Something that I've come to realize as I've been doing both this and my What If...? series is that I'm a "Marvel guy." I'm not sure exactly when this became the case, to be honest, but I have been following Marvel much more closely in the past few years, and I do seem to be more interested in Marvel's output. I'm really not sure how I feel about this, to be honest. Also, it's becoming a little obvious that I need to get a for real blog.
Anyway, this cover's pretty cool. I didn't realize the suit could fly, but there it is, launching from a big zeppelin. This suit looks so great. It's hard to describe, but despite its obvious bulk it has a certain sleekness to it. I'm also detecting some influence from the Ultimate armor, particularly in the shape of the head and the uneven proportions.
This recap page pisses me off. Again, it's a letter from Stark, this time to Jarvis. He ends the letter, emphasis mine, with "How did I survive? You'll have to read on to find out. I've attached a book of sequential pictures documenting the next chapter of our adventure..." Oh, come on, do you honestly expect me to buy that? In case you're wondering, no, at no point do we see anyone taking pictures of anything.
As we begin we see the Lady Dorma blow up as Gialetta and her Nazi friends speed away with Pepper in tow. However, 30 seconds previous, Namor herded Stark and Rhodey below deck and ordered his men to prepare the Dorma — the real one. Yes, for stored in the ship's cargo hold is the real Lady Dorma, a small submarine easily twice the Happy Hogan's size. They launch and submerge, and once clear of the explosion Namor tells Stark he owes him a new cover boat.
Stark drowzily mumbles that this is all his fault, and even Namor can tell something's up. Rhodey realizes that Stark's heart is acting up and says they have to surface immediately. Stark passes out and begins to dream... Well, it's a dream, but it's also a clear recollection of an actual past event.
Young Tony is sitting in a tree, playing with an action figure of the nefarious Mandarin. "Now where are the documents, you fiend?" Suddenly, his father Howard runs to him, raving about the Germans coming to take him back to the camp. He says they've done something to him, infected his mind with one of their poisons. Tony calms his father, who realizes he was having one of his episodes. He apologizes to his son... sometimes it all seems so real. He shows Tony a design for his arsenal of impersonal weapons - a hybrid armor-tank featuring a helmet design reminiscent of the original Tin Can armor. Tony notices his father is bleeding, but it looks like a nosebleed to me. Howard tells him it's nothing, and suggests they get Jarvis to come over so he and Tony can go have an adventure.
That's when Stark wakes up to Jarvis' face. He's on a table on his airship, with many wires hanging from the ceiling hooked to his heart. He says he has to save Pepper and the trident, but Jarvis won't stand for that. He wore his repulsor down to 5%, he's not going anywhere. Jarvis leaves to check on the mileage to American airspace, and Stark asks Rhodey about Namor. He's fine. "Hateful, but fine." Here we get a good look at the airship, and while it's no O*N*E Dirigi-carrier, it's no slouch. It's got massive props and two, uh, balloon compartments or whatever. It's an impressive design.
Stark looks sullenly out the window and calls himself a selfish bastard. He tells Rhodey to remind him what his father would always say whenever someone called him a hero: "A hero is a man too frightened to run away." But that's what he's been doing his entire life. Run away. For far too long he'd fooled himself into believing he was exactly the hero featured in Marvels, a selfless adventurer who puts his life on the line so that the public can escape. The truth is that he doesn't care about anyone's escape but his own, and curing his heart condition. That's what the jade mask was about and it's what the orihalcum was about. And he's dragged Rhodey into it. And Munsey died for his bullcrap.
Stark asks Rhodey point blank why he puts up with him, why he keeps risking it all for such an ass. Given permission to speak freely, Rhodey admits that, well, he can't. He put in a transfer through Jarvis a few month ago and recently something's been found for him in the company's Paris arm. He got tired of having to tell himself he should be happy with this life. Stark's constant fear of death has been rubbing off on him. It wasn't always like this, and it was before Stark's heart was so bad, but... about ten years ago? Those were the days. Back then, Stark was fearless, and it made Rhodey fearless too. Rhodey puts a hand on Stark's shoulder in support. Stark says the real question is which one of them is brave enough to tell Jarvis to turn the ship around.
I'm guessing it was Stark, though we don't really see. They're eyeing the Iron Man suit as Jarvis barks at them. He says Stark can barely keep himself alive — the strain from operating the suit would deplete his heart's power in no time. A full charge would maybe last him three hours. A booster charge of, say, 115% would last about four hours and twenty minutes, if he doesn't sustain any damage. Stark's tired of hearing nothing but "you're wrong" and tells Jarvis why he's right. Jarvis always told him to stop being reckless; this is him stopping. The Nazis have Pepper and the trident and it's all his fault. He's going to fix all this like an adult. Jarvis goes to prepare the repulsor charge, saying "attaboy" under his breath as he walks away.
