"Demon in a Bottle" is a nine-issue story arc from the comic book series The Invincible Iron Man (vol.

[citation needed] A military tank hurled through the air strikes the wing of a passenger plane carrying Tony Stark.

Stark secretly dons the Iron Man armor he carries in his briefcase, flies out of the plane, and guides it to a safe landing in the ocean.

Iron Man confronts and fights Namor before it's revealed that the soldiers belong to the Roxxon Oil Corporation, which is secretly occupying the island to mine the vibranium it contains.

Iron Man and Namor team up to fight and defeat the soldiers, who escape and trigger explosives contained on the island, destroying it along with any evidence that they were ever there.

Stark meets with the Avengers, agreeing to their request that Iron Man temporarily step down as their leader, and asks for and receives hand-to-hand fight training from Captain America.

He then meets with Scott Lang, the second Ant-Man, and asks him to sneak into the prison where Whiplash is being held to get information on the person named Hammer.

Angered that he lost a lucrative bid to Stark International, Hammer, with the aid of scientists in his employ, took control of Iron Man's armor and forced him to kill the ambassador in an attempt to ruin the reputation of the company.

Continuing to drink to forget his problems, Stark is confronted by Beth, who tells him about her former husband, Alex, who became addicted to drugs to deal with his stress and insecurities, which ended their relationship and eventually killed him.

The story ends with Stark optimistic about the future, conquering his alcoholism, and determined to retrieve the stocks and maintain control over his company.

"[2] "Demon in a Bottle" has been recognized by critics as "the quintessential Iron Man story,"[3] "one of the best super-hero sagas of the 1970s,"[4] and "one which continues to influence writers of the character today.

Praising Michelinie's "clever" writing and Romita and Layton's "highly distinguishable" artwork, J. Montes of the Weekly Comic Book Review said, "Iron Man was never known for having engaging stories, but in this one rare case it happened and that is why we treasure it."

Montes felt it was "a bit silly to see [Stark] recover from [the effects of his alcoholism] over the course of one issue," but added that "there's no mistaking the losses and struggles he deals with.

"[4] Jamie Hailstone of Den of Geek said that "some of the storytelling and the portrayal of Tony Stark as a millionaire playboy may be a little hackneyed," but praised the storyline for "[giving] the character a much needed injection of reality."

Hailstone said Romita's artwork is "as good as anything in his long career," and concluded that "while it might not deal with the consequences of addiction in the same powerful ways as films like French Connection II—this is a comic, after all—having re-read the tale almost 20 years on, it holds up amazingly well.

"[9] Favreau said that elements of the story would be used in future Iron Man sequels: "I don't think we'll ever do the Leaving Las Vegas version, but it will be dealt with.

"[9] In Iron Man 2, Favreau notes that the scene of Tony drunkenly carousing during a party in his armor at his residence until Col. James Rhodes intervenes is the closest he intended to adapt the "Demon in a Bottle" storyline.