All right, Mojo...would love to stay for the after-party, but we kind of prefer our parties without naked guys who are prone to kidnapping. Not as much fun as you would think. 
Appearing in "Chapter Three: Best Friend"
Featured Characters:
- Iron Man / "Iron Shogun" (Tony Stark) (Main story and flashback)
Supporting Characters:
- War Machine / "War Monger" (Jim Rhodes) (Main story and flashback)
- Bobby (First appearance) (Main story and flashback)
Antagonists:
- Mojo's robot onis
- Oni Queen (First appearance)
- Mojo (Main story and flashback)
- Major Domo
Other Characters:
- Bobby's mother (First appearance) (Main story and flashback)
- Aunt Annalise (Mentioned) (Only in flashback)
- X-Men (Mentioned)
- Maria Stark (Only in flashback)
Races and Species:
- Humans (Main story and flashback)
- Robots
- Spineless Ones
- Androids
Locations:
- Mojoverse
- Earth (Main story and flashback)
- United States of America (Main story and flashback)
- New York State (Main story and flashback)
- New York City (Only in flashback)
- New York State (Main story and flashback)
- United States of America (Main story and flashback)
Items:
- Iron Man Armor (Shogun Armor) (First appearance)
- Iron Man Armor Model 16 (Main story and flashback)
- Iron Man Armor Model 11 (War Machine Armor) (Main story and flashback)
Synopsis for "Chapter Three: Best Friend"
Clad in a samurai-esque version of his armor, Iron Man stands amidst a bamboo field as a voice provides a dramatic narration for him via comms. He brandishes a pair of plasma katanas and, upon sheathing them as instructed, mangled onis suddenly collapse to the ground. Dispatching a surviving oni, Iron Man is hailed as the Iron Shogun by the narrator. He next arrives at a burning village, accompanied by the narrator's commentary. Amidst the blaze, Tony discovers Jim Rhodes, calling him the War Monger, hung from a rope by his hands and wearing a samurai-like suit as well. The Iron Shogun cradles his friend after bringing him down, and Rhodey gasps for water. A bowl unexpectedly teleports next to them, from which Rhodey reluctantly drinks as Tony asks him to stick to the script at risk of both of their deaths. Rhodey winces after drinking from the bowl, since it's soda and he is on a diet. Rekindling his role at Tony's insistence, Rhodey dons his helmet and warns the Iron Shogun of the Oni Queen, who has taken his mother.
In a flashback, a boy and his mother play pretend in his bedroom. She feigns being held hostage by a rag doll embodying the Oni Queen. In response to his mother's nonchalance, the kid insists that he is the Iron Shogun. She acquiesces, calling for his help. She tosses a pile of stuffed toys representing the Oni Queen's minions, and the boy prepares to confront the imaginary threat. Back in the present, the Iron Shogun's stance echoes that of the boy as he cuts through a pack of onis. He lands in front of an actual Oni Queen holding the boy's mother hostage. In the flashback, the mother playfully leaps at the boy, tickling him as he protests her deviation from the script. In the present, the mother surprises the Oni Queen by similarly leaping toward the Iron Shogun. Tony recalls that her son told him she would pick up on the story and know when to break away from it. Introducing himself to her, Iron Man assures her he's here to rescue her.
From a monitor room, the super villain Mojo fumes at the turn of events, and calls for reinforcements. The flashback resumes, revealing that Mojo had barged into the boy's play session and kidnapped his mother. Soon after, Iron Man and War Machine comfort the distraught boy, Bobby, while emergency services respond to the abduction. In the present, the Iron Shogun prepares for the impending enemies, informing Bobby, the voice in comms, that his script worked. Rhodey flies into the scene in his regular War Machine Armor to provide support. Mojo realizes Rhodey had concealed his proper armor beneath the War Monger costume, left behind in the burning village set. The felled onis robots readjust themselves and charge. As Iron Man sheds out his Shogun Armor to reveal his regular suit, War Machine fends off the attacking onis. The discarded suit reforms itself into a platform that encases the gushing mother in an energy dome. The dome launches like a rocket, escorted by Iron Man and War Machine. Back in Mojo's monitor room, the villain enthuses over Iron Man's performance and his audience's positive reception. He formulates future plans, and Major Domo cautions him about oversaturating the audience. Mojo assures him that people will always crave stories about heroes. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Bobby and his mother embrace after being reunited by Iron Man and War Machine.
Armored but unmasked, Tony walks through a garden, interposed with a flashback of Maria Stark holding him as a baby for the first time. He is teary-eyed and holding balloons. He reminisces about several cherished moments with his mother as he grew up: playing with bath bubbles, Maria removing a splinter from a crying Tony's finger, Tony aiming the cherry of a sundae at her with a spoon like a catapult, fixing a car engine, sunbathing together. Finally, Tony dejectedly waiting next to a surgery room. Tony stop his march at Maria's tombstone, and wishes her a happy Mother's Day. The epitaph reads "Wife, Mother and Tony's Best Friend." Tony sheds a tear.
