Ultimate Iron Man

This article is about the Ultimate Iron Man miniseries. For information about the character Ultimate Iron Man, see Iron Man.

Ultimate Iron Man is a comic book miniseries published in between 2005 and 2006 by Marvel Comics. The story was written by Orson Scott Card and drawn by Andy Kubert. The story tells the origins of the Ultimate Marvel version of Iron Man, who previously appeared in Ultimates.

Volume One

Plot Ultimate Iron Man #1 reveals that Tony Stark's genius is caused by an accident his mother suffered while she was carrying him in her womb. He has neural tissue throughout his body, as if his entire body is a brain, giving him tremendous mental capacity but at the cost of chronic pain akin to severe burns due to the overstimulation of neural cells in his skin. His father uses a newly invented biological armor to ease Tony's pain. Despite the pain, he is endowed with regenerative capabilities due to the same mutation that caused the neural cells to differentiate all over his body. The biotechnology armor is constructed out of genetically modified bacteria that is able to group together to dissipate kinetic energy when impacted upon, and is able to dissolve any metal that can be oxidized. The disadvantage of this biotech armor, however, is that it will dissolve the wearer's skin after a few hours and will need to be washed off with water and soap. In Ultimate Iron Man #2, young Tony Stark is shown covered in the blue skin-armor developed by his father in issue #1. Attempting to learn how to manufacture the bio-armor, Zebediah Stane kidnaps and tortures Tony. In issue #3, Tony's father arrives with a SWAT team and arrests Zebediah. After the incident, a transparent version of the armor is developed, and Tony begins attending a prep school. The story then fast forwards to an older Stark who develops a prototype power-armor and befriends fellow student James Rhodes. Ultimate Iron Man #4 follows Tony Stark, shortly after befriending Rhodes, getting in a scuffle with bullies that nearly leaves him dead. Discovering that the bullies were following orders from an unknown individual, Stark's father decides to enroll Stark, Rhodes, and Nifara, who witnessed the attack, into the Baxter Building. Also enrolled in the school is Obadiah Stane, his father's ex wife's son. Shortly after their arrival, Stark witnesses Obadiah murder a pair of students and make it look like an accident. This incident hardens Stark's resolve to improve his armor and punish Obadiah. At this point, he has already begun to build a suit that closely resembles a traditional Iron Man suit. Ultimate Iron Man #5 shows that shortly after his father's arrest based on planted evidence (by Obadiah) at the gruesome murder of his enemy Zebediah Stane, Tony gets a taste of champagne at a party held by his father. The alcohol affects his brain more than a normal human due to his decentralized brain tissue. He later says that while he was intoxicated, it was the first time in his life he was not in chronic pain. Then two prototype variations of the suit are shown. One is roughly 6 feet tall, designed for more practical testings, while the second is a large suit at least 20 feet tall, for designing any additions to the traditional suit before including them to the more restricted design. The suit doesn't fly, but hovers or bounces and is not completely stable. Stark is forced to use the 20 foot prototype to foil a terrorist plot to destroy his building. Though Tony is successful, the terrorists manage to detonate the bomb prematurely and completely destroy the suit.

Volume Two

Volume Two of Ultimate Iron Man is to be a four-part series, the first issue of which was released on December 12, 2007. It was originally slated for release in 2006, but met with delays.

See also

• List of works by Orson Scott Card
• Orson Scott Card

External links

• The official Orson Scott Card website
• Sample artwork, and credits