New York Comic Con is a thing that happened, and a thing that made me grateful I have PTO at my day job, as I did not get out of bed until 10am this morning. It was a massive show that was super fun, I got to see a bunch of great folks, talk comics, and attend some neat panels. Now let us never speak of it again, unless it’s relevant to a comic book I’m discussing.
Invincible Iron Man #1
Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez, Justin Ponder
Marvel $3.99
BEHOLD, THE MOST IMPORTANT MARVEL COMIC OF THE YEAR, I MEAN RIGHT AFTER STAR WARS AND SECRET WARS THAT IS!
Marvel’s made it no secret that they’re out to make Iron Man their flagship character these days, undoubtedly inspired by the success of the character on the big screen. A move I’m sure that will work, much like the Inhumans replacing the X-men-oh.
Snark and Bleeding Cool rumors aside, Marvel Comics has enlisted a team of top notch creators to make Iron Man their premiere super hero title; Brian Michael Bendis, who’s written the character numerous times in the past, David Marquez, a top talent who’s been a very good artist for the last few years, and Justin Ponder, and excellent colorist in his own right. No disrespect to the previous creative teams, but this is by far the strongest group of creators Tony Stark has had since Matt Fraction was attached to the book several years ago.
Assigning David Marquez and Justin Ponder to this book was a brilliant move. Aside from already having a solid working relationship with Bendis, the pair of artists create a gorgeous looking book that says “This is an Iron Man comic for 2015”. Marquez’s style is perfect for a character like Tony Stark, blending Robert Downey Jr’s good looks with a new suit of armor that feels new and refreshing. I dug how detailed, not to mention how cool, his armoring up sequences where in this book, as well seeing the new suit flying around. Sadly most of the action scenes were limited to another long time Iron Man villainess who also gets a slight redesign, but I’m sure Bendis will give Marquez a chance to blow our minds somewhere down the line. Justin Ponder’s colors are incredibly strong in the comic. Bendis and Marquez give Ponder a number of locations and characters to work with in this issue, and he absolutely nails the environments and lightening perfectly. These two creators have given us a great looking book, and I’m excited to see more from them on this title.
I believe this comic marks the first time long time Marvel comics Brian Michael Bendis has tackled Tony Stark in a solo capacity, only writing him as a part of team or in crossovers. Bendis’ take on Stark is very much influenced by RDJ as well, which is good, because this book is suppose to be super accessible to new readers. That being said, his take on the character is still pretty faithful to the core of the character, so long time fans won’t be put off by it. Bendis does an excellent job creating a new status quo for Iron Man, and manages to craft a post-Secret Wars comic that doesn’t spoil the event much, if at all. The much hyped final page is cool, and definitely lets reader know that this is VERY much a Marvel Universe with Iron Man at the center of things. And I REALLY like the 2 new female characters introduced in this issue, and hope they stick around for the long haul My only compliant is that the book feels brief, which is more of a nitpick I guess, because it definitely has me wanting to read more.
Invincible Iron Man certainly has the potential to be one of the biggest Marvel books of the year in terms of sales and excitement. Will it dethrone Star Wars or the surprisingly wonderful new Amazing Spider-Man is yet to be seen, but also not a concern of mine. It’s a good comic that I dug, with a fantastic creative team who can hopefully give us the best run of solo Iron Man stories since the last incarnation of an Invincible Iron Man book.
