Welcome back to the marvel Rundown! This week we’re looking Iron Man #6 by Joshua Williamson and Juann Cabal. Our Rapid Rundown looks at two X-books, X-Men of Apocalypse #4 and X-Men ’97#1
Note: the reviews below may contain spoilers. If you want quick, spoiler-free buy/pass recommendations on the comics in question, check out the bottom of the article for our final verdict.
Iron Man #6
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Juann Cabal
Colorist: Nolan Woodward
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramanga
If any comic at Marvel currently screams accessible fun, it’s this Iron Man run by Joshua Williamson. So far every issue is a jumping on point making it easy to hop in for any new readers. You only need to know the basics of who Tony Stark and Iron Man are to enjoy it.
This issue, guest starring Spider-Man, is no exception. You know what kind of book this is when Spider-Man gets yelled at to shut up. The meat of the story follows Tony Stark investigating a break in at one of his many storage facilities. He finds one of his many unused armors stolen and not just any armor. It’s the Iron Patriot armor used by Norman Osborn during Dark Reign.
For anyone who didn’t read the now almost 20 year old storyline where Norman Osborn ran the Marvel Universe, that’s okay. Again accessibility is the name of the game here. Williamson’s script is more focused on what this particular moment meant to Stark than rehashing the minutiae of that storyline. What makes this issue shine is the focus Stark’s obvious distrust and disgust for the now former villain Osborn.
Right now over in Spider-Man, Osborn is a reformed villain trying to do the right thing. But for Tony Stark, he will always be the former Green Goblin. He and the Iron Patriot represent another dark part of his history. Osborn also is a path that Tony Stark could have taken. Had he not gone into that cave to become Iron Man, he could have remained a ruthless industrialist that might have become a supervillain. But like Stark, Osborn is a man trying to redeem his past. Even if that past includes trying to kill heroes multiple times.
Those confrontations are both ideological and turn physical. Artist Juann Cabal really brings all of this to the front. The opening page features the three leads and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Melinda May displaying body language and facial expressions that instantly communicate who each character is. In fact, Cabal’s skill with both makes it so you could read this issue without the dialogue and still understand what’s going on. When the real villain of the issue shows up, the way he represents their powers looks really cool.
He also brings a unique storytelling style with his page layouts. He uses one long panel used five times that he’ll occasionally break into two or three panels on one row. However, he often sandwiches a moment with a smaller panel. It gives the effect of punctuating that moment and breaking up the action of a page in a way that never feels intrusive. This makes for smart storytelling in an issue that is about people communicating something to another person.
As fun as this book is, it can be frustratingly unambitious. The structure of the issue where Stark, Osborn, and Spider-Man recount what happened from their individual viewpoints, never really changes how you understand the story. Williamson does a great job giving each character, Stark, Osborn, and Spidey, have their own unique voices but never really shifts the viewpoints when one tells the story from the other.
That’s a minor quibble in a book that is thoroughly enjoyable. If there’s anything this issue proves, it is that Williamson and Cabal should be doing the main Spider-Man book. Williamson writes a very fun Spider-Man and Cabal matches him with a fluid sense of movement and action. On top of that, Iron Man shows that they make stories that are engaging and get at the core of the character in a way that feels really fresh.
Verdict: BUY
Rapid Rundown!
X-Men of Apocalypse #4
Anyone who has taken any kind of writing course knows the number one rule of writing; show don’t tell. Jeph Loeb though ignores that maxim and feels comfortable telling his audience. Why show in a medium designed to do so, when you can write every single thing happening in a given panel. What’s the purpose of having your artist Simone Di Leo show emotion through character acting when you just tell, without any subtlety, how a they feel? Anyways, this issue deals with Age of Apocalypse Gambit trying to hook up with 616 Rogue by traveling back in time to stop her from touching Ms. Marvel way back at the beginning of her career. And you know what? It doesn’t matter because it all gets erased at the end of the issue. What’s the point of telling a story that ultimately has no purpose? Why even have Gambit attempt this if at the end Nate Grey shows up to erase everyone’s memory of this even happening? This whole series has been a mess of moments and pointless expository narration boxes (how many times do we need to be told Gambit loves Rogue?) on top of being consistently late. The final page sets up X-Men of Apocalypse Omega which surprise is also delayed. For a celebration of one of the more iconic X-Men stories, there’s nothing here that feels celebratory.
X-Men ’97 Season 2 #1
Speaking of X-Men and alternate universes, didn’t that X-Men ’97 season two trailer released last week look great? If you haven’t seen it, pause reading this and go watch it. It’s that good. For anyone who can’t wait until July, Marvel has another round of comics tie-ins with X-Men ’97 Season 2. Steve Foxe’s script deals with the immediate aftermath of season one while priming folks for the season to come. Bishop and Forge look for the time displaced X-Men but that means there’s a vacuum in regards to who deals with mutant affairs. So now two groups have appeared. The first is X-Factor and Foxe reintroduces the 90s line up who right now indiscriminately gather up mutants left and right. The other is a play on X-Force, with a line up that works with the characters introduced in the 90s animated series. Salva Espin’s art is inconsistent. You can tell when they’re drawing based on model sheets and when they’re making up characters for this specific story. Additionally his poses are stiff and there’s an over reliance on double page spreads that don’t really communicate anything storytelling wise. Still as primer for this upcoming season, writing wise it works. Seriously, that trailer for season two just rules. Bring on Apocalypse!
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