Iron Man V. 3 #2– “Avalanche!” (January 1998)

Kurt Busiek (writer) Sean Chen (pencils) Eric Cannon, Sean Parsons, Al Milgrom (inks)

Synopsis: Tony takes on his first consulting assignment for Stark Solutions, helping his former girlfriend, Countess Stephanie De La Spirosa with accounting irregularities in her manufacturing company in Switzerland. Tony notices she is keeping him from getting any work done, and goes to investigating her company’s facility as Iron Man. He’s quickly attacked by armed troops referring to themselves as the Siege Engineers. He covers them in an avalanche and escapes, with suspicions that Stephanie’s company is manufacturing advanced weapons. The next day, Tony confronts her about her efforts to evade him from doing any work. He escapes after a skirmish with the armed men in her house, and is soon suited up as Iron Man, flying towards the facility. The Siege Engineers re-emerge, and, while Tony fights them, Stephanie’s chalet explodes. Out of the smokes emerge a squad of Dreadnoughts.

The Subplots: Happy and Pepper are now both working for Stark Solutions. Hints are dropped about their separation; At an undisclosed location, a young girl informs a shadowed figure that their Swiss supplier has been compromised, and that Tony Stark is involved. He asks for the counter measures to be activated; Tony is still pondering who hired the Death Squad to kill him.

Notes: Countess Stephanie De La Spirosa first appeared way back in Tales of Suspence#69 as a jilted lover of Tony’s, who interfered in his fights with the Titanium Man, and, later, the Thinker. They have apparently buried the hatchet since.

The Dreadnought robots were once the exclusive possession of Hydra, but have been employed by other criminal organizations, such as AIM and the Maggia.

Although the mystery figure is shadowed, it’s not too difficult from the decor to determine who it is. It’s heavily implied that his “counter measures” are the Dreadnoughts. The mention of his “Swiss supplier” implies another figure involved in all of this.

Thoughts: For me, things pick up considerably from the first issue. Gone is the Tony who exclusively sat around and moped. He’s replaced with a Tony who is astute and a bit harder, but still thoughtful and likable. Busiek is also doing a great job in his portrayal of Iron Man. Getting into the way Tony uses his armour and his components has made for some fun scenes. Chen has thrown in a bunch of POV shots that demonstrate Iron Man’s different abilities, livening up some standard battle scenes.

Busiek also does a good job jumping into Tony’s first Stark Solutions case. In typical Busiek fashion, he brings back a minor character from the 1960s for a major role But this appearance barely relies on that continuity and works well, and better than just creating an “old flame” for Tony. The intrigue of her business troubles is well-done, if straightforward. The breakfast scene, where Tony confronts her, is a fun, dramatic one for all involved. The only drawback is the villains. The two fight scenes, both nicely rendered against the snowy Alps, are fun, but this far all Tony has faced in this title are armed soldiers.

Overall, it’s still a good, straightforward superhero story, with effort put in to make its lead character seem intelligent and interesting. Sean Chen is doing a great job. The scenes with Iron Man in action look excellent, as all of the technology looks great and the battles are well-staged. His people can look a little stiff and not too expressive, but Liquid’s colours really bring them to life, rounding them and their surroundings to make them pop.