Tony Stark's coping method backfires in Iron Man #21 preview

Iron Man #21
Iron Man #21 (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Following a stint in rehab for morphine addiction and a messy proposal to Patsy Walker, as well as a battle with a super-intelligent gorilla, Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, is doing his best to cope without backsliding. And in a preview of Iron Man #21, one of those coping methods throws him a curveball.

Written by Christopher Cantwell, illustrated by Angel Unzueta, colored by Frank D'Armata, and lettered by Joe Caramagna, Iron Man #21 follows Tony as he heads back to California hoping for a break. 

Tony takes a commercial flight in the hopes that being around people will be helpful, but when the plane is hijacked, Tony's forced to don his Iron Man armor and deal with the threat. And he may think he has the upper hand, but that won't last long…

Check out the preview below.

The solicitation for this issue describes the hijacker – a thief – escaping, and Tony going after him only to get caught in a booby trap. To survive, he'll have to navigate the remote southwestern wilderness with malfunctioning flight systems and face a new enemy: Switchback, who makes their debut in Iron Man #21.

We don't know much about Switchback yet, but if they're a match for Iron Man in any condition, then they're definitely a threat to the Marvel Universe. Stay tuned for more info on this new villain.

Iron Man #21 will be available July 20.

Switchback could become one of the best Iron Man villains of all time. 

Samantha Puc
Editor, Newsarama

Samantha Puc (she/they) is an editor at Newsarama and an avid comics fan. Their writing has been featured on Refinery29, Bitch Media, them., The Beat, The Mary Sue, and elsewhere. She is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative nonfiction at The New School.