Invincible Iron Man #4 (****1/2): I always love comics that prove that you can have an entire issue sans action and still walk away satisfied. It’s no easy task, but Fraction manages to pull it off with ease. Fraction definitely knows how to write an Iron Man comic. Sure he’s flawed, but he also does things like buy a multi-billion dollar soda empire just so he can distribute vaccines to third world countries. The issue is filled with lovely character moments and the scenes involving Tony and Reed Richards and Tony with Pepper Potts are particularly well done. The main complaint I have is with Larroca’s art. I think his Iron Man looks great, it’s very impressive. But he handles the characters incorrectly. His character’s fail to convey the necessary emotions. This flaw is highlighted in this issue because this one is all about the people. Fraction is definitely the main attraction here and he’s writing some of the best Iron Man issues I’ve ever read. If you liked the movie or if you’re an Iron Man fan, this is a must read series.
Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas #2 (**): I love putting these two books together to review. The aforementioned Invincible Iron Man book is very similar to the recent Iron Man movie which is a good thing. And then you have a book produced by the people that made the movie and it’s very different which is a bad thing. Lateness aside, I almost didn’t pick this book up because the first issue was so disappointing. It was more than disappointing, it was just plain bad. But I gave it another shot because I’m such a big fan of the creative team. I try to be a positive guy so let’s start with the good stuff first. Well, it’s better than the last issue. The dialogue is much better (No more “leaping lizards”!), and Foom is in the issue which is nice. Granov’s art still impresses me. Does everyone look too perfect? Yes, but it’s still pretty to look at. Okay now onto the bad stuff. Favreau’s writing strength is in his dialogue which, though much better than last issue, still seems a bit off especially when compared to the movie. Something that fascinates me is that this comic follows the movie continuity less than Invincible Iron Man does! There is a scene when Tony has to buy a honeymoon suite (ha ha?) just to change into Iron Man. I think the next two issues will be better, but I’m off at this point. Invincible Iron Man and this book were released at the same time and Invincible has had four issues to Las Vegas’ two. Who knows when the fourth book will come out? Also, this comic has fewer pages than Invincible has and it’s a dollar more. But I love Iron Man, I love Foom, and I’m a fan of both Jon Favreu and Adi Granov, so I’ll probably buy the 20 dollar HC when it comes out but until then I’m out.
Tags: Adi Granov, Invincible Iron Man, Iron Man, John Favreau, Marvel Comics, Matt Fraction, Salvador Larroca
August 10, 2008 at 8:27 pm |
I think at the moment that the king of the entire issue without action that still rules is Thor. You’ve had maybe two major action scenes in ten issues, and the thing still RULES.
Still working on a full review of issue ten. I’ll try to have that done by tomorrow.
And yes, Invincible Iron Man is pretty darned awesome as well.
August 11, 2008 at 1:48 pm |
Iron Man does indeed rule.