Iron Man #8

This issue is Iron Man #8 of the fifth volume launched in Marvel's 2012 relaunch (Iron Man Vol. 5, part of the Marvel NOW! line) and the concluding chapter of the three-part "The Godkiller" story. It was originally released in the United States on April 17, 2013, with a cover date of June 2013. The story picks up from what came before: Tony Stark, wearing new deep-space armor, has left Earth and become entangled in an interstellar legal battle over a "god"—the Voldi accuse him of participating in the destruction of the Phoenix Force, the deity they worship, and find him guilty. To save himself, Tony, on the advice of the ancient recording robot 451, demands trial by combat to decide his fate, only to be thrown into an arena to fight the towering mechanical mercenary Death's Head bare-handed. Meanwhile, 451 infiltrates the Voldi fortress, takes a device known as the Heart of the Vold, and returns the armor controlled by the P.E.P.P.E.R. artificial intelligence, allowing Tony to don his armor again and break out. Yet when Tony escapes the encirclement, he realizes 451 had another plan all along: the device was the shielding core that hid the Voldi from the watchful eyes of the Celestials, and with it gone, a colossal "Star God" descends and the Voldi civilization is wiped out entirely. Furious, Tony vows to track down 451, and the massacre turns his space journey in a darker direction, laying the groundwork for the later "The Secret Origin of Tony Stark."