Iron Man (vol. 3) #87
The Singularity, Part 2
The Stark Enterprises Board of Directors have all been murdered by someone wearing Iron Man’s armor. The authorities have arrived and are trying to question Pepper Potts to determine if the killer is Tony Stark. However, the realization that — had she not been late to the meeting — Pepper would have been dead as well. As she breaks down, Happy goes to her side.[1][2]
Meanwhile, worried about Tony’s well being following his recent controversies, Rumiko Fujikawa has returned to America to be by his side. Her assistant, Oshima can’t understand why she would drop everything just to do this. Rumiko explains that Tony loves her and almost asked her to marry him. She remembers it like it happened a few days ago. She and Tony were having a romantic dinner. Right when she thought he was going to pop the question, they were interrupted by a pushy asshole named Clarence Ward. Ward was hoping to discuss some business with Tony and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Rumiko got annoyed and threw a glass of water in his face. When he called her a nasty name, Tony punched him out and the night was thoroughly ruined. Later that night, while looking for cab fare, Rumiko found a ring in Tony’s jacket pocket. That’s when their limo driver announces that they have arrived outside Tony’s Virginia mansion. Outside, protestors are blocking the front gates. However, this won’t detour Rumiko, who tells Oshima that she knows another way in. Ominously, Iron Man passes by overhead.
Back in New York, Happy and Pepper have returned to their home in Sleepy Hollow. There, Pepper is glued to the TV for news about Tony. She is watching an emergency hearing as the government decides what to do about Tony’s position as Secretary of State. They are interviewing Senator Joe Zimmer that he believes that Tony should never have been chosen as Secretary of State.[3] Pepper realizes something in that moment, she tells Happy that the Board of Directors all dead, their shares all automatically revert back to Tony. Pepper didn’t tell this to the authorities because it would make Tony look guilty and she suggests that Happy keep his mouth shut as well, at least until they know the truth.
That’s when Senator Zimmer has, surprisingly, something good to say about Tony Stark. He says that Stark is a hero after uncovered that Clarence Ward was providing weapons to the enemy. This happened during a mission in Iraqi, where Tony uncovered a secret cave facility where he was constructing massive robotic grasshoppers for a group of terrorists. Iron Man easily trashed these machines. This angered the buyers who tried to kill Ward, but he was able to incapacitate them with a sonic device hidden in his wrist watch. Iron Man blew up the facility, but the authorities are unclear if Ward managed to escape or not. However, the question remains: Where is Tony Stark now?
Tony has been inside an isolation chamber below his Virginia estate. After the incident at Avengers Mansion that killed Ant-Man, Tony is realizing the horrors of nano-technology applications.[4] He has once again reading The Age of Intelligent Machines, wracking his brains. In it, is old photos of Rumiko that make Tony really miss her. He realizes that Rumiko grounded him. He realizes that he has taken on too many responsibilities all at once, that becoming the Secretary of Defense was a bad idea. He blames his outburst at the United Nations on being under too much stress. This is reinforced when the tests on his body show that there is nothing physically wrong with him. He decides to mothball his Iron Man armor until he isolates what’s wrong in order to avoid ending up like Scott Lang. As Tony is going over the test results he looks at the monitors and can hardly believe his eyes when he sees Rumiko at the front door.
When nobody answers the door bell, Rumiko and Oshima invite themselves inside. She becomes worried when she sees the place is a mess. That’s when a energy beam lances across the room and incinerates Oshima. Rumko looks and is shocked to see Iron Man is the shooter. She thinks this is Tony and stops dead in her tracks. The man in the suit of armor then blasts Rumiko, fatally wounding her. Seconds later, Tony Stark arrives and seeing that Rumiko is dying holds her close. Her final words to Tony is that she is sorry.[5] As Tony tries to make sense of Rumiko’s death, he is suddenly ambushed by Iron Man. As he pins Tony to the ground, Iron Man figures this must be like looking in the mirror.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Clarence Ward, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, Rumiko Fujikawa
Continuity Notes
It’s mentioned here how Tony Stark recently threatened the Latverian Ambassador. This is because the Scarlet Witch used her power to make him appear drunk during a UN session. See Avengers #500-503.
While it appears that Tony Stark is responsible for the killings in this story, it’s actually the work of Clarence Ward as we’ll learn in Iron Man (vol. 3) #89.
When Tony was running for Secretary of State, Joe Zimmer was one of the loudest voices against his appointment, as seen in Iron Man (vol. 3) #73-78. This is because he blames Tony for the death of his brother, Abe, a former Stark Enterprise employee who died in Iron Man #320.
Ant-Man was seemingly killed in Avengers #500. In reality, he was actually saved by the Young Avengers who pulled him forward in time at the last minute. See Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #5.
As of this writing (April, 2023), Rumiko is still fridged.
Topical References
Happy and Pepper are depicted as having a CRT model television in their home. This should be considered a topical reference as this is an obsolete technology.
In one of the flashbacks, Iraq is referred to as “Post-Saddam”, and wonders if he’s dealing with Ba’athist remnants, Saddam loyalists, al-Queda, or the Mujahedeen. This story was published during the “War on Terror” which saw the United States invade Afghanistan and Iraq in retaliation for the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The invasion of Iraq ousted its leader Saddam Hussein who was in hiding at the time this story was published. He was later found and executed in 2006. The various groups mentioned here were all active in the Middle East at the time. This should all be considered topical as these were all relevant at the time the story was published. Modern readers could interpret this as unique different Middle Eastern conflict that is unique to the fiction.
Tony is reading The Age of Intelligent Machines and talks about it like it is a work of fiction. He’s likely dumbing it down so he can explain it to Rumiko. This is actually a celebrated piece of non-fiction by futurist Ray Kurzweil. The Association of American Publishers awarded it in 1990 as the Most Outstanding Computer Science book of the year. This wouldn’t necessarily be considered a topical reference.
Tony is depicted as having a physical answering machine that records messages. While this technology still exists it has fallen out of use thanks to voice mail. It’s use here should be considered topical.
Avengers Disassembled Reading Order
Iron Man (vol. 3) #84-85, Thor (vol. 2) #80-81, Captain America and the Falcon #5, 6, 7, Captain America (vol. 3) #29, Avengers #500, 501, 502, 503, Iron Man (vol. 3) #86, 87, 88, 89, Captain America (vol. 3) #30, 31, 32, Fantastic Four #517, 518, 519, Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 2) #15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, Thor (vol. 2) #82, 83, 84, 85, Avengers Finale #1, New Thunderbolts #1