Iron Man Vol. 1: The Stark-Roxxon War

by Spencer Ackerman, Julius Ohta (Illustrator), Javier Pina (Illustrator)

Collects Iron Man (2024) #1-5. A new, brutal era begins for the Golden Avenger! With his company restored, Tony Stark's first order of business is getting Stark Unlimited back out of the weapons game. But a multinational company doesn't just stop selling weapons overnight, and the board is more concerned with profit margins than super-hero ethics. Now they've made a deal with the Stark Unlimited is for sale, and the highest bidder represents the combined might of Tony's two biggest competitors, Roxxon and A.I.M.! But they're ready for the old Tony Stark. This one? He's a lot angrier than he used to be. New armor, old enemies and unbelievable twists abound in this fresh take on a fury-powered Iron Man!

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Superheroes

120 pages, Paperback

First published June 24, 2025

Reviews

[Khurram · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give this book 3.5 stars if just did not enjoy it enough to round it up. Everything about the book is just okay. Nothing great, in fact, some of the best things are the guest stars a couple I hope to become regular cast members.

Tony Stark is back and he intends to get his company back and out of the weapons business. However, being in the weapons business has made Srark Enterprises and the board of directors very rich. To the point where they are willing to expand and partner with some of Tony's enemies. On top of that, all the Ironman armour is malfunctioning leaving Tony physically broken. Is this a glitch in the system or are his enemies already further in his business than even he thought?

This book is more steampunk-style than cutting-edge Ironman. The series has potential. I hope this book is more the foundation to build on than setting the tone. The book finishes with a thumbnail variant cover gallery.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.1 stars

[Frédéric · Rating 1 out of 5]

Iron Man goes League of Legends and wields a king-size sword to thwart Belasco in Steampunk armour.

It sounds stupid, doesn't it? I can confirm that it is. Absolutely.

Let's add a critique of the villains from Stark Industries' board of directors done with a trowel—don't get me wrong, I hate these people, but this characterisation without a shred of subtlety is just ridiculous—a little bit of Scarlet Witch because it's well known that Iron Man is a great master of magic, and a little of the unbearable Riri Williams just to drive the point home.

The artwork is unremarkable to boot.

[Alex Sarll]

You can understand the thinking: it's been a long time since Iron Man was a remotely essential read, so if nobody in comics seems to know what to do with him, why not get a journalist on the tech and national security beat who fancies diversifying, see what he can bring to the table? Unfortunately, Spencer Ackerman opens by having Tony Stark's company – of which, we're reminded, he's only just regained control after the last time this happened – snatched away from him by a dastardly alliance of corporate rivals and supervillains. Again. And he's lost access to all his armours so has to make a new one. Again. I would compare it to those instances where some litfic numpty stomps on to science fiction turf and then insists they're not writing science fiction while presenting eg 'but what if a robot – had feelings?' as the most radically unprecedented idea going, but it's not even that, because the story here will intermittently acknowledge that this is familiar territory, refer back to recent issues, so there's no excuse. Also, of course, in the litfic analogy the editor is usually as wilfully ignorant as the writer, whereas here it is being handled by comics professionals who you'd have thought might have gently pointed out how hackneyed it all is. Except apparently they're not even capable of making sure that the collection includes the final page of the opening issue, with the climactic reveal of the new armour, so I guess I shouldn't expect too much from them. That story eventually resolves itself via some Marenghi-level subtext about corporate America's willingness to make deals with the devil, before we move on to a similarly subtle story about Definitely Not ICE in Chicago, including plenty of speechifying about America's sins coming home to roost delivered at such a pitch of clunkiness that even Chode Noncey would probably be muttering 'Oh do give over' under his breath. Running in the background: lots of magic stuff that doesn't really feel like it fits an Iron Man story, not least because Iron Man keeps exclaiming how much he hates magic. Also, a new suit AI called Iron.GPT that's as cheerily inept as real-world versions, which would be a great idea for a comedy sketch but is both trying and implausible as an ongoing element in an actual Iron Man comic. Oh yeah, and Tony's got a stupidly giant sword now, because the nineties revival, I guess? The last Iron Man run I attempted, Cantwell's, was dreary. But it looks like Demon In A Bottle or Extremis next to this clusterfuck.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Newly divorced and back on the board of Stark Unlimited, Tony Stark's here to save his company from being a permanent weapons manufacturer after Feilong's acquisition of it in the previous series. Alas, all's fair in love and the boardroom, and it's not going to be that easy.

