The Invincible Iron Man: The Five Nightmares
The Invincible Iron Man: The Five Nightmares, by Matt Fraction & Salvador Larroca, Marvel
THERE ARE only three major incidents that need to be recalled regarding Iron Man: (a) he was created as a playboy hero turned cold war armoured hero by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby then developed with general grace and charisma primarily by Don Heck; (b) David Micheline, Bob Layton and most often John Romita Jr revealed he was an alcoholic and added a sense of danger other than ever-threatening heart attacks to proceedings; and (c) films have rebooted interest in the character...
Thus we now have Tony Stark known to the world as Iron Man and the head honcho at S.H.I.E.L.D. a less than covert military organisation that originated as superspies but now come on like a New World Order protection force as far as their public relations go.
People are blowing up all over the world, in large groups and small – each grouping belonging to a terrorist organisation but none related to each other. Amidst this heroes in the Philippines are dying, there are cameos from Mr Fantastic and Thor, an affiliate from A.I.M get to share villain page space (though M.O.D.O.G. is a pretty poor psycho version of the classic M.O.D.O.K.) but the real foe to be fought is the son of Obadiah Stark, a ruthless business tycoon who caused Stark bad times and takeovers during the Micheline/Layton run and he’s usurped technology into a weapon of personal mass destruction that’s played out like a slacker generation’s playtime. Amidst it all Iron Man rocks like modern heroes should while his Tony Stark persona avoids getting into bed with assorted glamour girls... Ah, sometimes, I prefer the bad old days.
Fraction writes in a contemporary vein: it’s popcorn with meaning, hi-tech exposition that we’re a couple of clicks on the internet away from being au fait with. He gives you drama and tension, and while the ending veers towards a certain predictability I’m an old warhorse and expect no less so am not disappointed.
Larroca’s art works, but too often it’s spoilt by over-modelled digital colouring effects. Two people are listed as fulfilling that role on the series, and the book is dedicated to one who has since died, my apologies to those who knew, loved and respected that person’s work, but I have to be honest and say that on the evidence of this book the people involved in the colouring didn’t enhance my reading experience, perhaps their work elsewhere will.
