Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. #29 *Spoilers*

**jonwes** · 05-21-2008, 06:44 PM

Stuart Moore, Roberto de la Torre & Carlo Pagulayan, Jeffrey Huet and Dean White.

Tony and his elite Alpha team are tracking nuclear explosives in Kirikhstan. One of the nuclear devices goes off, but Tony is able to disable the other. The devices are nanotech bombs, which explains the rapid dissipation of the radiation around the site where the bomb did go off.

As soon as the nuke is disabled, SHIELD intercepts a message from a man who takes credit for the bombs and vows to have revenge on those who killed his wife. Tony recognizes the bomber.

Meanwhile, in a Carlo Pagulayan-penciled subplot, a high-level SHIELD agent (Nicolas Weir) inspects the remains of one of their failed weapons - the Overkill Horn. It was decommissioned because it was too dangerous. But Weir isn't just here to look. He knocks out hte security guard and uses a "magic" briefcase full of nanotech to try to rebuild the Overkill device. It seems he was a weapon designer for SHIELD before Stark took over, and his role has been made moot now.

Back in the main de la Torre-penciled plot, Tony reveals the bomber is Nasim Rahimov who used to be a classical pianist and whom Tony knew personally. Tony intimates that he is responsible for Rahimov's current state in some way.

The rebirth of the Overkill Horn goes awry, and starts to fill the room with an out of control blob of tech. Weir books it out of the room.

To be continued...

I liked this issue a lot. As much as I liked the Mandarin storyline, it's nice to finally get a breather from it. It does seem a bit odd that bothe Weir and Rahimov are both using nanotech independently in the same story, but of course there could be a connection. I liked Weir's magic suitcase. His nanotech tricks are pretty cool.

Both artists this issue did a fantastic job. Their styles are distinct but not distractingly so. I love the look and feel of this book, and it's a great companion to Captain America. I was honestly wary of yet another "past sins haunt Tony" story but so far this well seems to be done well with a lot of action and interesting characterization, especially with Weir. Looking forward to the rest of this storyline.

**Tobias Drake** · 05-21-2008, 10:30 PM

When will people learn that self-replicating robots will inevitably go awry? Seriously, it's become a standard meme. As soon as I heard the nanobots self-replicate, I knew they were going to take on a life of their own. If this weapons designer couldn't even foresee this blatantly obvious outcome, then he DESERVES to have his position rendered moot.

**XPac** · 05-21-2008, 11:01 PM

Originally Posted by Tobias Drake

When will people learn that self-replicating robots will inevitably go awry? Seriously, it's become a standard meme. As soon as I heard the nanobots self-replicate, I knew they were going to take on a life of their own. If this weapons designer couldn't even foresee this blatantly obvious outcome, then he DESERVES to have his position rendered moot.

Yeah, self-replicating technology is right up there with clones, computers with AI, and weather control machines. They always turn out badly. If comic book characters realized that they were in comics, they'd ban all of the above.

But what can ya do... the only reason any tech is introduced is to make it a weapon. If Reed Richards invented a rice picking machine, it would somehow be turned into a threat to all mankind.

**Tobias Drake** · 05-21-2008, 11:11 PM

Originally Posted by XPac

Yeah, self-replicating technology is right up there with clones, computers with AI, and weather control machines. They always turn out badly. If comic book characters realized that they were in comics, they'd ban all of the above.

But what can ya do... the only reason any tech is introduced is to make it a weapon. If Reed Richards invented a rice picking machine, it would somehow be turned into a threat to all mankind.

Yeah, but I see this as even being above those. Even from a non-comic standpoint, creating machines capable of indefinitely self-replicating requiring no input from you whatsoever to do so is guaranteeing that they will continue to do so. If you cannot shut them down, then they will continue to replicate out of control. This isn't exactly hard logic; a S.H.I.E.L.D. weapons designer should be smart enough to realize this. This man makes me wonder if he's responsible for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s redshirt status; I can forgive them for dying left and right if they're using tech HE designed. No wonder the Capekillers are crap and Helicarriers fall out of the sky every other month.

**XPac** · 05-21-2008, 11:26 PM

Originally Posted by Tobias Drake

Yeah, but I see this as even being above those. Even from a non-comic standpoint, creating machines capable of indefinitely self-replicating requiring no input from you whatsoever to do so is guaranteeing that they will continue to do so. If you cannot shut them down, then they will continue to replicate out of control. This isn't exactly hard logic; a S.H.I.E.L.D. weapons designer should be smart enough to realize this. This man makes me wonder if he's responsible for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s redshirt status; I can forgive them for dying left and right if they're using tech HE designed. No wonder the Capekillers are crap and Helicarriers fall out of the sky every other month.

I don't know... he sounds like your atypical SHIELD guy to me.

**I am MODOK** · 05-22-2008, 07:34 AM

Originally Posted by Tobias Drake

When will people learn that self-replicating robots will inevitably go awry? Seriously, it's become a standard meme. As soon as I heard the nanobots self-replicate, I knew they were going to take on a life of their own. If this weapons designer couldn't even foresee this blatantly obvious outcome, then he DESERVES to have his position rendered moot.

I read a few years ago that scientists had used lamprey brains to power some little robots or something. THAT'S a good idea! Hoo boy. Blood-sucking parasites in little robot bodies. Oh yeah.

**Teh m0nk3y** · 05-22-2008, 09:03 AM

Finally read it and enjoyed the pace after the whole epic Mandarin arc. Noticed that there were more Americans on the Alpha Team this time, while last time it was a Spaniard, Israelite, and an American that lost their lives which indicated a more diverse set of representatives among SHIELD members.

