We've got plenty again for you this time around! First off, Mike Kalibabkys Stark Remarks (SA) looks at all things Iron. Mike has done quite @ bit with this column (often making the rest of AAU ook like @ cover page attached to SR). Mike has done particularly well considering that he almost got flooded out of his home in Chisholm, Minnesota. He sent me a newspaper article picturing the sandbagging effore. ... with his house, only feet from the floodwaters, in the background. In the artile it states: * The storm system that shot up to five inches of rain into the Iran Range floaded a swamp on the west side of Chisholm and forced the overflow. .." | thought the references was IRONic. Youll be happy to hear that there was no intemal damage done to Mike's place. Anyway, Mike not only provided SR for this issue, he was also able to flat me a special Stark Remarks describing the ‘upcoming storylines for, and appearances of, Iron Man and War Machine Mike's special report comes in very handy this time around, since my regular mailer from Marvel arrived without ‘any contents! The envelope was a little roughed up, but it did arrive flat. "Received without contents" and "Received in bad condition were stamped a couple of times across the front. Although Marvel was charged (according to the post-mark) the sum of $1.56 for the delivery of this empty envelope, the removal of the contents was apparently gratis, Anyway, Mike did come the rescue replacing the normal THINGS TO COME section with @ summary of upcoming events for the second half of ‘94. Finally, the next issue of Iron Fan is due out in a couple of months . . so send in any submissions (artwork, stories, reviews etc.) as soon as possible. One of the things we're going to add isa look at some of the supporting characters. First up is Veronica Benning. tm going to try and get some additional background on the character from Len. For the rest of you, Ive included a form ta fill out and send back. Thanks, ABOUT THE COVER: Faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap tall skyscrapers in a single bound, more powerful than several dozen locomotives, i's that great symbol of American patritism: IRON MAN. In recent issues it seems that Tony Stark is championing the cause of the heart of American industry as he fights for Truth, Corporate Justice and the Third Wave. Jason Stephens has been trying out different. formats lately: ‘now, my originals are 11" x17" and Im sending them to you at actual comic book size," | think the format looks pretty good, especially in color (but it must have been & bear to fil do those stripes!) If yout like to provide feedback you can contact, Jason at: 3606 NE 78th Street Kansas City, MO_64119PROTOHYPE As promised, issue oresents some artwork from PROTOTYPE. Although Malibu was generous with their get any resaonse from them regarding written information on the characters. Although | ne 1s interested in being a @ AU representative let me know. Ive got plenty of illustrations if someone would like to write about ‘em If you'd lke to find out more, you can contact their Fan Liaison: STEVE LOWRY 26707 West Agoura Road, Calabasas, CA 91302 Fax: 818-878-7455Prototype has apparantly had several incarnations. but currently Prototype 1s an armored hero that 1s used as a corporate symbol of ULTRATECH. The book sometimes looks back at former Prototype operators. but the main focus is on Jimmy Ruiz a kid from the streets who is the iatest to wear the armor. He is shown here in battle against ARENA. a foe of one of the former Prototypes. Jimmy is very new at the super-hero biz. After first being seduced by ULTRATECH (who are modifying him to wark with the armor) he ultimately rebels after learning how hard it is to rea!” oS ef é eae 1994 Matt ComesPrater 1994 Malou Comes Prtaope ©1998 Maibu Comes Pratap 1994 Malay CamcsJimmy decides to quit ULTRATECH after his battle with Arena, But Prototype nas had severai incarnations and may have more in the future One of the things | like about Prototype armor is that it is, ‘customized for the wearer" which means it is as unique as the person wearing it. What we have here is a battle test between three potential Prototypes. The winner replaces 7 Jimmy Ruiz as the new Prototype! i|PROTOTYPE A PROTOTYPE B& (Rusty Landon) (Jane) Check out issue # 9 to determine the winner!Stark Remarks by Mike Kalibabky Illustrations by Russ Fletcher, Allen Del Caro, and Whilce Portacio “That rampagin’ robot's feedin’ off yer subconscious hatred of the police, Rizzo—and it's tryin’ to kill my people! We gotta shut it down!”