Iron Man: Legacy #1: Review

Apr 2010

Fred Van Lente, Steve Kurth

Story Name:

War of the Iron Men Part One

Review & Comments

Rating:

Iron Man: Legacy #1 Review by T Vernon (January 1, 2022)

Comments: Issues 1-5 take place between IRON MAN (1998 series) #50-51. Transia is a fictitious Eastern European nation going back to AVENGERS #31; it is best known as the location of Wundagore Mountain, associated with the High Evolutionary and characters connected to him. The initial oil lobbyist villains are named Matvile and Carlin, which looks like a play on the names of married political consultants Mary Matalin and James Carville, incidentally on opposing parties.

Review: Iron Man versus ethnic cleansing? Why not, it’s a serious issue though one that is usually beyond the capabilities of comic book heroes to resolve. The set-up is grim, Tony’s flashbacks to his miserable childhood, and his determination to solve the problem with excessive violence place the reader in a position of half-supporting, half-questioning the hero’s resolve. And that master of the last-page reveal, Doctor Doom, is never a calming sight. Great comic but I can’t help cringing at the knowledge of what would likely happen in real life and that’s a tribute to the writer for allowing me to reside in both worlds at once.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Iron Man: Legacy #1 Synopsis by T Vernon

Prologue: Young Tony Stark is rebuked by his father for crying over his dead dog; Jarvis assures Tony he will create his way out of sorrow….

A protest against Stark’s new arc reactor involves protestors bearing the Melter’s chest ray device invading the Stark building and killing the receptionist, who turns out to be an LMD. Iron Man arrives and mocks the criminals for their stupidity in trusting their employers who are using them for cannon fodder as he mows them down….

Tony Stark shows film of the battle at a press conference where he reveals the protestors were in the pay of the oil companies, seeking to sabotage Stark’s arc reactor. The press ask him about the situation in Transia, switching him to live footage of Slavic paramilitaries that resemble Iron Man slaughtering the Muslim Romani separatists. Tony, upset, has Pepper Potts end the meeting while he investigates further. He goes on a group call with Nick Fury, Jessica Drew, Henry Peter Gyrich, Franklin “Foggy” Nelson and others for advice; he learns that the situation is volatile so the US Government is not going to intervene and that Iron Man cannot either. He mutes them all and asks James Rhodes what to do. Rhodey warns Tony that he can start a war or end one but he will not be able to control one so Tony must ask himself whether he can live with unintended consequences, leading Tony to ponder the deaths Stark weapons have already caused, in a dream featuring his father’s ghost….

Late that night, Tony sees on the news that the “Iron Men” have killed several relief workers and guards in Transia and he has a conversation with a janitor, Michael Flannery, explaining his confusion. Flannery tells him he’s Tony Stark, he can do whatever he pleases. Tony thanks him for the moment of clarity (thinking of Jarvis) and moves on….

The next day, Iron Man invades Transia in a huge aircraft that resembles a bulkier Iron Man, shooting down Transian Air Force drones, informing them he is hunting down the Iron Men….

And in Latveria, Doctor Doom is pleased with this latest development….

2nd story

Iron Man is Born!

Reprinted from TALES OF SUSPENSE #39, recolored by Tom Chu.