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Iron Man #12
“Execute Program – Part 6 of 6”
Posted 23 October 2006
Writer: Daniel and Charles Knauf
Artist: Patrick Zircher
Letters: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Ink: Scott Hanna
Colors: Studio F’s Antonio Fabela
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Publisher: Marvel Comics
2.50 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by Matt Yocum
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Iron Man was given an extreme reboot with the first six issues on
Warren Ellis’ run. Ellis’ work boosted Tony Stark’s
powers to an entirely new level through an incredible premise; by
introducing Extremis he set up future writers with whole new
dimensions to explore in the life of Iron Man. Sadly, the Knaufs did
not explore those new dimensions. Rather they settled for a tried and
true Iron Man formula, that of framing Tony Stark, controlling the
Iron Man armor, and Tony ultimately relying on brute force to win the
day.
Which is better, a beautiful book coming out a few times
a year or an okay-looking book that comes out twelve times a year? That’s a
question whose debate knows no end.
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I credit Ellis with setting up a new dimension to Tony’s
future, opening the door to possibilities not seen before. I credit
Adi Granov’s first six issues — whose beautiful work still
adorns current Iron Man covers — with causing complete
removal of Iron Man from people’s pull lists. I say this
not because of his art, but because I don’t even recall how long
it took those first six issues to be released thanks to Granov’s
lack of punctuality. It was long enough to alienate a great many of
the Armored Avenger’s fans. We could only find his adventures
in his appearances with the Avengers or other guest appearances, not
his solo title which has a long and proud history.
The Knaufs started out with an interesting, mystery-filled plot,
but it fell at the end with a quickly wrapped-up conclusion that tried
at the last moment to serve as prelude to Civil War. Maybe
that explains why Nick Fury was in the entire series, this being
pre-Civil War. Personally, I’m lost as to Iron Man
continuity. With his newly revised history, I’m not certain if
Iron Man’s past adventures are part of cannon or fall outside
the boundaries. The miniseries Iron Man: The Inevitable seems to
indicate the past from his solo book was indeed his past. However,
these past twelve issues of the current series have me clouded on
which parts of his past are continuity and which are not. I’m
not a major stickler for continuity, but this still has me confused.
Patrick Zircher’s art is clean with good detail to the armor.
Inker Scott Hanna tragically hides that artwork with thick, bold lines
to all the characters, sometimes pushing fiercely the black outlines
of each character. Personally I would like to have seen an inker with
a lighter touch of the brush as I think it would have made the action
flow faster and not appear weighted down. No matter. The art chores
can’t compare to what Adi Granov brought to the book on his six
issues, but there is that constant battle between quality and
timeliness. Which is better, a beautiful book coming out a few times
a year or an okay-looking book that comes out twelve times a year? That’s a
question whose debate knows no end.
I do hope future issues steer a course to right the Iron Man
flagship. A few things they could solve would be to a) enter Iron
Man back into the current Civil War continuity (especially
as Iron Man is one of the central players), b) explore what Warren
Ellis set up with Extremis and his enhanced powers, and c) stick with
an armor design for more than one story arc. Oh, and d) bring back
the dark-haired rather than the blond Tony Stark. After all,
he’s not Captain America.
Comments about my comments? Feel free to email me at
myocum@comiccritique.com.
—CCdC—
Cover image used without explicit permission in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of US copyright law.
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