Solid plot here. Spencer Ackerman manages to balance boardroom drama with superhero fighting in a way that makes both feel exciting and compelling. He smashes Tony down to the tiniest speck, with great respect for the previous runs on the book going all the way back to the Civil War days, and gives him a whole new arsenal to work with as new villains and old show up. I did think the whole Stark-Roxxon War might last more than...three issues (not really a war so much as a mild skirmish), but it was fun while it lasted, and the two issue Ironheart team-up that rounds out the trade is fun too. Long live the Repulsword!

It's not often that I let bad art detract from the story, personally. And the art here isn't even bad, per se. It's just really, really bland, and I don't know why. We've got giant robots beating each other up, a demonic infestation, a giant sword, and Lucia Von Bardas, and it all just looks kind of flat. Julius Ohta starts the series off and it's just...fine, and then Javier Pina fills in for two issues (a guy who is notoriously slow from what I remember) and it just looks like nothing. The best looking part of this series is the 2 page Scarlet Witch fill-in by Rod Reis, which is SO good it sticks out among all the rest of the flatness. Maybe it's a colouring issue, I don't know, but it was really hard to reconcile the clever plot and bombastic battle scenes with the fact that it all just looked...boring.

A great main plot, if a little short, stymied by artwork that made me sad to look at.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ackerman infuses Tony Stark with some proper grounding from his war on terror reporting background. And a giant sword, which was clearly needed.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4
The ending was run of the mill and boring, IMO. Strong start, though. I like the steam punk angle.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not only the worst Iron Man comic I've read, but one of the worst Marvel comics in general. The main thrust of the story is "Tony tries to get his company back," which could be good, except The Stark-Roxxon War is essentially one endless board room battle. And not even an exciting Succession-style battle. It's a battle between Tony and D-list villains. Literally, the board is working with Belasco from Limbo. Y'know, the least interesting demon!

Tony's also injured for almost the entirety of the volume, and is drawn as if he just came out of that cave in Afghanistan, all scrawny and bearded. It's...weird. Did I miss an intervening series where Tony gets cancer?

Because this is a new Iron Man series, Tony gets a new suit - a steampunk one that includes a silly giant manga sword. The big sword is nifty the first time it's shown, then basically becomes a deus ex machina for whenever Tony is losing a fight.

The board room battle is solved, I guess, and the plot switches gears to... well, it's basically a reflection of what's happening in Chicago right now with the ICE invasion. Weird timing, and definitely made for uncomfortable reading. (To be clear, it's uncomfortable because it's badly written and dull, even as it is a sad funhouse mirror reflection of current events.)

All told, just a weird, disjointed, often dull Iron Man adventure. No more please!

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
This feels like a very rustic Iron Man. Feilong really messed up his company, but now that it's out from under his control, Tony doesn't even get to do much before a merger between Stark and Roxxon/AIM is being considered! Armor taken away from him, he quickly builds another, very old school and kind of steampunk-esque. (Love the added sword though!)
Obviously, Tony is able to use his considerable knowledge and savvy to get everything back to him, but we'll have to see how this effects things going forward. He's looking rough for sure.

Overall, a good read, if a little slower. Excited to see how this iteration of Iron Man will differenciate itself from previous runs.
Recommend.

[Nick Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun to see a leftist take on Iron Man - looking forward to seeing where it goes.

