Archives for June 2013

Review: Age of Ultron #10 – Disappointment x 2

June 24, 2013 by Shawn Warner

Something a little different with this review, with both Shawn and Sean throwing their hats in the ring to have a loser look…

Shawn’s take

After ten issues of anticipation and hope for a mind blowing climax that would forever change the Marvel Universe, what I have just read is without a doubt the most disappointing event finale in Marvel history. Age of Ultron is nothing more than a sales pitch to sell more books based on this pointless anti-event – it is a proverbial snake eating its own tail. As disheartening as this issue is, it is not completely without merit – the opening pages reunite Bendis with his frequent collaborator Alex Maleev for one of the highlights but the mish mash of artists on this book destroy any sense of cohesion. All of the art is top-notch by some of the industry’s best but the way they are all thrown together give the book the feel of an ill-conceived jam.

I lost count of the sub-plots that once began were left to wither and die unresolved, like Nick Fury and his team of Avengers that were sent into the future to stop Ultron. So many plot points were touched on, only to ultimately amount to nothing or be rendered moot by the events of issue ten. The majority of the issue takes place in the past as Hank Pym reacts to a warning sent to himself pertaining to Ultron. This adds to the increasing sense of tension as the final conflict with Ultron looms ever closer. However, the disillusionment begins and once it does it never lets up. From here the encounter with Ultron takes place during the time of the Age of Ultron prologue which literally reprints Bryan Hitch’s artwork, only varying the dialogue to reflect changes that occurred during Wolverine and Sue Storm’s time travel mission and Hank Pym’s own interfering with Ultron’s brain.

The final battle with Ultron is summed up with one mighty blow from Thor. While the other Avengers stand around in what appears to be a ceremonial circle, Thor takes the initiative and shatters Ultron to bits with one swing of Mjollnir. Ten issues of posturing and false promises come to an end – but wait, there are more Age of Ultron tie-ins to hype in the remaining pages. In fact once all is said and done, the Marvel Universe we lovingly refer to as the 616 is virtually untouched by the Age of Ultron. As the final pages flip by, the highly- touted introduction of some mystery character (everyone knew who this was going to be) felt more like a last minute afterthought than an event with a nine issue build up. Anti-climactic does not begin to describe the feelings I had to contend with after reading this book. For nine issues I reserved judgment because I love so much of what Age of Ultron consisted of; it had a great writer with freedom to explore any plot he could come up with more or less, it had illustrious artists, it had a remarkable cast of characters that spanned time and space, how could it fail to amaze? For nine issues I disputed my friends and colleagues who discounted the premise without reading the first word. Now after the tenth issue I am completely disillusioned. Of course over the span of ten issues there were some inspired moments, but without a pay-off they amount to spinning wheels, they go nowhere. As lovely as many of the pages were to look at they were merely window dressing.

I am still looking forward to reading Infinity. I have not soured on Marvel or on event books as a whole, (I even liked AVX) but this just felt like a massive waste of time and at $3.99 an issue there is no excuse for an ending like this. By the last page Ultron as a threat or even as a character is forgotten. I can see no lasting ramifications that could conceivably come from the events of this book. The only real result of this fiasco seems to be that now the Ultimate Universe (which is dead already for all intents and purposes) is now slated to be victim of the ill-fated premise that is The Age of Ultron.

Age of Ultron as a whole had glimmers of genuine brilliance but they were quickly abandoned or left to die on the vine. Plot threads that would have led to a much more exciting and satisfying climax were left unexplored in favor of hackneyed and convoluted plot devices that ended in a sales pitch for more Ultronless Age of Ultron books instead of a real resolution. Visually Age of Ultron is stunning – even in the inconsistent conglomeration of fantastic artists that graced issue ten with their work, there is definitely virtuosity. For me Age of Ultron ended up being nine issues of titillating set up with the most dissatisfying culmination. As much as I love comic books, it pains me to have so little to praise in this finale but also as a fan of comics I believe the creators that are entrusted with these beloved characters owe it to us to put out their very best work.

I don’t believe for a second that this is the best Bendis can do.

