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(May, 2002) "Jane Doe, part 2."
Cover art: Michael Ryan. Script: Mike Grell. Art:
Michael Ryan/Sean Parsons. New Tony Stark
friend Abby St. Clair
is dead -- but it wasn't the fire that killed her! She was murdered!! Hooo-boy.
From here we're led through a "whodunit"
storyline worthy of .... say, Daredevil, Spider-man,
or.... Green Arrow
maybe? If Grell is trying to "change" the image of Tony Stark/Iron
Man, it sure ain't working with yours truly. Iron
Man is one of the powerhouses of the Marvel
Universe, folks. He doesn't wallow in mediocre detective plots. Now, this isn't
to say that an IM
story couldn't and shouldn't occasionally take a tack like this. But --
to begin your tenure on the IM
title with it?? The goal should be to impress the readership right
from the get-go, and then experiment with yarns like this.
Once again,
Grell makes goofs with the armor's technology (you mean he can't magnetically
snag a gun from the evil culprit's hands before she shoots somebody??), and if
Ryan doesn't at least get a new inker, his art will remain cartoony and
unimpressive. One plus: Ryan does draw a pretty decent Iron
Man, and the cover of this ish is one of the best
the title has ever witnessed! This fact gives this ish an extra half 'pulsor for
a total of....
 1/2
repulsors!! (By Hube)
Fan Reaction:
One could probably scan this issue, paste in ANY superhero over IM and it would
work the same. How many times have we heard "I want to focus on the man
BEHIND the armor" when a new writer has taken over? When has it ever
entailed dropping everything the series has ever represented? I can deal with
the artwork -- it tells the story, and the armor looks great to me. But, here,
Tony doesn't even seem to be part of the story, he's just along for the ride,
until an entirely off-screen action gets him the info to solve the case -- and
even THEN he doesn't get the right person! Let's hope the next storyline gets IM
back to where he belongs!
One last comment: ever get a big
thrill when, in the middle of a case, Tony has to crank up the forge and bring
out a new armor? That is what keeps me buying IM over and over, since he used to
share the mag back in the sixties. Now, three issues later, and we don't even
know what the armor can do, other than run out of power, not deal with heat, not
support his heart... --
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