Iron Man #1 (681)

Mar 2026 · Marvel · 5.99 USD

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“A New Nightmare”

About this Issue

Iron Man (2026) #1 — carrying the legacy numbering designation of #681 across the character's publication history — marks the seventh volume of the Iron Man ongoing series and represents Joshua Williamson's high-profile return to Marvel after years of work at DC Comics. The issue introduces two new characters to the Marvel Universe, Adam Ware and Luna Lucia, while reframing A.I.M. under Madame Masque's leadership around a genuinely fresh central thesis: rather than steal Stark's technology, the villains seek to manufacture the next Tony Stark himself. That conceptual pivot — placing the man above the armor at the center of the conflict — gives the run a philosophical hook that distinguishes it from prior Iron Man relaunches and speaks directly to decades of debate about what actually makes Tony Stark dangerous.

writer Joshua Williamson · artist, inker Carmen Carnero · colorist Nolan Woodard · letterer VC's Joe Caramagna · cover Ryan Stegman

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History

The series was announced at New York Comic Con 2025 during Marvel's Next Big Thing panel, pairing Williamson with artist Carmen Carnero, who had previously drawn Captain America and eXceptional X-Men for Marvel. Williamson, whose Marvel work had been sparse while he served as a central architect of DC event books, framed the series around a personal conviction that the cave origin created Tony Stark the man — not merely the armor — a thesis he described publicly when the book was announced. The issue shipped January 28, 2026, with a Final Order Cutoff of December 1, 2025, and was edited by Daniel Khazem under senior editor Wil Moss; colors were supplied by Nolan Woodard, a longtime Carnero collaborator, with lettering by Joe Caramagna.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Adam Ware (Earth-616): a teacher specializing in educational technologies and problem-solving who wins the inaugural Tony Stark Grant Award, then becomes a primary target of Madame Masque and A.I.M.
First appearance of Luna Lucia (Earth-616): a chef who introduces herself to Tony Stark at the award ceremony reception and becomes a recurring supporting character in subsequent issues.
Written by Joshua Williamson with interior art and inks by Carmen Carnero; colors by Nolan Woodard; letters by Joe Caramagna; main cover by Ryan Stegman (wraparound).
Legacy numbering designates this issue as #681 in the continuous Iron Man publication count, opening the seventh volume of the Iron Man ongoing series.
The issue's central villain conceit — Madame Masque directing A.I.M. to replicate not the Iron Man armor but the genius circumstances that produced Tony Stark — is introduced and executed within this first issue, establishing the core dramatic engine of Williamson's run.
Melinda May (originally a television character from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) appears here as a government liaison monitoring Stark following a post-Doctor Doom ban on powerful weapons, continuing her integration into 616 comics continuity.
Pepper Potts returns to the Iron Man monthly title as an active supporting character — described by reviewers as her first significant return to an Iron Man series in a long time — having established the Tony Stark Grant Award at Tony's prior request.
The issue features a large ensemble in cameo or image-only appearances (Thor, Hulk, Captain Marvel, War Machine, Invisible Woman, Mister Fantastic, Wasp, Norman Osborn) contextualizing Tony's standing within the broader Marvel Universe without requiring prior reading of those characters' current books.