Iron Man #23 - "Rings of the Mandarin, Chapter I"

[arbre_rieur]

Iron Man vs. Malekith the Accursed...

'In "Thor: The Dark World" there's that moment where they're basically talking about the quantum bridge and the difference in language between how Asgardians would describe the quantum effects and how the Earth's scientists would. There's a kind of nod toward "aren't these Asgardians silly." That's kind of a comedy beat. I think it's a failure of perspective. How two different people describe the same effect doesn't involve one of them being silly, especially if they're better at it than you are.' -- Kieron Gillen







Meanwhile, in Midgard, there's now an Iron Man musical.





Malekith shows up, kills the conductor, and absconds with his ring.

Seeing how he's up against a magical opponent, Iron Man seeks out the help of a specialist: the 90s Marvel UK character Dark Angel, who only recently made her return to comics in a one-shot a few months back (http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/4631902.html). She's the redhead.

Comments

[cainofdreaming]

I kind of have hard time seeing Asgard worrying about politics. They're Viking gods, their politics happen at the edge of an axe. Skirmishes, or full out wars, with Ice Giants or Dark Elves are how they spend their weekends.

Also, while I appreciate that Marvel UK characters actually get more air time than just the event why would Tony specifically employ another magician when he's got Stephen on speed dial?

[ablackraptor]

Maybe he wanted someone he could rely on so he's not making Strange have to drop everything every time he needs to do something involving magic? I mean, the guy's the Sorcerer Supreme, I'm sure there's times he's too busy to help others, or times he'd just rather relax.

[crinos]

Okay, it may just be me, but sword shoes seem terribly inconvenient footwear, just saying.

"Hmm, I know! Lets combine skates, stilts, and Bowie Knives! This a perfectly reasonable choice of footwear that was not influenced by crystal meth."

[cainofdreaming]

They already meet up regularly anyway, so he wouldn't really have to ask Strange to go out of his way.

[donnblake]

I don't think it'd be great for day-to-day wear, but for a decadent Fey court, it seems fairly appropriate.

[dcbanacek]

Takes the whole "They're break dance fighting!" to another level.

[cainofdreaming]

Yeah, Fae are all about "Eff your making sense and all your physical laws too."

[terrykun]

I love the fact that Malekith shakes the ring until it listens.

Also... whose hands are those, if he already had them when he got his first ring? When we saw him revealed previously, I assumed they were Red Peril's.

[big_daddy_d]

This looks fun.

[speedingtortoise]

That cover with the reflection is pretty awesome

[crinos]

Yeah, if I ever run the Fae in one of my super hero games, Ima basically describe them as "A Race of Lady Gaga's."

[skjam]

Presumably, one of them is Vecna's.

[skemono]

As much as I enjoy Malekith taunting the ring, I'm a little confused about why it approached him in the first place (never mind how it got there). They're seeking out people with grudges against Tony Stark, right? So, does Malekith care about Stark at all? And why was he able to correctly deduce that's the answer the ring wanted?

[thezmage]

Does he have to keep track of every hand he decides to wear around his neck? They went with his outfit, that's all Malekith cares about.

[lieut_kettch]

So Malekith is back in charge of Svartalfheim? I shudder to think what he did to Alflyse when he got his throne back. Or what Herc will do to him when he finds out.

[md84]

Sword shoes would be positively tame for evil Fey. To get a good idea of typical evil Fey fashion sense, just look at the Dark Eldar from Warhammer 40000. Or don't, if you feel like sleeping tonight.

[md84]

To be fair to Lady Gaga, she doesn't run around stealing children and turning people into donkey-headed freaks.

[shadur]

... That we know of.

[espanolbot]

Wait, I thought that Mephisto locked Dark Angel in a magical scroll or something in her last appearance?

[icon_uk]

I don't think he's talking about Asgard worrying about the politics, I think he's talking about how Earth would react to getting Asgard involved in another situation, based on how Earth might already feel about Asgardians (not sure what the US position on them is at the moment, but it's the MU, so I'll default to paranoid/hostile)

And Dark Angel has the advantage of being a, for wont of a better term, techno-mage. She understands magic AND technology, so whilst not as powerful as Stephen, she's perhaps more suited to dealing with the Rings, and talking to Tony in a way he can sort of understand.

[icon_uk]

Yeah, that's my thought too, we've already seen a ring reject certain candidates for being too strong willed, and Malekith seems like a very random choice since I'm not even certain he's ever MET Iron Man.

[icon_uk]

I know Mephisto has the contract for Dark Angel's soul, which I assume would be in the form of a scroll for old times sake, but didn't think he had HER.

[bewareofgeek]

Not because he was a character in a major motion picture, of course....

[cainofdreaming]

I'm not really seeing that here, I mean he's going to Svartaflheim so why would Earth authorities even care? And the reference to the "Republic of Nine Realms" seems to indicate that the political ramifications would come from, well, not Earth.

Tony's understood magic well enough before, even when delivered in Thorspeak. But you're right, it probably is more comfortable for him this way.

[leoboiko]

Seeing how he's up against a magical opponent, Iron Man seeks out the help of a specialist: the 90s Marvel UK character Dark Angel…

What? What the heck. Why not Strange?

She's the redhead.

Damn, Tony!

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Seems to me like just the kind of thing that would appear ridiculous outwardly, but in the hands (or in this case, feet) of a master...

[lbd_nytetrayn]

I like her, and how she interacts with Tony. I hope we see more of her.

[shadowpsykie]

[mrstatham]

Unlikely to be the reason. They actually had the conveniently-timed Maliketh arc in Thor whilst the movie was coming out. This just seems to be one of Gillen's more unusual choices.

[michaelhealy]

I'm sure he's fought the Avengers as a whole at some point. Still not much of a case for him personally giving a damn about Tony but it's something.

[donnblake]

Look, he hates iron, and he's not crazy about mankind as a whole. Some rings have higher standards than others.

[arbre_rieur]

Based on the above interview, it seems to at least be a contributing factor, though not necessarily a major one: "'Iron Man versus the villain of this year's Thor movie' is an easily understandable story idea for people who aren't reading the book."

[arbre_rieur]

The wielder of the Nightbringer ring had no issue with Iron Man at all when he was chosen. The ring, afterward, was able to manipulate him into having a vendetta, though. Red Peril also had no problem with Stark specifically, just big business in general, but the ring pointed her in his direction. It's possible Malekith's ring was hoping to do something similar to him, perhaps hoping to play on elves' antipathy towards iron, except that Malekith turned the tables on it.

As for how he knew what to say, I assume it's through the same means by which he tamed the ring: Magic.

[arbre_rieur]

I believe she freed herself/got freed at some point in the recent "Revolutionary War" thing.

[arbre_rieur]

I'm going to assume that's just an art error. The hands, that is.

[icon_uk]

The ones wearing them appear to be performing, it's either a fight to the death, or a test of skill to see how close they can dance to each other without cutting their partner/opponent.