Sean’s take

And so Age of Ultron ends, in potentially the most anti-climactic way possible. Brian Michael Bendis – and the many artists he brought along for the ride – were definitely on to something. Who would have thought that a post-apocalyptic, time travel story, involving some of the biggest names in the Marvel Universe, with no telling who would live – or die – could turn out so badly? With its drawn out story, erratic use of artists, and little closure for many events that preceded it, Age of Ultron #10 flounders what could have been a truly interesting story.

Where Age of Ultron really suffers is its apparent disregard for many events it set up. Remember Captain America’s assault on Ultron’s future headquarters? The writers seem to have forgotten, as this future where Ultron is in control is never mentioned again. The four chapter build up to that moment feels wasted, and this entire arc could have easily been cut back in those issues. Echoing Shawn’s sentiment about the high price per issue, I feel like Marvel pushed for more issue to pull more money from the readers. Bendis seems to struggle with the ten issues he was given with injecting some plot points that go nowhere, seeming to exist only as filler rather than a fully-fledged storyline.

The entire issue feels like a half-baked mix of many different ingredients. The use of many different artists is difficult to follow, and while each in their own right does look good, the overwhelming mix makes the issue feel disjointed. There is a reason why they usually stick to one artist per issue, and this is a complete embodiment of too many cooks spoiling the broth.

Joe Quesada’s mysterious final pages (which were spoiled for me many months ago) do look great. It’s nice to see him drawing again, but I can’t help but feel that this mysterious and exciting reveal didn’t really need to be here. It didn’t have to be a part of this event and it makes me wonder if this reveal was shoe-horned in at the last minute, as it could have been put in almost any other title.

That’s not to say everything in this issue is bad. Like Marvel’s AvX last year, the set-up to what is to come is much more interesting that the actual event itself. The cross-over to the Ultimate Universe is exciting, and reminds me of the fantastic Spider-Men event last year. Plus the entire Wolverine/Sue Storm relationship was great, and I’d love to see Marvel pick up this again in other avenues.

None of this set up could really save this series. Age of Ultron seems to be an event for events sake. It doesn’t help that before the final issue landed, Marvel began promoting their new Thanos-led event Infinity, not inspiring confidence in their current one. The choices made through this event were odd, and plotlines were fairly quickly dropped. Age of Ultron made so many weird choices that didn’t really inspire interest, just confusion. The only question that came out of my mouth when this finished was just one word.

Why?

Filed Under: Marvel Tagged With: age of ultron

Marvel Cinematic Universe and Fan Creations At Their Best

June 23, 2013 by David Holloway

I little birdy tells me that our own Kimberley Griffiths has a quite popular blog on her hands. The Mediavengers Tumblr site has a host of absolutely brilliant fan creations showing Marvel Cinematic Universe characters appearing in mainstream media publications.

Here’s a few as a teaser but go check the lot out for yourself (click on the pic for the full-size image):

The site has had some great attention the past couple of weeks and if the quality of contributions continues I can see it going from strength to strength, but then I’m biased 🙂

Filed Under: Fan creations, Humour

Circus: The Graphic Novel – Get Inside The Show!

June 20, 2013 by David Holloway

There’s so many crowd-funded comic projects out there, but I still love shining the spotlight on local ones as I come across them. Toowoomba’s Will McLaren has a promising graphic novel project on offer over at Pozible. The story sounds appealing and the first six pages are complete of what is intended to be a100-page graphic novel:

The greatest circus on earth becomes the most desperate after its main big top, filled with technological and artistic marvels, burns to the ground. With performers dead, acts cancelled and a world war looming, violence, crime and risqué entertainment are embraced as necessities for the survival of the circus.

What I like about the different pledge levels is the variety in options for you to be featured in the book itself, whether you’re an artist or just someone who’d like to see a character that looks like them.

You can view Will’s pitch for your money right here:

It’s only a day until the pledges close and it’s looking like the project will meet target if a few more people throw their hats in the ring. We’ve happily pledged and I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product in January 2014. Go check it out for yourself.

