Marvel Unveils New Iron Man Armor

For the weekend Marvel decided to impart upon us a little surprise: the new Iron Man armor which you can see right here:


The design, according to writer Matt Fraction commented this on the armor:
“The inspiration for the new design came from thinking about a sleeker, leaner, tougher Iron Man. If technology is increasingly getting smaller and lighter it seems like the Iron Man should do the same: ergonomic and aerodynamic. We were looking for something that felt as sleek and glossy as a sports car Tony Stark would covet. I love what we've come up with. It feels like the next evolutionary step in the Iron Man's design.”

Before I comment on the design itself let me say bravo to Matt Fraction for actually taking a step in the right direction. It’s been too long since we’ve been given an aesthetic upgrade that actually looks the part. The Extremis armor and the two models directly before it were all low tech looking. The Grell armor replacing the SKIN armor was probably the last time an armor actually looked more advanced than the previous design and that was how many years ago now?

But now the design itself.

Inspiration seems to come largely from the armor from “The End” one shot a while back with its sleek lines and form fitting shape. They definitely went for something different because there really isn’t much else to compare this armor to. The faceplate seems relatively unchanged, keeping much the same shape as the extremis armor.

Frankly, my reaction (and it seems like quite a few others) is “meh.” Fraction doesn’t lie when he says it’s high tech and streamlined (no coincidence the last model to look this advanced was the Modular which shared the slim design profile) but there are some things that make the design awkward.

First are the “gaps” of gold between the red portions of the armor. On the wrists, ankles and especially the shoulders they look out of place. The gap on the shoulders give the appearance of sleeveless workout shirt, like he’s wearing something designed by the company Under Armor. I can easily picture a football players head in place of the helmet. The area around the thighs are oddly shaped, and I don't know what’s with the random red squared above the hips.

Second are the LED’s, those little balls of light. The unibeam, okay. Over the hands, okay. But the others are just seemingly there for the sake of being there. The ankles and two around the neck I think can definitely go. Initial fan reaction isn’t too high on the LED’s and I won't be surprised if down the line they are removed from the armor since things like this have happened before.

The helmet is a bit confusing to me. It may just be artist interpretation in this particular picture, but it still looks angular and flat compared to the rest of the armor which is rounded. There is also something awkward about the eyes I can't quite put my finger on, but they just look a bit alien to me.

Those are basically my two cents on this design. I’m not thrilled with it, there are too many quirky design elements that distract from it, but it is an upgrade over the extremis armor, but that wasn’t very tough since that was one of the worst looking armors. Fraction said he wants it to be advanced, and it does look the part, so we’ll see if he actually writes it that way.

Review: The Iron Protocols

Recently Marvel treated Iron Man fans with a one shot issue entitled Iron Man: The Iron Protocols which featured two stories done by two creative teams. Each story was independent and self contained, put into the main stream continuity but not meant to go beyond the one shot. Both stories take place before Secret Invasion. Spoilers ahead if you haven’t read it, in which case you can go to the last paragraph for a summation.


The Ark
The first story features an AI gone rogue with a project meant to ensure Earth’s survival by creating a spaceship filled with DNA samples of every animal on the planet. Basically, it’s a modern day Noah’s ark. Of course it’s up to Iron Man still Director of SHIELD to stop it.

The concept is decent and the story moves fairly quickly. This one is more action heavy but the main fight is actually a verbal one where Stark battles the ships AI in a battle of logic and wits. For all its ego that it was superior (or at least right in its thinking) it was nice to see Stark outwit it, his own sense of logic prevailing over the AI’s.

The art was fairly good, vibrant colors and it was easy to tell what was happening during most the action scenes. There were some odd quirks, such as the repulsor emitter in the mouth and the armor looking a hybrid between the movie and comic styles, which was odd, but it didn’t take away from enjoying the story.


His Girl Friday
The second story again deals with a rogue AI, this time one of Stark’s old side projects where a young AI program “grew” into a “teenage” AI program (holographic representations used accordingly). As with other teens the program is moody and want what it wants, which in this case is attention.

