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(Jan. 2003) "In Shining
Armor, part 3." Cover art:
Mike Grell. Script:
Mike Grell. Art: Mike Grell.
Oh BOY! That dragon from the end of last issue attacks Brann
and
Tony
Stark while
Aislinn
watches mystically from afar. Of course, the fellas are victorious. Stark
fixes the armor's polarity problem
(remember that?), and then he and Brann have to do battle with Aislinn
and her contingent of warriors (which includes a silly "THOOM" sound effect
of armor against armor on the splash page). During the battle, Brann
calls for IM
to toss him a sword, which IM
does, and it gets stuck in a rock. Iron
Man -- responsible for the legend of Excalibur!
But Brann gets captured by Aislinn,
who then demands IM
strip off his armor. Tony does (which sort of makes sense...his helmet
was inoperative so nothing could be triggered cybernetically. But he couldn't
rig
something up quickly??), and soon Aislinn
is garbed in the IM
suit. But "back" in 2002, Pepper
has activated the time machine, and it's homed in on the IM
armor! Since the IM
helmet's polarity wasn't fixed, Aislinn's
head promptly is excised from the rest of her body as the armor returns
to the present! Pepper
then sends Tony a spare suit of armor for him to return to 2002 safely.
He transports back -- and then the time machine promptly explodes!
Say whaaat? Was it Aislinn's
purple crystal? But wasn't it around her neck -- which was just lopped
off...? Oh well. Pepper and Tony then ponder Aislinn's
magics, whereupon Tony then says "I don't know. My brain is full." Know
what else is full? This whole arc -- full of CRAP!!
Obviously,
the initially cool creation of a time machine was just a cheap plot device
for Grell to experiment with a hobby he digs: medieval knights and all
that. Hey Mike -- stick to your Seattle
Knights Club and PLEASE keep it out of Iron
Man, huh? The dialogue once again is BRUTAL
and Grell's art, while not bad, desperately needs a better inker to give
IM
the crispness it deserves. Extra half 'pulsor for Brann
obviously getting laid at issue's end!
Hube's
Recommendation:  1/2 repulsors!
Fan Reaction:
Before I say anything let me please thank Hube for allowing me to state
my humble opinions about a subject that many people find near and dear
to their hearts. Now on to issue 61. Like Hube, I felt the whole "In Shining
Armor" storyline was crap. In fact, as stated before, the whole Grell
run has been crap. To write that the King Arthur legend was started
by a time traveling Tony Stark is really hard to take. Hube, you
gave the story and extra half repulsor because Brann got laid. I
think that it should have gone to the fact that Stark built the time machine
to see if he could save the baby that Pepper had lost. (At least that's
what I got out of the very end of the story.) Or maybe for the fact that
Marvel had the guts to print another letter telling how bad this title
has gotten. Is there anyone out there that didn't think that the
head in the helmet was going to be Aislinn? I feel that our beloved
Iron Man is in some serious trouble. The powers that be at Marvel
need to reconsider the direction they are taking with many of their titles.
Iron Man, as well as other heroes, need to be kicking other superhuman
baddies in the butt, not out fighting in the past with no real super baddies,
fighting dreams, or drug dealers. Also, while I am on my soap box
-- is it just me or is the art bad in this book? I am not one to
usually comment on art. I read comics for the story, not art.
However, I wish that the art would return to the traditional styles that
have been the norm for, say, the last 60 years. Hube, thanks for
the great work. Look forward to the new site. --
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