Tony Stark: Iron Man #16

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE ULTRON AGENDA, PART ONE: MAN & MACHINE Watch out, Iron Man!  The Robot Uprising of the Marvel Universe has begun!  But it’s NOT Ultron leading the charge... it’s Machine Man?!  The A.I.’s are on the attack – and they might be in the right.  Battle lines are being drawn, and it’s time for Tony Stark, Jocasta, Andy Bhang and the rest of the cast to pick sides. LEGACY #616 This issue includes a page reprinting a "Stan's Soapbox" column from May 1969 written by Stan Lee, continuing the mourning of his passing. Arno Stark recalls to Jocasta how he spend most of his life encased in metal. When introduced in Iron Man (Vol. 5) #17, Arno had spend his entire life in an iron lung due to complications in his genetic makeup due to his father Howard Stark tampering with it to neutralize a kill switch built into his system by the Rigellian Recorder 451. The Recorder had agreed to genetically engineer Arno in-womb in exchange for ensuring the baby survived its gestation. Tony mentions that Jocasta shares brain engrams with Janet Van Dyne by design. Jocasta was originally created by Ultron in Avengers #162 as a shell to house Janet's consciousness, and became its own person from the residual mental engrams left in her brain after the transferal of Janet into Jocasta was reverted. Tony recalls Ultron Pym being shot into the Sun, which occurred in Uncanny Avengers (Vol. 3) #12, as their last encounter. Ultron Pym had already interacted again with the superhuman community in Secret Empire #4, though during this time Tony was incapacitated with the A.I. Tony Stark operating in his place. In order to infiltrate the Uncanny Valley, Bethany Cabe uses the image inducer given to her by the Controller which she had previously used in Tony Stark: Iron Man #3 for the same purpose. Machine Man mentions recognizing Cabe's robotic disguise. After Machine Man mentions that Arno is working with Sunset Bain, Bethany Cabe deduces that's how she managed to hack into Stark Unlimited's network, which happened in Tony Stark: Iron Man #14. Iron Man questions how did Arno Stark know about the Avengers Mansion's secret tunnels. He most likely knew of them after learning the history of Arsenal and Mistress in Tony Stark: Iron Man #14, since that is where they were stored. Bethany Cabe notices Jarvis is suspicious after comparing his behavior under Ultron Pym's mind-control to her own experience as the Controller's puppet, which lasted between Tony Stark: Iron Man #1-9. When Tony suggests Rhodey to suit up in a War Machine Armor, Rhodey recalls his incident in Tony Stark: Iron Man #2 in which he suffered a PTSD attack due to the accumulation of traumatic experiences he endured wearing suits of armor. Ultron Pym declares that he is the Scientist Supreme while arguing with Iron Man. Hank Pym was actually declared Scientist Supreme of the Earth by Eternity in Mighty Avengers #30, though Loki later claimed in Mighty Avengers #34 to have impersonated Eternity during that exchange, putting to question the veracity of that distinction. Rhodey panics when he sees Ultron's cyborg hybrids, causing him to remember the period of his life when he was turned into a cyborg after losing all of his limbs and an eye in a bombing attack in War Machine (Vol. 2) #1.