China Mieville’s posted his rejected pitch for a six-issue comic called “Scrap Iron Man,” a class-war response to Iron Man in which workers come together in the spirit of international solidarity to build mecha suits that are used to right economic injustice. I hope someone picks this up and China writes it, because I want to read it.
Dan smashes up a crack house, but while most of those within run, one stays and jeers at him, calls him a bully. Dan knows her: Louise was the union rep at his factory. He’s ashamed: he always liked her. They get talking. ‘You really want to do right by Flinton?’ Louise says eventually. ‘By all the other Flintons? Then quit messing with symptoms. It’s time to take down the real villain.’
Louise has contacts. They gather together a group of laid-off workers, from all the fields and departments of the now-dead industry, who with their combined expertise add weapons, flight capability, computers to the armour. Over Dan’s initial resistance, Louise even insists they contact some of the overseas workers where the plants have been relocated, to get up-to-date information, technology, and help, because, Louise insists, they’re on the same side. They make the suit vastly more powerful.
