>>7914816He had given out his home address to call the Mandarin's bluff, his home was blown up, and he was presumed dead. So at a base level I saw the self-induced exile was primarily about making people think he was still dead because that's obviously a pretty strong position to be in as a superhero.
Beyond that, I would say making any contact would've put others in danger and the movies have always shown that Tony has a pretty good deal of foresight strategically, so instead of calling in the calvary he waited till he did more investigating and for when it would be the biggest help.
I thought it was a controlled and mature story, and much needed in terms of character development, I personally favor it over the 2nd movie.
