across as twitchy, needy and neurotic. As far as he's concerned, he's just found out that Tony is about to destroy everything that defines his existence. And if protecting the phlogistone means condemninghumans to madness and death, so be it.

[drtechnobabel]

Fair point. I guess I'm just disappointed that something as cool and significant as a colony on the moon is going to be forgotten about again just so that the status quo can remain intact, and that they're going to have Udarnik killed off just so that they don't have any loose ends. If they can keep Arno and all that bullshit with 451 around in the comics, surely they can keep something from this too. I mean, I figured they wouldn't because comic books, but it doesn't make it any less disappointing.

[silverhammerman]

Completely random question, but when did Tony get the arc reactor in his chest again? I thought it was removed during Warren Ellis' tenure, but it's been back for years now, so how and when did that happen?

[biod]

After Tony Stark: Deconstructed, I think? During Dark Reign?

[bradygirl_12]

One of the reasons I love comics so much is that I can read a sentence like this without even an eyeblink:

Tony pays a visit to Cora Birch, the journalist writing a biography about him. He drops by at the balcony of her lunar hotel suite.

Yep, lunar hotel suite! Just another day in the Marvel Universe! Wonder if they're five-star? ;)