The story moves very fast and unfortunately has a brief piece of Stark fighting his own commandeered armors (it’s such a tired plot anymore). There are a few lines that seem awkward, something Stark may say in his younger days but not now. A nice change though was we saw a bit more of the thrill seeking playboy that has been missing from the character recently.

The art had an anime feel to it, but wasn’t quite the same. It seemed to have a younger audience in mind but features weren't exaggerated enough to distract from the story at all. All in all I wasn’t too thrilled with this one, nothing in particular really standing out.

Conclusion
All in all the one shot was decent and a nice change of pace from the multiple issue story arcs. They were definitely intended to be fun rather than the serious melodrama that has been abundant in comics anymore. Writing and art in both stories was decent, but I definitely prefer the first story over the second. Unfortunately nothing was particularly memorable about either and it’s not hard to imagine if in a few years Iron Protocols is completely forgotten.

5 Things Marvel Needs to Stop Doing with Iron Man

Ok, I’ve had enough. I need to speak my mind on a bunch of the crap Marvel is continually shoving down our throats with Iron Man. Below I have listed five things that in the past few years Marvel has made a constant part of the character that has only served to lessen the him. And no, I am not even talking about making him the bad guy or writing him incorrectly. These are in no particular order because frankly they’re all equally contributing to the degrading of the character.

5)External Dependencies
What I mean by this are things like the chest plate for keep his heart beating and the most recent arc reactor in his chest to keep his body going. This worked fine when the character first started out but after the character was established the heart subplot was tossed for a reason. All it did was add the same subplot into each issue, a recurring problem that not only had a similar solution each time but also had become tedious and boring. Story quality was hurt by a writer needing to devote valuable page space, the plot device being little more than a waste of time. The previous case in Volume 3 with the mechanical heart Marvel quickly discovered this and got rid of it. Now here they are making the same mistake again. Take a hint guys: the subplot it tired, boring, tedious, a waste of space and most importantly, completely unneeded.


4)Keep the Movie Separate
I loved the movie, but that said the movie and comics shouldn’t intertwine. Keep them separate. Remember when Marvel gave the X-Men similar uniforms like they had in the movie, or Spider-Man organic web shooters? The result was fan backlash and their displeasure with eventual retcons to fix it. If you’re relying on the movies for your material you’re in trouble because they only come out about every three years and they likely won't last past three installments. So what then after you banked the comic off the movies? You’re out of luck. Marvel claims they want to bring the fans of the movie into the books and by making the comic more like the movie the transition will be easier. So you’re running the risk of alienating long time fans to appease possible new fans. You know what brings people into books? Good stories. You don't need to make the book like the successful movie to be good; the book has been going for forty years without the aid of Hollywood. Forty years of good writing (for the most part at least) has been done without leaning on a movie’s material. This is a stupid and frankly desperate move by Marvel. If you wanted to do a separate series or miniseries based on the book, I’m okay with that. But when you’re actually switching forty years of continuity to fit a movie you’re asking for problems. I would like to know what Marvel’s plan is for retconning forty years of material because that is what they are going to be doing. And let’s be honest, when more fans started reading after the release of the first movie and continued to read it despite it not falling in line with the film. Obviously they are reading it anyways why change and make a mess out of things? And there is the bit of irony to this whole matter: the movie was based on the books. So if the movie was a success based on the stories from the books, why would you change the books?


3) The Classic Armor
Yes it’s classic. Yes it was the longest tenured armor and present for much of the character’s great stories. But that time is over. In the past three years we have seen the classic armor resurface in Haunted, Secret Invasion and World’s Most wanted, and if the Cup O’ Joe article that shows a cover to Siege where Tony is wearing the classic armor once more is accurate, we will be seeing it yet again. Listen, the fans loved it when it was around but the armor is in every way, from its technology to power to aesthetics, out of date. Give it a rest because it’s become obvious Marvel is looking for an excuse to use it, and they’ve done so to the point where it no longer holds any nostalgic value. You know what a great part of a character’s heyday is? That everything went together. If you’re trying to make a new heyday don't use an element from the past like the exact armor worn. Make a new armor that people actually like (hint: that’s not the extremis armor); it will add far more than an obsolete design. If you’re so concerned about the armor ask the fans. They will tell you which armors were liked and disliked and you’d discover they are sick of seeing the classic and want the extremis armor gone. So right now you’re failing in both cases.


