I know I've said this, but I think Iron Man’s
an alright character. Even with the Iron Man movies out there, I just don’t
feel drawn to the character of Tony Stark. I even got one of his most important
storylines ("Demon in A Bottle") on the shelf and I still haven’t read it yet.
Maybe I’ll finally crack it open after this month’s over. Even though I haven’t
been the biggest fan of Stark, I thought Matt Fraction’s run (the parts I read
anyway) were pretty good. I’ve even liked his moments in certain Marvel events.
Plus, there’s that Robert Downey Jr. dude who’s making the waves. Then, there’s
this story.
Iron Man: Armor Wars contains Iron Man #225-232. The
actual storyline is called “Stark Wars,” but I guess “Armor Wars” just stuck out or
something. I found this at McKay’s years
ago and thought I’d finally check it out. David Michelinie and Bob Layton
handled the story. Both of these writers had done a lot with Iron Man during
the 70’s and 80’s. M.D. Bright handled the breakdowns while Layton handled the
finishes in the main story. Barry Winsdor-Smith handles the art for #332. So, what does happen
when Tony Stark finds out IM tech has been pilfered? He becomes a bit of a
douchebag as usual.
Iron Man: Armor Wars
Writers: David Michelinie and Bob Layton
Pencils: M.D. Bright and Barry Winsdor-Smith (#232)
Inks: Bob Layton
Colors: Bob Sharen, Nel Yomtov, and Barry Winsdor-Smith (#232)
Letters: Janice Chang and Bill Oakley (#232)
Editor: Mark Gruenwald
SYNOPSIS
We start out with Tony doing his thing. He’s Iron Man, he’s
a ladies’ man, and he has El DeBarge’s hairdo from the 80’s. All seems to be
going well until he discovers that a former villain’s technology was based on
his Iron Man tech. He gets down to research and it’s revealed that a villain
known as the Spymaster stole the designs and sold them to Justin Hammer,
another rival. Through Hammer, other villains ended up getting upgraded tech.
Tony tries to use legal ways in getting back his designs, but that’ll take too
long. So, Tony suits up as Iron Man to take care of it himself.
He pretty much takes care of villains like Stilt-Man, the
Raiders, The Beetle, and the Controller. He then finds that someone in the
government has his tech. He believes it to be the hero Stingray, but after a
fight that partly starts because of him, he finds that isn’t the case. With a
lot of heat being thrown at Iron Man, Tony “fires” Iron Man from Stark
Enterprises. Remember that Tony’s identity was secret and used the bodyguard
excuse for the public. Even the Avengers wonder what’s going on with Tony.
Ooo... cameos!
SHIELD gets in on the action and works with Tony to capture
Iron Man. Tony uses this to his advantage since SHIELD’s Mandroids also have IM
tech. After he deals with them, he takes on the Guardsmen, men that guard the
supervillain prison, the Vault. Unfortunately (or fortunately, your mileage may
vary) Captain America (who was just “The Captain” at this point) knows Tony is
coming. Even though it’s a challenge, Iron Man completes his mission and ticks
off Cap. He ultimately ticks off everyone else when a mission to Russia results
in the accidental death of the Titanium Man.
Something tells me that this new reboot of Miami Vice isn't going to go as planned. At least Rhodey's hair is sleek!
Tony reflects on all the crap he pulled when he finds out
who in the government had his designs. It turns out Edwin Cord, another rival,
used the designs for a new battle armor called Firepower. He suits up to face
Firepower and is pretty much trounced. It’s only because of Rhodey’s help and a
backup plan (he has puts the suit on autopilot and puts stored blood in it)
that Tony make sit out alive. Firepower destroys the suit and Iron Man is
presumed dead.
Nice suit, Tony!
Tony plans on keeping Iron Man dead, but when Cord uses Firepower
to threaten the company, he creates a new, more powerful suit. When Firepower
comes back, Tony suits up in the new Red/Gold combo and kicks some major butt.
Afterwards, he finally gets some supposedly well-deserved rest… and then has a
nightmare where a technorganic version of himself tries to kill him. After he
wakes up from his nightmare, he has to realize that he needs to live with the
guilt that some of his IM tech has probably killed innocents.
OPINION
So, now that I’ve re-read this, what do I think? While it doesn’t
have the title hero at his best, I thought this was a nice read. It was interesting
to see Tony go this far in order to get his technology back. I’ve seen this
plot line in other places like the 90’s Iron Man cartoon and Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest
Heroes, but seeing where it came from was cool. It was pretty cool to see other
heroes like Ant-Man, the West Coast Avengers, and Captain America show up here
for only a bit.
Man, these two don't get along much, do they?
So, Tony was pretty much a douche here. I mean, I gotta say
it somewhere. While I get that Tony would have guilt over his IM designs being
used for evil, he does go too far here. Going after bad guys is one thing. Going
after the government (who from what I can tell, hadn’t necessarily done anything
wrong) and other heroes was pretty over the line. It’s kind of tough to root
for a character who’s, honestly, is kind of being an ass. At least Tony realized
he went too far and wasn’t that justified with his actions.
The artwork all around was pretty good. I haven’t seen much
of M.D. Bright’s stuff, but I’ve always liked it when it pops up somewhere. The
action looked good and Tony’s many armors looked nice. The smaller, moments for
everyone were rendered pretty well too. Then, we get to Winsdor-Smith’s techno
nightmare. Man, that was weird but in a good way. He also brought his A-game
and he only did one issue. Other than Bright's artwork feeling a little generic, I have no problems with the artwork overall. I
will say that Tony Stark’s hair was a little ridiculous. I mean, did he “feel the beat of the rhythm of the night?” Did he feel like that the world was on his shoulders and that the madness had him going crazy?
Man, that looks crazy... and good!
As for the negatives, I don’t have many. Yeah, you do have Tony
being a douchebag throughout most of the story, but that was pretty much the
point. Also, some ideas could have been handled a little better. The main story
even ends a little weird. Also, it’s kinda weird that SHIELD would get this bamboozled.
Also, it was weird that Rhodey was okay with all of this. I don’t know much
about this earlier version of Rhodey, but I do know the more current version
would definitely be questioning Tony or outright against him. Other than those
things and some nitpicks, I do like this story.
In the end, this was a nice one. While it may not have Iron
Man at his best, I can say that it’s better than others stories involving him (Civil
War). I think I will read "Demon in a Bottle" and see if it’s more than a PSA
about alcoholism. For now, I think it’s time to go back into space and see how
that Skywalker kid is doing. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out
there.
Well, this is awkward!!!
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