—“Mother” Majowski to Dr. Thomas Rizzo, inventor of Officer Z-E.R.O. (Dhunderstrike #8) Tse \* ( Ormeret c oies Awright, Just Whose Idea Was It? Thunderstrike #8. And by great ideas | mean that I expressed the very same thing, but in reference to Iron Man in Tron Fan #3: “Tony Stark once again Well, at least some great ideas are being used! Witness the above quote fromimproves his thought-controlled (cybernetic) helmet interface. The problem is that the new software is affected by Tony’s unconscious thoughtstream, thereby generating a revenge program that is carried out by the [Iron Man] armor to seek and destroy an enemy of Tony's! I always wondered how the (armor] interface could distinguish (the difference] between an actual conscious thought command and a subconscious thought command...” The only other great(?) comic related idea I ever had was used(?) in Ranma 1/2 a story in which a young boy turns into a young girl whenever he gets wet. In “Gender Bender,” my version, the boy-to-gir! metamorphosis occurs when the young lad accidentally slips off his bicycle seat and lands with considerable force upon his bicycle’s crossbar. HSC’s Mandemonium So did you catch Stan “The Man” Lee plugging all the (leftover) Marvel goodies on the Home Shopping Channel this past May 18th and 19th? Although there was some nice stuff, I noticed that there was only one Iron Man item: copies of Iron Man #300 autographed by Steve Mitchell. The books sold for $19.95 a pop. Mitchell signed each book—all were the foil- enhanced editions—on the cover in gold ink. But if you didn’t see the show and missed out, here is a FREE copy of a Mitchell autograph that Russ Fletcher got for me at a comic con. Just cut it out, trace the signature with a yellow highlighter, and paste it to your copy of Iron Man #300. There, Russ and I just saved you twenty bucks! The First Glimpse (in color!) of the new animated Iron Man standard armor design appeared in Wizard #35, courtesy of Dave Galvan. The toon tin suit looks very much like the current comic book version with the exceptions of a standard-looking helmet faceplate with a mouth slit and a yellow neckpiece. And, oh yeah, the suit looks heavy. I call it the “gravity ass” armor. I wrote to Mr. Galvan, hoping he can get us more armor design illos and info. ! ! I 1 1 1 1 1 I a “Shame they used that Tron Man armor though. Ugh!” Columnist Dave Galvan commenting in Wizard #35 on the new animated Iron Man I I 1 1 1 ! 1 | I | I 1 1 1 ! 1 standard armor design uw Li...Mr. Jeff Mariotte, away. After checking out the ashcans, all [can say is that if you like the Alien my contact at Wildstorm Productions, film series or comics, X-O Manowar, just sent me an unbelievable Armorines, Guyver, or any heavy- WetWorks press kit that included hitting, big-guns team book, you should limited, enjoy diving into WetWorks #1, numbered ashcan versions of the three issue Wet Works miniseries, a killer t-shirt, promo poster, and info packet on the books and WetWorks creator Whilce Portacio. For your enjoyment, Y'm supplying the page from Wet Works Ashcan #1 in which Team 7, a Navy SEALS team—the good guys—, encounters the bio-metalloid armor matrix for the first time; the cover illo to WW Ashcan #3; and a very informational and emotional Jeff Mariotte interview with Whilce Portacio in which [ learned why WetWorks was delayed for such a long, long time—Whilce’s sister passedand trading cards, = was supposed to il have started on j May 20th. However, this big ] | wing-ding hasn’t | arrived in my neck | of the woods yet. The promo is to run for six weeks, with the Iron Man - , stuff, drawn by > 3 new Iron Man ; artist Tom Dp Morgan, slated for % release on or around the fourth < week. Better start checking out your . local Pizza Hut ly 2 \ \ now! George Pérez is 7 Writing a New 4 . Giant-Man mini- a\ ON series, featuring SN Hank Pym! I always liked this R \ see little big man. oy, O u Absolutely no ¥ s 5 word yet on the \\. 