Tony Stark and his alter ego Iron Man return in a new series with a new writer and a new artist, but for some reason nothing feels all that new.
Tony Stark: Iron Man #1
Written by Dan Slott
Art by Valerio Schiti
Color by Edgar Delgado
Published by Marvel Comics
Thanks to Marvel Comics new “Fresh Start” publishing initiative where most of their core titles are once again getting a new first issue, readers have yet another Iron Man #1 to add to their ever growing collection.
This time, however, you can actually rationalize it might be worth it. Brian Michael Bendis has left for Metropolis and for the first time in years, there is a new writer in town to chronicle the adventures of the Armored Avenger and Marvel’s flagship title.
Fresh off his lengthy Amazing Spider-Man run, Dan Slott has arrived to give Iron Man a new coat of paint and reinvigorate the character for what Marvel hopes will be a new generation of readers who fell in love with Shellhead thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Tony Stark: Iron Man #1 does everything a first issue should do, even when it’s the titles’s eighth or ninth first issue, I’ve lost count. It sets up the new status quo for Tony Stark, introduces the supporting cast (of which Jocasta Pym could be the most annoying in all of comics) and gives readers a big fight to finish out the issue, this time with Fin Fang Foom.
The issue hits all the predictable beats, includes a nice subplot or two and goes about its business without really trying all that hard.
And that might be the problem.
There is nothing in Tony Stark: Iron Man that really makes this feel like a “brand new era” or even worthy of a yet another new first issue. If you’ve been reading Iron Man comics for as long as I have, you’ll notice a lot of this has been seen before. There are elements that will remind you of Kurt Busiek’s run with the character, as well as those of David Michelinie and Matt Fraction.
But the most obvious is that of Brian Michael Bendis. Slott tries way too hard to make Tony Stark: Iron Man #1 read like a Bendis comic. The attempts at snappy dialogue, the almost flippant attitude Stark has throughout the issue, the jokes that come at odd times.
I actually had to check the credits to make sure this wasn’t an issue of Bendis’ run I had picked up by accident.
The thing is Dan Slott is a decent writer. Yes, his run on Amazing Spider-Man had definite ups and down and towards the end parts of it almost became unreadable, but overall he did a lot more good with Peter Parker than bad.
There is no reason for him to be mimicking Bendis’ style. Slott has his own style and he should be using it.
Thankfully, the art by Valerio Schiti elevates what otherwise could have been a very ordinary first issue. He uses lots of double page spreads to really give the art a widescreen feel that has been missing from Iron Man comics for quite some time.
More Comics: Poe Dameron Ending With Issue #31
Now, I will say that despite the lackluster debut, I’m not ready to give up on Tony Stark: Iron Man quite yet. I’m more than willing to give Slott time to find his “voice” with Tony and make the title his own. He is too talented a writer to give up on just because the first issue fell a bit flat.
Hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later.
Leave a Reply