Review: Tony Stark Disassembled

The final issue of Tony Stark Disassembled was released today, ending the latest arc by Matt Fraction. This directly leads up to Siege, before it is settled that Bucky will take the Captain America mantle and the assault on Asgard begins. If you have not read issue #24 then I suggest you don't read this as there are spoilers.

Like World’s Most Wanted, I feel TSD had too much filler to be a good arc. A lot of time was spent on interactions between Pepper and Maria Hill, and the dream sequences taking place in Stark’s mind were very repetitive and frankly did not really go anywhere. I did not mind their use in general, but all in all they really did not add a whole lot to the story. I was also a bit annoyed by the parent issues that resurfaced in the end, feeling that has been done to death. It didn’t ruin things at all, but it is tiring.

Fraction wrote some funny moments in this series, including Potts and Hill learning they both slept with Stark when he went on the run, and recently with the exchange between Dr. Strange and the nurse. It helped to keep the mood light through an arc meant to be serious and intriguing.

Rhodey made appearances in this arc, but was completely inconsequential. Even after being shot by the Ghost, his importance in the story was completely limited.

Speaking of the Ghost, I did not like the way he was portrayed. He seemed incompetent and at times a stereotypical villain who kept blabbering rather than doing his job to kill the good guy, a far cry from the Ghost we used to know. I liked how he defeated Dr. Strange and his own defeat by Stark, both neat and interesting. I am miffed at why he found a way to take out Strange so quick yet resorted to trying to strangle Stark.

The ending, just like WMW, was predictable yet entertaining. We all knew Stark was going to be back so the outcome was not in doubt. The surprise at the end was very nice, Stark having created the backup before all the events of Civil War and being appalled by the things that happened. I don't like retcons, but I have to say I love this one. Fraction basically said everything Stark did while having extremis was not really him, that his portrayal by writers like Mark Millar who went out of the way to write him out of character to get their own political points across was completely wrong. So in addition to being a good twist, we get the old, pre-extremis Tony Stark back, which many fans have been clamoring for quite some time. Big kudos to Fraction for this one.

Overall, I give Tony Stark Disassembled a C+. The arc was too slow and the first four issues there was not a lot that really happened. The dream sequences were boring and repetitive, too much character interaction and not a whole lot of action. The arc seemed to be nothing but a lead up to an ending, which was the only real strong point of this.

The next arc will show how good at writing Iron Man Fraction really is. With two years experience on the book and no major event to interfere, Fraction needs to show he can write a good mix of drama and action, the latter of which has been sorely lacking.