[Andrew Shaffer]

DNF. What happened to Tony Stark here?! He’s pitching his board a GAMBLING APP to replace weapons manufacturing? He only wears his extra special anti-magic armor sometimes, and not all the time…so when he is attacked by magic, his big idea is to fly to his warehouse to change outfits?! There’s just a lot here—in the first two issues—that I can’t make sense of.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly started reading this series because I saw Scarlet Witch would have a role at some point in it. But also because I figured it would discuss some fall out of Krakoa given Tony’s massive involvement with the Fall of X. And because I thought it would mention things and coincide with the new West Coast Avengers. Other than tie ins I’ve never really read Iron Man comics, but I am liking this one to a degree. The action is good and the drama is there but there’s a LOT going on in this story. From the company politics to the real politics to shit with hell I guess, and magic, and on top of it all Tony only has some pieced together shitty suit. Hoping it straightens out into a more cohesive and straight story. Excited for the tie in with One World Under Doom next.

[Sebastian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gone are the days when Iron Man could get himself out of difficult situations. Nowadays he has to put up with the appearance in his story of characters like Riri Williams, who keeps popping up - again and again, for I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY TIMES - to rescue Iron Man. Stop putting Riri in every Iron Man issue, please stop. Go and write her own story (a better one this time, not that crap from 2016).

Anyway, another dumb story. Iron Man with a sword? Dumb. What's this, League of Legends?

[Perry Moreton · Rating 5 out of 5]

obviously i was gonna like this when it's written by my favourite guest from my favourite podcast, where i've come to expect from him every time a brilliant analysis of the interplay between superheroes and systems of power in contemporary America. and that's exactly what this series is, except it's an actual canonical run, not a discussion of one. and it's able to touch on many more issues than i thought it would (including ones you don't always expect those up in the floating palace Disnopolis to allow) in a mixture of ways both subtle and direct.

it's obvious to notice the first scene being about union busting and employment precarity or the fact the whole idea of AIM and Roxxon buying Stark industries being a self-evident demonstration of the unavoidable link between industries like energy and war and how both represent capitalism run amok. almost as clear as the fact that both plots tell us how hard it is to divest, that once you've gotten the ball rolling (i.e.: once the company ever sold weapons to begin with), the systems and people (i.e.: the board) perpetuate themselves, so no matter how much activism and superheroics Tony engages in (including some pretty fierce civil disobedience like blowing up pipelines and waging war against the sentinels that are tools of anti-mutant genocidaires), so much damage has already been done, so he's inherently too late (seen with the repetition of Emma's iconic line - from 20 years ago during Civil War - asking where he was when mutant babies were burning), and there's also just a lot of menial work involves in de-emphasising those dark elements of his company (seen in the uncomfortable fact that the striking workers lost their jobs in the decision to no longer make murder robots).

but there's also the less immediately obvious stuff, like the fact the third party in the merger is Belasco, which could easily just be a literalisation of the idea of deals with devils, but choosing him specifically over, say, Mephisto, and with Ackerman knowing 80's X-Men like i know he does, it also speaks to the truth of how many hyper-capitalist, neo-fascist interests are tied to child abusers. then there's the second mini arc which has a lot to say about oppressive institutions like cops and ICE, what their vested interests are, where they get the money and resources for increasing militarisation etc, while also opening a discussion about non-violent war apparatus (i.e.: surveillance) and the legacy of American interventionism.

all of this and it still manages to be pretty funny at times (especially when Tony argues with chuds on Twitter and has to deal with his useless new AI 'Iron GPT'. if you were to insist on getting this team to do this much political commentary on a book outside of X-Men, i'm glad it was this one.

[Clint · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love seeing a writer with Ackerman’s natsec reporting background and ideological POV (and comic nerd sensibilities, ofc) take on a comics character with so many ties to geopolitical concepts that tend to get glossed over. Ackerman fuses sophisticated real-world politics with fantastical old-school comic bombast for a uniquely entertaining read. The dialogue is occasionally a bit on the nose, like a villain’s double entendre about “blowback” that refers to both a classic “absorb and reflect energy” combat move but also the concept of American military industrial misadventure abroad coming back to haunt the homeland, but I generally found it fun and fresh given its unique POV.

