IRON MAN vol. 3 #80 (425) 
(June 2004) "Magic Bullets" -- The Deep End, part 2.
Cover art: Adi Granov.
Script: John Jackson Miller.
Art: Philip Tan.
Stark arrives in Baghdad via his "S.A.T.V." -- Stark's All-Terrain Vehicle -- to get the lowdown on the mystery of last issue. After maneuvering through the usual diplomatic hassles upon landing, Tony promptly heads off to the site of the trouble. En route, Stark's entourage is ambushed by locals yelling "ISHTAR!!" and firing a mysterious napalm-like substance at the S.A.T.V. The gel quickly "dissolves" the side of the vehicle, and a hasty escape is mandated! But good news: Stark has armored up!! Bad news: The mysterious substance has begun melting the Iron Man armor! After dispatching of the attackers, IM sends samples of the gel back to the states for analysis. It's discovered that it is a "supercharged" metal eating bacteria that excretes acid, and was developed by one of Saddam's chemical weapons researchers. But this researcher, dubbed "Vitriol," later turned on Saddam, but his/her whereabouts have been unknown. Back in Iraq, Iron Man and his army colleagues make it to Hatra, their destination. They discover a pool of the mystery gel inside a temple ... and soon after, the woman Leyla who led them to it dives in ... and then emerges from it, transformed!! But into what?
This is a standard continuation story that, well, is just that. Nothing really exciting except the fact that Tan draws a pretty nice Iron Man (but his regular people are still dread-awful ). Neat PC Touch dept.: Miller includes a cool couple of panels where Stark berates a soldier for using the term "Indian country," but quickly backtracks upon learning the soldier's name is Walkingbear! Stark remarks, "My old corporate sensitivity officer would be going for his digitalis right now!"
Hube's Recommendation: 1/2 repulsors!
