“Secret Wars” isn’t even over and we’re already seeing its aftermath? Well, that could only mean that it’s time for the All New, All Different Marvel! Just how new and different is this Marvel? Read on for our spoiler free review of “Invincible Iron Man” #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez to find out!
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrated by David Marquez
Exploding out of the pages of Secret Wars, one of the most popular super heroes in the world gets a gigantic new series. From the creators that brought you Ultimate Spider-Man comes new armor, a new supporting cast, new villains and a new purpose that is going to tear itself across the entire Marvel Universe and beyond. With a shocker of a last page that will have everyone talking and the return of one of Tony’s biggest nemesis, you will not want to miss this! Also, who are Tony’s biological parents? The quest begins here!
After everything I’ve gone through covering “Secret Wars” with the MC2, I was very worried that I would hold that against the new #1s coming out from Marvel. However, what I’ve found with “Invincible Iron Man” #1 is that, despite being billed as all new and all different and what have you, what it actually is is something of a return to form for the Marvel style. After the slog of “Secret Wars” and its tie-ins, which still continue even as this issue is being published, going back to a classic Iron Man adventure that focuses not on some weird twist to the mythos or alternate universe, but on taking the same Tony Stark that we’ve known and who some of us have loved for years on a new path in life is more of a relief than anything. However, that relief (and the issue itself) was over much too quickly.
Coming from the team that turned “Ultimate Spider-Man” from simply the best book in the otherwise unnoteworthy Ultimate line into a book with wide-reaching culture relevance, Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez look to take Tony Stark on a new path with this issue. This is pretty evident as Bendis even focuses on Stark’s need to rebuild himself, his Iron Man armour and his look on life in the face whatever’s going to happen in the conclusion of “Secret Wars”. This is a great starting point for the series as it effectively wipes the slate clean for Bendis and Marquez to put an all new, all different spin on the character. However, while that spin isn’t quite a shocking or different as, say, making Spider-Man a black kid, it does allow them to begin to break down and take a look at what makes Tony Stark tick.
As it turns out, what makes Tony Stark tick is a roguish charm and redesigned armour and… not a whole lot else. What this issue focuses on is more the place Stark has found himself in the time since “Secret Wars”, with his new armour serving as a launching pad for tales to come. This isn’t a bad strategy, mind you, but for a first issue it does feel on the slim side. Stark’s existential crisis aside, there’s not much else going on in the issue. We get a glimpse of Madame Masque doing something vaguely villainous, but it really only exists to build to a story in later issue. That’s really this issue’s biggest problem. Despite the lack of “Secret Wars”-ness going on feeling like a breath of fresh air, Bendis and Marquez don’t really do much with that. There’s not a lot of meat on the bones of this issue. Hell, for as much as Stark’s new armour is hyped up, he barely uses it in this issue. It only gets a spotlight in the last couple of pages where it’s usurped by a last page reveal that I’m sure is meant to be shocking, but hit me as just confusing.
This issue, thankfully, makes up a lot for what it lacks in story through the art by David Marquez. Marquez feels like an amazing fit for this character not only because his design sensibilities allows for the Tony Stark brand of technology that feels just one foot into sci-fi to feel not only plausible but entirely possible within the Marvel Universe. His design for the new Iron Man armour especially feels striking and unique while speaking to the history of the character. Yet, sadly, we don’t get to see much of it in this issue. Instead, the issue focuses on mostly Tony Stark’s date and the sidestory involving Madame Masque. That sidestory at least allows Marquez to create some dynamism in the issue through some great action, but it feels like it’s overpowered by the whole date scene. Marquez creates grand, splash panels that show of the extravagant lifestyle of Tony Stark while focusing on the humanity of the scene through character expressions and body language, but he feels curtailed by the writing which makes the scene feel like it’s going in circles.
It’s a pity because Bendis and Marquez work really well together and their styles both suit the character as Bendis’ writing captures the roguish futurist nicely and Marquez’s artwork gorgeously captures a realism to the Marvel Universe while keeping Stark’s sci-fi technology feeling keeping with the world. Yet I can’t help but feel that there should have been more going on in this issue. There’s a lot of lip service paid to the idea of Stark being more pro-active and redefining himself as Iron Man, but Bendis and Marquez don’t really do much with it. Instead, this issue feels cut short with the what little excitement there is inside feeling more like a trailer of stories to come than a story beginning in this issue. While it’s still certainly a relief to feel once again settled back into the Marvel Universe, this issue needed to come out of the gate with more punch than this.
Final Verdict: 6.1 – This issue feels like it has a lot of potential to evolve into something fun and action packed and could take the character interesting places, but it fails to capitalise on it here.
