Iron Man #16

Iron Man Vol. 5 (launched in 2012, the main Iron Man title after Marvel NOW!) was written by British writer Kieron Gillen, with covers by Greg Land and interior art by Carlo Pagulayan. This volume is issue #16 of that series, the middle installment (Part 8 of 9) of "The Secret Origin of Tony Stark," an important arc commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Iron Man. The story picks up from the previous issues: Tony Stark escapes a dangerous encounter in space, only to learn that his origins are not what he believed. The mysterious Recorder 451 shows him events buried for decades: years ago, Howard Stark accepted a "deal" with this alien robot to save his unborn child; the so-called genius, the so-called Stark bloodline, may all be part of that deal. This issue centers on Tony's escape, his deception of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and an "unexpected Tony" he would rather avoid—threads that converge in the following issue #17, introducing Tony's brother Arno Stark and thoroughly rewriting readers' understanding of the character. Marvel NOW!'s Iron Man turns Tony from "a superhero with an arms-dealer past" toward questions of cosmic and technological identity; this issue has a crossover-arc rhythm and is best read as one chapter in a five-volume epic rather than as a standalone story.