Tony Stark: Iron Man vol. 2 — Stark Realities

It’s launch day for Stark Unlimited’s biggest project:  The eScape. It’s the most immersive form of virtual reality known to man and it’s up for sale to everyone in the Marvel Universe.  While most people are content to play around with all the toys that Tony Stark has made for them, there are those who just can’t play well with others and wind up banned from the system.  Which makes them the perfect recruits for the Controller’s latest scheme. While he gets them back into the eScape to wreak havoc, he’ll siphon their brainpower in real life to become a living god.  Still, it’s not like Stark hasn’t taken down the Controller many times before now. Which is why it’s a real problem when he’s taken off the board. That’s because the eScape’s firmware is built using the memory engrams of two people very close to Stark, and one of them wants a word with him.

“Stark Realities” is the payoff to a lot of stuff Dan Slott was setting up in the first volume.  In addition to the eScape, we get to see how Jocasta’s identity problems play out, where Tony’s biological mom Amanda Armstrong fits in, what Andy Bhang brings to the table and what happens to Bethany, the compromised security head of Stark Unlimited.  Best of all is how Aaron Stack gets to be both a huge jerk and a big hero, which is all I really want to see from him post-”Nextwave.” There’s also good stuff done with James Rhodes towards the end of the volume, and I’m still really curious to see what Slott’s plans for Arno Stark are.  He’s still creepy as hell here, but his actions don’t quite scan as “supervillain” just yet.

This arc does have its problems, however.  Slott (and Jeremy Whitley and Jim Zub, who pitch in on scripting duties) does his best to fill the storyline with twists and turns amid the conflict.  Yet “Stark Realities” still feels overlong at six whole issue. I was left feeling that the storyline would’ve been stronger had the story been split into two arcs with the first half being about the controller and the second dealing with the antagonist inside the eScape.  Oh, and as for the bits of the story that pick away at Stark’s sobriety? “Too soon” is all I have to say about that particular card being played now. Even if this does wind up being a decent volume overall, you’re left feeling that it could’ve been better if it had more focus.