Another great new Marvel NOW title to hit comic book store shelves is ‘Iron Man’ from Kieron Gillen and Greg Land. In this premiere issue, we’re reintroduced to the world of Tony Stark, the billionaire playboy behind the iron mask of Marvel’s Armored Avenger, as he tries to hunt down the people who stole Maya Hansen’s Extremis technology for less than noble ventures.
I’ve recently become a fan of Kieron Gillen’s work after ‘Avengers Vs. X-Men’, and I appreciate this new take on Iron Man. Every once in a while, fans need to be reminded of how certain characters tick because certain events can certainly change them. Almost in the same way that he’s showing the changes of Cyclops in ‘AVX: Consequences,’ Gillen takes a look at how Stark has advanced as a character after things like ‘Civil War,’ ‘Siege,’ and the Heroic Age.
My favorite part of this book is the armor redesign. I’ve read that Gillen’s Iron Man will feature a number of new armors from the creative mind of Tony Stark. The new one revealed in this issue was really slick in it’s creation. The fact that it manifested from putty highlights one of the things that have always been loved about Iron Man throughout the years: the technology.
However, the writer cannot be solely credited with how awesome this new armor is. Greg Land’s artwork enhanced by Jay Leisten’s inks and Guru eFX’s colors are pretty beautiful. The panel in which the armor first attaches itself to Tony is great because I can almost feel the liquid armor becoming an Iron Man suit by just looking at the page.
Additionally, the bit about no one recognizing Tony after he shaves is genius. I laughed for a good minute about that one.
Overall, this was a pretty good issue one with an even better closing line. It’s not my favorite Marvel NOW title thus far, but I can see fans of Iron Man enjoying this title a great deal thanks to the wonderful artwork and the clever writing.
Final Score:
IRON MAN #1
Written by KIERON GILLEN
Art by GREG LAND, JAY LEISTEN, & GURU eFX