Filed Under: Graphic Novels, Independents Tagged With: circus, crowdsourcing, mcclaren

Webcomic Wednesday – PhD Comics

June 19, 2013 by David Holloway

This week our regular webcomic guru Sean is buried under a pile of non-comic books due to his studies, so it’s my pleasure to step in for the week to cover a webcomic I enjoy: PhD comics:

A disclaimer up front: this is a webcomic devoted to a very specific audience of those working towards achieving a PhD or other research-related degree at a university.

That said, some of the humour is general enough to give anyone some enjoyment, but if you fall into the target audience you’ll enjoy the strips immensely. Created by Jorge Cham and running since October 1997, there’s the whole gamut of life issues covered, usually with humour. Like any humour-driven comic it does fall flat at times but more often than not it’s a fun read.

So whether you’re a PhD student or not, check out the strips!

Have any webcomics you want checked out? Let Sean know on Twitter @Pipes815, or send him a message via our contact form.

Filed Under: Webcomics Tagged With: phd comics, webcomics

Review: Superman Unchained #1 – Scott Snyder & Jim Lee

June 18, 2013 by Sean Robinson

Superman is getting a lot of love lately, and why shouldn’t he? He’s the superhero archetype, celebrating not only 75 years of his existence, but also essentially heralding the 75 years of superhero comics as we know it. He’s got a new movie, new digital series, and now a new ongoing series – Superman Unchained. Courtesy of comics legend Jim Lee, and current superstar Scott Snyder (who we’ve established many times is killing it over on Batman), this new ongoing series is out to revitalise the otherwise decidedly mediocre current main title line-up. And boy, does it deliver.

Superman Unchained reads like a true Superman tale. We have flashy action, honest human (Kryptonian?) heart, and good old fashioned Clark Kent journalism. Following a mystery regarding satellites falling from orbit, as Superman exercises both his raw strength and journalistic skills – it’s standard fare for Kal-El and that’s a good thing. It seems like Snyder went out to make sure he hit all the right notes of making a great Superman story and delivered. While it definitely doesn’t break any new ground, it’s 100% fun.

Snyder also manages to make it immediately accessible to new readers with only a cursory knowledge of the Man of Steel. Aside from needing to know that Clark Kent has left the Daily Planet, Snyder crafts a story that could be read by anyone, and stays true to the fiction. Lois Lane is smart and sassy, Jimmy Olsen is loyal, and Lex Luthor is… well, Lex Luthor. For the brief period each of these characters appear, you just get their character. Snyder’s grasp of the world of Superman is uncanny, and it makes you wonder why he hasn’t written him sooner.

Speaking of the world of Superman, this issue has a healthy amount of references to the DC Universe around him, not just the Superman family. Starting with a fun jab at Batman, Snyder treats this like a title within a universe, rather than just treating it like it’s own entity. It’s simple, but incredibly effective.

Jim Lee does not hold back for this issue, as we are treated to some of the more spectacular works I have seen from the artist. The issue comes with a large fold-out poster for print readers, which is treated like any other page for the digital crowd, and it looks amazing. Lee really seems to get Superman, and alongside making the New52 outfit look cool, really has a grasp of Superman’s character design. From the softly drawn quieter Clark Kent moments, to the more powerful “super” moments, Lee draws Superman brilliantly.

The only issue I have with Lee’s art is that at times it can feel a bit claustrophobic, with the more action packed sequences throwing a little too much at the page. This is only a minor quibble, as Lee absolutely kills it otherwise.

With a cool new villain set up, which leads to some interesting historical implications, Snyder and Lee have set the stage for Superman Unchained. While its first outing didn’t really break much new ground, if it is going to be this good I don’t really care. This is too much fun.