3 3 whats and whens or even on who ) will be the artist(s) on the series. : Meanwhile Mr. P. ADVANCE PROMOTIONAL ASHCAM [ll of lil BOF 7500 is the penciler on the Ultraverse’s scripted by Brandon Choi, this July. answer to Force Works—Ultraforce, which includes Prototype, the Marvel’s New Pizza Hut Promo _Ultraverse version of Iron Man. And just one thing unrelated to George features Marvel heroes—including our Pérez, but related to Prototype and Iron very own Iron Man—on cups, comics,Man. The introduction current writer of PLATO on fron Man and (limited isLen glimpse at) Kaminski, the new Hex- while the Ships. The present “shininess” Prototype of Shellhead’s scribe is Len faceplate was Strazewski. muy bueno! I Hmmm... think that Artist Russ Force Works Fletcher got is gonna give so confused StormWatch, that he WildC.A.T.S., thought they and the were the oncoming same guy! Wet Works a And would ya run for their believe they money even somewhat look alike? Artist Allen This armored Del Caro hero stuff is getting so is the latest strange Iron Fan to supply my column with Yes, an exciting Force Shellhead Works... visual, Sometimes ‘Allen—who lives mere Okay, so how miles from many of you me!—creates out there his own were able to heroes and re-fold the comics in his pop-out cover spare time. to Force The owner of Works #1 my local without cussing and becoming psycho- comic shop, the lovely Sandy Lonne, violent? Otherwise, FW #1 was a visual Who, by the way, heavily plugs Iron Fan bonanza. I particularly liked the at every opportunity, told me aboutAllen’s interest in comics and how one day he hopes to break into the industry So I went home and gave the big guy a call. We soon got together and after just one meeting we began work on one project and planned to kick around ideas for another. Anyway, after reading the latest copy of iron Fan—even before meeting me—, Allen had blazed out a mighty fine Iron Man illustration. We hope you enjoy it. Allen, meanwhile, is hard at work on a hot new batch of shellhead pen & ink pix Len Kaminski’s Lil’ Buddy Slapstick is back in a five-part series featuring the New Warriors in Marvel Comics Presents #s 159-163. The story arc, entitled “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” is written by Fabian Nicieza and penciled by Robert Walker & inked by Scott Koblish. MCP #159 also includes the first installment of a Hawkeye- US.Agent three-parter, “Rocky Reunion,” written by Nel Yomtov. Iron Man and Force Works briefly appear in Part 1. June 21, 1994 Chisholm, Minnesota Illustrations (in order of appearance): “Tony Stark and His Invincible Hulk-Repelling Armor” by Russ Fletcher “Bat Wishes from Steve Mitchell” by Steve Mitchell Page 9, Wet Works Advance Promotional Ashcay I of UL by Whilce Portacio and Scott Williams, with dialogue by Brandon Choi & lettering by Bill Oakley Cover, Wet Works Advance Promotional Ashcan III of {I by Whilce Portacio and Scott Williams “ron Man Airborne” by Allen Del Caro “ron Man Column Ena” by Robert Sumner Wet Works is ™ and © Aegis Entertainment, Inc., dba Wildstorm Productions, 1994. All rights reserved, Iron Man is ™ and © Marvel Entertainment Group, 1994. Iron Man Related Fleer Flair Cards 1994: #6 - Original Iron Man #11 - Original Avengers #59 - Armor Wars #90 - WAR Machine Power Blast # 3 (of 18) - Iron Man Arrrgh! I've spent a zillion dollars and still haven't gotten “Armor Wars” or “WAR Machine”!S nnrAe Zon Aapea Iron Man, Force Works, and WAR Machine Goings-on for the Second Half of 1994! The following is a list of Iron Man-related comic books plucked from the pages of Marvel Comics Publishing Plan July- December 1994: IRON MAN #s 308-313 (Kaminski/Morgan): “Issues #308-309 wrap up the “Vortex” storyline as Stark battles the artificial intelligence that inhabits his body, and then his Iron Man armor. That's right—Stark vs. Iron Man! Stark's not defenseless though, as he battles his former alter ego in a remote-controlled terminator-like new suit... Stark’s greatest battle, however, continuing in the months ahead, is the discovery that while Vortex was in Stark’s body, Vortex tasted alcohol, re-inflaming Stark’s alcoholic addictions once Stark is back in control of his body... Issue #310 pits Iron Man against War Machine in the conclusion to the epic meeting begun in