Iron Man (2026 series) #1

This new 1st issue seems to begin with a flashback replay of Iron Man's origin:- a man in a cave cobbles together a clunky grey suit of armour. But this isn't a flashback and the man isn't Tony Stark. And he gets taken down by AIM troopers led by Madame Masque who administers the coup de grace. She says she's looking for someone as genius as Stark.

Meanwhile in Los Angeles Iron Man is fighting an old foe Blizzard who's just robbed a bank. Stark chides his foe for using a Roxxon battery to power his armour because it doesn't work well under extreme temperatures. In fact it emits toxic levels of a rapid freezing coolant, so Donnie Gill is ironically about to freeze to death. But the hero saves him with some repulsor blasts and hands him over to the cops. Melinda May calls him to say he's late for his own party, so he flies off ...

... to Malibu for the Tony Stark Award do where his (unnamed) favourite band is already playing. He arrives as Tony on the prototype Stark Hoverbike 3000, greets his adoring fans and even takes the stage with the band. May drags him away as a screen shows a video summary of his Iron Man history:- creating the grey armour in the cave, wearing the gold-painted version in the early Avengers, fighting Captain America (presumably in Armour Wars), followed by an array of different armours.

His PA Brian (who seems to be a surprise to the boss) hands him his speech. Tony says he can make up his own acceptance speech, but Melinda has to remind him that he's *giving* the award. He also seems surprised to see Pepper Potts who says she helped him set up this Tony Stark Grant Award. She's been running the Maria Stark Foundation for him for a long time, and some years ago he asked her to set the Award scheme up. He handpicked geniuses to be given Grant money, and now the 1 who used that money best will be given the Award. She introduces him to Adam Ware who is a teacher who invented educational technology to give people access to masterclasses by top creators.

Pepper pushes Tony onto the stage and, despite what he said earlier, he's at a loss for words. But then he talks about his philanthropic genius father Howard Stark. And he follows his example by giving the Award to Adam. At the party afterwards he's not impressed by the fancy food until a waitress named Luna Lucia gives him his favourite meal, burger and fries. He asks her to leave with him for a date but she says she doesn't date dangerous men, and he must be dangerous because that's the only type she's attracted to.

Cue Madame Masque and AIM attacking the gig. Tony looks at her and Pepper and wonders if his most recent lover Emma Frost is going to pop up too. MM and AIM kidnap Pepper and leave. Stark follows on the Hoverbike but it transforms into his latest armour. Pepper fights her abductors with some fighting skills and a Black Widow stinger she happens to have. Tony rescues her but the villains release an explosive gas which destroys them all, but revealing them to be Life Model Decoys. Then he gets another call from Melinda to say that he's been suckered, and the real Masque and AIM just kidnapped Adam. We see him being dragged through some sewers and Masque tells him they want him because Stark chose him.

The next scene is Melinda and Pepper flying by helicopter to the Gamma Bomb Bunker (where the Hulk was born) in New Mexico. They meet Tony there who's taken it over as his new workshop. Melinda assures Pep that Tony says he's got rid of all the gamma radiation. Stark is doing his inventing to very loud rock but he stops both to tell them that AIM have also abducted all the other geniuses who got Stark Grants. So now this makes it personal. He asks May to use her ex-SHIELD contacts to find out everything about AIM. He intends to scour all their bases until he gets the victims back. And he asks Pepper to contact all their families.

Then he armours up and heads out. On the way he contacts Captain America on a secure channel and asks for a meeting at an old Illuminati base. He tells him that he thinks AIM has got hold of contingencies that he set up long ago. Steve Rogers wants him to come to New York instead. And we see that he's flanked by possibly a new Illuminati:- Captain Marvel, Invisible Woman, Mr Fantastic, War Machine, Norman Osborn and maybe Bruce Banner or possibly Amadeus Cho. And for some reason they think they have to stop our hero.