Filed Under: DC

Review: Batman #21 – Snyder and Capullo

June 17, 2013 by Shawn Warner

Batman perhaps more than any other comic book character has had his origin examined and scrutinized, most notably by Frank Miller in his masterfully written Year One. So when Zero Year was announced I was cautiously optimistic. The fact that Scott Snyder, who has just amazed and impressed us with Court of the Owls and Death of the Family eased many of the doubts that persistently crept into my mind. Like legions of comic book readers out there, Batman is and has been since childhood my favorite character and his origin is like gospel, a subject not to be taken lightly. Admittedly most of my concerns stemmed from the continuity discrepancies that arose from the birth of the New 52. That being said, Batman was the least impacted by these sometimes drastic changes. His origin is not so much changed as it is more fully explained and some of the blanks are filled in by Zero Year. There are years in Bruce’s past that have yet to be addressed, formative years in the Batman mythos. Scott Snyder does an excellent job here of driving away the shadows that remain and linger around some of those years.

The story begins six years ago – Gotham City is in utter disarray, looking more like the Savage Land than a major municipality. Scott Snyder, more than any other writer, writes Gotham City as another character. He gives it life and personality and Greg Capullo enhances this effect by rendering the city as though it were a living organism. A child is spear fishing in the flooded entrance to the Gotham subway when suddenly he is assailed by a pair of mask-wearing thugs .He drops his fish and runs for his life. Batman shows up in a tattered makeshift uniform minus cape ,riding a dirt bike that looks like it was used in a Mad Max film. He saves the child and returns his dinner to him.

The time line jumps further – it is now five months earlier and The Red Hood makes his appearance but just who is under that hood at this point is not known. Bruce is heavily disguised and driving a truck full of men that The Red Hood is quite interested in killing for refusing to join his gang. This sets up an edge of your seat escape scene and shows a more reckless Bruce at a time when he was more likely to take chances. Bruce returns to a pre-Bat Cave headquarters which appears to be a secret room full of computers and training equipment hidden inside Wayne Manor. Here Bruce and Alfred discuss the state of modern crime fighting. Snyder is a master of writing dialogue. The conversation flows with a natural rhythm that lends a deeper level of credibility and realism. The discussion is complex without being pedantic and illuminates a deepening relationship between two friends.

Bruce’s Uncle Philip plays a major role from here on out. He shows up and takes Bruce on a drive around Gotham to show him the new Wayne Enterprises building. As an interesting detail we are shown the giant penny that we all know will come to be housed in the Bat Cave. It stands before Wayne Enterprises as Uncle Philip tells the story of overseeing its forging. He also gives us some history of the relationship between the Wayne family and the Kane family. Snyder then takes us back to a time when Bruce was a boy. He sees his father working on an old Lincoln and runs happily to him. His father looks lovingly into his eyes and what follows is some of the most revealing dialogue in the book. Bruce explains his desire to be anonymous and that his love for Gotham stems from the fact that he can be anyone he wants when he is in the city. His father then shows him a visual mapper designed by Mr. Fox to be used by fire-fighters, EMTs and doctors. It makes a three dimensional map from inside the rubble of a collapsed building or destroyed village. I can’t help but think this is going to be a significant piece of equipment in the near future, perhaps in the construction of the Bat Cave.

Uncle Philip returns for the final pages and has a conversation with a rather unexpected co-conspirator. A dark and foreboding solution is proffered to Philip’s quandary, one that echoes across time and space as we see Bruce as a boy reflected in the shiny visual mapper held in his tiny hand. In the final panel he stands contemplating a gaping hole at his feet.

Zero Year is not the re-telling of Batman’s origin that some may have been expecting. It has so much more ambition than that. Scott Snyder is writing his own entry in the history of the greatest of all comic book heroes, filling in some of the gaps and bringing the Dark Knight into sharper focus. Snyder’s engrossing and meticulous dialogue brings these characters to life. His fast paced and absorbing plot is the perfect framework for the exhilarating action sequences. Zero Year is the total package, not only does it have everything a great comic book should have but it is an endearing human drama as well.

Greg Capullo continues to deliver some of the best pages on the racks today. His hyper-detailed cityscapes and exhilarating action scenes are the stuff of comic book dreams. He has been the perfect collaborator with Snyder to bring us these stunning Batman stories. Not since Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s groundbreaking pre-New 52 run on Batman and Robin have I been so thoroughly and completely impressed by a creative team on a Batman book.

