The Infinity Crossover offered an epic batle that spanned the Marvel Universe. Thanos, the evil and powerful Titan makes a devastating return in Infinity. His return means that there is renewed war on Earth and in deep space as efforts are made to stop him.
The battles against Thanos makes for epic action scenes. Even worse for the Avengers is that they have to fight against the Builders as well.
The Infinity Crossover builds an alliance of Avengers, the X Men, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Spiderman, Inhumans and the Fantastic Four that join forces to take on Thanos.
This is a
major turning point in Tony Stark’s life. It gave him more human
qualities than ever before. It also foreshadows his relapse years later,
where he eventually loses his company and sees his friend James Rhodes
donning the Iron Man armour in his place.
Stark
would later regain everything he had lost following a pivotal
confrontation with another rival, Obadiah Stane, in issue #200.
Even
though it isn’t the first time that Marvel approached the topic of
addiction (Peter Parker’s roommate Harry Osborne’s drug addiction was a
plot point in the Amazing Spider-Man #96-98), it was the first time that
such an issue was approved by the Comics Code Authority, which was the
industry’s regulating authority until 2011.
It brought the problem of alcoholism to the mainstream and made more readers realize that no one is immune to the issue.
Demon
In A Bottle showed how addiction affected both Stark in his daily life
and as a superhero, as well of the lives of his friends and fellow
heroes. It also gave addicts hope that they could overcome their demons
just as Stark did.
Demon In A Bottle Collects Iron Man Issues 120 – 128
Disney Rejects Iron Man Alcoholism Storyline From Iron Man 3
Even
though Tony’s fondness for the bottle was touched upon in Iron Man 2
the ideas from Demon In A Bottle were not explored further.
Disney executives told Iron Man 3 writers, Drew Pearce and Shane Black, to stay away from the topic for Iron Man 3.
The studio wanted to portray Stark as an industrialist and a workhorse. They also wanted the movie to be a family-friendly film.
The
writers agreed not to approach the topic in the movie but hoped that it
might be addressed at some point later on. It was put on the
back-burner and hasn’t been returned to since.
The major theme from
The Demon In A Bottle is tackled in the final episode. Tony Stark must
confront his alcohol problems and acknowledge what it means to be Iron
Man.
Back home, Tony celebrates his good fortune by
living the nightlife and drinking heavily. He returns to the office and
engages in an argument with loyal butler Jarvis, one that causes the
faithful servant to tender his resignation.
The
story arc ends in issue #128 with Stark contemplating his personal and
super-hero life. He crashes through the windows of his office suite and
soon finds a derailed train.
Iron Man 128 Demon In A Bottle
In
his drunken state, he ends up doing more harm than good when trying to
move a train car containing toxic gases. He returns to the office and is
confronted by Cabe.
Cabe confides in Stark about the destructive
behaviour she witnessed from her husband. She didn’t want her friend to
go down the same path. Stark agrees to try to change, and Cabe helps him
avoid the temptations of alcohol. It isn’t easy, but Stark succeeds.
Jarvis
eventually returns and asks for his job back. He admits to Tony that he
sold his two shares of Stark Industries stock to pay for his mother’s
mounting medical bills. The shares were owned by a greedy loan shark.
Realizing
that ownership of those shares would give him primary control over his
company, Tony decides to meet the loan shark as Iron Man.
Iron
Man destroys the loan shark’s office until the businessman admits that
he already sold the shares in question. Stark returns home and picks up
the bottle in frustration.
Cabe and Jarvis persuade him to put the bottle down and continue his fight to regain sobriety for the ones who care about him.
Tony then finally meets Justin
Hammer face to face. He learns about Hammer’s plans to sabotage the
Iron Man armour and discredit Stark Industries.
Iron Man 124 Demon In A Bottle
Stark
tries to escape until he realizes that he is on a large houseboat,
miles from the coast. He is imprisoned but manages to cleverly outwit a
guard and gain access to his suitcase containing his armour.
A
bevvy of villains has been flown onto the houseboat, just in time to do
battle with the Avenger. Iron Man is able to easily defeat the Melter,
the Constrictor, Leapfrog, Man-Killer, Stiletto and Discus, Blizzard,
Whiplash, the Beetle, the Water Wizard, the Porcupine and Spymaster.
Iron Man 127 Demon In A Bottle
Hammer
escapes during the battle, but Rhodes and Stark are able to apprehend
one of his employees and bring him to the States. Hammer’s lackey
confesses to the authorities, and Iron Man is cleared of all charges.
Cabe and Iron Man are
both present that evening as the ambassador is surrounded by reporters
and news photographers. While Stark rests his left hand behind the
ambassador’s back, the repulsor suddenly fires a blazing bolt through
the dignitary’s chest, killing him instantly.
Iron Man 127 Demon In A Bottle
The
crowd is just as stunned as Iron Man is about the incident. Officials
ask the Avenger to turn himself in, but he politely declines.
The
next day, Stark surrenders the Iron Man armour to city hall officials,
after secretly removing the circuitry for further inspection. Tony
drowns his sorrows in alcohol and later appears at Avengers Mansion.
