Editor's Note: Iron Man: The Iron Protocols arrives in stores tomorrow, October 14.

Plot: A couple of Iron Man vs. AI stories.

Comments: Sometimes you can see the seams in a thing, and it's not for the better. Take this book, for instance – two stories that for all intents and purposes appear to have been sitting in a drawer somewhere when someone realizes that the month of October could do with more Iron Man product. As a result, we the readers get these two utterly bland stories that feel like they're almost accidentally Iron Man stories both thematically linked by AI gone wild (which feels like more of a Hank Pym thing to be honest).

The first story, "The Ark," is mind-bogglingly set prior to Secret Invasion where Tony is still the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and has to match wits (and weapons) with a chatty AI stuck in one of those pesky logical fallacies that causes it to freak out and start blasting things with lasers and launch rockets.

There's a lot of general banter between Tony and the AI about the nature of humanity and the logical conflicts that define what the AI deems a doomed species but it lacks any distinctive voice. You could substitute any other science character with Tony and it would make almost no difference. Without any bearing on continuity or any element of the story that exposes any new or interesting facet of the character of Tony Stark, this story really has no reason to exist.

The second story, "His Girl Friday" with a version of Tony featuring a bit more charm and personality (although he's sort of set of generally rich and eccentric) has an interesting conceit undone by the lack of any real conflict and the resolution that feels like it's not going to have anything to do with any other titles in the future. Which is a shame because it presents an interesting foil for Tony who will likely be banished to the bargain bins.

Final Word: This book has no reason to exist and doesn't really challenge or excite the reader.

If you liked this review, be sure to check out more of the author’s work at Monster In Your Veins

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