Iron Man: I Am Iron Man!

Iron Man: I Am Iron Man! is a two-part comic which retells the events of Iron Man. It also shows a few panels that were omitted from the film.
==Synopsis==
===Issue #1===
When he's taken prisoner in the Middle East and forced to build a missile for insurgents, Tony Stark creates a suit of armor to keep him alive and blast his way out! Now Tony sees the folly of his greed, and sets out to right wrongs as Iron Man!
===Issue #2===
The world of the mega-blockbuster hit Iron Man blows up in these pages! Featuring bonus scenes not in the original movie, I AM IRON MAN is the comic to read for an expanded reimagining of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
==Plot==
===Part 1===
In the Kunar province in Afghanistan, a small military convoy is escorting Tony Stark to the airport after testing the Jericho missiles. Suddenly the convoy gets attacked, taken out one by one. When one of the airmen dies in front of Stark's eyes, he flees from his vehicle and runs to the nearest rock looking for cover, only to be caught by the explosion of a mortar made from his own company.
A day earlier, Stark is gambling in Caesars Palace, missing his Apogee awards ceremony. His friend and military liaison, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, arrives at the casino to give Stark his award, warning him not to be late again tomorrow. While leaving the hotel, Stark meets Christine Everhart, a reporter from Vanity Fair, who interviews him on manufacturing weapons at his company, Stark Industries. Stark ends up seducing her, and they spend the night together at his Malibu mansion.
Everhart wakes up the next morning alone in Stark's bedroom and encounters his personal assistant, Pepper Potts, who escorts her home. Potts then goes to see Stark in his workshop, reminding him that he is late for his flight to Afghanistan. Before Stark leaves, they discuss Potts' birthday, and how she already bought herself a gift on his behalf, knowing he forgot again. 
In Afghanistan, Stark successfully presents the Jericho to the United States Armed Forces before his convoy is ambushed.
In the present when Stark regains consciousness in a cave, he finds out Ho Yinsen saved his life by placing an electromagnet in his chest hooked up on a car battery, preventing the mortar shrapnel from reaching his atrial septum. However, Stark has been captured by a terrorist organization called the Ten Rings, with Raza Hamidmi al-Wazar as their leader. They demand Stark to build them a Jericho missile to help the Ten Rings expand their operations in exchange for his freedom.
Ultimately, Stark accepts in order to buy him and Yinsen some time. After upgrading his electromagnet with a miniaturized Arc Reactor, he secretly works with Yinsen on building the Iron Man Armor: Mark I. Eventually, al-Wazar runs out of patience, forcing Stark to finish his project early. To give him more time to power up the armor, Yinsen charges at the terrorists with a gun, which leads to his death. However, Stark is able to escape as Iron Man and storms through the cave. With his dying breath, Yinsen advises Stark not to waste his life. Stark then flies away, destroying the terrorist encampment in the process.
 
EXTRA SCENE: The flight of Iron Man ends up on the radar of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Sitwell, bringing it to the attention of Colonel Fury. However, the signal gets lost when Iron Man crashes in the desert. Being the first lead to find Stark, they notify the United States Department of Defense.
After walking for miles in the desert, Stark is found by Rhodes and brought back home. He calls for a press conference, which is attended by Agent Phil Coulson, who makes an appointment with Potts to debrief Stark on his captivity. Stark declares that Stark Industries will no longer make any weapons, causing an uproar. In private, he converses with his business partner, Obadiah Stane, about furthering their Arc Reactor technology. Stane tells Stark to stay hidden from the press and the company, so he can lead the company in this new direction.
The next day at his mansion, Stark upgrades his arc reactor and has Potts remove the old one from his chest, telling her to destroy it. After Rhodes declines to help Stark in his new endeavor, Stark proceeds to rebuild the armor and upgrades it to the Mark II armor. He eventually adds flight repulsors in his hand palms to stabilize flight. During this period, Stane reveals the board of directors have legally blocked Stark from the company.
After completing his advanced prototype suit, Stark uploads his personal AI system, J.A.R.V.I.S.. He does a test flight around Malibu at high altitude, but the systems start to freeze due to icing, making him almost crash to the ground. Afterwards, Stark finds a present from Potts in the workshop containing his first miniaturized Arc Reactor displayed in a glass case.
===Part 2===
While J.A.R.V.I.S. begins assembling the MARK III, Stark attends a firefighter benefit, where he dances with Potts. Everhart shows him pictures of Stark Industries weapons being used by the Ten Rings to raze and take hostages in Gulmira. Stark confronts Stane about these pictures, who confesses that he convinced the board to lock Stark out of the company.
Using his Mark III Armor, Iron Man travels to Gulmira, defeating the terrorists and destroying their ordnance, saving the hostages. This catches the attention of the United States Department of Defense and two F-22 Raptors are sent after Iron Man.
EXTRA SCENE: It also gained the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D., having the same energy signature as the one in the Kabul province. Sitwell notices that this time, the signature is stronger and faster. Fury wants to try to call the Raptors off via Edwards Air Force Base but after the Raptors got no response via radio contact, they already fired on Iron Man.
Stark calls Rhodes and confesses he is the target the Raptors are after. During the dogfight, one of the Raptors crashes into Iron Man and begins plummeting to the ground. The pilot tries to get out, but his ejection seat is jammed. Iron Man saves the pilot and Rhodes tells the press the crash of the F-22 Raptor was just an unfortunate training exercise. Back at the Mansion, Potts catches Stark taking off his armor.
