Avengers Disassembled: Iron Man

Avengers: Disassembled #3

by John Jackson Miller (Writer), Mark Ricketts, Jorge Lucas (Illustrator)

Some think Tony Stark has lost his battle with the bottle. Others think he can't control his violent temper. Some think he's a homicidal maniac. Even his closest friends are beginning to doubt him, wondering why he won't fend off these accusations. But Stark's self-imposed exile is cut short, as Iron Man must face off against his evil doppelganger, which has embarked on a murderous rampage aimed at those in charge of Stark Enterprises! Only one of them can remain standing. And even the victor is under threat of extinction.

Collecting: Iron Man 84-89

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

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

New York Times bestselling author John Jackson Miller has spent a lifetime immersed in science fiction. His Star Trek novels include the Discovery – Die Standing, the acclaimed novel Discovery — The Enterprise War, the Prey trilogy, and Takedown. His Star Wars novels include A New Dawn, Kenobi, Knight Errant, Lost Tribe of the Sith, and the Knights of the Old Republic comics, available from Marvel as Legends: The Old Republic.

He’s written comics and prose for Halo, Iron Man, Simpsons, Conan, Planet of the Apes, and Mass Effect, with recent graphic novels for Battlestar Galactica, Dumbo, and The Lion King. Production notes on all his works can be found at his fiction site.

He is also a comics industry historian, specializing in studying comic-book circulation as presented on his website, Comichron.. He also coauthored the Standard Catalog of Comic Books series.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

With Tony Stark allowing the entire world to know he's Iron-Man, running Stark Industries, liaising with the Avengers and being the Secretary of Defence for the United States of America(!), there was probably never a better time to strike at him, and someone does, on multiple levels! With closer ties to Avengers Disassembled and very much Iron-Man Disassembled, this is one of the Disassembled volumes worth a read! 6 out of 12.

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Re-read this and I didn't remember the first two issues that well.

This is an example of why we can't have nice things: I get that the life of a superhero is dangerous for the hero and their loved ones. I get that it's a common trope for the hero to reveal their identity and immediately have it negatively impact/endanger a loved one. I get that.

What I don't get is when a woman is killed solely for man pain. Ricketts was lucky: Busiek did the heavy lifting here. I've read books where a female character is introduced solely to be killed for the angst of it (that Wolverine book comes to mind). Ricketts dodges the criticism of Rumiko not being a full fleshed out character because Busiek made sure to give her agency and a personality. In this book, she exists solely to worry over Tony, blame herself for their breakup (fair, another writer already ruined that) and then she dies so Tony can angst over it and have an epiphany.

In the process, she is drawn in such an unnecessarily sexual manner. I know, I know, call me a nun but there is no need to show upskirts, a blouse that no woman in her right mind would wear and *grabs megaphone* there is never a need to draw nipples. Rumiko is introduced ass first and were it not for Tony's dialogue on that page, you wouldn't know who she was. Her friend/manager (?) slaps her in the face because... I honestly have no clue.

Ugh, so that sucked. It really did. Contrast that with better iterations of comic book character deaths and what comes to mind is Gwen Stacy's in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. That movie had tons of problems but I'll give it this: Gwen had to die for Peter's man pain but she saved 200+ beforehand. She made her own choices, had her own goals and didn't exist solely for Peter in that film. So, this book was garbage and Rumiko deserved better.

Moving on *sighs*. This is all part of the Avengers Disassembled arc which was painful for a lot of reasons. Oddly enough, the only real lasting effects I saw were Carol and Vision being distrustful of Wanda for years. I didn't really see anyone else holding onto that anger. Although, Hawkeye stayed dead for a little while. Anyway, Tony was cursed to lose his inhibitions, verbally attack Doom and ask Hank if he had anymore wives to beat. It was all really bad for his image but, I can't recall if that truly lasted.

I don't love how Tony's characterized here. The only moment I appreciated was when he's in the car and Pepper asks him "Why not quit the hero thing altogether?" and he says something like "And watch from the sidelines?" That was very Tony. He can't just sit idly by and watch others in need. It's not in his nature.

So, I can't really call this a recommend. You can get quite enough of Tony's angst from the main trade for Avengers Disassembled.

