James Rhodes breaks away from the Secret Avengers and attempts to define what a patriot truly is, inside the pages of “Iron Patriot” #1.
Take a look at our spoiler-free review below.
Written by Ales Kot
Illustrated by Garry BrownJim Rhodes has quit the SECRET AVENGERS!!! As the IRON PATRIOT, he’s bringing his fight against the bad guys to the home front. But a new villain emerges with a brutal plan that could turn Iron Patriot into America’s most wanted!!!
The last time Iron Patriot patrolled the skies of the Marvel Universe, it was Norman Osborn inside the red, white, and blue suit. As the head of H.A.M.M.E.R., a rechristened S.H.E.I.L.D., the former Goblin-turned-bureaucrat used patriotism was a weapon, something to divide people. You were a patriot or a traitor, loyal or treacherous, with no grey area in between. After the fall of Osborn and its disastrous consequences, the Iron Patriot, and the word itself, was in serious need of rebrand. Now in a new self-titled series from Ales Kot and Garry Brown, James Rhodes steps into the colorful armor and sets out to create a new type of mission for himself; one that sets an example for the whole Marvel Universe.
Spinning off from the Kot-penned “Secret Avengers”, James Rhodes moves away from his past identity of War Machine, often dismissively written off as Iron Man’s sidekick, and steps into the public spotlight. While his time in the Secret Avengers was spent undertaking covert actions benefiting American interests, Rhodes take his mission public in hopes that he can serve as an inspiration, instead of instilling fear from the shadows. Of course, not all government sectors are thrilled about one of their prized assets intentionally limiting the scope of his, and by extension their own, power. Throw in an acerbic father and a wise beyond-her-years niece, and Rhodes is quite suddenly dealing with a full plate.
Ales Kot has made plenty of waves with his independent work on “Zero” before entering the world of Big Two comics with “Suicide Squad” and “Secret Avengers”. All three of these series involved sometimes shady protagonists doing often shady things in the name of the greater good, but the harsher tone and peculiar characters allow Kot to display his knack for somewhat surreal storytelling. This makes “Iron Patriot” all the more of a surprise because it is likely the most conventional and least ambiguous comic that Kot has yet to produce. Rhodes forsaking of covert missions and public declaration of moral principle almost mirrors Kot’s step towards a very traditional type of plotting with this series.
Given Marvel’s fondness for renumbering, “Iron Patriot” #1 faces a different sort of challenge than the “Fantastic Four” or the upcoming “Amazing Spider-Man” #1’s, and actually has set up its own little universe that the reader has little or no knowledge of. Kot crams a lot into two dozen pages, and he is very successful at starting a bunch of plates spinning at once. He introduces Rhodes and his family, each with their own motivations and personal quirks, while laying intriguing glimpses and hints at more ominous things to come. The exposition that comes with any #1 is handled fairly well, with various character origins kept to a minimum amount of explanation. Kot also includes many real world adversaries for Rhodes, ranging from physical, political, and even environmental, but whenever the tone threatens to become too on-the-nose or borderline preachy, Kot adds several moments of brevity that keeps the reader from rolling their eyes.
One of the stand-out characters that Kot introduces is Lila Rhodes, the niece of James. She is an incredibly smart teenager with a knack for tools and serious level of mechanical ingenuity. While the ‘really smart kid’ archetype is sometimes used to hide the fact that it’s really hard to write kids that act like real kids, Kot nails the characterization of Lila because he lets her make dumb decisions. Just because Lila is smart enough to crack open a Stark-brand suit of armor, Kot very wisely doesn’t make her immune to the impulsive decision making tendencies of all teenagers.
“Iron Patriot” #1 marks the debut of artist Garry Brown on a regular Marvel series, after making a name for himself penciling “The Massive” over at Dark Horse. At first glance, Brown’s art appears to be very realistic in style, which seems appropriate for characters firmly entrenched in real world issues. Upon closer inspection, however, Brown’s impressionistic leanings start to become evident. Characters appear naturalistic, but not photorealistic, which allows for slight differences from panel to panel without feeling rushed or sloppy. Emotion translates fairly well through Brown’s art, although for the most part every character seems to bounce between “worried” and “grimly determined”, which makes Lila’s bright smile practically beam off the page. And if there’s a comic award for “Best Use of Forehead Lines”, Brown is a shoe-in.
Continued belowWithout spoiling anything, the opening pages harken back to a famous scene from “The Dark Knight Returns”, and Garry Brown’s art feels similar to classic Frank Miller in many ways. Both display the capacity for visceral violence while simultaneously rooted in a grounded-yet-stylized world where the laws of physics bend ever so slightly. When Iron Patriot swoops up through the air in a very nice double page spread, for example, he bends in a way that a solid metal suit would be unable to, but the small moments of abstractionism peppered throughout the issue set the tone for such images.
It’s the art that really sets the tone for the issue. Brown fleshes out the world and the characters by adding smaller details in the backgrounds, whether it be a framed photo when family are discussed, the posters adorning the wall of a teenage girls room, or, in the issue’s funniest panel, tools being discreetly hidden. Brown acts as his own inker, so the use of black pervades every issue on every page. Bold lines make the characters pop out from the backgrounds, and shadows crop up alongside every face and profile. It’s a testament to Brown’s talent that the blackness doesn’t overcrowd the majority of the images, or bury character expressions in a sea of gloom. The issue is bookended by scenes featuring Iron Patriot in the water, and Brown creates some grippingly ethereal image of this strange metal creature emerging from the darkness.
In an interview with Marvel.com, writer Ales Kot described his take on the character of James Rhodes as “the human equivalent of Superman—the Man of Steel—in the Marvel Universe. He is the human equivalent of the astonishing alien who wants to do only good, and from that comes a certain friction, because as kind-hearted and well-meaning as Rhodey is, he’s also got his own baggage to confront”. The comparison to the most famous boy scout in several universes highlights Kot surprisingly straight forward approach to the series. Rhodes has special abilities, and he will use them to protect good people from bad things, regardless of geopolitical objectives or government maneuvering.
Setting the series into such a traditional framework is likely a smart decision when dealing with a lesser known character, as it proves that Rhodes can handle the same scenarios of other men of steel and iron. Ales Kot and Garry Brown successfully create a fleshed out world for Iron Patriot. They don’t reinvent the metaphorical wheel that is mainstream superhero comics, but prove that James Rhodes doesn’t need Tony Stark or Nick Fury in order to establish his own presence in the Marvel world.
Final Verdict: 7.5 – Buy