WAR Machine #8. #'s 311-312 are parts 3 and 6 of a fall crossover event in which Iron Man, War Machine, and Force Works take on the resurrected wrath of the Mandarin... In Issue #313, Stark leads an AA meeting in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve... After the new animated series comes out, we [Marvel] are betting that fans are going to want more Iron Man in their diet, so we're in the midst of develop- ing a number of new projects for ’95.” WAR MACHINE #’s 6-11 (Scotty Benson & Len Kaminski/Gecko & Eklund): “#6 sets Rhodes against an assassin who can’t be killed. His name is Deathtoll, and his involvement with mystical forces gives him the ability to reincarnate over and over again, with the desire to kill accordingly. According to Editor Nel Yomtov, ‘War Machine’s undoing of Deathtoll is a GENIUS move by the writers.’ #7 features Hawkeye, who joins WM in battle b y eK Ao oR a RKnAAe Zan An pen WAR MACHINE (continueD} against an Ice-Man-like super soldier known as the Cold Warrior... Issue #8 is purely in response to the avalanche of fan letters that have been begging for the final show- down between Iron Man and War Machine—between Stark and Rhodes. When War Machine realizes that his suit, after the pounding it’s taken in the first seven issues, isn’t going to last forever, he realizes he needs the help of the suit’s inventor—Tony Stark. And he's going to get that help, one way or another. And Stark’s not too happy to offer help when he discovers that Rhodes has already used the armor to kill people. The clash concludes in Iron Man #310... #9-10 feature parts 2 and 5 of the major crossover of the fall as War Machine, Iron Man, and Force Works take on the all-new Mandarin... Issue #11, Rhodes goes home to the old Philadelphia neighborhood to introduce his girlfriend, Rae LaCoste, to his parents. Not very happy that their son is having a “white” Christmas, Rhodey’s parents give him more than an earful of black racism and a real censure of his role as War Machine in this holiday issue... WAR Machine then takes a more human angle as the repercussions of War Machine's killings take their toll.” FORCE WORKS #’s 3-8 (Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning/Tenny & Garcia): “After defeating the minia- ture planet devouring aliens called the Scatter in issue #3, the team, still reeling from Simon's death, heads to Europe. There, Force Works get embroiled in a civil war in the country of Transia, a neighboring country of the Scarlet Witch’s birthplace. But there’s nothing civil about it, as the team faces ancient mystic forces and the country's protector’s—Ember and the Black Brigade.... Issues #7-8 are part 1 and 4 of the crossover of the fall as Iron Man, War Machine, and Force Works wage war against the maniacal manipulations of the Mandarin. This is the EVENT of October and November and. should be boosted with the excitement generated from the new Iron Man animated series that’s part of the Marvel Action Hour... New Year's Eve hits as each member of the team considers their new acquaintance and reflects on the year behind them.” Notes: In onnrZ “ot MATa THe aKnAAe Zon Arpen FORCE WORKS [CONTINUED] September, Marvel will preview the Marvel Action Hour in a 16-page outsert that will be included with copies of Iron Man, WAR Machine, Force Works, Fantastic Four. and Fantastic Force. Checklist cards are being prepared for the 6-part Iron Man/WAR Machine/Force Works crossover. MARVEL ACTION HOUR #'s 1-4 (Eric Fein/??2): “Marvel comes to TV and the cartoon come right to you in the Marvel Action Hour! Adapting the new syndicated action TV series starring the Fantastic Four and Iron Man... Iron Man heads the second half as he’s helped out on his adventures by the Force Works crew including War Machine, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Woman, etc. Iron Man's main antagonist will be the Mandarin who will doggedly pursue Stark International secrets in order to rule the world.” COLLECTORS’ SPECIALS #'s 1-4 (Various/Various): “The true inside scoop on Marvel Comics can only be found in Marvel Collectors’ Specials starting in August! These monthly, 48-page specials will bring the eager reader up-to-the-minute breaking news on major projects at Marvel. Only here will you find in- depth