Iron Man

Did anyone else pick up Iron Man 2 Spotlight?

I actually love these spotlights Marvel does and I find the interviews to be intriguing. It's a nice little number to read on the toilet or while passing time at work.

Invincible Iron Man #23 & #24

These get a meh. They weren't bad, but honestly, I kinda hate these spirit walk type stories. I've seen them a thousand times before, and I've never liked them to begin with.

I did like the non Stark stuff. I just LOVE Maria Hill. The more of her the better. And I've become quite a fan of Ghost lately. Also, I loved Dr. Strange here. I too would love a Fraction penned Dr. Strange book.

It's also cool that Stark's memory only goes to prior to the Civil War. That was a nice touch.

Iron Man Legacy #1

I was a bit apprehensive about jumping on two titles in particular this week, as is with just about any new title released by the big two. Black Widow #1 was a pleasant surprise. Iron Man Legacy's debut?

So-so.

If you watched the first Iron Man movie, then you’ve read this issue. Iron Man Legacy #1 is basically a rehash about that basic plot, although there’s no mention of the word “movie” within the title; for that was another book Van Lente had recently written. Speaking of Fred Van Lente, he’s the primary reason for this purchase. As one of my favorite underrated writers in comics (please read his Amazing Spider-Man or Incredible Hercules for evidence), I saw the opportunity for him to script an Iron Man ongoing an intriguing one. Van Lente definitely has the voice of a Downey Jr. Stark down to a science. I’m just not fond of the whole “why me/why my father/why are these men stealing my tech” droning a second time around.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a good amount of fun in this book. The prologue seats Tony Stark right into his optimum imaginary mindstate as a child, and for a moment, I thought the book would continue this way. Unfortunately, that only lasted a page. Another good spot has Stark videoconferencing with the likes of Jessica Drew, Nick Fury, War Machine, among others, as how to go about this Transia tragedy that continues to annihilate his P.R. The double-page splash displaying the acts of terrorism on the screen behind a conferencing Stark is a nice touch from Steve Kurth, as is the Hulkbuster-like suit Iron Man uses to invade foreign territory.

As for Kurth, coming off his highly remarkable showing in the recent Ultimate Comics Armor Wars, he was certainly fit to be the man for the job. I went so far as to beg for Kurth to become a part of the 616 Iron Man. While unsure as to whether Legacy counts as Marvel continuity or not, some way or another Kurth left his best performance with Warren Ellis. Many of the characters' depictions are off, including Stark (if you’re going to write him Robert Downey, draw him that way!) and a bland Pepper, while James Rhodes looks a little light on color and his goateed-mug on the screen oddly confuses with a Stark clone. Some of the panels are gorgeous, including Iron Man’s new multiplicity attack technique, as well as the magnetic view from inside Tony's visor.

With all this said, those already fearing the addition of more books to their punchlist are likely to steer clear of this title, and that notion could be wildly unfortunate. Van Lente has proven in the past to be as steady a writer there is in this business, all the while Kurth has proven his potency with detailing the many armors of Iron Man. The last page reveal might be enough to give the creative team another shot, just as long as Legacy avoids repeating itself like so many non-Fraction Iron Men have failed previously.

3/5 Bags&Boards - Decent

Invincible Iron Man #25

First off, I really hate that Heroic Age banner.

I really enjoyed this issue. I like the direction this book is taking.

I hated the new armor at first, but it's grown on me since it was first revealed. I'm loving it now. I'd say it's my second favorite Iron Man armor (my favorite being the original Extremis armor).

I've said it before, but man, Tony just looks SO much like Josh Holloway.

The only thing I really didn't like was that Tony still (sometimes) calls Iron Man: The Iron Man. It just sounds wrong to me. Dr. Strange even commented on him calling it The Iron Man. I thought that he'd stop calling it that after Strange pointed it out. I was wrong. I know it's a minor gripe, but it bugs me.

Invincible Iron Man #25

Fraction continues his legendary Iron Man run with this arc. So much goodness in this issue. I love the new direction Tony and this book is headed in. Tony is back but with a nice little twist with his memory. Reed kinda chastised him for not having updated his backup mind, but part of me feels like Tony didn't do it on purpose. Perhaps subconsciously, he didn't really want to remember the last few years of his life where he made some tough decisions and strained a lot of friendships.

Also loved the running gag about Pepper telling everyone Stark's company was broke lol. Even Thor found out and offered a loan from the Asgardian treasury ...good to see those two talking again. And Tony's new initiative of getting completely out of the weapons business in favor of focusing on powering the world is a great idea. Stark Resilient will be a very interesting endeavor...especially with the Hammer Industries chicks filling the new void in the weapons market.

