Who is steam powered Iron Man, the Marvel Rivals skin from the 1872 comic

Steam powered Iron Man is a Marvel Rivals skin based on the comic 1872, where Tony Stark is a Wild West inventor who falls into drink after his weapon is used in the Civil War, then builds a steam powered suit to fight for his town. I've already discussed another skin from this comic, but here I want to focus on Tony.

1872 puts Tony Stark in a Wild West corner of Battleworld

This run drops a lot of Marvel characters into a Wild West alternate reality that makes up part of Battleworld. That means it's one of the multiverses that were formed together to make the planet Dr. Doom rules over. On this planet we get a lot of the original Avengers, including Natasha, Bruce Banner and Tony Stark, along with characters from the Daredevil and Spider-Man franchises.

In this world, Tony Stark was the world's greatest inventor, creating the vision of the future. That even shows up in the little fortune teller machines that sit outside buildings in Timely, and any Marvel fan would notice those machines are a reflection of the Vision.

A repeating rifle for the Union starts Tony's downward spiral

Tony is also a weaponsmith in this universe. In 1862, he invents a repeating rifle and gives it to the Union so the Civil War would end. His hope was that the weapon would be frightening enough in battle that they wouldn't even have to use it. He had only been told it was a demonstration, not that they would open fire on the other army.

That is the first step in a long downward spiral that leaves Tony Stark as the town drunk. He's so torn up about what happened with the thing he created that he doesn't even want to touch his workshop anymore.

Seeing Tony as the town drunk was heartbreaking for me

This is a really painful run to read as somebody who has enjoyed Marvel comics, because Tony has been sober for so long. Seeing him as the town drunk was really heartbreaking, but that's just because he's done well in the comics for so long.

One of my personal favorite Tony moments is unrelated to this in some ways. It comes in the death of Doctor Strange, where one of the villains gets inside his suit, and it freaks him out to the point that he almost relapses. It's really heartbreaking, and I kind of thought about that the entire time I was reading this.

Steve Rogers' death and a fortune send Tony back to his workshop

Tony only picks up a weapon once more when his friend, Sheriff Steve Rogers, is killed by Wilson Fisk at the hands of Bullseye. In his drunken rage, Tony tries to avenge his friend.

After this, he's given a fortune from his own machine, something made by the world's greatest inventor. We're not told what the fortune says, but it leaves Tony a bit hysterical, laughing and crying, and it's truly heartbreaking. It also leads him back to his workshop, hammering away at something with an inspiration he's been lacking for a very long time.

The steam powered suit is Tony's shot at saving Timely

That something is the steam powered Iron Man suit, which he uses to try to save Timely from the corrupt government it's been led under. He describes the suit as his coffin, which kind of suggests he might not think it's going to work at all. But it was worth a shot, because Steve had already died for this cause, so there wasn't really a whole lot else for him to give.

He warns the people he's fighting that they have two options: go home and sleep, or die in the streets by his hand. That's mostly him trying to sound cool in a Tony Stark way, and to be honest, it kind of worked. Since the town was out to get them for the most part anyway, it was definitely worth a shot to try to get some cool points.

Once Fisk falls, Tony starts to sober up

Once Fisk and his reign are taken down, Tony actually starts to sober up. He returns to his workshop wanting to invent things that will make Timely a better place, and honestly, he looks really happy doing it.

Which part of Tony's 1872 story stands out most to you?