[Danielle (LilBookGremlin) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title: Iron Man: The Best Defense
Writer(s): Robin Laws; John Jackson Miller
Illustrator(s): Robert Teranishi; Jorge Lucas
Issues: 70-83 (how I read it at least)
Rating: 3 stars

Favourite character: Tony Stark
Least favourite character: Sonny Burch

Mini-Review: This was... wild. Got to finally read about Sonny Burch, Walton Goggins character in Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), didn't realize he was a character originating in the comics. I was pleased the little amount of Rumiko in it, I'm not a big Rumiko fan. And I just want to know who thought it would be a good idea to make Tony Stark the Secretary of Defense.

Fan Cast:
Iron Man/Tony Stark - Jake Gyllenhaal
Rumiko Fujikawa - Shioli Kutsuna
Pepper Potts - Holland Roden
Happy Hogan - Josh Gad
Captain America/Steve Rogers - Chace Crawford
Black Panther/T'Challa - Aldis Hodge
Warbird/Carol Danvers - Britt Robertson
Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff - Tristin Mays
Vision - Jude Law
Falcon/Sam Wilson - Michael B. Jordan

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok first, full disclouser...I'm almost 60 and date back to what is usually called the "Silver Age" of comics. So, maybe for some who read this you'll say that comics have just, "passed me by".

I'm tired of picking up comics and have politics "spoon fed" to me in a simplistic manner. Writers please, if you must put your own politics in the books could you try to put in opposing views without making them "straw man" types you can knock down, or failing that at least be a little more subtile about. Comics might be better trying to deal with more overt forms of good vs. evil. The most egregious example of this in this book was the "small crowd" who were upset or concerned about the Avengers changing from "American" heros to "an International force" being portrayed as conspiracy "nuts". (This begs another question I'm not even dealing with here which is, are all people who believe in conspiracies "nuts". Think of Dr. Jack Hodgins on Bones?)

Any way the action was okay and the regulation super hero heart ach was still there. The big brawl that is needed is there (though they couldn't resist another commentary at the end of it...again) The book was readable the fight as expected, but I'm just very tired of being preached at by comic books....

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tony Stark decides to stop being the public persona of Iron Man. He finds it difficult working for the Government while keeping his standing with the Avengers. It feels like the beginning of the end. A good read.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the way they just fridged Rumiko for no good reason. Not awesome, Harris & Ricketts. Not awesome at all.

[mr factos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuando la lectura cronológica, seguimos con los acontecimientos previos a “Avengers disassembled”

La historia es bastante regular y olvidable, nos presenta la dualidad de tony en su trabajo político y como vengador, donde se encuentra en el problema de realizar una misión de desactivar un robot que se encuentra en el sótano de la mansión de los vengadores, tony deberá hacer esta misión en solitario sin que se entere los demás vengadores, del cual no resultó.

Los personajes que se ven involucrados son pocos y solo siendo tony el más relevante, en este sentido la historia acarrea que los personajes igualmente no sean muy interesantes

El dibujo es regular, a manos de Jorge Lucas, creo que su trabajo pudo haber sido mejor, el cómic fue lanzado en el 2004 y tiene un estilo de inicios/mediados de los 90.

Sobre la originalidad y impacto, diría que es otro punto flojo de este cómic, es muy irrelevante, aporta muy poco y no funciona como un “preludio”, es totalmente dispensable.

La calificacion para Avengers Disassembled: Iron Man

Historia/guion: 2,8
Personajes: 3
Arte/dibujo: 3
Impacto/Originalidad: 2,5

Nota final: 2,8 ⭐️

[Mickey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I just really don't care for Tony Stark, but this whole storyline is the weakest Disassmbled subplot by far.

Personally, I was very compelled when it seemed like it would hinge on a return to Tony's alcoholism (or at least, Tony being manipulated into thinking he was returning to alcoholism) instead of just "bad guy is dressed up as Iron Man and doing bad stuff." It's especially silly because, if you've been reading along with the series, you know Tony just gave out a bunch of identical Iron Man armors when he was secretary of defense.

The book also offs Rumiko in incredibly unceremonious fashion. It's feels a very classic "death of a superhero girlfriend so the hero can have feelings" moment.

[Yvonne Alf · Rating 2 out of 5]

The general idea of the story was interesting, but the execution was a bit of a mess.
The Paperback includes a two-parter who sadly lacks depth, the four-parter was a bit better. The premise of the story has been done several times within the Iron Man books and also done better.

