Review: Iron Man 2.0 #1

Written by Nick Spencer
Illustrated by Barry Kitson, Kano, and Carmine Di Giandomedico

Spinning directly out of INVINCIBLE IRON MAN! New mission! New armor! New Iron Man! Lt. Col. James Rhodes is War Machine…the single most advanced one-man weapon of conventional combat. But wars aren’t fought the way they used to be — and when Rhodey has to face a mysterious enemy he can’t shoot, can’t bomb, can’t even see, he’s going to be forced to evolve…or die. Find out why War Machine becomes Iron Man 2.0 in the 3-part launch arc of this all-new ongoing series! By breakout sensation Nick Spencer (Morning Glories, Action Comics) and the legendary Barry Kitson (INCREDIBLE HULKS, THE ORDER)!

The comic world’s latest golden boy Nick Spencer (does it ever get daunting having people start reviews like that?) is back with his first Marvel ongoing! Yeesh. That makes three ongoings for the guy (this, THUNDER Agents, Morning Glories), as well as an additional fourth (Secret Avengers) coming from the Marvel court in a few months. So – with the latest issue of Morning Glories bagging a 9.4 from us, our last THUNDER Agents review bagging a 9.8 as well as the first issue of the Infinite Vacation, and his previous creator owned work getting a mega-recommendation last week, does the hot streak continue?!

Find out after the cut.

The short answer to that question: no, not really. Here’s the longer answer:

Iron Man 2.0 spins directly out of the epilogue from Invincible Iron Man #500, which established that Rhodey – now back in a warm fleshy body after the events of Dark Reign – would be entering military service again. This is somewhat in collaboration with Tony Stark, but mostly for Rhodey to reclaim his identity. We begin with Iron Man and War Machine on a good ol’ fashioned team-up, fighting an upgraded and wonky old villain (whose dialogue we can assume is more important than it seems), and what follows with Rhodey’s solo story is a Ghost In The Machine-esque mystery as a brand new villain is introduced, and it’s one who died before the story even began. In short, all the things that might at first seem rather par for the course when it comes to Spencer’s recently celebrated talent. However, the difference between those and this is that the bar has been set so unbelievably high when it comes to the concepts that Spencer is prone to working with (especially in the technology realm) that it doesn’t hit the same highs that previous debuts have.

While the series certainly sets up it’s first arc rather distinctly, it generally lacks some of the charisma and flair that have been present in other Spencer debuts. Spencer has made a habit of coming out with a bang, and while this issue certainly has some literal explosions, it’s final page twist as well as all that builds up to it is never as gripping as we’ve seen him be. On top that, part of this feels like a step backwards for Rhodey as a character, because for a while now he’d been a rather steady free agent. As much as his military career is a huge part of who Rhodey is, it’s kind of a shame to see the new series reverting back to that. I suppose initial assumptions about the direction of the title play a part in it, but despite a new cast to help him out the idea of Rhodey going military just feels a tad regressive.

But arguably, the real disappointment of the story is that Spencer is clearly taking his time getting to the Iron Man “2.0” part of the story, because by the time the issue finishes the new suit and digital toys for Rhodey is not only nowhere to be seen, but it hasn’t even really been brought up yet. Spencer has told a lot of interesting technology based stories now (Infinite Vacation, Existence 2.0/3.0, Forgetless and it’s social media commentary, and his brief foray over at Supergirl), so initial assumptions had revolved around this being a rather immediate part of the story. Invincible Iron Man itself has been rather technology heavy for quite some time now, really reflecting Matt Fraction’s techno-sensibilities and bringing out Tony Stark for the new era. With Rhodey himself being War Machine while becoming Iron Man 2.0 in a more literal sense, seeing how Spencer worked with this angle – of the most powerful technology in the Marvel Universe – and molding it into a new form was one of the things most anticipated about the title. With the way the first issue plays out, it looks like we might actually be getting a more straightforward superhero story at first – which isn’t a bad thing per se, but hopes of seeing Barry Kitson’s new suit design in action right away were certainly extinguished.

The caveat of course is that this is not a bad issue. Is this on par with the awesomely high expectations that Spencer has set for himself? No. Is the issue enjoyable? It totally is. What the issue lacks in the average pizazz it certainly makes up for with the talent that’s still here. Spencer writes the beginnings of what should hopefully surmount to an intriguing plot overall Kitson unfortunately doesn’t do the full art for the book due to illness, but with Kano and Carmine Di Giandomedico stepping in to help fill it out, the book ends up with a rather distinct look to it. The shifting in art for the different scenes adds a sense of pacing and time to the book, and while at some points the shift comes out a bit heavy (as sometimes the shift doesn’t represent a new scene, but rather a different tone), it does give a very nice look to the book as represented by the three artists. While Kitson’s talent for the whole title is certainly missed (and all our well wishes go out to him to get better!), the end result is still a nice looking comic book.

It’s never a bad thing for a creator to stray from what we’d expect from him. In fact, in most scenarios it’s encouraged. The only thing here is that, where other debuts from Spencer come out the gate swinging, the Iron Man 2.0 debut is a much slower and streamlined entrance point to the story of Rhodey. Part of this feels like a way for a new creator to write a story geared for new Iron Man/War Machine fans (although there is a nice Rhodey timeline in the back), and the rest of it feels like the slow build that will hopefully play towards a bigger pay-off. In a recent Newsarama interview, Spencer noted that the first arc sets the stage for a larger and more ambitious story to come after the Fear Itself tie-in (issue #6 to be precise), and that’s a fair comment to make. Long form stories are always fun to watch in the making, and by now Spencer has proven with his creator owned work as well as his THUNDER Agents work that he is a creator to watch. For now, we’re given a good issue as opposed to a great issue, so we’ll have to wait to see if Iron Man 2.0’s slow burn beginnings turn into a rather open flame.

Final Verdict: 7.5 – Buy