Iron Man 3 Download and Watch
Looking at Phonogram or his various Marvel books, it's clear that
Kieron Gillen excels in weaving compelling single issue stories that
build towards something bigger. With that in mind, it's surprising that
his new Iron Man series isn't a more enjoyable read. Gillen's first arc
is broken up into discrete, standalone chapters, yet the book doesn't
feel like it has any grand purpose. It reads more like a textbook
combination of elements designed to appeal to moviegoers who will be
fawning over Iron Man 3 in six months.
Probably my biggest problem with this opening arc is the use of Extremis. Gillen isn't doing much more than retreading familiar ground as Tony travels the globe and fights to prevent the virus from falling into the wrong hands. The whole point of Warren Ellis' Extremis storyline was that Tony Stark needed to embrace the future and become a better, more evolved kind of hero. Recycling the Extremis conflict seems to fly in the very face of what it was intended for in the first place. It's also strange that the book insists on exploring the same old Tony/Pepper Potts dynamic -- with Tony being the eccentric playboy CEO and Pepper his harangued assistant -- when that really doesn't speak to what state either character's life is in following the conclusion of Invincible Iron Man.
That said, Gillen does show a pretty strong handle on Tony himself and writes a generally snappy slate of dialogue throughout the issue. It's not the main character himself who disappoints in this series, but rather the situations he finds himself in so far. Issue #3 also addresses one of my other complaints about the new status quo -- that Tony's new, more mechanical armor is such a steep technological downgrade from his Extremis and Bleeding Edge suits. The justification Gillen
provides doesn't entirely satisfy, but at least he acknowledges it.
The artwork is doing little to endear the series to me either. Greg Land's action scenes are impressive enough, but his storytelling falters whenever the script calls for more mundane conversations or other character-centric material. Believe it or not, there's such a thing as a comic book character looking too sexy and attractive, and that's a problem Tony and Pepper suffer from constantly. The facial expressions are too rarely in tune with the actual tone and tenor of the dialogue. Land has long shown a habit for relying on photo-referenced material in his work. Unfortunately, this habit has become more blatant in this series. Nearly every shot of the Iron Man armor in all three issues so far seems pulled straight from the movies. So even when Tony dons an entirely new suit in this issue, little changes beyond the color scheme.
