Tony Stark IS Dr. Doom!

Well! They finally just came out and said it, Tony has gone completely over to the Dark Side. Have I made it plain that I REALLY don't like Tony Stark any more? He was never one of my favorite characters, but I liked him well enough in a mild sort of way. He seemed to be a bit full of himself, but being a billionaire arms dealer, will do that to a man. Since the Illuminati and Civil War however, my modest approval has turned sour and degenerated into deep loathing.

In She-Hulk #18, Tony really is going over the edge. Jennifer has discovered exactly what happened to her cousin, and she's REALLY PISSED! And who can blame her? After a lot of stuff going on where she manages with the help of her law firm and that smart kid, whatshisname, she shows up on the deck of the SHIELD Helicarrier, mad as hell. I LOVE the "Mission Accomplished" banner that they have stretched out on the deck, Quartermain has managed to bring in the Leader, but the rest of the idiots at SHIELD think that he's brought in the real Hulk. Tony of course knows this can't be true, but he's being cagey.

When She-Hulk shows up, she starts yelling in front of everyone that she knows what he's done, and his first plan is to shut her up and shut her down. Jen has finally come to her senses and realized that he's been lying to her and manipulating her for months, and she's had enough. THEN he starts in the the whole "Futurist" bullshit, as though being a Futurist gives you the legal and moral right to be a dictator.

"I'm a FUTURIST, Jen! I could see what was coming. Chaos. Death. Destruction. And
I FIXED it. Whether you know it or not, I SAVED the world!"

(Well actually Tony, NOVA was the one who saved the world.)

Jen is just flabberghasted by all this bombast.

"Oh my God. You don't see it, do you? A Tin-Plated Tyrant...who thinks he knows more
than everyone else. Remaking the world in his own image. You know who that is? That's
NOT Iron Man, Tony! That's DOCTOR DOOM!"

Tony is still spluttering that he's not the villain, when Jen points out that shooting the Hulk into space was a remarkably STUPID move. He's going to come back of course, and he's going to come back ANGRY. So Stark shoots Jen with his precious Nannites from Project Achilles.

And what is Project Achilles you ask? Well, SHIELD has been "acquiring" various gamma enriched individuals, and experimenting on them, developing the nannites that will shut down her powers. Tony has not turned She-Hulk back into Jennifer Walters. He also says that the effect is permanent, but hey, no hard feelings, right? He's justified of course, because he needs a permanent solution just in case the Hulk should ever come back from being betrayed and shot into spaaaaace. Gosh, that Tony...what a swell guy!

Jen gets this funny look on her face, as basically Tony is gloating. He keeps justifying himself, saying he HAD to neutralize her, it's for her own good. Boy, is it just me, or does he sound like a wife beater here? Jen smiles, and says that for a Futurist, he just made a BIG mistake. Tony, being stupid as well as a megalomaniac doesn't follow, but she points out that although he may have taken She-Hulk out of the equation, HE'S JUST PISSED OFF A LAWYER!

Omigod.

Actually, I love this development. They already showed over in New Avengers when Iron Fist and his Attorny shut down the MIGHTY Avengers, that Tony does indeed have a chink in his armor, and it is legalese. Injuntions, subpoenas, search warrants...oh, this is going to be rich.

Meanwhile, I also broke down and finally bought Nova...or Kyle Rayner, Marvel style. It's actually pretty good. Poor Kyle...oops,...Richard comes back from the Annihilation war, and finds Iron Man practically on his doorstep, when all he wants is a good home-cooked meal from Mom. Stark keeps bloviating abuot Civil War and how important it is to register. Richard in the meantime, points out that he's been a LITTLE busy lately. He sent word about the whole kerfuffle to Earth, but apparently, their little spat was too important to worry about intergalactic domination.

Tony is all, so you were fighting in space? How'd that work out anyway. Nova looks him in the eye, and says, referring to Annihilus..."I pulled him inside out and saved the Universe. What have YOU done lately Tony?"

Well, he started building an illegal and unconstitutional gulag, beat up and betrayed his own friends, and was responsible for the imprisonment and murder of Captain America. So, just life as usual.

And Marvel still keeps saying that Tony is right?

Bah!