John Jackson Miller continues to turn in the most promising Iron Man since Kurt Busiek relaunched the series 75 issues ago, but unfortunately that isn't a terribly difficult bar to clear. Miller's idea of putting Tony Stark into a political realm is the central strength of his run so far, and it is weakened by some occasionally hokey dialogue and a worrying tendency common to New Marvel that sees the super-hero action quotient of the books replaced with talking head moments. The former is much reduced this issue, the latter unfortunately increased, and though I'm interested in seeing Tony Stark take on the political machine, I'm just as interested in seeing Iron Man duke it out with MODOK or Crimson Dynamo. A little more blending of standard super-heroics into this political mix, though, and I think Miller could really have something here.
It's clear that Miller is doing his best to keep the action elements in the mix. The book opens with a demonstration of Iron Man's technology, and there's another sequence where Stark uses the armor as a transportation shortcut. However, while that does allow Jorge Lucas to flex his muscles in drawing action, it lacks a little bit in tension or excitement. The tension instead comes from the talking heads stuff, and fortunately, that is fairly interesting. Miller is exploring the kinds of things that are of more interest to the older comics fans, the vagaries of a secret identity now revealed or how some of these incidents in a long past might come back to haunt a hero later.
Actually, if there's one thing I really have to respect about Miller's run, it's the way he's incorporating Iron Man's history while making the book very accessible. I don't know if Stark actually fought someone named the Termite, or if he actually collapsed while testifying in front of the Armed Services Committee, but it doesn't really matter. It feels accurate enough, and if Miller is nodding to past issues, that's great. If not, he's still giving us a sense of Tony Stark as a character who has been around. Certainly the references to his secret identity, and the outright lies he engaged in to keep it a secret, feel right.
Moving Tony Stark into the political realm also provides a nice change-of-pace for a series that has often focused largely on corporate politics. It's a subtle change, given how much big business and government are in bed in the modern world, but it is definitely a shift. What is acceptable for a private businessman could look very bad for a politician, whether it's an ambiguous party loyalty, a heart condition or a big secret that was recently revealed.
Jorge Lucas provides Miller's story with solid, and occasionally stronger, artwork. The last page is a nice symbolic moment, and though I generally find Lucas's take on the Iron Man suit to be a little too bulky rather than sleek, I do like the way he shows the armor sort of floating onto Stark's body, giving it a super-technology feel. Lucas also deserves credit for keeping the story interesting when he's drawing a lot of conference rooms, press conferences and guys in suits.