Tony's new armor is awesome the way it forms from inside his body. It's like taking Extremis to the next level. And of course, Larroca's art was great as usual.

Bigtymin504 wrote:Invincible Iron Man #25

Fraction continues his legendary Iron Man run with this arc. So much goodness in this issue. I love the new direction Tony and this book is headed in. Tony is back but with a nice little twist with his memory. Reed kinda chastised him for not having updated his backup mind, but part of me feels like Tony didn't do it on purpose. Perhaps subconsciously, he didn't really want to remember the last few years of his life where he made some tough decisions and strained a lot of friendships.

Also loved the running gag about Pepper telling everyone Stark's company was broke lol. Even Thor found out and offered a loan from the Asgardian treasury ...good to see those two talking again. And Tony's new initiative of getting completely out of the weapons business in favor of focusing on powering the world is a great idea. Stark Resilient will be a very interesting endeavor...especially with the Hammer Industries chicks filling the new void in the weapons market.

Tony's new armor is awesome the way it forms from inside his body. It's like taking Extremis to the next level. And of course, Larroca's art was great as usual.

Ditto on everything Bigtymin said, but I had a question. Is he getting a Siege tie-in? Or do we just have to read Siege #4 for his part in the war on Asgard?

IIM #25

-Great jumping on-point.

-None of Siege #4 is spoiled...except of course that Iron Man and Thor LIVE.

-The art was beautiful at times--including the new armor--and very off facial wise, especially with that of Thor, Reed, and the Hammer women. Considering how glamorous some pages were, the minor gripes can be overlooked.

-Fraction has really nailed the Robert Downey Jr. "voice" of Tony Stark. Especially during the "announcement" pages where Stark declares Stark Resilent, much of the speech sounded just as if Downey was acting out the character. Bravo.

-There's just so much going on in this book that is new, exciting and refreshing, I can't recommend it enough. Sure, some of the Hammer stuff might be similar to that of the Five Nightmares arc, but that's merely what Tony has to deal with: competitive arms dealers.

4/5 Bags&Boards - This lenghty read is worth every bit of its $3.99.

Batman25JM wrote:Invincible Iron Man #25

First off, I really hate that Heroic Age banner.

The only thing I really didn't like was that Tony still (sometimes) calls Iron Man: The Iron Man. It just sounds wrong to me. Dr. Strange even commented on him calling it The Iron Man. I thought that he'd stop calling it that after Strange pointed it out. I was wrong. I know it's a minor gripe, but it bugs me.

Hey this is the cover I got:



And I thought it was awesome!!!! (No Heroic Age banner) This is one of the covers of the year for me and it's not just the art (which is fantastic), it's the logo and other print too which just works perfectly.

As far as "The" Iron Man goes, I don't like it either but it appears Fraction does so we're stuck with it.

I often think Larroca was born to do this comic mainly for all the tech which he just draws magnificently. My only criticism of his work here is that outside of the main characters his other Marvel U characters always seem a bit off (with the exception I think of Dr Strange).

Fraction continues his good run on this title at full steam with #25. I think he's just slightly starting to overuse the "Stark's got a plan but he's keeping it to himself" angle as I think we've now seen it used twice already since issue #1. I realise it's designed to show how much more clever he is than everyone else but you can't just keep recycling it.

Invincible Iron Man #25

Just got around to reading this issue, and all I can say is wow. Loved Tony in this issue, as Aussiemandias pointed out, Tony has a plan and he is playing it close to the chest. While that may seem a repeat, I think it works here. If ANYONE knew in advanced what Tony was planning, they would think that he was still not at his past level of intelligence. Loved the Hammer Corporation's involvement, hopefully this "Detroit Steel" will be a challenge for the new armor (Extremis 2.0 as I like to call it.)

The art is amazing, all of the tech is beautiful, especially the new armor.

5/5 for me.

Batman25JM wrote:

I've said it before, but man, Tony just looks SO much like Josh Holloway.

I thought that, too. I kept imagining Tony Stark with James "Sawyer" Ford's voice.

FANTASTIC issue! This was my first issue of Invincible Iron Man, and now I have to track the trades down of what I missed. My favorite line was

Spoiler:

Invincible Iron Man #26

More great stuff from Frac and Larroca. Tony continues his new business venture by bringing in an employee he previously fired, literally the man that invented modern cellphones in the MU lol. Then I really liked Tony's "heart to heart" with Maria Hill about Civil War and everything. And it was nice to see Spymaster back on the scene, he's an Iron Man villain with some nice potential.