The
team is dismayed by the fact that Iron Man can no longer serve as
chairman because of being under suspicion for murder, but they take
Stark’s personal appeal well. Tony also gets a series of physical
defence lessons from acting chairman Captain America while there.
Iron Man 125 Demon In A Bottle
Tony
was still determined to find out why his armour failed repeatedly.
After hearing Whiplash mention the name “Hammer” while being apprehended
following the foiled casino burglary, he seeks out the assistance of
employee Scott Lang. He asks Lang what he knows about Ryker’s Island.
Lang
decides to investigate by using his Ant-Man guise to sneak into
Whiplash’s cell at Ryker’s Island. He coerces the villain to tell him
everything he knows about the man named Hammer.
Upon receiving
Lang’s information, Stark decides to take a trans-Atlantic flight to
Monaco to follow up. The duo are soon met by costumed armed guards who
quickly subdue them.
Issue #120 begins with Stark
drowning his sorrows in booze while on a commercial flight. His reverie
is suddenly interrupted by a military tank that crashes through the
plane. Tony quickly dons his armour and saves the passengers and crew.
The
tank was part of a military operation on a remote island with only one
occupant, the hermit-like Hiram Dobbs. Dobbs is defended by Prince Namor
the Sub-Mariner because the old man rescued him after being washed
ashore on the island.
Iron Man 120 Demon In A Bottle
Meanwhile,
Stark’s employees hear the news about his plane going down. Pilot James
Rhodes and security consultant Bethany Cabe fly to his rescue. The pair
are soon subdued by the supposed military group, which is actually an
operation by Roxxon Oil. The company reps are there to mine precious
vibranium from the island.
Justin Hammer Vs Iron Man
This
is also the first time that we see rival Justin Hammer. Hammer’s men
have devised a hypersonic scan to tamper with the programming of Iron
Man’s armour.
Their
first incident causes Iron Man’s eye and mouth plates to open suddenly
while underwater, forcing an almost certain doom until Namor rescues him
during their battle.
Iron Man 121 Demon In A Bottle
The
two heroes soon realize who the real enemy is on the island, and
retaliate against the Roxxon forces. They are able to get Rhodes, Cabe
and Dobbs to safety before the conglomerate obliterates the island.
Following
a re-telling of Iron Man’s origin in issue #122, we see Hammer’s next
sabotage attempt in issue #123. Tony’s boot jets start to malfunction as
he is flying back home.
Stark
survives the crash but is baffled by what happened. He’s unable to find
anything wrong with his armour after exhaustive tests.
Iron Man 122 Demon In A Bottle
Tony
re-emerges as himself in the office, much to the relief and anguish of
his employees. Cabe calls him out on his behaviour in his private office
and later that evening over dinner and drinks at a casino in Atlantic
City. The quiet evening is soon interrupted by an attempted robbery of
the building by Iron Man’s old foes Whiplash, the Melter and Blizzard.
Iron Man 123 Demon In A Bottle
Stark
dons his armour once more and is able to defeat the villains, with some
timely assistance from Cabe. The next day, we see Tony signing
paperwork to guarantee Iron Man’s presence at a ceremony at the United
Nations honouring the visiting Carnelian ambassador.
Cabe has been assigned to be the ambassador’s bodyguard. We also see Hammer planning his next evil scheme!
Demon In A Bottle is an essential Iron Man storyline which changed the way superhero characters could be developed.
Alongside
the external battles faced by Iron Man as he faces an assortment of
villains, Tony Stark must confront his drinking problems to keep Stark
Industries from failing.
Iron Man 128 Demon In A Bottle
Iron Man #120-128 Original publication date: 1979 Story: David Michelinie Artwork: Bob Layton, John Romita Jr, Carmine Infantino
Marvel
Comics continued to evolve in the 1970s. There were more books and
creative teams than ever before. There were also many memorable
storylines during the decade.
While
you probably know about the Kree/Skrull War and the Korvac Saga in the
Avengers and the deaths of Gwen Stacy and Norman Osborne/the Green
Goblin in the Amazing Spider-Man, a lesser known but very powerful story
arc you may not know about is Demon In A Bottle in Iron Man #120-128.
The
storyline was written by David Michelinie, with pencils by John Romita
Jr. and inks/co-plotting from Bob Layton. It remains one of the most
important chapters in Iron Man’s history today.
Demon In A Bottle Collects Iron Man Issues 120 – 128
A big influence on Iron Man 3, the Extremis story revitalised the Irom Man character for the comic book audience.
Facing
inner conflict and a technology that is weaponising terrorists, Tony
Stark must reconcile his relationship with the Iron Man suit.
Iron Man Extremis Cover Art from Part 3
Iron Man Extremis is a six-part comic book published in 2005 and 2006
by Marvel. The story forms part of the fourth volume of the Iron Man
series. Extremis was written by Warren Ellis, with the illustrations
being drawn by Adi Granov.
The world is faced with horrifying new threats that could destroy humanity if Iron Man is unable to defeat Extremis.
Who
or what is Extremis? Who is in control of Extremis? Furthermore, what
will happen to the world if Iron Man is unable to defeat such a powerful
enemy?
Geek Hut 