2) Focusing on the man that is Tony Stark
You need a certain amount of drama and character development I know, and I have no problem with that. A book that’s just two guys hitting each other for no reason gets boring. But unfortunately there has been little fisticuffs between the Knaufs and Fraction. We get it, Stark has his problems, but it’s become the focus anymore. A reason Legacy of Doom was so good was because during a time of heavy drama we got an exciting and action packed series. It has its character development, it got the characters correct and it had all the things Haunted, Five Nightmares and World’s Most wanted had and it did it without being boring, not to mention did it in four issues. There is too much time being focused on characters and not enough on action. You can do both but recently Marvel seems to be oblivious to that fact. A deep meaning or emotional story means nothing when it’s not entertaining.


1) Armor Wars
We just got and Armor Wars miniseries that was terrible. Ultimate Iron Mane had an Armor Wars story line that I don't think anyone read because no one pays attention to Ultimate Iron Man. Now in the new Iron Man series “Iron Man Legacy” (to be covered in a later post) the first is going to be, you guessed it, “Armor Wars.” And the worst part of it all? IT’S ALL THE SAME STORY! Someone steals Stark’s armors and he goes after them in vigilante mode. How many more times will this be done? And none have been to the level of the original story. If you’re going to make a new Armor Wars, do something new for god’s sake. Armor Wars may have been the best saga in Iron Man’s history, but merely rehashing it doesn’t mean the story will be good. Armor Wars I and II were completely different, why when all these new Armor Wars are popping up, are there no new takes on it? I can't imagine it’s that hard to come up with something different.

Review: Armor Wars Miniseries

Recently the Armor Wars four issue miniseries came to a close. Geared towards mostly younger audiences it was supposed to be a new twist on the classic event. But could it live up to it at all?

Story

Well it’s the same thing Armor Wars starts off with: someone stole Stark’s armor. Unfortunately it quickly diverts from there going from Stark attempting to shut down his stolen armors to, well, I’m not really sure. The story was truly all over the place, attempts at putting some new twist in at every turn to the point that by the time the story ended you weren't sure how it really related to the Armor Wars theme.

Every issue took a new direction; new villains, new armors and new plot. There was little coherence to this series and at even four issues managed to completely after the second installment. If you can't keep the focus on armors for four issues you’ve pretty much failed. Even worse, it’s a failure with a story that has been done before.

Grade: F

Art

As I mentioned this series was geared towards younger audiences and the art definitely reflected that. Having a cartoon/anime style it was filled with characters with exaggerated facial features and bright eye caching colors. At times you couldn’t tell what the artist was going for, the fight scenes often confusing. In terms of the target audience the art was a success; but for a regular collector like myself it didn’t work.

Grade: C

Writing

Like I said the story just went all over the place. So much was crammed into this story that not enough time could be spent on developing characters main or supporting. It also failed the move the story along at a good pace, going fast and jumping all over the place. So many twists were thrown in such as Omega Red and a shape shifter impersonating Rhodey that it just got annoying and confusing by the end. “In depth” is not a term I would apply to this.

Grade: F

Final Thoughts

Even for a younger audience this book doesn’t make the cut. Too many twists and turns, most of which were not needed and added nothing were made the primary focus by the end. For a title called “Armor Wars” there was a massive lack of the concept in the last half of the story. All in all the art and especially the story failed to captivate in any way. If you haven’t picked up the title and you’re not a completist don't waste your time or money.

Final Grade: F

I apologize for the formatting but for some unknown reason blogger refuses to put spaces in between paragraphs,

New Iron Man 2 Poster

Warning: you may need a tissue.

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(click image for larger size)

You may nerdgasm now.

Review: World's Most Wanted

The “highly acclaimed and award winning” story arc World’s Most Wanted has finally come to a conclusion after twelve long issues. While Marvel and critics claim this arc to be epic in nearly every aspect, you have to wonder if it really is. I don't know how much weight you’ll put into my opinion (I’m guessing zero), but here is my review of World’s Most Wanted.


