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IRON MAN #50
"Tinman"
Recommended (7/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Mike Grell
Pencils: Michael Ryan
Inks: Sean Parsons
Colors: Avalon Studios
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Price: $3.50 US/$5.75 CAN |
Iron Man is one of the books that Marvel has needed to revamp for some time, and Grell's first pass at it is better, although not as good as most of the other revamps that have come out of Joe Quesada's editorial reign. Mixed into an interesting political story we have a cluttered and clumsy re-telling of Iron Man's origin, retrofitted to pay off in this new tale, and one of Grell's trademark story elements shows up with disturbing effects. However, while the story is uneven, I was quite pleased with the art, reminding me of a mixture between the work of Queen & Country's Steve Rolston and the computer-aided artwork of Udon Studios, thanks to excellent color work by Avalon Studios over Michael Ryan's impressive pencils. I'm not as impressed by Iron Man as I'd
hoped to be, but I'm definitely intrigued.
Grell's script jumps around a
lot, and that is a problem as well as an interesting element. Opening with
action was probably a good choice, especially when it allows Ryan and Parsons to
deliver a stunning splash page, but the price for that opening was several
flashbacks within flashbacks. The timeline never gets too confused thanks to
one-color flashbacks to the origin, but there are timing issues that stem from
all-too-convenient additions to Iron Man's origins, not least of which is a
cutting-edge battlesuit created before the clunky first edition Iron Man suit
was born. While the other suit is important to the main story, its creation
seemed an ill fit with Iron Man's origins. In addition, Grell tinkers with the
details of the origin, including why Stark was in the jungle and what Wong Chu
was, which piles more unnecessary change on top of an origin story that has
already suffered more than a few changes, weakening its consistency.
It is refreshing to see the change in tone in Tony Stark's adventures, though, and I think that Grell will prove to be a breath of fresh air for this book. As an industrialist with friends in espionage, Iron Man makes as much sense as a more worldwide protagonist in the same way as Black Panther or Cable do, but with a different focus, and the main plot this issue was a good example of one that worked for this protagonist but would not have worked as well for any others. Grell is telling Tony Stark and Iron Man stories, not generic super-hero stories set in the Iron Man book.
Michael Ryan, Sean Parsons
and Avalon Studios are the real stars of this particular issue, though. Their
work in this book is incredible, tackling everything from aerial combat to a
massacre on the street and ranging in setting from a lavish cocktail party to
the sewers of a former Soviet republic. Somehow, the bright and almost
cartoonish clean artwork doesn't ever feel out of place in this grim story,
because the strength of storytelling is so good, and the artwork so compelling.
Grell is well-known for a few
elements of his work that make some uncomfortable, and I saw one of them rear
its ugly head here. While he writes strong women characters, they are often made
strong by torture and rape, and it comes across as unnecessary. This is
particularly true in the case of the rape of Ayisha's mother and the implied
rape of Ayisha as a child by General Radanovich. It does make Radanovich more of
a monster, but it's over-the-top and unnecessary, and it seems more like
exploitation than character development.
Whatever flaws this issue does have, however, it's a promising start for the new era of Iron Man. Now that the origin flashback is out of the
way, and Grell has put his stamp on the book in terms of style, I expect we'll
see a much stronger second issue.
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