Iron Man is like the Uncanny X-Men here at the Revolution. We have been collecting it forever and for the sake of completion, we can never stop buying it no matter how uninteresting the title may get. This new Iron Man isn’t terrible, but it is far from the best that we have read. This title has superstar talent. However, that does not always guarantee a hit.
Creative Team
Writer: Warren Ellis
Penciller & Inker: Adi Granov
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10.
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Total Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: The issue starts with Iron Man attacking Mallen and telling him to surrender or Iron Man will kill him. A knock down drag out fight ensues. Iron Man tells Mallen he is new and improved and there is no way for Mallen to win. Iron Man proceeds to kick Mallen’s butt all over the place. Mallen refuses to surrender so Iron Man blasts a whole through Mallen’s chest with his chest beam and then places his palms on Mallen’s head and blasts his head to pieces.
Iron Man then confronts his long time friend and colleague, Maya. He confronts her with the fact that it was her who leaked the Extremis serum in order to test it against Iron Man in hopes that the military would be impressed and not cut her funding. End if issue
Comments
The Good: First, the art is absolutely incredible. Adi Granov is insanely talented. His paints are just incredible. You can stare at his panels forever. The large fight scene in this issue sports some of the most breathtaking one page splash shots that you will every scene.
Second, Warren Ellis is also wonderfully talented. Ellis crafted an excellent fight scene in this issue. It was a nice 19 page fight scene that lasted almost the entire comic. The cool part was that you would go 2-4 pages at a time with no dialogue. Very well done. And having Tony Stark blast Mallen’s head to pieces!? Wow! The Revolution never thought we would read an issue where Tony would decide the only way to win was by killing his enemy. Yet, it was still handled properly and kept in character for Tony. It wasn’t done in a “Punisher” style.
The Bad: Having said that, do we think that Adi Granov is the right artist for Iron Man? No. Like Alex Ross, I think Granov’s style fits a more realistic comic than a hi-tech sci-fi comic like Iron Man. I don’t think that Granov’s Iron Man looks particularly great. Nor do I think his wonderfully realistic painting fits the theme and look of Iron Man. Adi Granov is an extremely talented artist who is simply on the wrong book.
Ellis is one of the Revolution’s favorite writers. However, the Revolution has been extremely disappointed with Ellis’ run on Iron Man so far. The Extremis storyline has been less than interesting. Nothing about this story made us exited to read the next issue. The Revolution does like the serious upgrade that Ellis gave Iron Man and that is about it. Ellis’ talents are probably better suited for another title than Iron Man. However, Ellis is so talented that we are willing to give him another chance even after a 6 part storyline that was lacking much appeal.