In Gulmira, Stane meets with al-Wazar, who collected the Mark I pieces from the desert. Stane subdues al-Wazar with a sonic taser before his guards execute al-Wazar and his men, and steal the Mark I. With reverse engineering, Stane secretly commissions a new armor underneath the Arc Reactor at Stark Industries in Sector 16. 
Under Stark's persuasion, Potts retrieves files on Stark Industries’ illegal weapons dealings in a hidden ghost drive at his office. She finds video footage of the Ten Rings holding Stark hostage, in which they reveal Stane paid them to kill Stark. After narrowly escaping Stane, Potts reports her findings to Agent Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D.. However, before she can warn Stark, Stane paralyses him and yanks the miniaturized Arc Reactor out of his chest, leaving him to die. But Stark survives by using his first miniaturized Arc Reactor that Potts had memorialized. 
Potts and Coulson attempt to arrest Stane, but he uses his Iron Monger Armor to try and kill them. Iron Man arrives just in time to save Potts and starts a duel with Iron Monger. After a fight in the streets, Iron Man takes the flight up to high altitude, revealing he fixed the icing problem, which was a flaw that hasn't been fixed in the Iron Monger Armor, making it crash. Stane survives the crash, but Stark orders Potts to overload the Arc Reactor at Stark Industries beneath him, releasing a blast of energy that kills Iron Monger. Iron Monger then falls into the Arc Reactor, causing an explosion which Stark barely survives.
At another press conference, a cover story is prepared for the press about the battle the previous night. However, Stark refuses to go along with the alibi S.H.I.E.L.D. provided him and reveals to the world that he is Iron Man. Later that night, Nick Fury awaits Tony Stark at his Mansion to talk about the Avengers Initiative.
EXTRA SCENE: Stark tells Fury to make an appointment and threatens him when he doesn't leave. Fury tries to explain the opportunity he is offering but Stark isn’t interested and orders him to get out. Fury leaves the Mansion and once in his car, calls Coulson and tells him Stark needs a different approach. He asks Coulson to inform Natasha that her services will be needed.
==Appearances==
===Characters===
*Tony Stark/Iron Man
*James Rhodes
*Pepper Potts
*Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger
*J.A.R.V.I.S.
*Ho Yinsen
*Nick Fury
*Phil Coulson
*Jasper Sitwell
*Happy Hogan
*Christine Everhart
*William Gabriel
*Julius Allen
*Lacy
*Raza Hamidmi al-Wazar
*Abu Bakaar
*Ben
*Amira Ahmed
*Jimmy Ryan
*Adam Pratt
*Ramirez
*Zorianna Kit
*Sullivian
*Scott Campbell
*Whiplash #1
*Natasha Romanoff (mentioned)
*Howard Stark (mentioned)
*Maria Stark (mentioned)
===Locations===
*Las Vegas, Nevada
**Caesars Palace
*Lancaster, California
**Edwards Air Force Base
*Los Angeles, California
**Stark Industries Headquarters
**Walt Disney Concert Hall
**S.H.I.E.L.D. Los Angeles Office
*Malibu, California
**Tony Stark's Mansion
*Kunar, Afghanistan
*Gulmira, Afghanistan
*Ten Rings Base, Afghanistan
*Santa Monica, California
*Kabul, Afghanistan (mentioned)
*Ukraine (mentioned)
*Avalon, California (mentioned)
*Massachusetts Institute of Technology (mentioned)
*Bagram Air Base (mentioned)
*Moon (seen only)
===Events===
*Kidnapping of Tony Stark
*Battle of Gulmira
*Assassination of Ten Rings Operatives
*Theft of the Arc Reactor
*Duel of Los Angeles
===Items===
*Iron Man Armor: Mark I
*Iron Man Armor: Mark II
*Iron Man Armor: Mark III
*Arc Reactor
**Palladium
*Captain America's Shield (Replica)
*Iron Monger Armor
*Omnium Steel
*Jericho Missiles
*Sonic Taser
*Dum-E
*
* (mentioned)
===Vehicles===
*
*
*
*
*Stark Industries Private Jet
*Humvee
*F-22 Raptor
*Ford Flathead Roadster
===Organizations===
*S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Avengers Initiative
*Stark Industries
*Ten Rings
*United States Department of Defense
*United States Armed Forces
*CCN
*10 News
*Vanity Fair
*The Chronicle
===Creatures===
* (picture)
===Mentioned===
*
*
*Alexander the Great
*
==Trivia==
*The comic is featured in Iron Man: I Am Iron Man! (collection), The Avengers: Road to the Avengers and The Marvel Cinematic Universe: The Marvel Comics Omnibus.
==Behind the Scenes==
===Continuity===
While the comic is not a red stamped comic, those that are officially considered to be canon,Exploring Untold Tales of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Comics Form (cbr.com) it was covered in the Guidebook to the Marvel Cinematic Universe - Iron Man, which addressed it as a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe canon. The comic is also featured in The Marvel Cinematic Universe: The Marvel Comics Omnibus as well as in The Avengers: Road to the Avengers collections. Furthermore, Will Corona Pilgrim confirmed that the comic was official part of the MCU continuity.Will Corona Pilgrim on Twitter - February 6, 2012
==References==
==External Links==
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Category:Comics
Category:Iron Man (film) Merchandise
Category:Officially Canon Media