Warning: spoilers for Iron Man #19 ahead!
The current arc of Iron Man from Marvel Comics is coming to a close as Tony Stark must defeat his "Final Enemy," his addiction to the opiate morphine, showing that the comics are able to handle Iron Man's addictions better than the MCU ever did. After relinquishing the Power Cosmic, Tony Stark is back to being a normal human in an iron suit, and his vulnerabilities are laid more bare than every before.
Iron Man's alcoholism, and his tendency towards addiction in general, has long been a central part of his character development in comics, explored in the famous "Demon in a Bottle" story arc from 1979's Iron Man, which saw Tony struggling with his alcoholism after a series of major defeats. The MCU attempted to adapt part of this story in Iron Man 2, specifically the scene where Stark got incredibly drunk at his birthday party, but this plot was not carried forward in future MCU movies and lacked the depth of the original comic, stopping short of actually discussing addiction.
Tony Stark's alcoholism has been a central aspect of his character for decades now, and while he has fallen off of the wagon throughout his publication history, he always re-enters a period of sobriety eventually. Stark's battle with alcoholism humanizes the Iron Man in a way that many superheroes don't get, making it so that Stark is always battling internally, while also fighting external forces - a relatable and common experience for anyone who has experience any kind of substance use disorder. Iron Man #19 - written by Christopher Cantwell with art by Cafu and Frank D’Armata - is the finale to the "Books of Korvac" arc, which has seen Tony Stark and a group of his heroic teammates, including his romantic partner Hellcat, fighting against the powerful android Michael Korvac, a being from the far flung future. After being brutalized by the villain, Iron Man began to use an automatically administered dosage of morphine through his suit to allow him to operate as a hero. Now, as Korvac returns, he discovers Tony struggling with withdrawal symptoms. Check out the preview for Iron Man #19 below:
After obtaining the Power Cosmic from Taa II, Galactus' former home and worldship, Tony as the "Iron God" went absolutely off the deep end, killing his friends and teammates. After Hellcat convinced him to revive his killed friends and relinquish the Power Cosmic, it was revealed that the Cosmic Korvac has escaped from his imprisonment by the Living Tribunal and has now tracked down Stark to Central Park to kill him once and for all. It is here that Tony is seen at his weakest and most vulnerable, suffering from horrible opiate withdrawal, which he says is worse than the times he has withdrawn from alcohol, and clearly on the verge of death.
While overdosing from opiates is incredibly deadly, withdrawal from alcohol and opiates can be similarly life-threatening, and the fact that Marvel Comics is shedding such a brutally honest light on how this would affect Iron Man just as much as any other person is an important message. It seems as though Tony, who only just embraced his humanity once again, tries to reason with Korvac with a similar logic, imploring him to reflect on his own loss of humanity, and how this impacted him.
Tony Stark's alcoholism, and now opiate addiction, are a major aspect of his character's growth and development, and it is amazing to see Marvel Comics showing that recovery from addiction is a lifelong battle, not something that even a superhero can just "get over." While the preview for Iron Man #19 from Marvel Comics does not reveal what's next for Tony, it does suggest that Marvel Comics will most likely handle his experiences with grace and honesty, something that the MCU was never able to fully do.
Iron Man #19 is coming from Marvel Comics May 4.