Ohta’s character designs are pretty neat and these issues are generally well-drawn, but it’s done broadly in the Marvel house style that isn’t particularly memorable to me or my favorite.

“I suppose this also upholds S.H.I.E.L.D.’s traditions. Save the world, but ignore the atrocities.”

“We will be in position to dictate terms. To our competitors, yes. But also to governments. We’ll be deeper than every Deep State. As their suppliers.”

“Druid, what happened? You get catfished by a demon offering tentacle pics?”

“Strange, Iron Man, how that never stopped America from violating Latveria’s borders! But I know you Americans prefer the messes you make to remain far from your doorstep!…But never do you expect your works to blow back on you. No matter how often they do.”

“Riri Williams. So much brilliance. So little wisdom. Do you know what S.H.I.E.L.D. did before they overthrew me? They sponsored me. Like Saddam. Like Mubarak. Like Diem. What do you suppose they’ll do with a Black girl when you stop being useful?”

“What happened to me—to my country—could never be your fault! You don’t destabilize us! You just make and sell the tools that can!”

“When it comes to machinery of order, the best weapons don’t shoot. They capture. They store. They accumulate. They target the foundations of freedom. Until Latveria’s only choice is between Doom and America. With our homeland lost, our only tools must be America’s. Yours.”

“How generous of America to always be for sale!”

[Subham · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of those books which had a lot of potential but felt like too many things happening. We again have Tony again getting control of his company and someone new wanting control of it aka Roxxon this time and they have brought back Justine hammer and whose Iron monger now.. the mystical twist but again we have the repetition of the same old idea with acquisition of Stark Unlimited by someone new!

And then we have Iron man vs Iron monger and we see him use a steam punk suit as his other suits are compromised and then we had the potential for a cool battle but thats over in 3 issues with some entities from other dimension backing Justine and all that so the story which had a great potential ends this way!

And then we have some story about Iron man and his new suit hanging out with Iron heart, taking the help of Scarlet witch and even that could have been good but felt like again directionless with the return of another mystical villain which was meh!

So overall a book which had good potential exploring war and its costs and war profiteers and what not but ended up being a bad real lol, felt like it was going one direction and then changing the lane very quickly!

[Gary Lima · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't really get a lot out of this. A lot of it seemed like Stark repeating his steps from the last arc. It's pretty common in comics for a writer to leave a character largely where they found them. But I don't know that I have seen a character been put back to where they were before they'd been restored in the prior arc.

I did not get a good grasp of the supporting characters. Found them vague to the point where there may not be any. It seemed that the book relied largely on guest stars to carry the story.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars and rounding up. Tony finds his company in the midst of a hostile takeover from AIM and Roxxon with everyone on the board wanting to sell the company. His armor has also been claimed by Justine Hammer, so this might not be a problem that he;ll be able to solve through the might of Iron Man, but don't count Tony Start out when it comes to outwitting his enemies.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a blah start to the new regime. Story isn't too exciting and the constant turnover in artists (it took four of them to do these five issues?) is a bit distracting, too, especially since none of them really do much with the content. Hopefully, this gets better next time out.

[stephen smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

yay wanda and yay so many agents of shield characters

[Shivesh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uninspired take on Tony Stark and his associates, but the makeshift Iron Man armor was cool. The Iron Sword was rendered very well.

[Petr Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gritty, intense reboot that pushes Tony Stark to his limits. Sharp action and drama redefine Iron Man for a new era.

[Rafael Suleiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good graphic novel.

[Fazun · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

[Brandon · Rating 1 out of 5]

1⭐️. Ew, this is not good

[Iain · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up

I had such high hopes for this run. After reading the first trade I'm understanding why it got canned so early on, a real shame!