The Ultimate Iron Man Manifesto

ourchair

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NOTE: This an updated and hugely expanded version of a post I made in Bass' Traitor Manifesto thread.

I'd REALLY REALLY like Tony Stark to be the traitor. This is not an all out flat out rejection of the other potential traitors, but it's an attempt to build up the case for Ol' Shellhead. I mean, Ultimate Shellhead.

I'd like Tony to be traitor mostly because the thought that the billionaire industrialist placed his prestige, his armor and his tumor-induced streak of altruism into the Ultimates only to become bitterly disappointed strikes me as the more dramatic revelation.

This, is my Iron Man Manifesto.

v0102-savetheworld.jpg

First of all, let's go back to the very very beginning: Here Tony has just signed up for the Ultimates, agreeing to don his Iron Man armor and risk his life against emerging superhuman threats. Assuming he's being honest, it is also the most explicit he has ever been about his ideals.

Also, in the pages preceding this exchange, Tony is the one who recommends Thor for membership in the team, noting that the self-proclaimed Son of Odin is "wonderfully charismatic". We'll later learn that Tony has a weakness for New Age hufflepuff like "spring cleaning the mind". It's easy to see why Tony would find the man likable.

It is also important to note that Fury gives several good arguments against Tony joining the Ultimates: Tony's got "more money than God" and he has certainly earned enough respectability for himself as a business mogul and as a recognized brand in consumer products. He has enough good PR going for himself that there's little more of it to be earned in forming an alliance with SHIELD and the U.S. Government.

More importantly, it brings home the point that the alliance between Tony Stark and Nick Fury is one born out of perceived common interests. That common interest being the fight for freedom, justice and the salvation of the world from crazy mutants and goblin menaces. As an aside, take note that Tony and Nick spend a lot of time together while forming the team.

v0103-mediafriendly.gif

Here, Tony continues to display his friendly relationship with the media. Tony's got this whole eccentric philanthropist schtick going on, after all. But I think what's more important is that Tony is presenting himself as a very forthcoming individual. Media outlets like CNN and Sixty Minutes also want to know why Tony is risking his life and dedicating himself to the government.

Its a very legitimate question after all: when was the last time you saw a wealthy mogul join the military piloting the same super-tech they supply? If there're any, Tom Clancy isn't telling. But the most important point to be made is that Tony's altruism is a recent development. It's not something he always had. Which is why he has to frequently explain whenever he gets the chance. Which brings us to the following image:

v0106-tumor.jpg

Here, Tony drops the bomb on Captain America and Thor. He's got a brain tumor, and it's going to kill him anywhere between six months and five years. It's his explanation for his philanthropic bent. He wants to do some good in this world before he dies.

Now I doubt that the editorial team at Ultimate Marvel will allow Tony to die just like that, but for a moment, let's ignore the constraints of editorial politics and consider what that tumor means. I think what isn't being played up enough about that tumor is that it gives him a finite timetable for Tony to do whatever good he wants to do in this world.

Which means if Tony wants to do those things, he'd better plan them out properly. He's got to apply his superhuman intellect and management savvy in order to get as much of those done as possible. Which brings us to the following image:

v0101-everest.jpg

High upon Mount Everest, Tony is taking a six week sabbatical from his corporate responsibilites and his ostentatious lifestyle. Not that he's complaining, he remarks that it's times like these that give him perspective and help him develop his focus on "The Plan." Notice how this "Plan" has NEVER been mentioned again.

One way to interpret this is that he's got some sinister scheme brewing, like maybe an army of Iron Monger machines ready to destroy the planet at but a push of a button. Or perhaps a new world order powered by machines or some crap like that. We can infer that his intentions are sinister. But that makes less sense than assuming The Plan is some kind of humanitarian scheme to make the world right again. Whatever The Plan is, it was certainly supposed to be compatible with his partnership and friendship with Fury.

Tomorrow, I'll tie up these points with material from Ultimates Vol. 2
 
Intresting. I'm still fairly sold on captain America, but you've got some very good points here, epsecialy "The Plan". I'd missed that bit completly. Lets see what you've got tomorrow, maybe I'll be converted.

I doubt it, but maybe.
 
Thanks. The idea here is to look at the traitor in broad strokes in relation to the genre of superhero fiction. Meaning I'm trying to sell Tony here as an Ozymandias type.
 
:shock:

Hey! I own any and all manifestos!

Dammit. I wish Guij told me how to trademark things in a post. Now he's dead. Curses.

Anyway, you're a hack and a thief Ourchair. And who are you to call yourself Ourchair anyway? You're certainly not Mychair, dag blast it.

