Reviews 

International Iron Man #1

By | March 18th, 2016
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Tony Stark is going international in the search for his real parents. But will elements of his past come back to hinder his search? Yeah, of course they will. This is a comic book. Spoilers ahead!

Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrated by Alex Maleev

This March, ask yourself – who is Tony Stark, really? Is he the super hero known as Iron Man? Is he the billionaire philanthropist genius? Or is he something more? Find out this March as the Eisner Award-winning creative team of Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev present a completely new take on the Armored Avenger! Today, Marvel is pleased to present your first look at INTERNATIONAL IRON MAN #1! Now is the time to uncover what his legacy truly is, a journey that will carry Tony into new directions as a man and a hero. Travelling the globe, Iron Man will discover new things about the Marvel Universe he didn’t know existed before! New friends, new enemies and a side of the Marvel Universe you’ve never seen. Be there as the world tour begins this March in INTERNATIONAL IRON MAN #1!

Did you read Kieron Gillen’s run on “Iron Man” a couple years back? If not, get ready for some spoiler stuff. Tony found his lost brother, Arno Stark (who may or may not also be Iron Man 2020) who was the result of Howard and Maria Stark being visited by an alien who endowed their child was the ability to craft really awesome weapons. During this time, Tony also found out that he was actually adopted and he has no clue who his biological parents are. Maybe I could have cut the part about Iron Man 2020 and the pregnancy alien but comics are really about going right from Point A to Z.

It took a couple years, but Iron Man has decided to actually find out who his real parents are in “International Iron Man”. I mean, he’s eventually going to find out. “International Iron Man” #1 is primarily a flashback to Tony’s college days in Cambridge where he met a girl who is eventually going to have some significance on this whole real parents thing. Point A to Z, remember?

“International Iron Man” is written by Brian Michael Bendis which means it’s as decompressed (a word that I think he owns the trademark to by now) as you would expect. There’s no promise of any answers in this issue, or likely in the next few, but Bendis and Maleev do an excellent job of setting up a tone for this book that feels different from many of the previous Iron Man comics.

For one, Maleev’s noirish style that’s been wildly successful in previous collaborations with Bendis like “Daredevil” and “Scarlet” transfers pretty neatly onto Tony Stark’s life. While the main “Iron Man” series is more concerned with high concept stuff like Doctor Doom helping Stark with some stopping some magical shenanigans, “International” feels much more grounded.

Plus, the decision to focus on not-yet-fully-grown college Tony, rather than the Robert Downey Jr. stand-in the character has been for the last near-decade, is an interesting choice, especially since it’s such uncharted territory. Plenty of Iron Man stories have been a mix between corporate espionage and sci-fi for a while now, so seeing focusing more on Tony’s actual background could bring a lot to whatever else is happening with him around Marvel. Again, it’s uncharted territory.

And where “Iron Man” is taking Stark and friends on all sorts of crazy magic fights, the violence in “International” feels much more real. There’s a sense of stakes when HYDRA shows up to attack one of Tony’s friends, especially since he doesn’t have the suit yet. Well, it’s partly the suit and partly Alex Maleev’s brutal depiction of a drive-by shooting. I don’t know if I’ve ever needed to highlight this point, but Alex Maleev is like really good at what he does.

So is “International Iron Man” good, with it’s “realism” and what not? Maybe. I know that’s a lame answer to give but “International Iron Man” #1 promises a lot of great things and establishes a solid mood, it’s just a question of how slow future issues were going to be with it. That might be unfair, but it’s Bendis we’re dealing with here. While the dialogue isn’t all over the place like it’s been in some of his previous work, there is the possibility that future stories will get distracted by Cute Teen Tony. And the flashforward/flashback structure the book’s in (where the flashback in 90%) of the story feels like the type of thing Bendis is going to use to all of his decompressed ability.

Final Verdict: 8.1 – A strong debut that establishes a great alternative style to the main “Iron Man” title, it’s just a question of whether it will get lost in its own flashback-heavy structure. I’d recommend tradewaiting it to see how it goes.


James Johnston

James Johnston is a grizzled post-millenial. Follow him on Twitter to challenge him to a fight.

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