The back-up story is a look at a nineteen year old rebellious Bruce in Rio de Janeiro, also by Snyder this time with the help of his Talon collaborator, James Tynion IV and art by Rafael Albuquerque. The story highlights Bruce’s firm resolve to do the right thing even though his methods may seem drastic. The writing is again top-notch, the break-neck pace and snappy dialogue rocket you through the narrative in no time flat. The art is more stylized but fits the material. The flowing lines, blending colors and blurred backgrounds give you the very definite feeling of speeding through the streets of Rio. It is a short but intriguing look into another of Bruce’s formative years.

Zero Year is off to an immaculate start. Over the next year we are to be witnesses to the birth of the Dark Knight. Some of the questions we have always had about why things are the way they are in the complex mind of Bruce Wayne will surely be answered while others are more fully explained. This book is mandatory reading not only for Batman fans but for all lovers of great writing and tremendous artwork everywhere. So even if you are only a sporadic reader of the Bat-titles I would recommend jumping on at least for the next year. I’m sure you will stick around.

Until next week, see you at the comic book store. Same Bat-time…

Filed Under: DC Tagged With: batman

Review: Avengers Assemble #16: Deconnick and Buffagni

June 16, 2013 by Kimberley Griffiths

Avengers Assemble #16 is the second in the ‘Enemy Within’ crossover with Captain Marvel, a five issue arc over the two titles, and written by Kelly Sue DeConnick, queen of the clever dialogue and character driven storyline. While this event focuses on Carol, Assemble #16 certainly isn’t wanting for other characters, with an opening scene based on a SWORD craft in orbit, and plenty of heroes featuring prominently during the battle scene that takes up a majority of the issue.

If you’re not reading Captain Marvel, then this issue probably won’t make a heck of a lot of sense. While the battle is against the Brood, the driving force behind their attempted invasion is Yon Rogg, and his personal crusade against Carol. Out of context, this could be confusing for new readers, or those who have never really followed her character’s story. It doesn’t make the issue any less fun, though.

Kelly Sue does a great job here of incorporating four different settings – a SWORD spacecraft, Carol’s apartment, a battle on the streets, and Yon Rogg’s home – while still keeping the story flowing well. While I’ve seen some criticism of the jumps between scenes or panels, I thought this was a great way to create a feeling of chaos, a parallel between the storytelling, and what’s going on in Carol’s head at the moment.

Matteo Buffagni’s art is pretty darn awesome here. Right from the first page, you can tell it’s going to be a great issue visually. The man has real talent with facial expressions, be them close up, or at a distance. I also really appreciated the design of the book. The panels interconnect really nicely, and there’s a particularly excellent and movement filled page featuring Hawkeye, that I went back to a couple of times just to look at. I really cannot fault the art at all – it’s gorgeous.

As always, DeConnick’s dialogue is witty and feels very natural. Despite this being a very Carol-centric issue, all the characters featured get some good page time, and the team dynamic that has been present in previous issues of Assemble is still very much a core focus. The scenes with the graveyard shift pair of SWORD agents, are just as engaging as those featuring the heroes we know, and there’s some great transitions between locations, particularly where Wolverine starts a sentence while slicing through one of the Brood, and then it’s finished by Abigail Brand talking to the SWORD agents currently orbiting the Earth.

All in all, there isn’t a lot of progression to Carol’s storyline here, but the action more than makes up for it. Unlike some stalwarts on the Marvel roster, Deconnick is able to craft a script that on the surface, appears to have a lot going on and keeps you interested, but it’s not until you finish the issue that you realise not much has really happened. Instead of relying on art to fill pages and panels, she uses character interaction and internal monologue, which is far more engaging and entertaining than some of the more high concept titles out there at the moment.

Assemble #16 was a great look into how Carol’s battle with both her brain lesion, and Yon Rogg’s treachery, is affecting her friends, and the world at large. It further demonstrates her inherent stubbornness, and the chaotic turn her life has taken, while enforcing the theme of friendship and teamwork.

Overall, another enjoyable, action packed issue. I can’t wait for the next in this crossover!

