Pepper Potts, Iron Man's ever-loyal Girl Friday, has high-tech armor of her own these days. Her boss left a brand-new tin suit for her when he went on the run from Norman Osborn, in Matt Fraction's epic "World's Most Wanted" storyline. But she's no "Iron Woman." She's got no plasma discs or repulsor rays, she's not rocket-punching bad guys. And this is a beautiful thing.
When Tony Stark gave Pepper her first cybernetic implant, saving her life in "The Five Nightmares," Pepper insisted she'd be no man's weapon. Tony honored that request when he built her armor; there's not a single piece of armament in its array. In the latest issue ("World's Most Wanted" part 7 of 12), we learn that the armored Pepper has taken the name "Rescue," and that's just what her suit is built to do. She's search & rescue extraordinaire. A friend asks her what's she's been up to. "Held up a stilt mansion in an earthquake. Stopped a few rockslides. Caught an airplane," Pepper says. "Two airplanes, actually..." And the list goes on.
In a previous post I complained about Marvel's recent questionable practice of creating new female villains by reinventing old male ones. But Pepper Potts' Rescue identity is a counterpart heroine done right. Rather than being a pale shadow of her male predecessor, she has her own unique approach to super-heroism as well as an unique goal.
I shouldn't really be surprised. After all, Fraction began Pepper Potts' evolution into a superhero in The Order, and the Iron Man concept lends itself well to reinvention. Tony has space armor and undersea armor and Hulkbuster armor. Soldier Jim Rhodes is armed to his iron teeth and calls himself War Machine. Now there's Rescue, a great addition to the Iron family.
I can't wait to see where Pepper, Tony, and the clan go next. Well played, Fraction.
- JC
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