Invincible Iron Man #28

H.A.M.M.E.R. Industries and STARK Resilient are going to throw down in an industrial war the world has not seen the likes of since the grand barnstorming days of early aviation!  What prey tell will it be?  H.A.M.M.E.R. has opened the gambit with Detroit Steel, a massive armoured suit perfectly suited (ha!) to fill the void left by the departure of STARK from that arena.

STARK will build a car.

Take a moment to contemplate what that means not only for the Marvel U, but for the book itself.  There is a reason there isn’t a comic based on the life and times of Henry Ford (If there is, please bring it to my attention).  What was once a great book based on a man in a suit trying to fix the world, is now about a man made of a suit, trying to fix the world, one car at a time.

While these are noble ambitions in a global warming kind of way, Invincible Car Making Man does not really sound that good a title.  Perhaps I am being frivolous but what was already a great, Eisner Award winning title, seems to be looking to line up a shark to jump.

While I am not suggesting that we hit the lifeboats just yet, perhaps check their locations and inch towards them, just looking natural. -Bretzke

Invincible Iron Man Annual #1.

During the current run of Iron Man I have often wondered why Tony Stark’s great costumed nemesis has not reared his head, that of The Mandarin.  It appears that the boffins at Marvel heard my thoughts (though a disturbing presumption) and put together this little gem.  However, there is a caveat on this book: there is no Iron Man.

“What?!” I hear you gasp, how can this be?  What is Mandarin without the brute mass that is Iron Man to push against.  Well it turns out, Tony Stark is not the only one who suffers from a catastrophic ego.  The book starts quickly; a famed director is kidnapped by Mandarin to tell his life story.  But, the Mandarin being who he is, will not allow the truth to get in the way of an excellent story.

Through threats and intimidation the Director works their magic with the available material, all the while under the meddling and watchful gaze of his captor.  The idea alone of this book will not sell it to even the most ardent thespian, however the writing and artwork should.  This book is a considerable tome, roughly three times the size of any regular piece (also justification for the price) but each page turns quickly, you develop empathy for the captive and are heartened by his justification and end game.

At no point did the book feel long or, more importantly, did it feel empty without Iron-Man.  Perhaps this is the way of things; X Men Forever 2 had no X-Men and was a treat.  Is the absence of a hero the best way to sell their title?  No, but in these instances, great narratives have come from absentee heroes.

The price point is a steep one but the book itself is well worth the exchange of currency.  Try to blow through it in one sitting, I do not think it’s magic will hold through punctuated sessions. -Bretzke

There is something greatly disturbing about the trend Invincible Iron Man has taken.  But we’ll get back to that.  Just make sure you’ve cleaned out your gut and are wearing clean pants.  They won’t be clean for long.

After the events of “Stark: Disassembled“, Tony has a fractured memory.  For the character this must be disturbing.  It’s greatly more disturbing for the fan.  The effect is that, in essence, the actions of Norman Osborne will go largely unrepresented in the continuity of this title.  It’s to Iron Man what Brand New Day was to a certain web crawler.  Ok, I’m exaggerating, but I’m sure you can identify with the feeling, perhaps even the frustration.  Having a redactive wipe is many things, including bad storytelling.

That aside, Tony is back circa 2008, before the Superhero registration act, before his tussle with Captain America and before a certain gunshot rang out in the square.  Yes, THAT far back.  Might as well call this Invincible Iron Man 2.0.  Tony wants his empire back and in doing so is casually pushing aside all the hard work that Pepper has done.  It seems that Pepper has discovered this mystical artifact that allows her to see through the gleam that is Tony Stark and make decisions that are reasoned and make sense.  That’s right, Pepper discovered some balls.

The two books work well together, glossing over what you need to know and striding confidently into the pace of the new story.  It appears to be another one about company X going against Stark to make weapons for the government.  Didn’t we get through that a few issues ago? Oh wait, right, memory wipe.  Gotcha.

The only thing that’s new is the suit.  The Iron Man suit that is.  In a mash up between convenient writing and “hey we haven’t tried this before”, it appears that the suit now lives inside Tony Stark.  Yes, inside.  Ew.  This brings about two lines of thought.  The first is, with so many issues revolving around people wanting Stark Tech, this could get very bloody.  Secondly, does damage to his suit now translate to damage to his actual self?

This may seem like splitting hairs but the thing about Iron Man was that it was a guy IN a suit, not a guy who is the suit.  Tony Stark is now literally (not figuratively) Iron Man.  And I don’t like it. -Bretzke

Like a round peg in a square hole, this doesn’t fit, but it’ll do in an emergency.

Xenogenesis occurs within the current iteration of the X-Men, but completely outside the Second Coming arc currently populating or polluting the franchise, depending on your point of view.  The tale speaks of a chance occurrence in deepest Africa, so you know Storm is going to be involved and some her love life get’s a thorough going through as well.  Quest in hand.. Ahem.  Mission received, Cyclops and the gang thunder into the continent amid discussions of country vs landmass, topic: Africa.

We’re not reading this one for the dialogue.

Shenanigans have taken place leaving many mutant-like babies.  Yes, wipe your coffee off the monitor, hardened X-Fan, mutant babies.  Those less enamored with all things X should know the following: Mutant powers manifest at puberty, ergo a mutant baby is a weird thing indeed.  Worry not though, all these points are made blatantly, painfully clear several times over within the space of a few pages.

We’re not reading this for the writing either.

Big bad presents itself right on the end of the second issue, a long run up indeed.  Is the delivery worth it?  No.  The only thing keeping any interest in this 5 parter is the morbid curiosity about body count.

We’re not reading this for the art either.  It’s bad.  Disproportionate and wrong, especially with anything to do with Emma Frost.  So why are we reading this?  It’s less depressing than Second Coming.

That’s it. -Bretzke

This one will have you turning pages like a fat kid in a coupon book.  Tony’s back, kinda… -Bretzke

Invincible Iron Man #24

Its a bad time to be a friend of Tony Stark, cause his plan to come ‘back’ is essentially to use you as spare parts!  The Dreamscape and the Real World collide in the Finale but standing by previous assertions – we know he’s coming back, why the delay? The Wraparound cover is very nice though… -Bretzke

The Invincible Iron Man #21.

A video diary starts this issue and continues throughout, interspersed with a Dreamscape inhabited by Tony.  While I want to like what’s being done here, it comes off as trite.  Heartfelt emotion from Pepper takes on the feeling of something deeply emo-esque and whatever Tony is digging up, well, that wasn’t really a surprise was it?  We know he’s coming back – the delay is tedious. -Bretzke

The Invincible Iron Man #20

This is a repackaging of previous Iron Man stories, within the context of the current Invincible Iron Man storyline.  Tony is deleting aspects of his mind and  is having flashbacks – how did he come to be Iron Man, why is there disparity in his mind – everything is fading.  The issue seeks to bridge the difference between the various origin stories for Iron Man and serves this task adequately.  Interesting from the aspect of seeing how comics were written, so much blessed time has passed. -Bretzke

Iron Man: Requiem (One-Shot)

McCoy is a smooth talker, did you know that?  He resonates sweet nothings to his beloved as he opens up a can of whoop-ass on the new big bad.  There is a lot to enjoy here, just ignore the inconsistencies – apparently missiles don’t count as weapons, who knew?! – Bretzke

Astonishing X-Men #32

This makes me squirm.  Everything that was great about Tony Stark linked to his intelligence and now it is mostly gone.  Can the wily industrialist outsmart Osborne?  Secret admission time, I love watching a villain come undone.  Do you?  Read on… -Bretzke

The Invincible Iron Man #19