IRON MAN Annual #9
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Synopsis: :

In Iron  Man Annual #9, the beautiful Sandy Vincent, also known as Stratosfire, was also a pawn of Roxxon Oil, utilising the same experimental technology that brought Sunturion to life in Iron Man Volume 1 #142-143 (when Iron Man fought him in his space armour). Stratosfire had the looks, charisma and personality of a pop star, yet she was relatively inexperienced in the hero business. Originally groomed as Roxxon's answer to Iron Man, she eventually became emotionally unstable when she discovered that Roxxon had ruthlessly murdered her best friend, Babs Bendix for revealing confidential information to Tony Stark.

Stratosfire was literally a shooting star, whose halo burned brightly for a time, as she made a misguided attempt to solve the world's problems without considering the consequences, and then finally went supernova when she was stopped by the intervention of Iron Man and Sunturion as she attempted to destroy a space shuttle.


Observations:

This was one of my favourite Iron Man annuals, mainly because it was actually written by the Michellinie, Bright and Layton team and was just as good as any of the other stories in the regular comic book.

I personally don't believe that Stratosfire was really a villain. She was more a misguided individual who was understandably hurt and grief-stricken by her friend's death. To me, she falls more into the same category as Scott Lang's Ant-Man or Force, both of whom would ultimately become allies of Iron Man. It's a shame that Stratosfire never returned, as I would've liked to have seen her character develop and perhaps even eventually ally herself with Iron Man, becoming a true heroine in her own right.

Patronising lines:



Sadism:


Art Notes:

For this picture, I utilised the lovely Estella Warren's likeness for Stratosfire. I wanted someone who was extremely beautiful, yet could also convey that young and innocent look I wanted to capture in the character. I wanted this Stratosfire to be instantly likeable so that one could more easily sympathise with her and find it harder to see her as a villain.

I have slightly modified her hairstyle, first of all because the original comic-book style appears to be slightly dated and more reminiscent of the big styles of the 1980s. Secondly, I wanted Stratosfire to have a youthful, girlish look and not that of a sophisticated woman.

I decided to recreate the climactic scene from the story where Iron Man questions Stratosfire's methods and the lengths she will go to achieve her ends, even if it means jeopardising innocent lives. As she is momentarily distracted whilsts  considering these questions, Sunturion teleports in to active the "Zed Control" which will destroy Stratosfire completely.

I originally intended to set the picture in space, but after playing around with it for a while, I felt that it would look more dramatic within the earth's atmosphere from a bird's eye (or sky-diver's) point of view with the ground looming ever closer down below.

Overall, I'm pleased with how this piece turned out. I think it captures the spirit of the original and hopefully improves on the cover.