I made an error earlier: it's this issue where Sinclair Abbott says "A HANDSHAKE TODAY, A MUNITIONS DEAL TOMORROW..." not back in issue three when I said it happened. Apologies.
This is the issue where things turn a little. Sinclair Abbott reveals himself as an antagonist a bit too much to Tony Stark, pissing him off a bit. Especially after Maggie Dillon dies in the aftermath of the explosion where the Living Laser escaped. As she dies, Tony removes his mask at her request and there's a nice touching moment. She tried to take those first steps into superherodom as the Iron Therapist or whatever the fuck you'd call what she did and she paid the price. Her enthusiasm was her downfall and Tony gave her the means. He didn't watch over her enough. He spends a bit of the issue walking through a funk in business meetings, Avengers meetings, dates... if being Iron Man wasn't before Dillon died, it's become absolutely horrible now. His confrontation with Abbott is a big signifier of this: he just walks away, not wanting to play the game. Until Dillon's death, he might have played it.
It's a conversation with Leonard Samson, Dillon's teacher, that turns things around. Tony basically lays out the hell he lives in as an example of the inevitable future. Because of the Extremis, he's radically different than a regular human. He says
I USE CELL PHONES AND BLACKBERRIES AND LAPTOPS BECAUSE TONY STARK WOULD USE THOSE THINGS...
...MY CONCESSIONS TO THE CONCEPT OF "NORMAL."
BUT I DON'T NEED THEM.
SO THESE ARE THINGS THAT ONLY I KNOW...
...BUT ASK ANYONE AND THEY'LL TELL YOU THEY'VE GOT IRON MAN PEGGED...
...BODYGUARD. SUPER HERO. AVENGER. BUT THE WORST OF IT...
...ONE SIDE OF A "VS." MARQUEE THAT I'VE COME TO SEE AS A RIDICULOUS PARADIGM OF PRO WRESTLING CLICHES AND WASTED ENERGIES.
THERE ARE INDIVIDUALS OUT THERE WHO ARE SO INTENT ON VIOLENT ENGAGEMENT WITH ME THAT THEY WILL GO TO GREAT LENGTHS TO ENGINEER ONE...
...INCLUDING THE MURDER OF THOSE CLOSE TO ME. AND EVERYTHING I'VE COME TO BELIEVE ABOUT MYSELF AND ABOUT MY SO-CALLED EVOLUTION... THEY COMPLETELY DISREGARD.
THEY JUST DON'T GET IT. THEY'RE FIGHTING AGAINST AN INEVITABLE FUTURE, BUT THEY JUST DON'T REALIZE THAT I'M ALREADY THERE...
...I AM THE FUTURE.
This speech is absolutely loaded. Partly, it's a recognition of the conventions of superhero comics. Warren Ellis, with the Extremis, turned Tony Stark into the Engineer: a man that's part machine, beyond what he was. He doesn't need to act like a human anymore, but he does to maintain normalcy. That alone is frustrating. Imagine being able to make phone calls or send e-mails with your mind and being forced to do it manually. It would be like working to make your heart beat because everyone else has to. But, he's outgrown the traditional superhero role. That was part of Ellis's relaunch of the character. He's more focused on bringing about the future; one that he sees in himself. Traditional superhero/supervillain dynamics is the past. And Tony can't understand why other people don't move past them as well. Worse, he knows he's past them. He thinks he knows who he is and no one else seems to see it. But, does he? He spends the entire series denying he's Iron Man. That's his truth: he's more Iron Man than Tony Stark. But, if he revealed that, Tony Stark would take the hit. His current arrangement is an exercise in nostalgia almost. For all his talk of he's the future, he's stuck in the past, unable to let go of Tony Stark's normal life. He's just a hypocrite. He's just as backwards thinking as Sinclair Abbott.
There's even a nice dig at Bendis's New Avengers thrown in: "AN AVENGERS I DON'T ALWAYS RECOGNIZE. MAYBE THAT WAS THE POINT. CHANGE FOR CHANGE'S SAKE." In some ways, that could be a dig at Ellis's change to Iron Man. Why radically alter the character, why 'evolve' him when it won't last, it can't last? Not only can it not last, it can't even be used! You can't radically change these characters! And, if you do, be prepared for backlash.
The issue ends with Tony embracing another pointless superhero/supervillain fight and attacking the Spymaster in his home. Only he got fried because the Spymaster prepared for him...
In 30 minutes, we finish this.
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