Time cut to the guys planning how this is going to go down. They've tracked Zemo and gang to Castle Donar, former summer home to a prominent Norwegian family and currently Zemo's private retreat and laboratory. Located in a harsh, mountainous region, with only narrow, outdated roads and a poorly maintained rail system, it's almost completely isolated. Jarvis reasons that they've likely holed up in the castle to keep the trident safe as they await extraction. Meaning they have to act now, before their help can arrive. The airship is approaching at 35,000 feet to facilitate the element of surprise, and Jarvis recommends the use of stealth until absolutely necessary.
Jarvis had mentioned something about "both of you" - as we can see from Rhodey checking out a different suit, the JRXL-1000, Stark isn't going it alone. Jarvis described the JRXL as lightweight, resilient plate mail, with a propulasion system on the back allowing him to jump without a chute. So, evidently these suits can't fly, but they can fall with style. Stark says they're approaching the drop site and lies back on the table to receive his charge. He insists Jarvis make it 125%, just in case. Hooking up the cables, Jarvis says it might sting a little.
Over at Castle Donar, Pepper is chained up as Gialetta puts the lash to her. I'm really now following why they captured Pepper in the first place or what they're torturing her for, but whatever. Zemo looks on as Strucker comes to inform him that the caravan is due to arrive in less than an hour. He also says there's some concern about transportation being dangerous, but Zemo assures him the trident is only a danger when exposed to the atmosphere - which is why he encased it in a distilled, crystallized rubber. Pepper grunts that the allies will stop them, causing Strucker to launch into a rant.
He approaches her and says this is the problem with her and all Americans... they've read so many of their fairy tales they actually believe them. He derides her for thinking this is a castle, that she's a princess, and that some brave hero is going to rescue her. The man who lived here before they arrived was just like her. He never imagined that his luck would run out. "Even at the end, he still couldn't accept it. I can still see him now, trying to fight us all, as though he were some Norse god on Earth, all his guns empty...", he says as he raises a skull bearing a winged helmet to Pepper's face, "striking at us with a common hammer... pitiful." If you don't get it by now, that was the equivalent of Thor. I feel like we're not getting very much in the sense of actual Iron Man characters in this series, to be honest. I mean, Zemo is a Captain America villain, Strucker is a Nick Fury/SHIELD foe, Namor's only association with Stark in 616 is the Illuminati, and while Thor's a fellow member of the Avengers' famed Big Three, there, uh, is no such thing as the Avengers in this universe so what's the point?
He tells her that they don't live in a world of "Marvels", but one of cruelty and violence. No knight in shining armor is coming to save her. As he says this, we're shown Stark and Rhodey, in their respective armors, beginning their assault on the castle. This is the first really good look we've had at either suit, and they look phenomenal. Their "flight" is powered by jet turbines on their backs and the chest pieces look vaguely like Model T hoods. Oh, and the War Machine (JRXL-1000) suit's helmet looks like a skull. Anyway, they take out the poor saps who saw them coming and blast their way into one of the towers.
Looks like it was the mess hall. Almost immediately, they've got dozens of German soldiers aiming right at them. Stark teases Rhodey about wanting to transfer to Paris, and the fight is on! Stark uses his wrist-mounted dual machine guns while Rhodey gives his shoulder-mounted gatling gun a workout. After wasting the whole gang, Stark is suddenly attacked by, uh, something that swats him through walls and into the room where Zemo is totally macking on the insanely humpable Pepper. Stark lifts his faceplate to see what he's up against, and... wowsers.
It's an armor, like his, but much larger and with even greater armament. He also finds it shockingly familiar - it looks a whole lot like the design his father was always working on, the thing that inspired the Iron Man and War Machine suits in the first place. Stark's all "This Cannot Be!!", but Zemo reassures him it indeed is as he introduces him to the Fuhrer's newest foot soldier: the Arsenal. Arsenal feels to me like a counterpart to the ultimate villain of the Armor Wars, Firepower, but according to the inimitable SKJAM it's based on something of the same name created by Howard Stark in 616 continuity.
Arsenal grabs Tony in one of its massive hands and lifts him off the ground. Stark tries to ask him how, but Zemo finishes the question for him. "But how..." "Did I steal your father's design?" Zemo walks toward Stark after Arsenal slams him to the ground. "It's simple, really. I'll show you...", he says as he takes off his mask... revealing a man Stark recognizes as "D-dad?"
End of Issue 3.
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