Invincible Iron Man #26

I greatly enjoyed this issue.

The Maria Hill/Tony Stark bit was the best part IMO. I loved how upset she got, and him screaming that she was on his side. Those two have a great dynamic.

The only minor gripe I have about this issue was the art. 95% of it was great, but there were a few panels that seemed off to me.

Aussiemandias wrote:

Batman25JM wrote:Invincible Iron Man #25

First off, I really hate that Heroic Age banner.

The only thing I really didn't like was that Tony still (sometimes) calls Iron Man: The Iron Man. It just sounds wrong to me. Dr. Strange even commented on him calling it The Iron Man. I thought that he'd stop calling it that after Strange pointed it out. I was wrong. I know it's a minor gripe, but it bugs me.

Hey this is the cover I got:



And I thought it was awesome!!!! (No Heroic Age banner) This is one of the covers of the year for me and it's not just the art (which is fantastic), it's the logo and other print too which just works perfectly.

As far as "The" Iron Man goes, I don't like it either but it appears Fraction does so we're stuck with it.

I often think Larroca was born to do this comic mainly for all the tech which he just draws magnificently. My only criticism of his work here is that outside of the main characters his other Marvel U characters always seem a bit off (with the exception I think of Dr Strange).

Fraction continues his good run on this title at full steam with #25. I think he's just slightly starting to overuse the "Stark's got a plan but he's keeping it to himself" angle as I think we've now seen it used twice already since issue #1. I realise it's designed to show how much more clever he is than everyone else but you can't just keep recycling it.

I like that cover a lot better. I don't know why I got the other one.

Review of # 26 is up on the main site.

http://panelsonpages.com/?p=23557

Great issue as always!

Yup.

IM #26

Love it.

3.5/5 - Wow I feel like this is the best week in Marvel history, everything was really good except for X-Men Legacy lol

Man, I am loving the Larroca covers on this book!

Bigtymin504 wrote:Invincible Iron Man #26

More great stuff from Frac and Larroca. Tony continues his new business venture by bringing in an employee he previously fired, literally the man that invented modern cellphones in the MU lol. Then I really liked Tony's "heart to heart" with Maria Hill about Civil War and everything. And it was nice to see Spymaster back on the scene, he's an Iron Man villain with some nice potential.

Batman25JM wrote:Invincible Iron Man #26

I greatly enjoyed this issue.

The Maria Hill/Tony Stark bit was the best part IMO. I loved how upset she got, and him screaming that she was on his side. Those two have a great dynamic.

The only minor gripe I have about this issue was the art. 95% of it was great, but there were a few panels that seemed off to me.

Agree with all you guys - another excellent issue. I think I understand what you're saying about the art - I think what it seems to me is that Larroca overdid the facial expressions on Stark in some panels. They seemed a little silly at times. Apart from that and as I said last issue Larroca really does the tech beautifully.

It's funny - when Stark is talking about melting down the old suits I'd swear the Iron Man suit in the background looks nervous!

My only irk with the last 2 issues is that I'm not entirely liking the over the top "coolness" of the Hammer girls and the way they're being written is classic Fraction going over to the dark side of poor writing where he'd rather the characters sound cool than natural.

Overall I'm finding myself really enjoying the storyline of Stark building a new company from the ground up.

Invincible Iron Man #27

So, yeah, I was chosen to write about the “set-up” issue this week. Always fun I tell you!

Matt Fraction’s Invincible Iron Man is just one of those series that reads better in trade. Many of the issues themselves are a slow burn, crawling and inching towards something so much bigger. They’re all very interesting in their own right; yet, I could see the problem with a random fan of the flick purchasing this based on the tag-team cover of Iron Man and War Machine. And not unlike the movie itself the issue is excessively talky at the start before all the cookies start to crumble.

The combo of Iron Man 2 antagonist Justin Hammer’s prickling widowed wife and dangerously callow daughter prove as superciliousness as you’d expect. To catch the eye of the US’s Secretary of Defense, they’ve arranged terrorism in Tokyo to unleash their new super robot Detroit Steel. It’s the one action scene in the book and the silent panels used for such frenzied pedestrian traffic in the subway work wonders. The Hammer’s Detroit Steel confrontation with our cover boys should be one hell of a showcase—next issue.