Filed Under: Marvel, Review

My Pull List: Kimberley Griffiths

June 13, 2013 by Kimberley Griffiths

My Pull List is a regular look at the comics we regularly read. Each time we’ll get one comics lover to detail the books they can’t do without month to month. If you’d like to be a participant,drop us a line! This week it’s our contributing writer Kimberley Griffiths.

Looks like it’s my turn to share my pull list with you all, and if you’ve read my reviews and column, you’re probably already thinking you know the kind of titles I’m in to, so let’s see if you’re right.

1. Captain Marvel

Obviously, CM was always going to be the top of my list. Apart from featuring one of my all time favourite characters (plus Jessica Drew, I can’t pass up more Jess), the book is also written by my current favourite writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. If you aren’t reading Captain Marvel, please please please do start. Not only do female hero books need all the support they can get (why do you think they keep getting cancelled?), but CM is just simply astonishingly brilliant, for every reason that matters. You can read my review of issues #1-12 here.

2. Hawkeye

Like Sean R, I can’t stop gushing about Hawkeye. The core concepts of this is what I do when I’m not Avenging and if you look a bit closer, I’m actually pretty depressed make Clint a wonderfully relatable and real character. Matt Fraction is doing an A+ job with Clint here, and his writing of Kate Bishop – my favourite Young Avenger – is also spot on. This book isn’t just about Clint, it’s about Kate too. Hawkeye and Hawkguy make the best team – snarky, clever, and best of all, free of romantic tension. It also often features the art of David Aja, one of my favourite comic artists. Always way too long in between issues.

3. Journey into Mystery

I don’t really have much to say about JiM apart from Kathryn Immonen writes Sif so incredibly well, and occasionally Valerio Schiti’s art makes me want to weep.

4. Avengers Assemble

A lot of readers haven’t been enjoying Assemble, but I’ve found it to be a fun, clever title. Particularly since DeConnick took over from Bendis as writer. While there are certainly elements that bother me a little, mostly pertaining to the increased addition of MCU elements, this is handled much more subtly than in Secret Avengers. It features a lot of my favourite characters, and all in all, has a great we’re who’s left in New York right now, so I suppose we should deal with stuff vibe about it. Definitely my favourite Avengers title at the moment.

5. Age of Ultron and related titles

Okay, so I’m mostly reading the AoU books because let’s be honest, you gotta read the big event from your favourite company, right? And I’m a sucker for anything involving time travel, or Tony walking around in his undersuit.

The best of the rest…

Other titles I’m thoroughly enjoying include Saga, FF, Morning Glories, Deadpool, X-Men (even with only a single issue, I can tell this is going to become a favourite), and Fearless Defenders. Sometimes I leave them sitting for a while before I get around to reading them, but when I do, I’m always sucked in straight away.

What am I looking forward to in the way of upcoming titles? Definitely DeConnick and Emma Rios’ Pretty Deadly (Image).

Filed Under: Marvel, Review

Webcomic Wednesday – Moth City Season 2

June 12, 2013 by Sean Robinson

“What?!” I hear you say, “But Sean, today is THURSDAY. You’re a day late!” Well, sure I am. But it’s my show, so my rules and stuff. And besides, good things take time, so the extra day only makes it sweeter.

Speaking of good things, I’ve been meaning to return to Tim Gibson’s Moth City for a while. It was one of my first Webcomic Wednesdays I ever covered and I loved it then. So this week, just in time for the Comixology release, I decided to bring the spotlight back to it once again. So welcome back to Moth City.

Moth City is very much as you knew it from last time. The excellent use of digital space returns, with panels making themselves before your eyes. What’s new is that Gibson has taken to tackling a few more action scenes this time around and it looks great. The sense of movement as the panels switch between each other is great – no longer are you relegated to seeing the entire fight at once.

Speaking of action, the story has started to take on a different approach. Following the cliffhanger at the end of season one, it seems to have picked up on the small strands of horror and begun to run with them. Certain events are transpiring to ensure something bad is going to happen. We only get a sense of what is really to come, but without spoiling anything – it’s looking good, and it’s looking to go bad spectacularly.

