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Ultimate Comics Iron Man: Armour Wars

Iron Man has always been a character better suited to defining character arcs than to defining runs – which is arguably odd, when considered with most iconic characters. When we talk about Daredevil, for example, we talk about Frank Miller and Brian Michael Bendis; when we talk about the X-Men, we talk about Chris Claremont; when we talk about the Green Lantern, we talk about Geoff Johns. On the other hand, when we talk about Iron Man, we talk about Armour Wars or Demon in a Bottle or Extremis. Perhaps that’s a strength when releasing a big budget blockbuster like Iron Man 2 – it’s easy to flood the market with reprints of six or seven issue storylines, rather than having to deal with huge chunks of narrative. It’s also perhaps the reason that this particular miniseries – essentially a modernised continuity-light retelling of a classic story – seems like such a great idea. It’s ridiculous to suggest a retelling of an iconic writer’s tenure, but remaking a single iconic story seems much more reasonable and more than a bit smart – surely it’s a great way to bring readers into step with arguably the most popular comic book character in the world right now?

Par Armor...

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Non-Review Review: Iron Man 2

Legacy. It’s all about legacy. What we leave for our children and what we inherit from our parents. Sometimes it’s bitterness and hatred, sometimes it’s more than we think. Iron Man as a concept is inherently linked to the Cold War and American foreign policy, so it’s a fitting theme for the sequel to tackle. Fathers and sons dominate the film, as does the simple and haunting fact that the now is shaped by the then. Some of us get to change the world, some of us simply leave big smoking craters behind us. Even the bad guy, a Russian, consciously evokes conflicts fading from memory that shaped our modern world.

Sometimes you just need to slow down and take a break...

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Matt Fraction’s Run on The Invincible Iron Man – Vol. 1 (Hardcover)

Released just in time for you to play catchup before Iron Man 2 hits the cinemas, Marvel have published the first nineteen issues of Matt Fraction’s run on The Invincible Iron Man. It’s a big book. Unfortunately, it only contains two storylines (it looks like the era of decompression isn’t quite over), but despite some storytelling issues it manages to be a fairly entertaining read. Mostly because Fraction seems to have a fairly solid handle on the man inside the suit of armour.

Iron Woman...

Note: I do feel a little bit robbed. I bought this on amazon.com advertised as a Marvel Omnibus. It arrives at my door as a slightly larger than usual hardcover. There are next-to-no extras or commentaries or anything. I was looking forward to shelving this with my cool Omnibus collection – they do just look better. It isn’t any smaller than the Death of Captain America Omnibus or the second Brubaker Daredevil Omnibus. I’m a little bit ticked off. But I’ll get over it.

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Is Iron Man 2 a thematic successor to The Dark Knight?

As anyone who reads this blog is probably aware, we’re still eagerly awaiting news of any sort of announcement about Batman 3, the sequel to Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight that was rumoured to arrive this January. Be it that he was leaving or staying or what have you. Still, part of me wonders if there might be quite a significant amount of stuff in Iron Man 2 for those looking for a further exploration of the themes in the 2008 blockbuster. With recent discussions about the project and the first trailer, I can’t help but get the fantastic feeling that the second Iron Man movie may pick up and explore some of the wonderful threads which Nolan’s dark epic set up. That’s not to say that there isn’t reason to get excited for the film in it’s own right – Robert Downey Jnr! Sam Rockwell! Mickey Rourke! Jon Favreau! – but it’ll be interesting to see if the themes overlap or echo with the film’s 2008 summer rival as well.


Who says darker and edgier is the way forward?

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Ultimate Iron Man

The first member of The Ultimates to get spun-off into his own book, the ultimate version of Iron Man is also the only one to get his own miniseries (and he even supported another miniseries, Ultimate Human, last summer and has a new one, Ultimate Armour Wars, this year). Here we have all the ingredients for a great superhero saga – Andy Kubert as artist on the first six issues and Orson Scott Card as a writer – but it just doesn’t come together quite as well as it should. Though Card posits some interesting theries behind the psychology of Marvel’s current poster-boy, he doesn’t really deliver anything of interest on the story front, and really suffers from attempting to write rebellous teenage characters and somehow feeling required to craft his observations into something resembling a cookie-cutter superhero plot.

ultimateironman

Nice Suit...

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Non-Review Review: Iron Man

I had a bit of a Marvel weekend this weekend, where I caught both Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk back-to-back. I think I have to concede that I am – just slightly – fonder of the not-so-jolly green giant. Though they both are very good superhero films and a testament to what was a fantastic summer season. Iron Man was a stunningly well-put together movie on a hero who had – until the movie – been relatively second-tier and it’s anchored in an astonishing central performance from Robert Downey Jnr.

Gold-Titanium Alloy Man just doesn't have the same ring to it...

Gold-Titanium Alloy Man just doesn't have the same ring to it...

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The Incredible Avengers…

The Avengers has gone form being the movie project I was most skeptical about to one of my most anticipated movies of the comic years. Indeed, the summer of 2011 is looking to be one for the books with a whole rake of massive cult and comic book films coming out – Thor, Captain America, Green Lantern and, should Gary Oldman be believed, Batman 3. However, the culmination of Marvel’s planning within the cinematic world will be the release of The Avengers in 2012. I’ve never been much of a Marvel fan, but I will concede that they have pulled off an amazing movie-making feat. They have created a fully-integrated film universe from a variety of disparate sources building to to a clear target.

Avengers Assemble...

Avengers Assemble...

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