Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #28 Review

IRON MAN: DIRECTOR OF SHIELD #28
Written by Daniel & Charles Knauf
Art by Roberto De La Torre

This was another amazing issue of Iron Man and brings a close, for now, to the Mandarin arc. I honestly expected this to be dragged out a little longer and, based on the ending, it might just be put aside for all the Skrull business coming up (note: I assume this will have tie-ins to Secret Invasion).

If you've been following along, you'll know that the Mandarin put a beat down on Tony and his actions have caused Tony and SHIELD to be taken to task for causing some rather large political no-no's with nothing to show for it.

Under questioning from the UN, Tony states his case about the Mandarin and the airborn Extremis virus, but they refuse to take him seriously since he has absolutely no proof whatsoever. This causes Dugan, who's not dead or a Skrull here, to execute Tony's "do things like Nick Fury" order as SHIELD, without Tony knowing, locks down the UN under Maria Hill's orders, who is far from the bitch most make her out to be in this series, and Dugan escorts Tony to a waiting escape exit where his old red and silver Iron Man armour is waiting for him in another nostolgia inducing splash page of goodness, much like the incredible issue #25 had with the old red and yellow armour.

From here, we get an interesting break down of the situation by Tony as he pieces together everything he knows about the Mandarin at this point and, with a little help from Dugan and Senator Kooning's actions, pinpoints his current hideout in China. It ends up being a bio research lab of one of the Mandarin's companies that specializes in climate research, specifically cloud lining and manipulation. Turns out he's going to seed the clouds with the virus and have death literally rain down on everyone.

As expected, we get an epic rematch between the two, of which the highlight is definitely Tony ripping a handful of rings from the Mandarin's back. During a break in the battle, Mandarin informs Tony the missile payloads are already being launched and there's nothing he can do about it.

As you recall, Tony's Extremis powers were locked due to his pysch evaluation by Doc Samson with a power inhibitor on his ankle. With little other choice, Tony lasers his back heel off and slides the ankle bracelot off in time to use his Extremis powers to scramble the missiles guidance and launch them into the stratosphere where airborn Extremis becomes innert with the extreme temperature.

The Mandarin apparently takes his own life as he destroys a large container of Extremis, resulting in Tony freezing him and the virus. The issue ended with the Mandarin's frozen body cast being cracked open to reveal an empty shell, implying he escaped somehow.

Aside from the Extremis deus ex solution to the Extremis virus, this was an excellent conlcusion to a storyline that has been building since the end of Civil War. If political thrillers with plenty of action are your thing, this book has been exceptional and I'd recommend picking up the post-Civil War trades. This volume of Iron Man has probably been the best period for stories in Iron Man's long history.

Verdict - Must Read. Action, suspense, satisfying conclusion to a long running storyarc and lots or wiggle room for any fall out or follow up to the events. Not much to complain about here.

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