I've had my share of untold tales in this autobiography, but maybe none more suspenseful than my next story--"How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Master of Magnetism." 
Appearing in "The Price of Knowledge"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
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- Nimrod (Mentioned)
- Omega Sentinel (Karima Shapandar) (Mentioned)
Other Characters:
- Avengers (Mentioned)
- Amanda Armstrong (Vision or hallucination)
- Maria Stark (Vision or hallucination)
- Zhong Wei (Vision or hallucination)
- Stark Unlimited (Referenced)
- Crimson Dynamo (Anton Vanko) (Vision or hallucination)
- Spymaster (Mark Sharen) (Vision or hallucination)
- Iron Monger (Obadiah Stane) (Vision or hallucination)
- Blacklash (Marco Scarlotti) (Vision or hallucination)
- Crimson Cowl (Justine Hammer) (Vision or hallucination)
- Detroit Steel (Doug Johnson III) (Vision or hallucination)
- Firebrand (Gary Gilbert) (Vision or hallucination)
- Justin Hammer (Vision or hallucination)
- US Army (Mentioned)
- Howard Stark (Vision or hallucination)
- Marielle Marcus (Mentioned)
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Races and Species:
Locations:
-
-
- Hell (Mentioned)
Items:
- Mysterium (In the Mysterium and Sentinel Buster Armor)
- War Machine Sentinel
- Iron Man Armor Model 4 (Vision or hallucination)
- Crimson Dynamo Armor Mark III (Vision or hallucination)
- Iron Monger Armor (Vision or hallucination)
- Detroit Steel Armor (Vision or hallucination)
- Iron Man Armor Model 1 (Vision or hallucination)
- Adamantium (In Wolverine's claws)
Synopsis for "The Price of Knowledge"
Tony Stark awakens with a concussion, ensnared in wires within the Sentinel Buster Armor, which lies collapsed in the Australian Outback, with Feilong's War Machine Sentinel lodged in its chest plate. Regaining his senses, Stark breaks free. He realizes the mysterium is blocking all communications, so he decides to make his way out. Unsure if he's being affected by his brain injury or fuel fumes, Tony notices that he is hallucinating when he stumbles into his mother Maria Stark sharing tea with his birth mother, Amanda Armstrong. Their heads turn into Iron Man helmets as Maria points Tony to where he can find his father Howard.
Marching onward through a shallow watercourse, Tony stumbles upon a cadaver. He turns it over to see that it's Zhong Wei. He mutters accusations at Tony, blaming him for walking away from his company, when arms belonging to deceased villains, including Crimson Dynamo, Blacklash and Justin Hammer, emerge from the water, dragging Tony towards them. As he sinks surrounded by his adversaries, Tony spots Magneto above the surface, who then uses his magnetic powers to pull Tony out of the depths. He castigates Tony for his involvement in weapons manufacturing, and hurls him against a wall before bending the surface around Stark to crush him, ignoring his pleas. Tony then finds himself clad in his original armor, being unearthed from beneath rocks by his father, who proceeds to commend his son's invention. As the ground fractures beneath Tony, he plummets into a chasm while Howard explains that people like themselves are damned to Hell. His face contorts grotesquely as he pelts Tony with stones, reminding his son that he can't help him because he is dead.
Roused from his hallucination, Tony finds himself at the core of the Sentinel Buster, where he assesses the damage of the crashed War Machine Sentinel. Feilong strikes Tony from behind with a rebar, expressing an augmented respect for Tony. In response, Tony fires a repulsor blast in Zhong Wei's name. Feilong retaliates with an energy blast from his mouth, but Tony uses an energy shield to fly through it unscathed, delivering a blow in the name of his dead neighbor, Marielle Marcus. Stark relentlessly pummels Feilong until he is battered, grabs him by the neck and reminds him of the opportunity he squandered to avoid this reckoning. Feilong tries to goad Tony into killing him, teasing an important revelation to disclose before that happens. Tony lets go of Feilong and orders him to shut down all the remaining Stark Sentinels, but the tycoon reveals that the artificial intelligences working with Orchis, like Nimrod and Omega Sentinel, have betrayed their human allies in order to destroy humans and mutants alike. As more Stark Sentinels converge outside the Sentinel Buster, Emma Frost picks up on Tony mentally calling her out. She is fighting Stark Sentinels with the X-Men, so she explains that are too busy to help directly. She assures Tony that she has asked someone to call on him, and both Feilong and Stark are taken aback when the real Magneto appears, extending a greeting to Tony.
Solicit Synopsis
IRON MAN IS MUTANTKIND'S LAST HOPE!
Tony Stark's greatest accomplishment may have just become the world's most advanced coffin. Trapped within a deactivated armor, Tony must face down his demons and his legacy. Can Iron Man escape, or will mutantkind's hopes die along with him?Notes
- The 3D model rendered by Rafael Grassetti for his variant cover for this issue was sculpted alongside Breno Salles.[1]
- Like most Marvel comic books released on April 2024, this comic opens with a tribute to Paul Neary, a penciler, inker, writer and editor who died on February 10 at 65 years of age.
- During his hallucination, Tony Stark is confronted by Zhong Wei. He mentions Tony walking away from his company, Stark Unlimited. This happened in Iron Man (Vol. 6) #1.
- When Tony is dragged into the water by visions of different villains of his, he points out that they all have died:
- Iron Monger (Obadiah Stane) killed himself in Iron Man #200 after losing to Iron Man in battle.
- Justin Hammer was frozen in suspended animation by Tony in Iron Man: Bad Blood #4.
- Crimson Cowl was killed by her daugther Sasha and Zeke Stane in Invincible Iron Man #527
- Anton Vanko sacrificed himself to kill Boris Turgenov and save Iron Man in Tales of Suspense #52.
- Spymaster (Mark Sharen) was killed by Ghost in Iron Man #220.
- Blacklash was killed by Iron Man's Sentient Armor in Iron Man (Vol. 3) #28.
- Detroit Steel was killed by Sasha Hammer in Invincible Iron Man #520.
- Firebrand (Gary Gilbert) was murdered by the Scourge in Captain America #319. He was killed a second time by the Punisher in Punisher (Vol. 8) #10 shortly after being resurrected by The Hood in Punisher (Vol. 8) #5.
- Tony's hallucination of Howard Stark points out that he died in a car crash. This was first established in Iron Man #288.
- Magneto's appearance at the end of this issue is connected to the final two pages of Resurrection of Magneto #4 which show Magneto being called for help by Emma Frost.
Trivia
- This issue's recap page includes an acknowledgment to David Michelinie, Barry Windsor-Smith and Bob Layton. They were the creative team behind Iron Man #232, an issue that similarly features Tony Stark navigating a nightmare and facing his demons. The inside of the Sentiel Buster Armor evokes the cavern comprised of circuitry and wires where Stark finds himself in his nightmare in Iron Man #232. The rendering and coloring of this issue's artwork also partially emulates the style of Windsor-Smith, and the opening splash page of an unmasked Iron Man tangled in wires echoes the cover of Iron Man #231, which features Stark being hung by cables.
- In the end of this issue, Tony's narration makes a remark, calling the subsequent chapter in his story "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Master of Magnetism." He is making a reference to the title of the 1964 black comedy fim Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.