A note of reference before I review this issue: Marvel either needs to give Tony his rogues gallery back or start creating new villains for the guy that aren't the "evil technical genius from Tony's past" mold.  In the last few years, there's been Clarence Ward, pre-breakout Maya Hansen, Yinsen's son, "Kenny" from New Avengers 25, Ezekiel Stane, the returning Mandarin (if you want to get technical), and now TWO new ones in Nicolas Weir and Nasim Rahimov.  With the exception of the Mandarin, just about all these folks have the same shtick: a Machiavellian techno-guru on par with Stark who comes crawling out of the previously unseen past to make hell for ol' Shellhead.  Granted, I like most of these guys as villains, but it's getting to the point to where they're all starting to look alike.  Maybe we could get an occasional Dreadknight or Unicorn, hmm?  Just sayin...

Ah, well, on with the show.

I will say, despite the growing revelation of repetitious villains, I am enjoying this story for the most part.  I'll admit I am enjoying Fraction's series a bit more, but I am digging on the geopolitical vibe this book is making.  Even Carlo Paguylan, whose art I've felt very apprehensive before, seemed to improve a significant amount this issue, feeling more finished and dynamic.  Add to that, De le Torre, who I always like, and Newuniversal's Steve Kurth, who I am currently enjoying on that book, and you've got some good art right there.  As far as the writing goes, I've been rather pleased with Stuart Moore so far.  The clever bits like the thumbnail nukes and the use of Steranko-era doomsday machines like the Overkill Horn keep him interested and entertained.

Like last issue, the story is split into two narratives.  The first deals with Iron Man in the fictional Soviet satellite of Kirikhstan and the terrorist attacks of native son and former member of Stark International's micro-munitions divison, Nasim Rahimov.  The country has fallen into tyrannical rule and Rahimov (whose wife is dead thanks to said tyrants) is now turning to extreme measures to depose them with Tony Stark caught in the middle of it all.  A good deal of this story is set in flashback over Rahimov's past with Tony and the rest deals with Tony's raid on a Rahimov safehouse where he has to battle an upgraded Paladin who disables Tony's armor and he other Alphas, leading to Rahimov's men having their fun with the team.  Rahimov himself seems like an intriguing enough villain even with the aforementioned problems above.

At the same time, you have the other narrative going on; Weir's unleashing f the now conscious Overkill Horn, now dubbed Overkill Mind... potentially because it's pretty much a literal robot brain set up to overkill proportions.  The thing, restricted by its inability to act without direct human orders, decides to merge with Weir to enact its objectives, who forces it to go kill Tony Stark first.  In actuality, its design as a giant brain looks pretty silly, but the the threat level is certainly there.  I am a little leery about the AI plot device, given some writers can get really carried away the robot/humanity angle, but I'll withhold my judgement about that until I see Stuart Moore actually get carried away.  I will admit that Iron Man facing off across what's essentially Brainiac sounds kind of cool.

All things considered, I enjoyed this issue.  it's not a "knock-your-socks-off" kind of issue, but I don't think it was meant to be.  It's clear Fraction's book is now going to be the "A-List" Iron Man book in my opinion and that's certainly okay with me as this book is still a very interesting read.  The writing was enjoyable and the art was very good.  I'm certainly on board with this arc for the time being.