Review: Legacy of Doom Issues 1 and 2

*Note: I've posted two entries today and one yesterday, all reviews for the most recent issues. Please be sure to look at them all.

So the first two issues of Legacy of Doom have been released, and I have one word for them: wow. I love the writing, I love the art, I’m just loving everything about it.

Dave Michelinie and Bob Layton are showing once again why they are some of the best writers in Iron Man’s history, and what a team that is on the same page and who love the character can do. Every character is so spot on with their quirks, dialect and nuances that it’s almost scary.

Ron Lim’s art is again top notch and seeing a more classic style really gives a sense of nostalgia. The colors are vibrant and bring a lot of life to the story, a stark (no pun intended) contrast to the drab, dark and dull colors that seems to becoming more prevalent in today’s comics, including the Director of Shield series.

But enough of my gushing, on to the actual review.

The setup was again Doom playing on a heroes morals, luring Stark into his trap by saying they needed to work together to save many lives, and as a hero Stark couldn’t refuse. Doom got him into Mephisto’s realm where he traded Stark for a shard of Excalibur: King Arthur’s ancient sword. As Iron Man tries to activate the return signal to go back to the real world, Doom reveals the one he gave Stark didn’t have the right signal, trapping him there.

As Iron Man battled Mephisto’s minions, Mephisto grew tired of it an unleashed a robot made with Stark tech and Howard Stark’s personality. The construct started again telling Tony how weak he was and what a failure he was in his father’s eyes. Stark realized that it was a fake, and was able to destroy it. Knowing he needed to fix the transmitter Doom gave him, he used the Stark tech from the robot to create a force field around himself while he worked. He succeeded and as he came back to Doom’s castle, he found that Doom now possessed Excalibur, and that the sword could cut through his armor with no problem. Stark had planned to duke it out with Doom, but not while Doom had that kind of power at his disposal.

And so ended the second issue which, like a good comic, left us not wanting to wait for the next issue to come out. Two issues in and I’m finding myself I am actually upset this is only a limited series being done by this crew. No offense to the Knaufs or De LA Torre, but Michelinie, Layton and Lim have created a depiction and story that is truly the best Iron Man in many years.

Review: Viva Las Vegas #1

On the heels of the movie we were treated by the Jon Favreau written and Adi Granov illustrated Viva Las Vegas miniseries first issue. The issue went fast. I mean really fast. I’m a slow reader and try and soak in the art, and it seemed like it only took a few minutes. But that doesn’t mean it was bad.

Favreau definitely seems to understand the character as again yet again it felt like it was old school Stark we were seeing, cracking the quick jokes and being carefree. Of course there was the gratuitous ladies thrown in, and it was an interesting twist they were after Iron Man and not Stark.

So far there isn’t much revealed about the enemy, other than an ancient Asian spirit that will be a dragon. So far all we’ve seen is a giant skeleton (I think its metal) of a dragon that has attracted lizards to Vegas and overrun the city as the largest Vegas casino is about to open.

And that was really it. It started off with a bit of a bang as Stark thwarted a terrorist on a plane, but that again went very quick.

The pace of the issue hurt it more than anything. With only three issues to go I am a bit worried not a lot is going to happen in this series, but the set up seems to be out of the way. The issue wasn't bad, but definitely lacked substance, so hopefully the following issues will be better.

The Invincible Iron Man: 1st Issue Review

So we were treated earlier with the first issue of the second monthly Iron Man title “The Invincible Iron Man” (the title of the original comic before it became the “Director of Shield” but I digress).

The story was ok, but that’s the case with many first issues. We’re introduced to Ezekiel Stane, son of former Stark rival Obadiah Stane, who like his father is a rather evil and cunning, but also seems to have the intelligence of Stark, something his father didn’t have. He has been able to alter his body so that its primary functions use far less energy than normal, which allows him to use that extra energy to enhance his own body, including releasing energy from his fingers through some kind of device.

