IRON MAN vol. 3 #73 (418)
(Dec. 2003) "Acquisition" -- The Best Defense, part 1.
Cover art: [Joe?] Jusko.
Script: John Jackson Miller.
Art: Jorge Lucas.
The ish opens with an American military helicopter in action in Africa. Its occupants are in battle armor, too! Suddenly things go awry -- the helicopter's electronics go wack and the grunts' armor catch on fire!! Later, at the Pentagon, the mission's failure is discussed at length, and Chief of Staff (the president's) Stu Conrad is determined to get Tony Stark on board as a technical adviser to help straighten out the military's tech problems! Later, at a technology expo, Conrad confronts Stark and gives his pitch. Stark, obviously initially has little interest -- until Conrad points out that one Sonny Burch, a former Obadiah Stane employee now with Cross Technologies, is in charge of the government's military tech. Stark begins to think about it, and then really thinks about it after Conrad "accidentally" leaves behind a disc of the issue's opening military incident for Stark to view. Later, an Avengers mission with Capt. America adds more for Tony to consider, so much so that Iron Man pops up in Sonny Burch's Pentagon office -- unannounced! What follows is a top-notch discussion about how [some of] Stark's inventions have been appropriated by the government, patent law, and the revelation that Iron Man is Tony Stark. The issue ends with Tony Stark informing Stu Conrad -- and president George Bush -- that the latter is going to name him Secretary of Defense! Miller demonstrates just what a true IM fan he is by neatly -- and accurately -- depicting key points of Stark/IM history. He's also running with a story based on the ramifications of Stark revealing his secret ID -- and setting it up virtually perfectly! Lucas' art, though not great, has a "grit" about it that quickly grows on you. His Iron Man looks metallic and highly tech-laden. A terrific debut -- I'm tempted to go with four 'pulsors but I got burned doing that with Grell's [lame] time-travel yarn. So I'll reserve that based on what happens in subsequent issues.
Hube's Recommendation: 3 1/2 repulsors!