I'm also not a big fan of the art throughout the paperback. The first story looks kinda boring and the main problem with the second one is the inconsistency. Somtimes it looks like the penciller changed from page to page.

[Kira · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

The story in the first two was.... not great. I don’t remember any of it even though I just read it. I simply did not care.

The last 4 issues were much more interesting! I enjoyed Tony’s emotional arc. However, everything with Happy and Pepper felt pointless and there were lots of other questionable parts. Also a surprising amount of racism and xenophobia??

Overall, pretty mediocre, but enjoyable and it gives good context for Avengers: Disassembled.

[Jdetrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Considering how much I dislike Avengers Disassembled, it probably isn't surprising that I don't like this tie in....or is it a tie in? It seems to have nothing to do with the Avengers storyline, and is instead two distinct stories, neither particularly good.

[vk chompooming · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is another spin-off that did NOT do the original storyline justice. Normally John Jackson Miller brings out the best in these characters, but the only way I gave this 2 stars is b/c of the wonderful art work by Mark Ricketts, Jorge Lucas, Tony Harris, and Scott Kolins

[Gomezmr · Rating 4 out of 5]

These comic is very unique.

[Layth Salah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad art, bad writing, and racism lol and it's not even funny.

[Ekenedilichukwu Ikegwuani · Rating 3 out of 5]

a subpar story but the consequences of this are huge...

[Javier Galíndez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quinta y décima segunda parte para el evento: Avengers Disassembled.

[Stavo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ironman no es de mis héroes favoritos, pero este tomo fue bastante agradable de leer
Buen villano, fue interesante ver un Ironman VS Ironman
El final también está bastante bien pensado y escrito

[Argenis López · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leí 84-85

[Lillian Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Okay. Don't like the art much.

[Michael Keskeys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tony Stark is the Secretary of Defense?! Still makes more sense than our current reality.

[Meghan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Avengers Disassembled: Thor was actually kind of a cool story because it involved Ragnarok and it had absolutely nothing to do with the main Disassembled event, which turns out to be insanely terrible.

Tony's sub-storyline begins with some jurisdictional conflicts. The Avengers have recently become a UN concern, which means that Avengers Mansion is now sovereign territory and no longer eligible for NYC services such as trash removal. This is kind of hilarious (and educational!), but makes the Avengers look like complete dumbasses for not being aware of what the UN, in fact, is before they joined it. The Avengers have also acquired a cadre of anti-UN protestors who are even less aware, being under the impression that the UN is far more a.) sinister and b.) powerful than anything in the real or Marvel universe would justify. This is realistic enough but ultimately doesn't really go anywhere as a plot point.

Meanwhile, Tony is becoming aware of the massive, obvious conflicts of interest among his civilian, superhero and political personae, in the form of a giant, leftover killer robot lurking beneath Avengers Mansion. In spite of some wacky misunderstandings involving non-F.C.C. approved signal jammers (I know the F.C.C. is always my first concern when a killer robot is planning to destroy New York!), Tony manages to subdue the thing and learns a valuable lesson about politics: namely, that they exist. God, whatever fake president named him Secretary of Defense should have been immediately impeached or declared incapable since he was clearly either treasonous or insane.

Shortly thereafter, Tony is addressing the UN when he has a freakout in which he points out that the ambassador from Latveria is totally just sitting there like a normal ambassador, as if his country were not basically an oversized evil lair. This actually happens in the main Avengers book and is never adequately explained in this one (it turns out to be because Scarlet Witch is having a hysterical hissyfit), but it predictably does not reflect well on Tony in his Avenger, Sec'y of Defense or C.E.O. of Stark Industries capacities.

Writer John Ricketts has a massive, inexplicable and creepy hate-on for Pepper, who is mocked and humiliated in basically every single panel in which she appears. She interrupts Jan and two other women whom I can't identify snarking about Tony in the ladies' room with an over-the-top defensive speech about everything Tony's done for them, after which they snigger about how she still has a thing for Tony and her shrill voice must drive her husband nuts. When Pepper narrowly avoids getting killed by an evil dude in a rogue Iron Man suit who is wiping out the entire board of Stark Industries, her rescuers are bizarrely contemptuous, telling each other not to 'encourage' her 'babbling' and accusing her of 'listing spices now' when she introduces herself. And when she realizes that she can access a fail-safe shutdown mechanism that Tony included to end the standoff between the real and fake Iron Mans, Happy—who is supposed to be her goddamn husband!—gives her this insane anti-motivational speech about how he's never seen her throw anything but gutter balls so what makes her think she's going to make a strike? WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN.

