MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
WRITER: Brian Michael Bendis
ART: Stefano Caselli; Alex Maleev
COLORS: Marte Gracia; Alex Maleev
LETTERS: VC's Clayton Cowles
COVER: Adi Granov
VARIANT COVERS: Alan Davis and Mark Farmer with Matt Yackey; John Tyler Christopher with Stefano Caselli and Marte Gracia; Mike McKone with Rachelle Rosenberg; Chip Zdarsky; Jack Kirby with Frank Giacola
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (December 2017)
Rated “T+”
Iron Man created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby
“The Search for Tony Stark” Part One
One could be forgiven for thinking that there was a new Iron Man #1 comic book of some type every year, and that would not be far from the truth. I think that going back to 1999, there have been close to 10 Iron Man #1's of one type or another, if not more.
Thanks to Marvel Comics' new “Legacy” initiative, Iron Man goes back to its original numbering (plus several relaunch numbers) and the result is Invincible Iron Man #593. The creative team behind the most recent Invincible Iron Man relaunch (which was just a year ago) remains for the “Legacy” launch. That would be writer Brian Michael Bendis; artist Stefano Caselli; colorist Marte Gracia; and letterer Clayton Cowles, with International Iron Man and Infamous Iron Man artist/colorist, Alex Maleev joining the team.
With Tony Stark out of commission (following events depicted in Civil War II), Riri Williams, a teenage girl and genius, and Victor Von Doom, formerly the super-villain Doctor Doom, have taken on the mantle of Iron Man. Riri does so as the armored hero, Ironheart.
As Invincible Iron Man #593 opens, Tony Stark's comatose body has disappeared. Riri joins Amanda Armstrong (Tony's birth mother); Mary Jane Watson (chosen by Tony to run Stark Industries); and Friday (an artificial intelligence Tony created to help him) in the search for Tony Stark. They better hurry! Stark Industries' Board of Directors is making bold moves. Meanwhile, the Infamous Iron Man Victor von Doom has to find some escaped prisoners.
I had high hopes for the 11-issue run of Invincible Iron Man starring Riri Williams, and writer Brian Michael Bendis delivered. Riri is the most fascinating female character of color in superhero comic books since the X-Men's Storm, specifically during the first decade of Storm's existence as written by Chris Claremont. Riri is a well-developed character, and would be fascinating even if she were not in a superhero comic book. Her imagination and inquisitiveness are infectious; I want to learn with her and be by her side inventing stuff.
But many of the white dudes that read comics and control the means of production (allegedly) ain't having it. It is time to bring the white Iron Man back. Seriously, Brian Bendis writing about Riri the armored character “Ironheart” in Invincible Iron Man and about Victor von Doom trying to be good guy as Iron Man in Infamous Iron Man did some stellar work. In my decades as a Marvel Comics reader, I have never read better Iron Man comic books than what Bendis wrote, and he was doing it twice a month.
Bendis recently announced that he has signed as an exclusive creator with DC Comics, leaving Marvel after nearly 20 years. I don't know who will replace him on Iron Man, and I don't think the new writer (who will obviously be a white male) can match Bendis. If he does, I doubt he can do it on two monthly books.
So this first issue of “The Search for Tony Stark,” which is probably Bendis' last Iron Man story arc (for a while at least), is a nice start, and the ending of this issue is quite intriguing.
A
8 out of 10
Thursday, December 21, 2017
The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
-------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment