IRON MAN x FOREVER WARS (And A Special Offer For You!)

Edited by Sam Thielman

NOW THAT IT'S OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED, I can finally reveal the mysterious project I keep talking about taking up my time. In October, Marvel Comics will publish its next Iron Man ongoing series. The immensely talented Brazilian artist Julius Ohta is drawing it. I'm writing it. 

Back when the first Iron Man movie came out in 2008, I indulged myself for the length of an essay about how Iron Man comics have over the years critiqued and satirized U.S. foreign policy and the military-industrial complex. The piece has some lines I cringe at 15-ish years later. It unfortunately suggests that such critiques were consistent features of the comics, something I can see is wrong now that I've read a lot more Iron Man issues. But looking back on it after all these years, I think it's generally right. And after my run on Iron Man, well—the piece will be more right than it was before. 

But this comic book is not a political-science paper, a piece of journalism or a deconstruction of Tony Stark. The assignment is big, high-stakes superhero action, and, without saying more about stories I can't wait for you to read, we deliver. Longtime Iron Man readers will recognize some characters we haven't seen in a very long time, and some not often seen in an Iron Man book, if at all. New Iron Man readers will not be dropped into impenetrable continuity. Here's Marvel's teaser:

When the best of his own technology fails him, Tony will build a brand-new armor unlike any seen in his over 60-year history. Dubbed the “Improvised Iron Man,” fans will see it assembled throughout the series as Tony does what he does best—tinkering and upgrading it to counter anything the world throws at him. The series will also debut a new Iron Monger, complete with a mysteriously-powered new armor… 

Roxxon and A.I.M. team up to take on Stark Unlimited! But they’re ready for the old Tony Stark. This one? He’s a lot angrier than he used to be. Iron Man is going to war! New armor, old enemies, and unbelievable twists abound in this fresh take on a fury-powered Iron Man!

"Winning a Pulitzer is cool and all, but it's not writing for Marvel Comics," Ackerman shared. "And to write IRON MAN is a very specific dream come true. A lot of comics' best creators have used Iron Man to tell big stories about security and freedom—with a whole lot of super hero action, of course—and I can't wait to build on their legacy."  

Everyone is going to be impressed by the artwork of Julius Ohta. When I learned he had signed onto the book, I went to Bulletproof Comics on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn and picked up the Alien series he drew. This guy's compositions and storytelling are incredible. By the first time we properly spoke, I had already drawn up a scene-by-scene breakdown of the first arc. But I asked Julius what he loves drawing and what he hates drawing. That ended up changing our plans in favor of better ones. This is his book, too. (And wow, that Yasmine Putri cover!) You can also see some of Julius' designs at AIPT. What's… what's that on Iron Man's back…? 

For all this and more, I'm grateful to Iron Man editor Sarah Brunstad, as well as to everyone in the Avengers office, including writers whose work I love enough to have made a recent dinner with them weird. One of them in particular I need to thank: Gerry Duggan. I "knew" Gerry as the tremendous writer he is. Now I've gotten to know Gerry as the generous person he is. I've been buying his Invincible Iron Man in floppies, so I already knew he was going to leave me Tony Stark in excellent condition—so excellent that I feel the pressure to live up to the standards his run has set. Gerry has taken the time from his busy schedule to answer my deranged questions and save me from continuity mistakes. Subscribe to his newsletter and buy his comics and photography.  And what was that tease on his last page of Invincible Iron Man #20 about, anyway…?

NOW HERE'S THE THING: I want this book to be a hit. And in order for that to happen, I need as many people as possible to tell their local comic book stores over the next three months that they want a copy of Iron Man #1, #2, and so forth. If you've never been to a comic-book store, the people working there will be very happy to help you set up what's called a Pull List, so you can have your copies of Iron Man reserved and waiting for you when you go to pick them up.

If you pre-order Iron Man, email a picture of the receipt or whatever documentation your comic store provides to foreverwars.bullpen@gmail.com with a mailing address and the subject line "IRON MERCH." I'll send you, at no expense of your own, this great—shall we say invincible—sticker set designed by FOREVER WARS' own Sam Thielman and myself. I'll keep this offer open throughout my Iron Man tenure, since the more people who pull the book at their store, the better the book will sell. Comics people discuss a "natural attrition" the longer a series goes on. As someone who confronts the similar problem of "churn" in the newsletter business, I want to build as much of a bulwark against attrition as possible. Putting Iron Man in your Pull List will go a long way. 

Besides, look at these.

As our Iron Man run progresses, I'll give FOREVER WARS readers some updates and behind-the-scenes as I can. We're going to be mixing audiences here, I suppose, but we're going to need to gather everyone together if we're going to achieve scale. And you will definitely see scale, and how people pursue it, as a theme in Iron Man. But you'll need to buy a subscription in order to get the real goods on the future of Iron Man. That button is just waiting for you to smash it.

IRON MAN // OCTOBER 2024 // MARVEL

WALLER VS. WILDSTORM, the superhero spy thriller I co-wrote with my friend Evan Narcisse and which the masterful Jesús Merino illustrated, is available for purchase in a hardcover edition! If you don't have single issues of WVW and you want a four-issue set signed by me, they're going fast at Bulletproof Comics! 

No one is prouder of WVW than her older sibling, REIGN OF TERROR: HOW THE 9/11 ERA DESTABILIZED AMERICA AND PRODUCED TRUMP, which is available now in hardcover, softcover, audiobook and Kindle edition. And on the way is a new addition to the family: THE TORTURE AND DELIVERANCE OF MAJID KHAN.