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Iron Man #7
Book Released: 19 April 2006
Review posted: 22 April 2006
Writer: Daniel and Charles Knauf
Artist: Patrick Zircher
Ink: Scott Hanna
Publisher: Marvel Comics
3.00 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by Adam White
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A friend of mine is a huge Carnivale fan, so when I saw its creators were taking over Iron Man I thought I
should at least check it out. I bought the first issue of the current series long ago when it came out, mainly because
I’m a big Warren Ellis fan, but dropped it immediately because of the ridiculous delays between issues thanks to the
artist. Since #7 came out on time I went ahead and gave it a look, and here’s what I found.
The Knaufs wrote a Tony Stark that completely contradicts every other current portrayal in the Marvel Universe.
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The story was extremely generic and had no interesting or novel ideas at all. The Knaufs wrote a Tony Stark that
completely contradicts every other current portrayal in the Marvel Universe, which some may chalk up to the results of Extremis, but which really just shows an unfamiliarity with the character. If Extremis affected Tony in that
way, why don’t the other twelve books he appears in reflect that? The best part is that the story features Nick Fury,
a man who is simultaneously alive, dead, in hiding, at large, commanding SHIELD, on the run from SHIELD, and reportedly
managing a Dairy Queen in Boise, Idaho. Marvel has mismanaged the use of Nick Fury badly, and to allow the Knaufs to use him
because they’re celebrity creators only compounds the problem yet again. The foreign scenes also reek of bad,
stereotypical dialogue that give the book an amateurish feel. I don’t think that the Knaufs are necessarily bad
writers, I just think that they are obviously unfamiliar with comicbook scripting and the characters they’re working
on.
On the flip side, Patrick Zircher knocks it out of the park, and is the reason this book scored three stars. I have
always liked Zircher’s art, especially on Thunderbolts, but lately he has been relegated to projects in which I
have no interest. Zircher took a sub-mediocre script and drew the hell out of it, making the issue visually dynamic
throughout and gave each character a sleek, solid look. Veteran inker Scott Hanna again proves his mastery of inking,
enhancing Zircher’s pencils and producing smooth line work that makes shine. I would love to see Zircher and
Hanna on a story more worthy of their talent, and hope that when this arc ends they will be placed on bigger and better
things.
Zircher made the issue visually dynamic throughout and gave each character a sleek, solid look.
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In short, the art was great but the story bored me half to death. So unless you can “read” a book solely for
the art, it’s safe to say you can skip out on Iron Man for the time being. Use your extra cash (if any) to
check out some of Marvel’s Annihilation titles instead. Besides, since Tony Stark is a government sellout
during Civil War, it disinterests me in Iron Man and his series anyway.
—CCdC—
Cover image used without explicit permission in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of US copyright law.
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