Heroes Reborn: Iron Man is a 1996 comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The comic was written by Jim Lee and Scott Lobdell, with art by Whilce Portacio, and colors by Scott Williams and John Dickenson. The series was launched as part of the Heroes Reborn publishing initiative.
Things start during a testing of the "Promethium" Powered Armor, an Iron Man armor prototype, that causes the death of the pilot, Rebel O'Reilly. The company of Tony Stark is sued because of it, but he manages to be acquitted. Still, this causes an uproar among his workers and the common people, who despise Tony Stark because Aristocrats Are Evil. Between this and guilt over Rebel's death, Tony enters a downward spiral into becoming a Corrupt Corporate Executive.
His moment of clarity begins with Pepper Potts slapping him at one of his parties, but comes to a head when a Hydra cell infiltrates one of his facilities in order to detonate the Gamma bomb created by Bruce Banner — with the aid of Banner himself. Banner, who hadn't realized Hydra planned to set off the bomb, manages to sacrifice himself to drop the bomb into a failsafe pit before it detonates. Instead of dying from the explosion, the gamma radiation turns him into the Hulk. Tony, who had gone to investigate the attack in person, has his helicopter felled by the newborn monster. Stark survives, but is forced to don the last set of the Promethium armor that had been buried at the facility in order to use its life support systems to stop the shrapnel from his wounds from reaching his heart.
Trapped in the armor that represents the first, but not the last, of his sins, Tony is forced to fight the Hulk and the many other villains born of his sins while finally starting to work toward atoning for them.
Marvel intended the Heroes Reborn project to continue, but it was canceled because of creative differences with Jim Lee. The characters were then returned to the Marvel Universe and relaunched.
Heroes Reborn: Iron Man provides examples of:
- Adaptation Origin Connection: Tony Stark is forced to don his "Promethium" Powered Armor when he's critically wounded investigating a Hydra attack on one of his facilities where Bruce Banner, his browbeaten subordinate and former friend, was creating a gamma bomb. Meanwhile, Bruce's accident happens while he's trying to keep the sabotaged bomb from killing innocents when it explodes. Iron Man and the Hulk literally name each other when they meet at the end of the first issue, and the Hulk is a major subplot in the Iron Man title as Tony tries to help Bruce.
- Adaptational Jerkass: In the first issues, Tony Stark is a completely unlikeable arrogant bastard, using his money and clout to get things his way, not caring at all about the lesser people. At one point, he literally compared common people with ants. The main theme of the story is Tony's ongoing Heel Realization and attempts to atone by becoming a superhero.
- Adaptational Villainy: While not to the same degree as his Marvel Cinematic Universe incarnation, Jasper Sitwell is a villain, being a slimy, self-serving operative. In fact, this universe's version of the Abomination is the result of Sitwell deliberately injecting Samson to force his cooperation.
- Canon Foreigner: Rebel is a new character, not based on any preexisting Marvel character.
- Composite Character: While he'd later make it so his condition was similar to his 616-self, Doc Samson was the Abominaton.
- Death by Origin Story: Rebel dies in the first act of the first issue.
- Food Slap: Pepper used this with Tony, as she disliked his arrogance. She was fired.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Rebel jumped to the action, without caring about the energy surges. That got him killed.
- Ret-Canon: Not only did the series restore the classic Tony Stark to life, but when he and the others returned to the normal Marvel universe, Tony kept the fuller mustache/goatee combo he sported in this story. In fact, several subsequent incarnations, including the Ultimate Marvel and Marvel Cinematic Universe, have defaulted to it, having Tony sport the beard from day one in those universes.
- Vertical Mecha Fins: Tony Stark's signature Powered Armor was reimagined with 'smokestack' fins mounted on its shoulders in this reboot.
