Tony Stark gets a skyscraper-sized upgrade in the pages of his new comic, Tony Stark: Iron Man. In the first issue, Stark battles his old enemy, Fin Fang Foom, a giant green dragon. To beat him, Stark designs the “Fin Fang Foombuster” armor.
After falling into a coma as a result of Civil War II, Stark was replaced as Iron Man by 15-year-old tech genius Riri Williams, who also took over his solo title. After a long absence, Stark finally awoke from his coma and reclaimed the “Iron Man” mantle. Stark is one of the latest classic characters to make a comeback as a part of Marvel’s “Fresh Start” initiative. Alongside longtime allies Captain America and Thor, Iron Man is a current member of the newest iteration of the Avengers.
In the debut issue of Tony Stark: Iron Man, one of Marvel’s oldest characters, Fin Fang Foom, launches an attack on New York. To deal with him, Stark dons a new suit of armor dubbed the “Fin Fang Foombuster”. While wearing the twenty-story suit, Iron Man clashes with Fin Fang Foom in an epic “giant robot vs. giant monster” throwdown.
Unfortunately for Iron Man, the major size-change isn’t enough to take down the dragon. Fin Fang Foom trashes the suit, forcing Stark to eject. Using a more traditional armor, Stark flies inside of Fin Fang Foom and finds an enormous “control disk”, which belongs to another classic Iron Man villain, the Controller. Iron Man destroys the disk and frees the dragon of the villain’s control, putting an end to the fight.
Though the Fin Fang Foombuster armor proved to be ineffective, future issues of Tony Stark: Iron Man could introduce tons of new suits. Concept art for the new series revealed the designs of nine new armors, with “hundreds” more to come in upcoming issues of the series. This isn’t the first time Stark has resorted to designing a suit specifically for fighting one opponent. Stark’s “Hulkbuster” and “Thorbuster” armors are other examples of this strategy.
Apparently, the Fin Fang Foombuster was just a first of many new suits that Iron Man will use in the near future. Instead of using the same suit for every battle, Iron Man will wear the suit that’s best-suited to a given situation. It’s certainly an interesting approach to the character, and it will be fun to see what Iron Man will unleash next.
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Tony Stark: Iron Man #1 is on sale now from Marvel.