IRON MAN #9: Inside The Issue

Edited by Sam Thielman

BEFORE WE DISCUSS comic-book stuff, two important items. On Tuesday, New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander escorted an immigrant to their court appearance at 26 Federal Plaza. It was an act of protection—ICE has abandoned its pretense of targeting "criminals" and has taken to arresting people complying with their naturalization process—and surely good publicity, because it was leadership by example in an era of gleeful official lawlessness. For insisting that ICE produce a judicial warrant demonstrating the lawfulness of its attempted arrest of the person Lander was escorting, federal agents (not clear to me who, and that seems like it's by design) took the third-most-senior elected official in New York City into custody, all while a video showed Lander calmly and correctly stating that ICE has no authority to arrest a U.S. citizen.  

Approached for comment by The City, whose reporter and photographer were on the scene, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin claimed that Lander was arrested for "for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer." If you click on the link, you will see the video of Lander's arrest, and you can clearly see that McLaughlin is lying. Lander does not even come close to assaulting any of the officers who arrest him, nor is he "impeding" an officer by demanding they produce proof of a lawful arrest. 

Lander was soon released without charges. I don't know the fate of the person he escorted. But there's no reforming a federal agency that institutionalizes kidnapping; invites confusion over its authorities by hiding the identities of the people claiming to be federal officers; arrests elected officials who attempt to ensure it follows lawful processes; and lies about events captured on video. As my friend Jack Mirkinson writes, there can only be abolition—and not just of ICE, but of all of DHS. 

ABSOLUTELY NO WAR with Iran. I want to plug this new Nation piece from Tara Kangarlou, an Iranian expat journalist I'm friendly with, for its focus on the Iranians simply trying to survive an Israeli aggression that may soon turn into an outright U.S.-Israeli aggression: "Now more than ever, the Iranian people are calling for global empathy—to be seen, to be heard, to have their death toll counted alongside that of their Israeli counterparts. Even more urgently—perhaps for one last time—they yearn to be seen by the world through a humanized lens in the face of their utter dehumanization by both the Islamic Republic and the Israeli state."

And with that, let's talk about Iron Man trying to overthrow the rule of Doctor Doom.  

IT'S BEEN a long time coming. "The Insurgent Iron Man" has had a gigantic off-panel presence lurking over it: Doctor Doom. Sorcerer Supreme. Emperor of United Latveria, which bestrides the globe. The greatest villain in superhero comics, period. 

If you go back to "The Machinery of Order," the arc with the Latverian cyborg Lucia von Bardas as our final boss, you'll notice our many references to Victor. In issue #7, Lady Victorious appears so we can keep Doom in reserve. We've been building up to this. 

Doctor Doom is off-panel no more. 

This is the issue when Iron Man's gambit to destabilize Doctor Doom—by sponsoring the Latverian Patriotic Front to fight a forever-war in Latveria using advanced Stark missiles Tony sells to Doom so they'll reach the LPF's agents in the Latverian Army—faces its moment of truth. Tony's plan is urgent and ugly. As we saw during the strike in issue #8, it has no margin for error. But war is unpredictable. Unexpected contingencies can prove decisive.

One of these unexpected contingencies is our new character, Vishte Taru. He left us hanging in the last panel of issue #8, talking mysteriously about saving Iron Man, for whom he has developed a deep, abiding respect. Vishte reveals in this issue what he meant, and I think you'll find it shocking. It all ties back to his history with Doctor Doom, which the panel above is part of introducing. 

Another unexpected contingency—this one, however, was more clearly foreshadowed in issue #6—is the intervention of the Winter Guard. Russia's Avengers have their own plans for how to confront the global crisis that Doctor Doom represents. As we learned from issue #8, they stand directly against the ones Tony Stark pursues. Here they clash—decisively. It's a story I could only title "Great-Power Competition." 

This is a big and fateful issue. For reasons that I'll explain after the paywall, I approached it like I would episode 9 of a prestige HBO show. Everything that occurs going forward occurs in the shadow of the events of this issue. What do I mean by that? If you want to know, you'll have to buy a subscription, True Believer. 

Before we get there, a reminder: the IRON MAN Vol. 1: The Stark-Roxxon War trade paperback is out next Wednesday. Buy it/preorder it! On release day, June 24, from 6-8pm, I'll be signing my first-ever Marvel collection and participating in a Q&A at Anyone Comics, 831 Nostrand Ave. Come hang out!