Favorite piece of conversation in this issue:

I miss Alpha Team's last set of head gear, but loved this panel:

And this one was just really cool in my eyes:

*Starts dreaming about Tony Stark and his Alpha Team!*

**jonwes** · 05-22-2008, 10:09 AM

Having the nano-bombs really made the standard bomb-defusing scene a lot more interesting, for sure. And that conversation was one of many great little bits of dialog in the issue.

**Chase_Stein** · 05-22-2008, 10:55 PM

I liked this issue more than Captain America this week. New compelling villains are introduced and the nanotechnology explanation really made this issue better than just your typical filler arc. And it felt as if the Knaufs wrote it because Tony's voice was consistent with the previous issues (minus his starting monologue where he was talking about a new girl...instead of Maya Hansen).

Anyway, I'm really excited about the next issue. Even Carlo Pagulayan, whose art in the previous previous issue wasn't exactly stellar, became better in this ish.

**jonwes** · 05-22-2008, 10:59 PM

Originally Posted by Chase_Stein

I liked this issue more than Captain America this week. New compelling villains are introduced and the nanotechnology explanation really made this issue better than just your typical filler arc. And it felt as if the Knaufs wrote it because Tony's voice was consistent with the previous issues (minus his starting monologue where he was talking about a new girl...instead of Maya Hansen).

Anyway, I'm really excited about the next issue. Even Carlo Pagulayan, whose art in the previous previous issue wasn't exactly stellar, became better in this ish.

He wasn't talking about a new girl, he was talking about a past love - Bethany Cabe.

**Chase_Stein** · 05-22-2008, 11:14 PM

Originally Posted by jonwes

He wasn't talking about a new girl, he was talking about a past love - Bethany Cabe.

Wow that's great.

I'm just worried that Maya Hansen is all of a sudden ignored by most writers (especially in the Invincible Iron Man #1 issue).

**mikekerr3** · 05-23-2008, 01:41 AM

Originally Posted by Chase_Stein

Wow that's great.

I'm just worried that Maya Hansen is all of a sudden ignored by most writers (especially in the Invincible Iron Man #1 issue).

Maybe is she is a mass murderer?

**brundlefly** · 05-23-2008, 10:55 AM

Loved the return of the Overkill Horn from way back in the day of Strange Tales. Nice callback to old SHIELD lore by Moore. Coincidentally I had just picked up the Steranko SHIELD TPB that includes the debut of the Overkill Horn a month or so ago. I thought this was a nice change-up issue after the Mandarin storyline and am curious as to how the nanotech/Overkill Horn accident and this terrorist that Tony may have inadvertently created will intersect.

Originally Posted by mikekerr3

Maybe is she is a mass murderer?

Pfft. You're a mass-murderer of Iron Man: DoS threads. Did you even read this issue, given your oft-trumpeted IM:DoS ban, or are you just here to enlighten with more enthralling posts of "blah blah Civil War blah blah Tony Stark is a fascist" and so forth? Because those rants never get old.... :rolleyes:

**mikekerr3** · 05-23-2008, 11:07 AM

Originally Posted by brundlefly

Pfft. You're a mass-murderer of Iron Man: DoS threads. Did you even read this issue, given your oft-trumpeted IM:DoS ban, or are you just here to enlighten with more enthralling posts of "blah blah Civil War blah blah Tony Stark is a fascist" and so forth? Because those rants never get old.... :rolleyes:

I was responding to a question about Maya, if you read Extremis she is admittedly guilty in the murder of over 50 people. I said nothing bad about Iron man at all. I don't know where you pulled that out of.

**Will.S** · 05-25-2008, 09:07 AM

Originally Posted by jonwes

I liked this issue a lot. As much as I liked the Mandarin storyline, it's nice to finally get a breather from it. It does seem a bit odd that bothe Weir and Rahimov are both using nanotech independently in the same story, but of course there could be a connection. I liked Weir's magic suitcase. His nanotech tricks are pretty cool.

I'm thinking that Rahimov and Weir are one in the same with Nicolas Weir being the alias he uses as the weapons guy in SHIELD. As for the missing arm, he might be using a prosthetic arm but then again Rahimov and Weir might be separate people as well.

Originally Posted by brundlefly

Loved the return of the Overkill Horn from way back in the day of Strange Tales. Nice callback to old SHIELD lore by Moore. Coincidentally I had just picked up the Steranko SHIELD TPB that includes the debut of the Overkill Horn a month or so ago. I thought this was a nice change-up issue after the Mandarin storyline and am curious as to how the nanotech/Overkill Horn accident and this terrorist that Tony may have inadvertently created will intersect.

The Overkill Horn sounded VERY familiar to me and then I remembered that it was an old weapon that was in the old the Nick Fury book in that very same trade that you mentioned.

Cool use of old continuity. As for the issue itself, it was very solid. It's nice that we're seeing the continued use of the Stark tech troops and his contributions to SHIELD. It's also good to see how much Tony cares for his team, even one life being lost will be among the many things that haunt his conscience.

The villain(s) are pretty interesting although there was a similar idea in the New Avengers Iron Man Civil War spotlight where a disgruntled employee comes back using tech against him. It'll be interesting to see where they take the whole nano-machines bringing the Overkill Horn to life thing, hopefully it won't be too similar to the Technovore stuff in the Kaminski run.

De La Torre, Pagulayan, and Dean White make a great pitch hitting Iron Man artistic team so hopefully they won't be placed elsewhere.

8/10