Story
The story itself wasn’t highly original. Stark is on the run from Osborn and HAMMER and he is losing his mind in the process trying to keep the Super Hero Registration files from falling into Osborn’s hands. It’s reminiscent of Armor Wars when he was on the run from SHIELD and later when his body was failing from the damaged nervous system, just rolled into the same arc. Different yes, but somewhat the same principle. I’m not going to say it’s a copy, but it’s not 100% original either.

The other big problem I have is that it’s really more of making Stark look low. This is Marvel once again punishing the guy they have made popular by writing out of character to be the bad guy. Fraction said he saw it as Stark atoning for all his sins, not just the Civil War crap, but given what he’s gone through in his life; the artificial heart (twice), alcoholism and losing his company, his nervous system ruined, paralysis not to mention that whole death thing, how much more does the guy need to atone for?

This doesn’t mean the story didn’t have potential. It could still have been a fun read if the right things were done, which unfortunately they weren’t. There was so much filler that this arc could have easily been six issues and without missing out on any of the excitement that was present.

The start of the saga wasn’t bad, Stark eliminating his armories and having big names like Namor sent after him added an interesting element. This didn’t last and soon it became Stark fielding less and less advanced armors while continually trying to escape some D-rate villain that had a single appearance in an obscure 1980’s issue or something along that line. The using a less sophisticated armor didn’t make much sense given how newer armors capabilities would allow the onboard computer to do much of the things he wouldn’t be able to handle. It seemed like another lame excuse to start using the classic armor again. Seriously, the armor had its run but put the thing to rest already.

The addition of Pepper becoming a fighter was iffy at best. If you changed it from Pepper to Bethany Cabe, then beating Masque, being Iron Maiden (or whatever you want to call it) would have been far more believable. Pepper is just too much of that nice cheery girl to be really seen as a warrior, even in extraordinary circumstances. I do like the things Fraction had her do, but I just felt Pepper was ill suited to it.

Despite all the room for things to happen, too little transpired and what did was often repetitive. Too many issues felt the same.

Grade: C-


Writing
Fraction made one big mistake throughout the story: he told instead of showing. We were always told how Stark was losing his mind, he said it himself three times an issue. This was horribly repetitive as if we could somehow forget it. I started to roll my eyes every time Stark mentioned this. When Fraction did show it he did a good job (i.e. “Who is Happy?”) but too often that wasn’t the case.

Pacing was also bad. As I said earlier there was a ton of filler in this arc. We were greeted to a few pages of Stark going on about his mental state which by the second issue was a total waste of space. The issues all started to feel the same mid arc and that is never good.

Grade: C


Art
Larocca isn’t my favorite artist, but I’ve seen his past work and it’s better than this. There was nothing wrong with his pencils or the inks, it was the colors. Every person looked plastic and fake in the issues, making Larocca’s art look cartoonish at times. Osborn often looked ridiculous in my opinion, his hair further making him look like someone I expect to see in a Sunday morning comic strip.

Just like during the Knauf’s run, the colorist is taking away from the visuals. We went from dark and drab to everyone being shiny like they were just waxed.

Grade: C


Finish
Marvel and other outlets billed the ending of World’s Most Wanted as shocking. Iron Man fans billed it as totally predictable. I will give credit to Fraction; even though everyone knew what was going to happen in issue #19 it was still a very entertaining piece. We all knew Stark couldn’t die and Osborn was still going to be in control; it couldn’t end any differently, so a win for both signs was a given. I can forgive Fraction for the predictable ending because he had little choice.

Stark won because Osborn didn’t get his hands on any of the information he wanted. Osborn won because Stark was no longer a threat. Like I said, predictable. I did like at the end how Stark smiled and said “I won” which pissed Osborn off to no end, classic Stark (another Kudos to Fraction). Stark also had his contingency plan in place, knowing about all the legalities of SHIELD and having Donald Blake (a.k.a. Thor) as his doctor with power of attorney. It was also nice to see Pepper sabotage the stolen armors, throwing yet another wrench in Osborn’s plans.

In addition the video feed of Osborn beating a helpless Stark was shown all over the world, setting up the beginning of his fall. It looks like public opinion will begin to shift away from Osborn now, so by the time Siege rolls around chances are things will be going badly for him.

