I was a little wary of Miller taking over Iron Man, after the first issue of Crimson Dynamo was a disappointment to me and since there hasn't been a consistently good Iron Man run in such a long time. However, while I have my quibbles with Miller and Lucas's first issue of the title, I can't deny that my interest is piqued, and that Miller seems to have an intriguing new take on Tony Stark and his armored alter-ego. There's a nice balance of political and social stories alongside some old-fashioned super-hero action, and while Lucas's work is uneven, some of it is pretty good. Certainly there's potential here, and while it will take a few issues to see if the creators can realize it, they're off to an interesting start.
Though the Marvel Universe is full of genius inventors and tinkerers, there are only a couple that you can really do stories with about the ramifications of their inventions on society. One is Reed Richards, and the other is Tony Stark. There's been plenty of stories about Tony's run-ins with the government and about corporate machinations, but this is the first time to my recollection that a writer has so directly connected the two, putting Tony's use of technology and his high-profile corporate lifestyle together in one story. Given his long-time role as a public celebrity and businessman, getting Tony into politics is a step that makes sense, but it's a gutsy move for a writer, who has to find a way to mix the stages of politics and super-hero action.
Miller does a really good job of showing Tony as principled, intelligent and yet conflicted, making him competent but not invulnerable, so that the reader can both care about the character and believe that the conflicts can touch him. Probably my favorite sequence of the issue comes when Tony and his old friend Captain America rescue a Navy sub, engaging in pretty regular guy banter in the midst of super-hero activity. All too often in modern comics, this would have been a "talking heads" scene, and I'm glad to see that Miller remembered to include some action in with the characterization.
The downside of the book so far is mostly the dialogue, because Miller still has some pretty significant problems in that area. All too often the dialogue is stilted and full of groaners, whether it's the attempts at tough guy banter in the opening sequence, Tony's not-so-clever patter with the girl at the tech show or smaller things like Captain America calling his long-time friend and equal Tony Stark "son." However, minor and major gaffes aside, the dialogue isn't universally terrible, and in fact the talk between Tony and chief of staff Stu Conrad or Captain America is pretty solid. Miller isn't likely to become the next Bendis, but as he goes along, his dialogue may settle into a more comfortable rhythm.
Also landing in the "uneven" column is Jorge Lucas's artwork. There are panels and pages that he absolutely nails, including a pretty good likeness of the President and some nice detailed technology, but there are others where the work just doesn't quite work. The Iron Man armor, pretty much the most important aspect of an artist on this book, is at times too bulky and looks more like a costume than a suit of armor, even though Lucas nails it on some pages, and some of the characters, especially on the pages that have a lot of them, start to look awfully sketchy or, in the case of the anatomically-difficult Daphni, outright inhuman. Like Miller, I suspect that Lucas will continue to improve with each issue, but he's not quite there yet.
