Tony Stark is a master of technology. Yet he’s capable of crafting some impressive workarounds when denied access to a full range of tools and resources. This is demonstrated perfectly in Iron Man #2 by Spencer Ackerman and Julius Ohta.
The current Iron Man series opened with Tony Stark under siege. AIM and the oil conglomerate Roxxon joined forces in a hostile takeover of Stark Enterprises. To further complicate matters, a new Iron Monger, backed by magical malware, took control of every existing armor Tony had ever built. Denied access to his fortune and his tech, Tony went on the offensive.
He crafted a new suit, more leather than metal, which he dubbed the “Improvised Iron Man.” Using this steampunk suit, he began attacking Roxxon’s pipelines. His apparent goal was to expose the apparent weakness of Roxxon’s infrastructure, hoping to ruin confidence in their buy-out efforts. However, as is typical for Tony Stark, the attacks were part of a larger scheme. One that would give him a weapon capable of fighting back against his enemies.
Iron Man’s secret weapon is a sword
The final pages of Iron Man #2 found Tony attacked by Roxxon’s goons, hoping to delay his arrival to the vote to approve the hostile takeover. Tony was shaky thanks to another magical ambush. Thankfully, he was prepared with his new weapon; a sword forged from metal stolen from Roxxon’s pipelines.
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Rather than using standard bends, Roxxon’s pipes used a retracting steel plating joined by plastic flexors. This was apparently low-tech enough to not be effected by the jinx that was hindering Tony’s ability to use his traditional repulsor tech. It was also a bit of ironic justice for Iron Man to use the technology of the enemy that had stolen his tech.
Iron Man #2 is now available at comic shops everywhere.