interviews, episode guides, comic and card infor- mation, artist and writer profiles and much, much more!” PRO ACTION #’s 2-4 (Various/Various): “The heroes of Marvel Comics and heroes of the NFL all appear in this exciting bi-monthly, 48-page magazine... For the comic book fan an exclusive 16-page Marvel comic will be bound into each issue... Later issues [3-47] are planned to have tales of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and Iron Man.” ROCKO’S MODERN LIFE #’s 4-9 (John Lewandowski/Darren Auck): Look, people, former Tron Man assistant editor John “Lewie” writes it. Buy this book. Feel good about yourself again. one Z “oe MAT Trea RKMurAs Zon Anpern MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS #'s 162-174 (Various/Various): “A solo Spider-Woman tale precedes four Force Works issues which fit into the Iron Man/WAR Machine/Force Works crossover. A U.S.Agent two-part solo tale follows the conclusion of the crossover.” Note: It’s unclear which issues contain the S-W and Agent stories. NIGHT THRASHER #'s 14-19 (Busiek/Boller): “New tactics bring new opposition as the Night Thrasher finds himself face-to-face with...War Machine (as well as a number of others]. SPIDER-MAN MAGAZINE #'s 6-11 (Various/Various): Note: It wasn’t mentioned, but look for Iron Man to poke his nose into this mag due to the animated Marvel Action Hour. GHOST RIDER 2099 #'s 5-10 (Kaminski/Buckingham): Notes: GR2099 runs into Spidey 2099 (see below). Len writes this book. Buy it. SPIDER-MAN 2099 #'s 23-28 (David/Leonardi & Williamson): “After narrowly defeat- ing Venture and Risque, a fed up Spidey plans to settle his accounts with Stark-Fujikawa and Tyler Stone once and for all.” SECRET DEFENDERS #'s 23-28 (Brevoort & Wylie/Hudson): “#"s 22-23 bring the two- part “Legacy Virus” storyline featuring The Beast, Namor, the Scarlet Witch, and Iron Man.” NAMOR in 1995 (Herdling/Isherwood): In an answer toa letter I had printed in Namor #53, it appears that Phoebe Marrs is coming back in’a big way! Remember her and her deceased (?) brother Desmond during the Tony Stark-Marrs Twins business wars a while back? Get ready—Iron Mania is about to hit! onr ZS “os SQAoTe Trea KRSIGHT! Jason Steonens called in these last minute sightings just before this issue went to press. cy IRON MAN #307 OK. OK. OF course Iron Man would show up in Iron Man, But Jason, who gets his dose of Marvel 3 days before | do. resorts thet this Iron Man is something new! | must confess that ! thought, Tom Morgarrs work wouid b tit ofa let down after Kevs run {especially since Kevin created the look of the latest armor). But from what | hear. potn the armor and even Tony himself are looking ike new. But thats not all. Jason reports that there are computer enhanced graphics. These show uo mainly in the cyberspace scenes. | hope all of you write in to say what you think about these improvements. WHAT IF # 64 ADOUBLE size IRON MAN issue!!! What if IRON MAN sold out??? Tony Stark sells his plans for his armor to the U.S. government during the Vietnam Conflict. Years later, Tonys plans have gotten into the hands of other world powers. causing a global bulld-uo of armored forces, The company “Stark/Rhodes Global’ has Rhodey as its visible head while Tony works in the labs. The story deals with Tonys realization of the danger he has unleashed ‘and his atterot to undo it, Jason reports that ths is an excellent issue, but that there are no credits. From the information | have, the team included Simon Furman and Geoff Senior. If you dont find the credits and you lke the issue, be sure to write in and tell editor Nel Yomtov that you appreciate Simon and Geoff's work. Next Month: fil be on vacation. But Iron Fan #6 isin the process of coalescing (look fr it at the end of August}. Here's a bit of what you can jexpect: Regulars: Kaminski Komer (Len's answers to your questions) Stark Remarks (Mike Kalibabky's comments on the Iron universe) Armor File (Alen Bujak’ armor designs) SC Profile (fan response to Supporting Characters - first up: Veronica Benning) Specials:” Dave Michelini's script from IM #118 (the frst appearance of Rhodey and Mrs. A.) ~ ‘A.computer generated of IM image from Stave Liptak Alok at the upcoming animated series Arework, stories and comments from the fans!