Vol. 4. Issue 11: (Oct. 2006) "Execute Program, part 5."
Cover art: Adi Granov.
Script: Daniel & Charles Knauf.
Art: Patrick Zircher/Scott Hanna.
Iron Man is in pitched battle with the Sentry, and things don't look good. But, of course, never count the brain (even if it's compromised!) of Tony Stark out! He accesses the Sentry Tower's computer "Cloc" and overloads Sentry's senses with reports of crises from around the world. Meanwhile, at Wembley Stadium in London, the "Global Peace Summit" is underway, and Karim Najeeb -- next on Iron Man's hacker's hit list -- is addressing the crowd. It seems as though all of Marvel's superheroes are in attendance for security purposes, and they're quickly updated on Iron Man's impending arrival. However, Stark, the super-smart bad-ass that he is, has figured out how to block his hacker's transmissions, and alerts his fellow heroes on the situation. It's revealed that Stark is now piloting the IM by remote interface, and he himself -- at Wembley -- has been "pinging" the hacker's signal so he can track him down. Bingo! Stark finds him, and it's revealed that the hacker is ... the son of Professor Ho Yinsen! He's miffed that his dad was "corrupted" by having to work for government's in order to get funding for his "humanitarian" inventions. This inadvertently led to the death of his mother. What's all this got to with Stark? He was the target of some corrupt gov.'s machinations, and Prof. Yinsen was "ordered" to implant that control device in Tony's head. 'Ya follow? I'm not sure I do either! At any rate, Ho's son warns Stark that if he's killed, all hell's essentially gonna break loose. But that's just what a SHIELD agent does, putting a bullet into his skull!! And HOO-BOY: the last two panels show myriad suits of Iron Man armor powering up back at Stark's lab!
Hube's Recommendation: 2 1/2 repulsors!
Fan Reaction: The funny thing about this arc is, Tom Brevoort said several times the main reason he doesn't want to hire David Michelinie an Bob Layton to write IM is he doesn't want past creators rewriting old stories. But it seems he doesn't mind old histories retold by different creative teams, since "Execute Program" is almost identical to "Manhunt." Even the villain is Chinese! Not to mention he's a cliched "I want to avenger my father death" kind of villain. And lastly, that storyline made all that "The Sons of Yinsen" mess out of continuity. I dont like to bash anybody´s work, and I don't think Tom Brevoort hates IM or anything, but I´m just tired of that "reinvention of the character" every 6 issues. -- Alexandre Juliao