Solicit Synopsis
MOTHER’S DAY SPECIAL…
• One of Iron Man’s greatest regrets was his inability to save his mother’s life. Iron Man dons new armor, an oni mask and twin plasma katanas on his quest to make his long list of regrets one item shorter. For his mom, he becomes the all-new IRON SHOGUN.
• This episode is set in the ’90s era of Iron Man comics and, just like every other episode, is ideal for new readers as a jumping-on point for the series.Notes
- This issue is set chronologically during Kurt Busiek's tenure as writer of Iron Man, which lasted from 1997's Iron Man (Vol. 3) #1 to 2000's Iron Man (Vol. 3) #24. In the story, this is conveyed by Tony's use of the Iron Man Armor Model 16.
- This presents a continuity error with Jim Rhodes' appearance as War Machine wearing the Iron Man Armor Model 11. Rhodey lost that armor in 1995's War Machine #17 before stopping being War Machine altogether in 1996's Tales of the Marvel Universe #1. He wouldn't resurface as War Machine until 2007's Avengers: The Initiative #1. Furthermore, during Kurt Busiek's Iron Man run, the original War Machine Armor that Rhodey lost had come into the possession of Parnell Jacobs.
- The flashback this issue shows of Maria Stark cradling a baby Tony is a reenactment of a scene from International Iron Man #7, when Howard introduces the baby to her. Maria's dialogue is the same as it was in International Iron Man #7, except for two new follow-up lines that are presented as a voice-over over present-day Tony.
Trivia
- This issue doubles as a "secret War Machine anniversary issue," celebrating Jim Rhodes' adoption of the War Machine alias in Avengers West Coast #94 (cover dated May 1993).[1]
- Writer Murewa Ayodele has credited writer Brian Michael Bendis, artist Alex Maleev and editor Tom Brevoort for inspiring the creation of this issue due to their work in International Iron Man,[2] which is Ayodele's favorite Iron Man story.[3] In addition featuring the reenactment of the scene from International Iron Man #7 of Maria Stark holding a baby Tony, this issue's depiction of teenage Tony sporting long hair calls back to International Iron Man's unique depiction of teenage Tony as long-haired.
- The Iron Shogun was inspired by Iron Man's Model-Prime Armor shapeshifting into samurai-esque configuration in Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #4. The animated series Samurai Jack and samurai anime in general "helped too."[4]
- A scrapped artwork for this issue consisted of a wraparound cover depicting Tony Stark and Jim Rhodes, wearing their Iron Shogun and War Monger suits, visiting Maria Stark's grave, with Tony kneeling to place flowers on the ground.[5]
- When Mojo's TV screens show a title screen with Iron Man's name, it displays the logo used in the trade cover for Iron Man (Vol. 3) for issues #1–#49, evoking the time period in which this issue takes place.
- After the success of his transmission featuring Iron Man, Mojo expresses his desire to do it "two more times" with Iron Man, and then "keep adding more and more heroes from Earth and maybe not from Earth." This is a meta-reference to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which spun out three Iron Man movies while expanding into the Avengers, and eventually introducing the Guardians of the Galaxy. Major Domo also predicts the box-office collapse of super hero movies in 2023, expressing concern to Mojo that the audience might get tired of their content if they overdo it.
See Also
Links and References
References
- ↑ Ayodele, Murewa (May 1, 2023) Murewa Ayodele on Twitter: "First appearance of War Machine: ... Twitter. Archived from the original on May 8, 2023. Originally retrieved on May 8, 2023.
- ↑ Ayodele, Murewa (May 10, 2023) Murewa Ayodele on X: "Thank you @BRIANMBENDIS, @alexmaleev, and... X. Archived from the original on April 9, 2024. Originally retrieved on April 20, 2024.
- ↑ Ayodele, Murewa (March 6, 2023) Murewa Ayodele on X: "Hi. I'm happy you enjoyed the read of I AM IRON ... X. Archived from the original on April 9, 2024. Originally retrieved on April 20, 2024.
- ↑ Ayodele, Murewa (May 15, 2023) Murewa Ayodele on X: "The samurai iteration of Model Prime armor was a... X. Archived from the original on April 9, 2024. Originally retrieved on April 20, 2024.
- ↑ Ayodele, Murewa (March 22, 2023) Murewa Ayodele on X: "One of the many beauriful artworks by ... X. Archived from the original on April 9, 2024. Originally retrieved on April 20, 2024.