Iron Man (2026 series) #8

This issue opens in the Vault prison as someone is wading through the guards in their Guardsman armour. It's Whiplash (Anton Vanko) who blames Tony Stark for the death of his father (as described in the Iron Man Vs Whiplash mini-series). He frees someone from a cell.

In Tony Stark's School Of Super-Science (in his ex-Gamma Base workshop in New Mexico) Daniel Buss is demonstrating his new force-field by getting Melrose Morrison to shoot at him. But it's not any old force-field, it uses dark-matter energy to predict the incoming danger. Stark and James Rhodes are watching, but Rhodey thinks it's dangerous. Buss adds that he's miniaturised it to a ring that can be mass-produced cheaply. But Tony has had bad experiences with power rings (I'm talking Mandarin's Rings of course). Just then his watch alarm reminds him he's due for several meetings at his Los Angeles Stark Industries HQ *and* a date with Luna Lucia so he dashes off and leaves Rhodes in charge. James suggests changing to War Machine to really test the force-field.

Adam Ware and Madame Masque are continuing their hostile takeover of other branches of AIM. The Scientist Supreme (the Andrew Forson version?) objects but Ware uses his mental powers to shut down the foe's armour and leave him trapped in it until he agrees to be reasonable. They mention that their agent will be visiting Stark soon.

Later Stark has finished the meetings jointly held with his CEO Pepper Potts. He complains that there were so many, but Pepper reminds him that he asked to be more personally involved and today was the only 1 he had free. Before he leaves she mentions that someone via multiple shell companies has been bulk buying alloys that Tony needs for his armour. The available supply is running dangerously low, joining adamantium and vibranium that are already rare. Tony shelves that problem until he's taken Luna to dinner in Paris, but just then she arrives with a surprise in tow, she has a young son Hugo and his babysitter has just cancelled. She apologises for not telling Tony about Hugo before, but he says they've not had time to talk about much yet. He greets the shy lad and takes them on a tour of the manufacturing area of the building, where the magic happens. But he has to admit that he makes the Iron Man armour somewhere safer (the Gamma base). And he also claims to not have the armour on him at the moment ...

... but then Whiplash bursts in to the manufacturing area below and calls him a liar. As the villain goes on a rampage Pepper organises an evacuation from the viewing balcony and Tony presses a button on his watch which causes his armour to assemble around him. Then he drops down to do battle as the workers flee. WL's latest electro-whips turn out to be strong enough to pull IM towards him, and in general he and his own armour are more powerful than ever. But the villain admits that he's been paid a fortune just to keep him distracted, however he'll kill him for free. Ms Potts is still on the observation walkways making sure everyone else gets away safely when the metal gangway she's on collapses and she's left dangling. Tony can't escape Anton's grip to save her ...

... but Citizen V swings by to rescue her. She protests that she didn't *need* rescuing and tells him to go away before Tony sees them together - he must never learn the truth. Stark desperately uses a new facility he borrowed from Dreadknight despite his AI telling him there's a 90% chance it will injure himself. He channels power to the surface of his armour which blasts the combatants apart. Then he breaks WL's electro-whips off and uses them against their owner. CV tries to stop him kicking a man when he's down but Iron Man is determined to learn who sent his foe.

Then more electro-whips strike both IM and CV. It's the original Whiplash, Marco Scarlotti, seemingly back from the dead.