John Jackson Miller's IM (Iron Man v3 #73-85)

[Roger A Ott II]

Since JJM was kind enough to stop into the Mass Effect thread to discuss his work there, I figured it would be a good idea to start up a thread to discuss his run on Iron Man (and the Crimson Dynamo mini if we want).

Here's a link to John's website, where he gives some great behind-the-scenes insight into his run: http://www.farawaypress.com/comics/ironman.html

To me, this run was the last time Tony Stark was truly in-character.  So many writers do not understand the fundamental characteristics that make Iron Man a hero, a good boss, and a decent human being.  The penchant to write him as a corporate bad-guy seems to have taken the forefront for several years now, but JJM reminded us of the character that Tony Stark should be.

I do have one question though.  Simon Gilbert pops up early in the run for a single appearance.  Last we saw of him, he was dead (Iron Man #48, 1972), though I realize we never saw the body, if that was even possible considering the explosion.  Unfortunately, there was never any explanation as to how he survived to show back up after all those years.  Was there anything more to be said about him?

[Metal Head]

Here's JJM's link to the Avengers Disassembled Prelude HC collection:

http://www.farawaypress.com/fiction/books/avengersdisassembledhc.html

I need to re-read his run; Rog is right, Iron Man hasn't been great since JJM left.

Heath

[RIM]

Agreed.

And that's what really bothers me. Since Warren Ellis came aboard & introduced us to HIS VERSION of Tony Stark (which is like a rip-off of Ultimate Tony Stark: total a-hole with some bad attitude & big narcissism issues), everyone started to take the character in that kind of route & Ellis' version became a canon one (Millar & Fraction made it even worse). And when the movie came out, ALMOST EVERY WRITER decided to go with RDJ's approach.

I think it was a big mistake, in the first place. I mean, why do you need to turn the great character with some spectacular story into a total & unlikable jerk? He NEVER, I REPEAT, NEVER, wasn't like that in Tales of Suspense or Iron Man v1 & v3. It's just not right (except of Knaufs, they had a classic version of Tony Stark, for that I'm grateful).

Sure, I like the arrogant version of Tony from Heroes Reborn event, but only because it was a BIG WHAT IF event & not in continuity one, to be fair.

[Metal Head]

I need to read more of the Knauf's run -- I think I just read their first arc.

heath

[JohnJacksonMiller]

Simon Gilbert began as a mistake -- I had pulled the whole run into my office and had found Gilbert in previous issues, but overlooked #48 -- and at the time, the online indexing wasn't thorough. By the time a reader mentioned it, we were well into the end of the run and there wasn't time to make a story point out of it. I do like getting springboards out of continuity problems, though: as I discuss here, I have tried to react a lot faster when things come up.

That said, looking at the scene, it's a tough one to write around, but it's doable. Figure maybe that the floor fell through, allowing Gilbert to get free -- and that the blast we saw wasn't from his explosives, but something higher up in the building. (Was he an experienced demolitionist?) Then figure he shows up at Firebrand's trial claiming he was a kidnap victim of his crazy kid, and anything else is his word against Tony's. I'm not sure that would work, but that might be a way to go.

I talked more about Tony in the interviews of the day, but I think my take on him was that the alcoholism was a symptom of something else -- the same arrogance of intellect that led him to think he could do the justice system's job for them. A lot of addicts start out thinking they're invincible, too -- that they're too smart to have the problems other people have. Well, obviously, it doesn't work that way. Also, to a degree I felt that part of why he turned to booze was that he didn't the internal capacity he needed for dealing with his own failures. I've known some gifted "wunderkid" types who basically imploded when they hit situations they couldn't think their way around; Stane recognized that in Tony, and set up his chess game accordingly. We hit him with that in the confirmation hearings.

If my take was in some ways unusual, it might be because I had read almost everything that had been published to that point (though I obviously didn't remember #48). I felt that Tony had gone through so much that he could play the role of a grown-up in the world of grown-ups -- allowing Tony Stark to fix a problem Iron Man had created, for a change. I was writing Stark at 40 -- or at least an emotional 40, having survived several trips to the pinnacle of life and down into the gutter. Sorry I didn't get to go further with it at that time -- the business of comics intervened -- but it would be fun to revisit again one day.

[Roger A Ott II]

See, in just a couple paragraphs, you sum up who Tony Stark is (or should be) almost perfectly.  I hope someday you get the chance to revisit Iron Man again.

[Typhon]

See, in just a couple paragraphs, you sum up who Tony Stark is (or should be) almost perfectly.  I hope someday you get the chance to revisit Iron Man again.

Agreed!  I love the idea of approaching Tony as someone in their 40's, for that's how I viewed him as a kid when I was 7 and reading this book.  Tony was a true adult in a world where I saw Spidey, many Avengers, and most of the X-Men as a bit adolescent.  Tony, along with Cap, Xavier, and Reed, were the experienced father figures of they Marvel U.  I'd love to see that Tony return since the one running around now reminds me more of my uncle the screw up.   

Thanks for a fantastic run, Mr. Miller.  If you are unable to return to Iron Man, please give the world more adventures with Jedi Knight Kerra Holt.       

[JohnJacksonMiller]

Thanks! The next Star Wars: Knight Errant series starts in August -- it's in the catalog next month. We have some great ship designs this series -- including something we came up with that crosses the traditional fighter concept with a hang-glider. Star Wars physics makes a lot of stuff possible.

And yeah, I'm with you -- reading Iron Man as a kid, I always thought he was older, more a peer of Dr. Strange, Cap, and Mr. Fantastic age-wise. Those tend to be the characters I've tended to be more interested in as a reader, as the years have gone on.

I do talk with the Marvel team now and again and am open to doing something new, but my schedule has been pretty full in the years since. Doesn't hurt to let them know you liked the earlier comics, though. (Who knows, we might get them back into print again!)

[brohara]

What a pleasure to read this thread! Thanks to JJM for sharing and to Roger for setting this up.

I couldn't identify more with the age thing; Stark was always an adult character.
I was seven and as huge an Iron Man fan as I could be when I started (1970s),
Stark was a 'grown-up'; which in no way hindered the appeal of the character.
To this day, I prefer takes on the character that acknowledge this aspect.
 

[IronManKyle]

wow, Mr. JJ Miller not only rights great super-hero comics, but good Mass Effect Comics and Star Wars books!!! The guy is a true hero, lol.
It's really great that he interacts with his fans so well as he does. 
I'm honored to at least have him as a facebook friend. (thanks to Metal Head Heath!) 

[Metal Head]

Hey, I didn't know what I did, lol. I did get a kick out of showing him my IM tattoo that's based on the Jorge Lucas' cover to issue 74. When I friended Jorge, I noticed someone had found the photo floating around and tagged him in it. AWESOME!

heath

[Alexandre Juliao]

I just want to point out that After I watched Episode III, I thought I was done with Star Wars, until I heard that JJ Miller was starting to write Star War comics. I picked them up and I couldn't be more satisfied.

I agree completely with his view about Tony`s age and I hope he goes back to the title someday.

But, if not, a new Crimson Dynamo mini-series will do just fine!