I just finished reading The Darkhold: Iron Man by Ryan North (W) and Guillermo Sanna (A) and I. am. screaming. This issue is, without any doubt, the best Iron Man comic that's been published in years. Years. Forget the next installment of the Cantwell run (which also dropped today); just buy The Darkhold, and buy it in job lots so Marvel gets the freakin' message.

In The Darkhold, North starts at Tales of Suspense #39 -- but then takes Tony's dependence on that original metal chest plate to a whole new level. Buckle up, because this going to be long, squeeful, and image heavy.

This comic is basically a What If? In this case: what if Tony decided the life support provided by his metal chest plate wasn't enough? What if he decided, instead, to improve his invention to repair the rest of his injuries? Well, at first, things seem to work out. The new armor apparently heals his skin, and he triumphantly reveals the results of his genius to Pepper:

Notice that North correctly identifies one of Tony's most admirable qualities: the fecundity of his mind. Notice too the accurate depiction of Tony's "playboy" charisma. Too often, modern writers have exchanged my boy's traditional charm for straight-up arrogance and smarm. North, on the other hand, seems to be genuinely familiar with the old comics (he actually references Stan Lee's original words in Tales #39 throughout this story) and consequently strikes the perfect note.

But to get back to our twisted tale: unfortunately, Tony's alterations to the armor don't work quite as intended. As it turns out, he wasn't quite specific enough when he programmed the armor to keep him safe:

You see, the armor decides that Tony's fleshy skin is just not good enough. So it dissolves that skin away so that Tony can depend on the metal skin of the armor instead. And can I just say, for the record, that this is an amazing page turn?

How does Tony respond to this development? Hold on to your socks, readers:

ADKJIGIERIBOIEG. Yes, this is Tony to a T. "Ha, ha, my life is spinning out of control, and I'm quite possibly dying. But I can fix it!" This is definitely the same guy who shows up to a fight already bleeding internally inside his suit.

Then we have this, in which North points out - also correctly - that Tony is an adorable, massive dork:

And you know what's even more awesome about this? North brings this detail back later on to highlight Tony's lost humanity. Why oh why was he ever assigned to Squirrel Girl? Forcing him to write bad "LOL-so-random" humor was a terrible choice; he's a much stronger writer when he's being 100% sincere. Take, for example, this scene, which is probably my favorite scene in the issue:

I literally stopped and cried for a few minutes after reading this. Where has this Tony been for the past several years? I've seen him in flashes very occasionally, but never like this -- never in a scene that's as profoundly faithful to the man's true motivations as this scene right here. The guilt, the self-hatred, the yearning for redemption, and the genuine desire to make the world a better place -- North includes it all.

And in the meantime, he also addresses that early mutual crush between Tony and Pepper:

Granted, everything is about to go horribly, horribly wrong in a few pages, but this is still nice. Of all the love interests Tony's ever had, I think Pepper falls in the top three (with Bethany Cabe and Janet). (And that assessment is not just because of the movies. I think there's backing in the comics as well.)

Like I said though, this peace doesn't last. Ha ha, are you kidding me? This is an Iron Man comic! We soon discover that the armor is taking over more and more of Tony's body -- including his mind:

He gradually becomes convinced that the armor is better than mere fragile biology, and he locks himself up in his lab to pursue further symbiosis with his machine:

And then it escalates even further: Tony decides that all of humanity would be better off if they were sustained by machinery instead of flesh. So he launches a plan to envelop everyone (including Pepper eventually) in his terrifying new creation:

Tony is actually insane at this point. But still: "Nobody has to suffer. I can protect everyone." This is absolutely the reason why Tony is Iron Man -- and why he's sometimes skated the edge of morality in that role. He's not in it to aggrandize himself. Even when he's out of his mind and making terrible judgment calls, he's motivated at all times by compassion and a desperate ambition to do good.

Read this comic. Read this comic right this second -- especially if you've been missing the real Iron Man. 

Speaking for myself, I'm now thinking of actively campaigning for North to take over the Iron Man ongoing. He just has an infinitely better grasp of Tony Stark than does Chris Cantwell. And his theme here is pretty tight as well -- one that feels remarkably relevant in an age in which the avoidance of suffering and death seems to be destroying everything that makes life worth living.