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Keep Risin' to the Top
Oct. 3rd, 2007 08:42 pmTwo comics this week, both featuring Iron Man.
Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #22
This issue continues what looks to be a gradual redemption of Tony Stark. There are still many miles to go, and I'm sure that by not reading the current Avengers or World War Hulk stuff I'm missing out on more plot, but it's coming together. To put it briefly, Tony's investigating the death of a rookie hero attached to the Kansas team of his Initiative program, and he's dealing with some nasty hallucinations involving dead friends (like Steve Rogers and Happy Hogan). The dead hero, Gadget, was a longtime fan of Iron Man, and was able to build her way into the Initiative program - and her death seems to have rattled Tony. There's a developing subplot involving an agency within the Department of Defense putting together a new version of the Super-Soldier program that granted Steve Rogers his abilities way back when, and based on what I've read from quick Byrne-steals of Captain America: The Chosen One, what Marvel's going to to do the Star-Spangled Avenger is going to be exponentially worse than the Iron Fascist transformation they put Tony through.
Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin #2 (of 6)
I'm digging on this little out-of-continuity limited series, written mostly as a companion to the upcoming Iron Man movie. The story's a strange mixture of old and new - the IM armor in this series is the old style with the flares over the faceplate's eyes, Tony still relies on the armor's torso plates to keep his heart intact, the culture at Stark International is seriously non-PC; on the other hand, IM was inserted into China via B-2, the suit has a nifty little helpful personality function, Tony mentions that he was written up in a recent issue of Wired. In this series, Tony's written as some mix of James Bond and not-crazy Howard Hughes, and he's really the character that I became acquainted with two decades ago - he's not Iron Man: Director of SHIELD, he's Tony Stark: Champion of Capitalism! He's on the cover of Fortune magazine, right there in the comic. And he's so confident in his abilities and creations that he underestimates the capacity of anyone that could oppose him, and the Mandarin gives him a whuppin'. Still injured, and with a 2/3-functional suit of armor, he charges back into battle to defend his company's properties. Self-centered? Sure, but there is that streak of Hero that Tony's always had. At one point, though, I did have to stop reading, mutter "Bastards," and then continue the read. See, I'd read IM#22 first ... where Tony hallucinates a conversation with Happy Hogan, while Happy's on his deathbed. In EtM, Happy's very much alive and doing his best to charm his way into Pepper Potts' heart and other body parts. That was a little bit bittersweet.
The most recent IM miniseries, Hypervelocity, was a real treat. If EtM stays the course it's set in the first two issues, I expect I'll wind up squealing over it, too. And, speaking of IM miniseries, before any of you ask, yep, I'm going to pick up the Iron Man and Power Pack series, too.
Watching Bionic Woman right now. Action! Suspense! Domestic terrorism! Miguel Ferrer! I'm sticking with this one. 10 years ago, I don't think I watched anything NBC cranked out. Now, I'm wired to five weekly shows on that network. Well done, guys.
Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #22
This issue continues what looks to be a gradual redemption of Tony Stark. There are still many miles to go, and I'm sure that by not reading the current Avengers or World War Hulk stuff I'm missing out on more plot, but it's coming together. To put it briefly, Tony's investigating the death of a rookie hero attached to the Kansas team of his Initiative program, and he's dealing with some nasty hallucinations involving dead friends (like Steve Rogers and Happy Hogan). The dead hero, Gadget, was a longtime fan of Iron Man, and was able to build her way into the Initiative program - and her death seems to have rattled Tony. There's a developing subplot involving an agency within the Department of Defense putting together a new version of the Super-Soldier program that granted Steve Rogers his abilities way back when, and based on what I've read from quick Byrne-steals of Captain America: The Chosen One, what Marvel's going to to do the Star-Spangled Avenger is going to be exponentially worse than the Iron Fascist transformation they put Tony through.
Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin #2 (of 6)
I'm digging on this little out-of-continuity limited series, written mostly as a companion to the upcoming Iron Man movie. The story's a strange mixture of old and new - the IM armor in this series is the old style with the flares over the faceplate's eyes, Tony still relies on the armor's torso plates to keep his heart intact, the culture at Stark International is seriously non-PC; on the other hand, IM was inserted into China via B-2, the suit has a nifty little helpful personality function, Tony mentions that he was written up in a recent issue of Wired. In this series, Tony's written as some mix of James Bond and not-crazy Howard Hughes, and he's really the character that I became acquainted with two decades ago - he's not Iron Man: Director of SHIELD, he's Tony Stark: Champion of Capitalism! He's on the cover of Fortune magazine, right there in the comic. And he's so confident in his abilities and creations that he underestimates the capacity of anyone that could oppose him, and the Mandarin gives him a whuppin'. Still injured, and with a 2/3-functional suit of armor, he charges back into battle to defend his company's properties. Self-centered? Sure, but there is that streak of Hero that Tony's always had. At one point, though, I did have to stop reading, mutter "Bastards," and then continue the read. See, I'd read IM#22 first ... where Tony hallucinates a conversation with Happy Hogan, while Happy's on his deathbed. In EtM, Happy's very much alive and doing his best to charm his way into Pepper Potts' heart and other body parts. That was a little bit bittersweet.
The most recent IM miniseries, Hypervelocity, was a real treat. If EtM stays the course it's set in the first two issues, I expect I'll wind up squealing over it, too. And, speaking of IM miniseries, before any of you ask, yep, I'm going to pick up the Iron Man and Power Pack series, too.
Watching Bionic Woman right now. Action! Suspense! Domestic terrorism! Miguel Ferrer! I'm sticking with this one. 10 years ago, I don't think I watched anything NBC cranked out. Now, I'm wired to five weekly shows on that network. Well done, guys.