At the same time terrorist bombings in Africa draw Starks attention as he believes they may be his own technology again being used for evil, and we all remember how the armor wars turned out…Further investigation revealed that it was Stark tech, but some new biotech, possibly something more advanced than the Iron Man armor which Stark referred to as “Iron Man 2.0” indicated he thinks it is the next step in Iron Man technology.

Also while investigating Shield comes across a splinter group of AIM called AIG: Advanced Ideas Genocide, so you can pretty much get the gist of what they’re about. It’s been revealed through previews that they have their own version of MODOK called MODOG, where the “G” stands for, yes, Genocide. So we’ll be seeing another battle in the near future.

The art I felt was good. Larocca delivered some good angles and clear battles and if you’ve seen his art in the past is something you would come to expect. Unfortunately just like the DOS title, the art is dragged down by the drab colors that at times actually make the art look two dimensional and in one or two frames cartoony. I was very disappointed in that aspect.

Odd was that Larocca drew the War Machine armor like Rhodey’s original one, not the current model. Also when Stark first started entertaining the thought of his tech being stolen he brought up a holographic display of his armors and the villains who wore armor. It showed the War Machine, but it was the original Tony wore without the unibeam. I’m not sure if that was a mistake on Larocca’s part or merely an easter egg though.

All in all the issue was average, but like I said it was the first issue. With a new MODOK on the way, and possibly a biotech Iron Man villain on the way the series looks like it has a good direction. But as they say, only time will tell.

Iron Man: Box Office Smash

In it's first two weeks out, Iron Man made over $150 million in just the US alone and was the top grossing movie both weekends. That's expecting not to be the case with the new Narnia movie coming out, but I have to say that it's nice to see the movie lived up to the hype in terms of performance and critiquing. Sure it took a dozen years or so to finally get it done, but good things come to those that wait. I'm also sure long time Iron Man fans going to see it one, two or eight times helped out, but who's counting?

It was really no surprise then that Marvel officially announced Iron Man 2 after the first weekend along with a host of other movies, inlcuding the Avengers which will also feature Iron Man.

I still remember when the footage from the San Diego comicon leaked onto the web. Favreau seemed a bit nervous presenting a movie that had had so much turmoil in getting it made, switching writers and directors numerous times. Then after the preview finished the audience erupted, and so began the massive hype of the movie. But what I actually remember most is the looks on Favreau's and Howard's faces once the crowd went into an uproar: they were genuinely surprised and happy of how the fans reacted. It was kind of a "wow, we're part of something big here" look, and they were.

So the movie will probably continue to do good for another few weeks, then have good DVD sales. I honestly think the second movie will do better as now that the origin and background have all been taken care of, it will leave more room for action and the like. I'd say I cant wait for it, but since I waited a dozen years for the first, I don't think I will have that much of a problem.

Favorite Villains

So a few weeks ago I did the best Iron Man villains, and I’ve decided to somewhat of a follow up by listing my favorite (not the best) Marvel villains. I admit, they may not be the greatest but they are the ones I like the most. So, in no particular order, here are my favorite Marvel Universe villains.




Venom

The original Venom that is; the one where Eddie Brock was driven by revenge and he was a sociopath and completely deranged killer. Not the “lethal protector” or the anti-hero incarnations that really watered down the character. The original Venom was great, a true force to be reckoned with and not just for Spiderman, the one with the huge mouth, gnarling teeth and a roided out appearance. When he was turned into a hero he justified everything he did as heroic and kept telling himself he was really a hero. All he was is a shadow of the real character. Alas, even with a new villainous Venom, it just isn’t the same.



Omega Red

Personality wise there is nothing so great about Omega Red. Sadistic killer, no remorse, standard psychopathic villain. But his design and his powers I think are absolutely great. His death aura and carbonadium tendrils are interesting weapons at his disposal, and he definitely uses both to good use. Coming from the cold war has become a bit nostalgic for us anymore too, a reminder of an era past.


