Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Marvel's Iron Man 3 Prelude #1 Synopsis by
T Vernon
Pepper Potts holds a press conference over the construction of Stark Tower, the first clean-energy powered skyscraper in Manhattan, while assuring everyone that all the damage from the StarkExpo disaster has been repaired at Stark’s expense….
In his Malibu lab, Tony Stark is removing all of Justin Hammer’s weaponry from the War Machine armor as James Rhodes watches. Tony cons him into thinking he will never again be War Machine before unveiling a new totally-Stark-made gray armor. There’s one catch: Rhodey will have to fill in for Iron Man as needed….
As War Machine, Rhodey zips around the world, fighting terrorists in Mumbai, Afghanistan, and Sudan, being mistaken for Iron Man and realizing that the three disparate terrorist groups are using the same weaponry, supplied by the Ten Rings. He works out a plan with Tony to track the Ten Rings through a possible bioterror attack in Asia….
Three months later, in Hong Kong, Ten Rings strikes, taking hostages. Rhodey uses his sophisticated tracking to shoot down the terrorists (non-lethally) as they hide behind their hostages. A grenade caught by Rhodey does no harm and he is able to shoot a detonator out of a bad guy’s hand. He takes a call from Iron Man, asking if he can come to New York right away; Rhodey says he’s busy but he’ll get there when he can. And the reader sees that it’s the Battle of New York, the Avengers versus the invading Chitauri. War Machine wonders why the Ten Rings was so underwhelming—because it’s a trap. Hand-held missiles knock Rhodey over, then a truck bomb leaves him stunned, and a Hammer-manufactured tank stolen from the US military. An army officer in touch with Rhodey warns him that the tank is powered by a nuclear reactor and blowing it up could destroy the city. As sidewinder missile knocks the hero out of the sky and the tank advances on him as he lies stunned on the ground….