Grade: B+


Final Thoughts
Despite the positive critical reviews the majority of long time Iron Man fans have been giving it a big thumbs down. The arc overall was boring, laced with far more filler than substance and a storyline that repeated itself way too much.

Marvel no doubt points to the Eisner win a testament to its quality, but I counter with the opinion from long time Iron Man fans (the ones who have kept the book going for so long) that are ripping it apart. I’d venture to say those opinions are more telling than an award because who knows the character better than the ones who have follow all his exploits for decades? Are we not the ones who can determine if each action is in or out of character, instead of some committee that only gets handed the product when submitted? Ask the long time fans and all of them will tell you World’s Most Wanted can't hold a candle to previous sagas such as Armor Wars, Dragon Seed, War Machine and the other classic arcs. That the arc could have easily been half its length and contain the same amount of quality substance is a fact that should not be overlooked and frankly it should be questioned why it was allowed to happen.

All in all, Worlds Most Wanted despite its critical acclaim was unimpressive. Too long, too boring, and a predictable ending never make for a good story.

Final Grade: C-

Wolverine: Overexposed

There is no denying that Wolverine is one of the most popular comic characters out there. We loved the edge and grittiness he brought to teams consisting mostly of goody-two-shoes. We loved he was willing to do what it took to get the job done, including what others wouldn’t. He was original from his powers to his past and an all around great character. There was an awe and mystery surrounding him that helped propel him so quickly from cameo to mainstay.

Nowadays Wolverine is everywhere. And while I do mean everywhere from books to movies, let’s just focus on the medium he was created for: comics. Wolverine is all over the place. He holds multiple titles of his own with the likes of Wolverine Origins and Old Man Logan, he is part of a team in the X-Men, X-Force and New Avengers books and is in just about every alternate reality there is like the Ultimates and House of M. Literally, wherever we look, Wolverine is there.

And it has to stop.

I know Marvel wants to make the most of one of their most popular characters, but it’s to the point of too much. Origins is chided by fans for finally revealing Wolverine’s past, not only making it not that interesting but also taking away secrets that made the character so mysterious. They essentially filled in dates for things that were hinted at for years. Plus they did a big no-no in comics: they gave specific dates. Never give a specific date unless it’s something like Captain America when he fought in World War II and he was then frozen for an undetermined amount of time to get to the present. We now know exactly how old Wolverine is and it hurts the character.

Then you have the fact Wolverine is now a part of three teams, the above mentioned X-Men, X-Force and New Avengers. Where does he get the time for all of this? The two X titles okay, but does he really need to be in the Avengers?

Finally there is the problem on how powerful Wolverine has become. Before one of the great things was that underneath it all, the adamantium and the advanced healing factor, he was no stronger or faster than the rest. He one more by his never quit and aggressive demeanor that his actual powers. But Marvel made an excuse to make him more powerful, saying his body continually evolved and that the adamantium was holding his evolution back. Now he has superhuman strength and his healing factor, before just very quick, can now heal him as long as there is any flesh left. Basically, Wolverine is no longer killable. What fun is that in a character?

Yes, he survived this

If you look at the older X-Men and Wolverine books, you’ll see him struggle to recover from wounds that would keep a normal man down. His recovery would be much faster but he would still be weak for a short time. Think of when Omega Red was first introduced. He barely survived and was weak while he and other captured X-Men escaped. Now if that happened he’d be 100% healthy in a few minutes.

Look at Secret Invasion #6 when he fought the Skrull Queen. In a few frames we see half his face burned off and his forearm burned down to the bone, yet a few frames later he is perfectly fine. It’s too much. What good is a character if they can’t actually be beaten?

I know it won’t happen but Marvel really needs to tone down Wolverine’s exposure, and get him back to what made him interesting to begin with. He’s in too many titles and it’s getting a bit annoying to see him everywhere. Worse is that they’ve watered the character down by telling his past and making him too powerful. A lot of the things that made the character great are now gone.

I like Wolverine as a character, and I was one of those kids who got hooked on the X-Men because of the cartoon back in the 90’s. But that character, the one that caught everyone’s interest instantly is gone.