Dr. Doom

Doom always haws an ulterior motive for his actions and despite knowing this he is able to convince the heroes to bring him along or fall into his trap time and time again. His intellect and cunning is surpassed only by a few and his lust for power insatiable. He has a grasp on both technology and magic, a rare mix for any character. Plus unlike many other villains Doom is very calm and collected and has a wit and threatening tone about him that is more fearful than the villains who boast their powers.



Magneto

Magneto is a perfect example of what happens when a man with power is supremely driven. Hell bent on his quest of ascending mutant kind he returns again and again, and though he may preach a new cause it all boils down to the same thing, with the same result: Magneto feeling provoked and attacking. Though his actions may be repetitive, seeing someone with such power is always awe striking especially since he has the will to use it. That is a big reason he has lasted so long: Magneto never ceases to amaze.



Thanos

Thanos is one of the most powerful characters and he displays it time and time again. Driven by the concept of death he hatches scheme after scheme that takes multiple heroes to stop. But his character isn’t that shallow. He was always smart enough to see when greater dangers arose and he needed to ally himself with his enemies. In addition Thanos has evolved over time. At one point he was a murderer with only selfish intentions, and while he is still driven for his own reasons, it’s really not a lot different from anyone else. Every time we see him he seems to have a new outlook and you can expect something different so his character stays refreshing.

Go See Iron Man

If the title of the post didn’t give it away you know I am going to say this movie is good. It definitely lived up to the hype and a hundred million over the weekend suggested that many others agree. And to think, it all started with a few minute clip Favreau showed at the San Diego Comicon. But enough of that, on the review.


Acting
I admit, I am not a fan of Robert Downey Jr. I’ve felt in many of his roles he portray the character the same way, same tone, quirks and all. But I have to say he did a very good job with Stark. His portrayal was very believable and I truly felt like I was watching the comic book character in the flesh. Kudos to RDJ for nailing it.

Jeff Daniels did a good job as Stane also, pulling of the sly, manipulative and greedy persona. Though there wasn't nearly enough time to play out the character like in the comics I thought there was enough that the relation was there.

Paltrow did a good performance with Potts and her chemistry with RDJ was noticeably good. Though maybe a bit more stern and perky than I pictured Potts, I liked the character.

Howard did a good job with Rhodey, but I felt the character was written wrong. He seemed like a pushover at times, just taking whatever Stark dished out at him, and Howard’s soft voice added to that, though I digress that I was used to the gruff tone of the 90’s cartoons that Rhodey had. I don’t blame Howard for Rhodey being a bit of a lame duck so to speak, but the character was definitely lacking the grit and intensity Rhodey has.


Plot
The first half hour was basically the set up and origin, but it was entertaining enough that at no point where you impatiently wanting the movie to move along. The origin was a bit different, but along the comics enough that at no point would you shake your head knowing the true origin.

The action was good, and there was enough to keep the movie interesting. Seeing the suit be built by Stark and him doing the various tests was entertaining and you were genuinely intrigued by it.

The movie was much more humorous than the other non-comedic comic movies, Starks witty one liners prevalent in that along with a few other things that I won’t tell you since I will keep this spoiler free.


The Suit
It was awesome. Even after all the previews, all the pictures and videos, it was still awesome even in the clips we had already seen. At no point did it look fake, but seeing all the moving parts was a bit strange, but that was to be expecting since we wouldn’t see much of it in the comics. It looked real, acted real and was believable in its construction. And frankly, I thought it looked a lot better than the current extremis armor. In combat or in flight you truly got a feel for how powerful the suit was.


All in all the movie was very good, and there were hints at the sequel which again, I won’t be giving away at all, but you’ll like it. The characters were true to the comic and the performances good, and the action while not constant was entertaining. If you haven't already seen it, once, twice or five times like others have, make time to.