You can check out Moth City here, on Thrillbent, and on Comixology. It’s shaping up to be something that horror fans should be keeping an eye on and it is a lot of fun.

Have any webcomics you want me to check out? Let me know on my twitter @Pipes815, or send me a message via our contact form.

Filed Under: Webcomics Tagged With: moth city

Review: Iron Man #11 – Gillen and Eaglesham

June 8, 2013 by Shawn Warner

Kieron Gillen is re-building Iron Man and he is using alien technology to do so. Well that’s not entirely true, but he is re-tooling the origin story as told to Stark by the alien robot 451. And what a story it is: engineered birth, pursuing murderous greys, the fate of the world in the balance – this is the kind of story that would make Fox Mulder salivate.

Kieron Gillen has hit his stride – I have liked this book since its inception in the Marvel Now line up but it was never the Marvel book I looked forward to reading. That was usually Superior Spider-Man or one of Hickman’s Avengers books or Bendis’ X-Men but lately I have been mentioning Iron Man in those terms with increasing regularity. The book is improving and not all of the credit goes to Gillen. Dale Eaglesham has brought a visual dynamic to this book that it was so sorely lacking. Although Greg Land is an accomplished artist in his own right I don’t think he fit this title. His work tends to be flat and his faces are all rendered in too similar a fashion for my liking.

This issue begins with Tony and 451 on board a cloaked space ship traversing deep space and in deep discussion when they are detected crossing some sort of perimeter. Tony is becoming more and more irate as 451 implores him to save his ship. At one point Tony refers to the robot as having a “glorified Commodore 64” brain, but when all is said and done he decides to go along with 451’s plan.

The story then returns to the past and Tony’s parents in the company of 451. The robot continues to shed light on Stark’s parent’s relationship and his pending birth. Gillen does a really good job illuminating the changes he is introducing to Tony’s mythology without simply blurting them out. He is building up to what we can only assume will be an Earth-shattering revelation. These changes go a long way in making sense of Tony’s inclusion on the current Guardians of the Galaxy team and really legitimising his status as a super genius. His parent’s story is told in meticulous detail. Howard Stark is the portrait of a father. His love for his wife and unborn son serve to motivate him more than the fate of the world. He is a man conflicted and passionate as Gillen demonstrates by having Howard Stark run after a pair of laser pistol wielding greys armed only with a conventional shotgun. This is the act of a protective father rather than a genius. He doesn’t think of the superior fire power he is sure to face, only of saving his young family. These are the kind of details Gillen uses to flesh out Howard Stark and endear him to us. He becomes the hero of the book.

The story then moves to an examination room of some kind. There we see the Starks and 451 – Howard listens intently to 451 explain what is happening to his son in utero while his wife lies back and receives the treatments from the robot’s hand (literally – his finger is a hypodermic). Again Gillen takes us deeper into what is happening to Tony prior to his birth. The complicated alien alterations that are being made to his genetic make-up are spelled out via a sonogram. This scene works so well.

We then return to the present and deep space as Tony rejoins 451 on board the ship. The two continue their conversation, concentrating mainly on Tony’s parents and the reasons behind the decisions they made. Tony pushes for answers that at first 451 seems reluctant to give but he finally relents and that is where we are left as 451 prefaces his coming answers with the ominous “All the things we did, we did for you.” Gillen leaves us with an unbearable sense of anticipation.

Kieron Gillen has established Iron Man as one of the upper echelon Marvel Now titles. The addition of Dale Eaglesham has only served to solidify that fact. Gillen has proven he is a consummate and capable story teller, adding chapters to the already rich history of Tony Stark and the Stark family. Though this is a decidedly different Iron Man from the one Matt Fraction brought us in the recent past, it is an Iron Man that is entertaining and enthralling. Visually dynamic, briskly paced and complexly plotted, this is what good comic books are all about. Don’t hesitate to jump on board – this promises to be a heck of a ride.

So until next week, see you at the comic book store.

Filed Under: Marvel