The What If? Festival, Part V: What If Iron Man Was Trapped in the Time of King Arthur?

This is an AU of "Doomquest," a story in which Dr. Doom and Iron Man are both sent back in time to Camelot and must work together to build a time machine to get home. Here, Dr. Doom basically tells Tony to suck it and leaves without him.

As you might expect, Tony's initial response to this betrayal is frustration and depression:

But then? Then he starts to adapt.

He joins King Arthur in battle and earns his knighthood:

He continues to aid the forces of Camelot and earns the respect of the other knights:

Then, unfortunately, Mordred destroys Tony's solar battery:

But Tony spends many sleepless nights attempting to fix his ruined armor and eventually emerges victorious:

Thus, when Arthur dies, Tony becomes his successor. And the final panel implies that his dynasty ushers in 1000 years of peace:

This AU, in my opinion, deserves further expansion. As one of my Twitter followers noted, could you imagine the issue titles? "Iron Man Conquers France!" "Iron Man Conquers Rome!" "Iron Man Electrifies Europe!" It would be great -- the alternate history series you didn't even know you wanted.