Writer – Tom Taylor
Artist – Felipe Watanabe
Inker – Ruy Jose, Jay Leisten, Walden Wong
Colours – Guru-eFX
Letters – Clayton Cowles

It all comes down to Iron Man versus Iron Man as it usually does in an Iron Man book, yet Tom Taylor and Felipe Watanabe manage to make it quite enjoyable despite the sameness and familiarity of past stories. New and current Tony has not really been himself lately, as his personality had been inverted as chronicled during the AXIS event and people, specifically Pepper, are concerned. To that end, she has enlisted the help of Memory-Bank Tony, a version of his consciousness that was backed up long ago in case something bad ever happened, kind of like this exact situation. The problem with sentient beings though is exactly that, they are alive and have a mind of their own. As such, Memory-Bank Tony is going off-book from what he and Pepper had planned and now has his own agenda. Where originally they were just going to try and fix New Tony so he was more like Old Tony, something went askew and now Memory-Bank Tony wants to simply wipe New Tony’s mind and replace it with his own. The great thing about Tony Stark is that he always has a plan, always has a contingency and if not, he has already come up with one as soon as he realizes that he needs one. What Tony does dream up to protect himself from Memory-Bank Tony in this issue is ingenious yet completely cowardly and it perfectly suits his personality. The best thing about this issue, as well as the last couple, is seeing Pepper make a return to the book as she has really gone through a complete transformation from being an average supporting character to a strong and powerful female hero in her own right over the past decade. With great writing, exceptional artwork, an exciting ending and a teaser that will get readers anticipating the next book, Iron Man has been doing everything right lately. It only remains to be seen if future issues and series can do the same.

4 out of 5