The other weirdly misogynist subplot involves Rumiko, one of Tony's exes. Their relationship, as it is presented in a series of flashbacks and reminiscing conversations, appears to have been kind of abusive in that Fifty Shades of Grey, you-two-crazy-kids-need-a-goddamn-safeword kind of way. As Rumiko describes it to her friend and/or possible personal assistant, "I humiliated him. Kissed him with alcohol on my breath. I went out of my way to tick him off, but he..." "...was whipped." "I know. He was perfect. Why did I ever leave him?" She decides to go to New York, presumably to humiliate him some more, so I suppose she was sort of asking to get promptly fridged—she gets immediately killed by fake!Iron Man, so that real!Iron Man can carry her corpse around like a mecha-pietà and angst about how it was all his fault and oh yeah she died thinking that he was the one who killed her. This is all pretty horrible, and it is a testament to how repulsive this book is that I don't even think it's the worst part.

In the end, Tony resigns as Secretary of Defense (finally!) and also claims he's going to stop being Iron Man, although if anyone actually believes that they are more naïve than a nest of newborn mice, but whatever. This is the worst comic book I have ever read. I mean, I'm sure there are plenty of comics that are at least as bad, but I have not actually read them.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A run that seeds some threads towards the "Modern Age" of comics.

Its a real good prequel to Civil War and in some ways, is an inverted version of China Mieville's rejected Marxist Iron Man pitch (which I really wished was published).

[Hrishi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well well well - this hasn't aged well at all has it? It's another classic "bad guy takes superhero down systematically to the brink of destruction before an improbable fightback from said hero with the help of friends ex machina" tale, that is only loosely connected to the Avengers: Disassembled event that it is a part of - and just like Thor: Disassembled, is part of the event only by being contemporaneous to it. It's a complete coincidence that the bad guy (no spoilers) was going after Iron Man at the same time as the other foe was going after the Avengers as a team (Avengers: Disassembled) and when Thor was facing the end of Asgard.

Not impressed - seems very contrived, and has a very pat formulaic conclusion. The art - is OK - I'm just not satisfied though...

[Holden Attradies · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay read. I am not to familiar with what all was going on with Stark around when this book takes place so I felt pretty lost, which always takes away from the book. I have a feeling I would enjoy it a lot more if I was more familiar with what was going on.

- edit -

On a second read, after having read Avengers Disassembled I have to say I enjoyed this much more. Still not amazing, but worth keeping on my book shelf.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not an Iron Man or Tony Stark fan. But a really good story should make anyone a fan. This is a better than typical for Marvel story. The supporting super cast is a little weak, except perhaps for The Vision. But this definitely fills out the details around at least Iron Man's portion of Avengers Disassembled. And a heck of a lot better than the Fantastic Four issue. With mostly good enough but inconsistent art. The what is a superhero speech was definitely one of the low points.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit that I'm not 100% clear on the full story of the Avengers Disassembled period, it that made it a little harder to fully appreciate this book. I was intrigued by the whole premise of the Avengers as some sort of pseudo sovereign nation and all that but the book's Iron Man focus was a little messy with the whole balancing two worlds angle. It certainly had story potential but the actual execution wasn't necessarily as strong as could be hoped.

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poor Tony. Disputes over garbage collection and sovereign rights to the land the Avengers mansion is on, dick waving contests between the UN and the USA, Rumiko being killed by a rogue suit, having to apologise to Latveria...I miss the days of shits and giggles when he could fall asleep inside his helmet and no one cared.

[Derrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars is probably a more fair rating. This one's not BAD on the whole. It's just mediocre.

But it loses the last half star for putting Tony's girlfriend into a fridge. Her death at the hands of a thoroughly forgettable villain serves no purpose but to mess with Tony's head. It's the very definition of the trope.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 3 out of 5]

Siguiendo con mis contradicciones habituales, continué leyendo tomos sueltos de un personaje que, en teoría, debería resultarme desagradable, como es Iron Man. En este caso, otra historia ingeniosa con dibujos agradables. Pero a Extremis e Hipervelocidad sigue sin ganarle nadie.

[Gary Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great Marvel Readthrough, pt 50