the Invincible Iron Man #24 - Marvel

Now this issue . . this issue is the perfect argument for the rant I just had in my Amazing Spider-man post. This story has been building up for 24 issues. That's a long time. Really! But . . along the way, we've been given interesting stories, riveting plot-lines, and a plethora of unique ideas. In other words . . something to keep us interested along the way. I mean . . we all know that Tony's going to be able to drag himself out of this. That in the end, he'll beat this. But, as the story is moving along, the reader becomes genuinely interested in seeing just how he's going to be able to pull it off. And . . Tony's supporting cast . . Maria, Pepper, Rhodey, Doctor Strange . . they're all intimately involved a integral to the story as it moves along. In other words . . it's not one dimensional. In the last 2 issues we've seen that Tony has rebooted his brain. So the knowledge and information is there. The problem is . . he has to want to return. Which is why Doctor Strange has gone in, to try to talk him out. He can't really push, or pull him out . . he just has to try to coax him to do it on his own. And that's proving to be a little more of a fight than he anticipated. But the turning point is when he hears Pepper's voice. That's what finally gives him the strength to pull himself from this 'safe' environment that he's immersed himself in. The world is messy. But inside his head? Not so much. Well . . it is. But at least there, he controls it. Well it's that and he's fighting for his life. In the real world the Ghost is trying to kill him. So . . he pulls himself out and saves the day. There are some peripheral casualties, but . . it doesn't appear that anyone is seriously hurt. Now he just has to deal with a problem that he hadn't anticipated . . the time difference between when he created the back-up, and when he actually had to use it. It appears that he had taken this precaution way back before the Civil War. So we're talking at least 4 years. A lot has happened in that time . . Tony has a lot to catch up on. I have a feeling it's going to be a little overwhelming. Matt Fraction has constructed a fantastic story here. I've been thrilled with it the whole way. Of course it doesn't hurt the Salvador Larocca has contributed fantastic art each and every issue. And even though Tony is finally back . . as we always knew he would be . . I still can't wait to see where we go from here. I just want to tell Matt and Salvador that I really appreciate the hard work that they've put into this series. It has certainly paid off.