Marvel NOW!- Iron Man #1 by Gillen and Land (potential spoilers)
David_D
Posts: 3,884
I liked it. I actually haven't read the last part of the Fraction/Larroca era (that is coming in the next DCBS box) and I have been a big fan of that teams' years on Iron Man. I didn't pre-order this new volume of Iron Man, and I had not been planning on reading it on an ongoing basis, but I decided to buy the first issue off the rack and give it a try.
I thought it was a good, clear jump-on point for new readers, but doesn't seem to throw any of the past under the bus. A lot of the style and tone of the book would be accessible to those that know Stark from the movies (with an added element, surely too "edgy" for the movies, of the Atheism he talks about in the first page. Though he doesn't actually drop the "A"-word, Mr. Terrific style). The premise of the first story is a pretty familiar one for an Iron Man book: some dangerous technology has fallen into the wrong hands and must get contained.
I think Gillen has a good voice for this book. As with his writing of the X-Men's period of fame and prominence in San Francisco, I think he captures the idea of Stark not only as a public hero, but as a super hero celebrity, and has a good mix of his shiny surface persona and how it sometimes contrasts with his less sure inner monologue.
I get why many are not a fan of Land, both in terms of the end product and his process. For me, I think reading a lot of Land's work on the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited (Uncanny X-Men, Ultimate Power) at the drastically reduced price of All-You-Can-Eat-For-$60-Year has got me more at ease with his work. And I think he and Gillen partnered well on Uncanny X-Men, and I think if there is one thing that Land's work serves well it is a world of glossy glamour people, and that seems to be the world of this book. So even though I am still not crazy about Land, I think if he were to be put anywhere, this book is the right place.
So all in all it is not enough to get me to buy it monthly at a time when I am cutting back. But I thought it was a solid start, and a book I will definitely look forward to reading someday (hopefully via the Marvel DCU).
Anyone else give this a try?
I thought it was a good, clear jump-on point for new readers, but doesn't seem to throw any of the past under the bus. A lot of the style and tone of the book would be accessible to those that know Stark from the movies (with an added element, surely too "edgy" for the movies, of the Atheism he talks about in the first page. Though he doesn't actually drop the "A"-word, Mr. Terrific style). The premise of the first story is a pretty familiar one for an Iron Man book: some dangerous technology has fallen into the wrong hands and must get contained.
I think Gillen has a good voice for this book. As with his writing of the X-Men's period of fame and prominence in San Francisco, I think he captures the idea of Stark not only as a public hero, but as a super hero celebrity, and has a good mix of his shiny surface persona and how it sometimes contrasts with his less sure inner monologue.
I get why many are not a fan of Land, both in terms of the end product and his process. For me, I think reading a lot of Land's work on the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited (Uncanny X-Men, Ultimate Power) at the drastically reduced price of All-You-Can-Eat-For-$60-Year has got me more at ease with his work. And I think he and Gillen partnered well on Uncanny X-Men, and I think if there is one thing that Land's work serves well it is a world of glossy glamour people, and that seems to be the world of this book. So even though I am still not crazy about Land, I think if he were to be put anywhere, this book is the right place.
So all in all it is not enough to get me to buy it monthly at a time when I am cutting back. But I thought it was a solid start, and a book I will definitely look forward to reading someday (hopefully via the Marvel DCU).
Anyone else give this a try?
Comments
It's the first time I've read Iron Man since the early 90s. Gillen has probably been my favourite writer since returning to comics with the new 52, so I'll give it a few more issues. I don't think that it did enough to really grab me, but it should get better. If not, pulling him from Uncanny was a big mistake.
The story seems interesting enough, I do like how it it picking up on some lose threads from Iron Man's past. Although I thought the art did not live up to the story, in some panels Tony was unrecognizable with and without his moustache. That plastic smile of Tony's was driving me crazy.
Land's Iron Man was outstanding but it was a little too much like the MC 2 Iron Man.