Iron Man (vol. 3) #78
The Best Defense, Part 6: Confirmation
In the middle of the Congressional vote to officiate Tony Stark’s appointment as Secretary Defense all hell has broken loose. Prior to the vote, Undersecretary Sonny Burch had been unsealing old Stark weapon patents and having other tech companies build them. This has created a perfect storm for a massive disaster.[1]
A military transport carrying suits of refurbished Iron Man armor had been struck by malfunctioning drone. This has disabled the craft’s transponders. Due to the current terror threat level, NORAD has scrambled fighter planes to intercept. This happened as the same time as a defective surface-to-air missile launcher has fired its pay load.
Luckily, Tony Stark has been able to suit of as Iron Man and intercept one of the missiles before it can strike down one of the fighters. After blasting away the immediate threats, Iron Man uses a kill command to blow up all the remaining missiles. He then lands on top of the transport to assess the situation. The cockpit is completely ruined and there is no way to stop the plane from losing altitude. Iron Man instead focuses on the crew trapped inside. He is shocked to discover that they have been transporting crates filled with refurbished suits of Iron Man armor. However, this gives Tony the solution he needs to get all the soldiers off the crashing plane without safely. He orders them to suit up and remotely commands the Iron Man suits to fly the soldiers back to the ground.
Iron Man then focuses on trying to prevent the carrier plane from crashing in a populated area. After prying loose the landing gear, Iron Man uses his jet boots to try and push the plane up ward into landing position and slow it down. Stark manages to make the plane land in the reflecting pool, saving countless lives.
However, Iron Man is pinned under the plane. Luckily, the soldiers outfitted in the armor are able to combine their strength and lift the plane off of him. As Iron Man gets back to his feet, the soldiers all stand at attention and solute him.
Tony is taken to the Bethesda Naval Hospital to treat his wounds. The following day he is visited by his friend Stu Conrad, the Secretary of State. He tells Tony that he has been invited out to a “bonfire” in Alabama where they are going to destroy all the refurbished suits of Iron Man armor. He also has some exciting news for Stark: Due to the crisis, Congress was evacuated before the final vote could be made. After Tony saved everyone’s lives, he was able to change minds and his petition to become the Secretary of Defense has been approved. That’s when the President of the United States comes in to congratulate him and inform Tony that he will be sworn in as soon as he is back on his feet.
Continuity Notes
After Tony revealed his identity in Iron Man (vol. 3) #55, it gave Sonny Burch the legal loophole he needed to unseal Tony’s patents that were protected as top secret. See issue #73 for details.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Stuart Conrad
Topical References
This story was written during the early days of the War on Terror and the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan that were in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. As such, a lot of the attitudes and depictions of the United States government are influenced by this particular point in time. While these themes are merely implied, they should be considered topical.
The military transport plane is identified as a Lockheed C-5 Galaxy transport and the fighter planes as F-14s. Although these aircraft are still being used by the US military, they will eventually be retired out as new and more advanced aircraft becomes available. Their depiction here should be considered topical.
The President of the United States is depicted as George W. Bush, who announces Tony as the 24th Secretary of Defense. This should be considered a topical reference as Bush was President at the time this story was published. He completed his second term in 2009. Referring to Tony as the 24th Secretary was actually incorrect for the time period. The actual 24th Secretary of Defense was Leon Panetta who was appointed by the Obama Administration in 2011. At any rate, which Secretary of Defense Stark is appointed as should be considered topical.
