Iron Man #1 – Review

By: Kieron Gillen (story), Greg Land (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks), Guru eFX (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story:  After coming back from a much needed vacation, Tony ha discovered that Extremis is on the loose, weaponized and on sale to the highest bidder.

The Review:  Pairing Kieron Gillen with Tony Stark is just a combination that makes sense and this first issue only serves to substantiate that.  Gillen’s strength is in his dialogue and when he gets to work with whip-smart characters, he shines so, naturally, the dialogue here is excellent.  It’s quick, dynamic dialogue that alternates well between gravitas and humour, with Tony’s words being an apt mix of charm and self-deprecation.  He doesn’t so much talk to other people so much as he bounces around and it’s a joy to read.

Only further cementing Gillen’s strong hold of the character are the later scenes where Tony suits up and delivers a monologue.  This allows Gillen to emphasize the different sides to Tony, and what we see in those text-boxes differs dramatically from the dialogue we got from Tony in a nightclub.  It hammers home the difference between Tony in the club and Tony in the Iron Man suit – one is all charm and winking humour while the other is a man riddled with guilt and a heavy burden, attempting only to do what’s right.  It’s a wonderful juxtaposition between two sides of Tony that both feel genuine and come together to create a nuanced, multi-faceted character.

Of course, for many comics fans, Gillen’s strong performance was never in question.  Rather, the spectre of Greg Land’s artwork is probably what will be most likely to cause readers some hesitation.

While there are definite problems, it’s far from Land’s worst work.  Indeed, I can honestly say that for the most part, I think he did a fairly good job when drawing Tony in the suit.  The Iron Man looks pretty good under Land and things are fine as long as they’re kept superheroic and Land is able to focus on machinery and blasting stuff.  Hell, I’ll even go so far to say that the first couple of pages of this comic are really quite beautiful, with Tony in the sky, ruminating.  The backgrounds suit the mood perfectly and the suit looks great.  Of course, much of this is due to Guru’s efforts on colors – he really puts real emotion and life into those backgrounds and his bright, saturated colours give Land’s work an energy and likability it might not otherwise have.

The big problem is when Land is forced to, you guessed it, draw human faces.  For much of this issue, Tony’s face looks resembles a character out of those old movies where white actors would put copious amounts of make-up on to appear Asian.  The result is a weird, quasi-Asian looking Tony who doesn’t look fully human.  Then there’s the expressions themselves:  as always, Land just can’t depict emotions – his heavy reliance on photo-referencing always makes characters’ emotional reactions look exaggerated and/or not quite right.  There’s also the usual problem of his female characters looking the same – a blonde woman in this comic that shows up in the club could be just about anyone in the Marvel Universe.  On the plus side, credit where it’s due:  Land actually did a decent job in differentiating Pepper Potts, who actually looks distinct, a real landmark for female characters in Greg Land’s comics.

I will say that as far as the story itself, I also have some reservations.  It just seems highly, highly reliant on Iron Man Extremis, a story now over 6 years old.  I do wish that it was able to stand on its own a little more, but perhaps my concerns will prove ill-founded once things really get going.

Conclusion:  Kieron Gillen writes an excellent Tony Stark and Land actually isn’t THAT bad, with Guru eFX helping out quite a bit.

Grade: B

– Alex Evans

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A Second Opinion: After months of hype, Marvel Now! is finally starting to hit the shelves in a significant way. It’s been a few weeks since Uncanny Avengers made its debut, and in the meantime I’ve eagerly awaited the next wave of #1s; sometimes there’s nothing quite like a clean slate to reconnect with a character you’ve lost track of or to welcome a fresh take on an old favourite. While this week’s other newly relaunched title, Deadpool, left me questioning whether some things are best left in the past, Iron Man #1 has me unequivocally excited for the title’s future.

Incidentally, for all its focus upon the future, this issue takes its main inspiration from events lodged firmly in Iron Man’s past and one storyline in particular: Warren Ellis and Adi Granov’s Extremis. In fact, in a certain light this issue could be seen to be the beginning of a direct sequel to that plot, featuring as it does many of the same themes, characters, and direct references to the key elements of that arc. We catch up with Tony Stark in the middle of a hot date with a pretty blonde (or “mid-life crisis” as Pepper Potts prefers to call it) whose evening is interrupted with a troubling message from “genetic reprogrammer” Maya Hansen, the creator or the Extremis virus. It’s a warning that AIM have gotten their hands on the nightmare tech in question and are sure to pass it along to the highest bidder. With obvious parallels to the origin of the Iron Man armour (weapons designer forced into creating a deadly invention for the nefarious intent of others) Tony sets out to track down any and all elements of the virus which may have found their way into the wrong hands and make sure that the genie is kept firmly in the bottle.

That’s the briefest summary of the story I could manage, but the truth is that there’s so much more going on in this issue, mostly accounted for by Kieron Gillen’s unexpectedly assured treatment of the Armoured Avenger. In places it’s almost impossible to believe that this is his first experience with the character, such is the confidence Gillen’s Tony Stark exudes. Dialogue from the preview pages gave the first indication that this may be the case but the final product impresses beyond all reasonable expectation. Whether offering the bad guys an easy out – “Hi. I’m Iron Man. Want to cut to the surrender?” – or waxing lyrical on an introspective tip – “I have a lust for life that, when viewed from a distance, is almost indistinguishable from a death wish.” – it’s near faultless and can’t help but bring a smile to your face. Brash, meditative, funny, Gillen assembles a choir of contradictions that all harmonise together to form a pitch-perfect Tony Stark.

Not that I want to give the impression that it’s a talk-heavy issue; on the contrary, in terms of plotting Gillen has achieved an ideal balance between party-Tony, spy-Tony, and slapping-seven-shades-of-Extremis-outta-the-bad-guys-Tony. All of this is capably captured by Greg Land who keeps up effortlessly as the book shifts gears. The armour looks great (there’d be a real problem here if it didn’t!) and he laudably manages to give the impression that these AIM goons are actually kinda scary, particularly the one seen stalking Maya Hensen. Aided by some acutely complimentary inks and colours, the art on this book manages to ably straddle the divide between photo-realstic cinematic action and more classic comic book sensibilities – it’s a really great fit for a modern Iron Man series.

Conclusion: It’s still early days for the Marvel Now! relaunch but I feel confident in proclaiming Iron Man to be the best thing to come out of it so far. Its recipe for success is simple enough: no gimmicks, just great character work and an intriguing story that’s sure to test our hero to his limits.  From the evidence of the first issue alone the early signs are good that this run could look to equal Matt Fraction’s notable achievements on The Invincible Iron Man, such is the swagger and verve Gillen has displayed in his opening gambit. A great introduction to the character for new readers and a satisfying interpretation for long-time fans, Iron Man #1 ticks nearly every box I can think of that would mark it as an essential purchase.

Grade: A

– Matt Sargeson