Again, fans are going to have their issues with the dichotomy of Salvador Larroca’s linework. You’ve all heard it time and time again: Tony Stark resembles Lost actor Josh Holloway; the facial structures look stiff compared to the menacing detail of the machines, especially the snazzy new Iron Man suit. To put, there’s a lot of talking heads in number twenty-seven. But if you’re not willing to allow Larroca’s give-and-take of mediocre panels for spectacular ones by now, clearly you’ve been holding on for too long. When there’s action on the screen not too many comic art teams, including the always fruitful coloring of Frank D’Armata, step up to the plate and deliver.

Invincible Iron Man has to be one of your favorite comic serials. You’ve got to be indulged in all the detail. The building of the bottom of Resilient; Pepper’s return to Rescue; Stark bending his new line with the Avengers; old friends and enemies returning for more (they must’ve liked the movie, too). All these subplots are bound to explode into seamless, invigorating story. Fraction’s conjuring up something special here, and it’s making the Iron Man title more interesting than it’s ever been.

3.5/5 Bags&Boards - And is it just me or does anyone else think Spymaster is that old lady?

Invincible Iron Man #27

I liked this. I wasn't blown away or anything, but it was decent.

Man, Pepper looked like Nicole Kidman to me in a lot of panels.

Batman25JM wrote:Man, Pepper looked like Nicole Kidman to me in a lot of panels.

Did Land draw it?

LordD3r3k wrote:

Batman25JM wrote:Man, Pepper looked like Nicole Kidman to me in a lot of panels.

Did Land draw it?

No, it was Salvador Larroca, but I think he was channeling Land a little.

Batman25JM wrote:Invincible Iron Man #27

I liked this. I wasn't blown away or anything, but it was decent.

Man, Pepper looked like Nicole Kidman to me in a lot of panels.

Ha! I was going to mention that. That's how he was drawing her at the start of the series but after a half dozen issues or so he went away from that. Now Nicole's back! Obviously, Larroca favoured Kidman over Paltrow to play Pepper in the movie. This is his way of getting what he wanted.

Damn these covers are just blowing me away. This was another great one, not that the scene even got close to happening - looks more like it should have been next issues cover.

I was thinking that this comic really doesn't have much super-hero stuff in it and I totally don't mind. This really is a different kind of comic. It's more about Tony Stark than Iron Man if that makes sense.

Wish Fraction could have come up with something a little more original than the Hammer Girls faking a terrorist attack and then foiling the attack with their man Detroit Steel so they look like the good guys (girls). Yawn....it's been done so many times before.

Invincible Iron Man Annual #1

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this. I wasn't happy at first with the $4.99 price tag but, while not 100% pleased, it certainly has got a huge amount of content (haven't done a page count but it's pretty big).

After reading it, I'm not quite sure what I think of this annual. The whole story felt like something I've seen before but I can't quite put my finger on where. It all seemed very familiar. Additionally, I'm not sure I really liked the portrayal of The Mandarin here - he sort of came across as a bit of an idiot. I always think Matt Fraction treads a fine line with his dialogue and this book was no exception. For example, I just can't see The Mandarin using the words "man up".

Anyway, overall I can't say I liked this anywhere near the work on the monthly book.

The price tag and overall lack of Iron Man was enough for me to skip it.

LOOSECANNON wrote:The price tag and overall lack of Iron Man was enough for me to skip it.

Well, in retrospect I'd say that was a good move.

Invincible Iron Man #28

Very interesting. Did anyone else realise it was Sasha Hammer that was hooked up with Ezekiel Stane? Was it something I missed or we're just discovering it now? Regardless, I think it's a pretty nifty development.

It doesn't make sense to me why anyone would invest in Tony's new company. Sure, it's a wonderful idea but how exactly is it going to make money with free energy? Or is it that you'll have to buy the car so the company makes money on that but the energy to run the car (repulsor energy) is free? That would make sense but, of course, the fuel companies will be putting hits out on him shortly when this gets out because it will destroy them. Interesting.

I've got to say that I'm not always a fan of Fraction's work but if this is the kind of stuff he's going to explore then I say good luck to him because it's a great forum in which to do it.

Also, have to repeat that Larroca's work on any tech always looks fantastic as it does this issue. He's perfect for this stuff.

Yeah, I skipped the annual. I just don't care enough about The Mandarin to pay $4.99 (well, $4 with my discount). At first I was regretting skipping it, but now I don't even care.

Invincible Iron Man #28

I liked this issue fine. I wasn't blown away, but it was an enjoyable enough issue.

I'm not sure if it was hinted or said that Sasha Hammer was hooked up with Ezekiel Stane before this. As far as I know this is the first time we've been let on to it, but I could be wrong. I don't remember all the details of the first arc of this series.

I thought Larroca outdid himself with the Iron Man and War Machine armors this issue. They looks fantastic.