Also, I was thinking of doing this for each of the four available subjects, but sadly, it'd have been just guess work, without proof. Things like "The Plan", and so forth, but it's just supposition. You could do the same for Captain America. What I will do is a manifesto showing all the hints to the traitor once we find out who it is. However, if it's Iron Man, well you've saved me some work, as this is all quite comprehensive and well done.

In the mean time, I hate you, and you stole my thinkings.
 
Manifesto™
Ex-Stone Roses celebration, all rights held by Step the **** up ya ****ing **** I'll ****ing do ya ya ****ing **** head, corp. 1989

Not available for transfer, alas.

Yes, Tony did it, to hide the fact that he's really Captain America.
 
Bass said:
Anyway, you're a hack and a thief Ourchair. And who are you to call yourself Ourchair anyway? You're certainly not Mychair, dag blast it.
The reason why I'm called OURchair and not YOURchair, MYchair or THEIRchair is because I'm a commie slut. Live with it.

I made certain I aped your image presentation style. I was originally going to have the text wrap around, but I thought I'd plagiarize you as bestest as I could. Unlike you, however, I chose to use smaller and more economically compressed images because being on a dial-up connection automatically excludes me from being the bandwidth insensitive whore you are.

Bass said:
Also, I was thinking of doing this for each of the four available subjects, but sadly, it'd have been just guess work, without proof. Things like "The Plan", and so forth, but it's just supposition. You could do the same for Captain America. What I will do is a manifesto showing all the hints to the traitor once we find out who it is. However, if it's Iron Man, well you've saved me some work, as this is all quite comprehensive and well done.
I think I'll try to do something similar before next month. It'll be a mirrored version of yr manifesto, but instead of presenting the evidence to eliminate suspects, I shall present the suspects as they conform to evidence.

I'm such a devil's advocate even to myself that, even my sincere belief in Iron Man as traitor is rather unsteady. I WANT Tony to be a traitor more than I THINK he's the traitor.
 
Guijllons said:
Yes, Tony did it, to hide the fact that he's really Captain America.

And is, therefore, gay.
 
Guijllons said:
If there is one man in the UU that we could conceivably imagine to be wearing ladies frilly smalls, then it's Tony.
Actually, it's already been confirmed that Tony wears women's lingerie. Check out this panel from Volume 1, Issue 6:

v0106-crossdress.jpg
 
Nice job.

Now I'm going to have to make a Manifesto to prove it's Eammon Brankin.
 
ProjectX2 said:
Nice job.

Now I'm going to have to make a Manifesto to prove it's Eammon Brankin.
Eammon Brankin is modeled after an acquaintance of Millar's named Eammon Brankin, who was a doctor who helped Millar out while he was sick. I think Eammon would have to do some REALLY BIG favors to get written as the traitor. It's rumored that Millar is bisexual, so I think that's a good start for him.
 
so many to choose from, all good to. i think i'll have better luck putting the names up on a wall putting a blindfold over my eyes and throwing a dart :wink:
 
ourchair said:
I made certain I aped your image presentation style. I was originally going to have the text wrap around, but I thought I'd plagiarize you as bestest as I could. Unlike you, however, I chose to use smaller and more economically compressed images because being on a dial-up connection automatically excludes me from being the bandwidth insensitive whore you are.

:lol:

It's so true.
 
thee great one said:
You know I thought the plan was always creating the Ultimates.
I doubt it. Tony had little of a role in the formation of the team, other than suggesting Thor.

The rest of the members came into membership through other means, such as Fury recruiting post-human researchers like Pym and Banner, mutants like Jan, Pietro and Wanda, and publicizing shadow members like Clint and Natasha.
 
ourchair said:
Actually, it's already been confirmed that Tony wears women's lingerie. Check out this panel from Volume 1, Issue 6:

v0106-crossdress.jpg

Ugh - and it's him MOM'S too! That's, like, a million times worse.
 
TheManWithoutFear said:
I'm pretty sure "The Plan" was a dramatic introduction to Tony's referring to The Ultimates. I'm pretty sure he's considered established founder of the team and is responsible for a lot of their funding.
It's been made pretty clear that the Ultimates gets its funding from Congress. Over a hundred fifty billion dollars, I believe. Of course, we're not really made privy as to the exact details of SHIELD's accounting books, but I think Stark International does little other than supply technology and logistics assistance, both of which supersede a deal to provide financial support.

I'm supposed to finish this, I know, but I'm downloading scans for use in my additions to this because I have no scanner to slap my own comics in.
 

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