Written by Rob Williams
Illustrated by Rebekah IsaacsThe one true Dark Phoenix returns to the Marvel U with a vengeance! As the earth is destroyed, Iron Man is swept into the time-stream where the only chance for survival is to gather the greatest heroes from across the eras and change the course of history! The Avengers, Fantastic Four, the X-Men and more will join Iron Man for this trip through all the ages of Marvel! Rising stars Rob Williams (DARK WOLVERINE) and Rebekah Issacs (MS. MARVEL) team up for the century-spanning epic that takes you through the Marvel Universe’s greatest moments…and maybe to its last!
My second review of the week, and my second Williams written title! Ghost Rider earned a buy, Daken #9.1 earned a buy – what will The Iron Age get?
Take a look behind the cut for some thoughts on the beginning of this “event.” I suppose some mild spoilers are discussed.
I call the Iron Age an event, but let’s be honest: it’s not really an event. For all intents and purposes, this is a side-mini: an in-continuity out-of-continuity story starring Iron Man in which Williams gets to play with some toys that he likes. It’s a neat way to get away with writing a story like this, but unlike most of your average minis of this nature, this one starts off with quite a big bang: the complete and total annihilation of planet Earth. That’s not entirely a spoiler; you can read that in the solicit above. Of course, I suppose the less you know the better in regards to this story, because for all intents and purposes if you read the solicit you can skip the issue.
That’s not to say anything bad, per se. It is not a bad issue, at all. It’s just a beginning, or as it says on the title, the “alpha” portion. The issue serves primarily as set-up: a new villain arrives to join Iron Man’s rogues, he uses a time machine to bring the Dark Phoenix to Earth, and in turn causes her to blow up the entire planet, killing everyone. However, Iron Man narrowly escapes into the time stream, arriving a long way in the past where Johnny Storm is still alive, Luke Cage says “Sweet Christmas,” and Dazzler is a very relevant character. Oh, and Iron Man is a drunk party machine. So, like I said – if you read the solicit, there’s nothing essentially new here. In some ways, this actually feels like an Iron Man Legacy b-side story (not that that is a bad thing). However, it’s written in an endearing enough way that if you weren’t very interested before, you will probably be interested by the time you get to the end of the issue.
Williams has a very distinct tone to his writing: it’s quick paced, it’s often very clever, and most importantly it’s endearing. Here’s the thing: Williams is writing a story that, under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t care about. That’s an odd thing to say in a review, granted, but it’s true; the premise of bringing back the Dark Phoenix just to blow up the Earth and send Iron Man through time is kind of odd, and not one that I feel like I would gravitate towards if it wasn’t Williams writing it. However, in reality it’s Williams’ notable handling of characters that makes me interested in the first place. To be frank, this is strictly an Iron Man issue, but Williams writes it in a style that is not only not like Fraction’s more well known Iron Man (at this point, anyway), but in a way that respects it and works as it’s own entity. The rest of the series looks promising, full of time-jumping hijinks that puts a sober and “new” Iron Man against a very belligerent and “old” Iron Man. Not only that, but Williams will be writing characters as they haven’t been in a long time. As new as I am to Williams’ work, from what I’ve seen I can imagine that it will be held quite well. So while this issue is just kind of going through the motions, it’s a set-up to something that sounds promising now.
Continued belowOf course, the best part of the issue (to my eye, anyway) is Rebekah Isaacs on art. Ever since reading DV8 by Brian Wood and her, there is absolutely no circumstance where I won’t try out a comic book purely because she’s involved in it. Isaacs has a beautifully clean style that is full of richly detailed and humane characters that draw the reader in. Her action sequences are tight and effective, and her eventual rendering of the destruction of the planet is rather beautiful, all things considered. Andres Mossa provides colors for her in this issue and it provides a beautiful contrast to her inks, bringing out the beauty of the art in the same way that Carrie Strachan’s did on DV8. Without a doubt, this is how good Isaacs’ always looks, which is just another way of saying that this is her at her best. Isaacs is by far one of the most underrated artists in comics today, and it’s actually a shame that Isaacs isn’t the artist of the entire series, because at that point there would’ve been no question to me as to if this is a “buy” or not. Well, that and the inclusion of Captain Britain.
So yes, this is a set-up issue. There is nothing that will happen in this issue that will surprise you if you’ve taken the time to read a solicit or an interview. It’s a paint by numbers issue only because all the press Williams and Marvel gave to it have made it such. But that’s not a bad thing. The issue is full of Isaacs’ art – something that should ALWAYS be worth the purchase – and it’s fairly promising for what is to come. There are a lot of things open at the end of the first issue for Williams to explain and elaborate on during the story: why this time? Why the Dark Phoenix? Will we see how Tony Stark drove this new villain mad? And just how exactly does Stark Resilient clash with Stark Industrial? I can only hope that as the arc really kicks off with Iron Age #1, Williams knocks it out of the park. It doesn’t seem implausible.
Final Verdict: 7.5 – Buy
