 | Iron Man 2.0 (quick review) |
Iron Man 2.0
Written by Nick Spencer
Art by Barry Kitson, Kano, Carmine di Giandomenico and Ariel Olivetti
James Rhodes has been a great member of the Iron Man supporting cast of characters for many a long year. A Vietnam veteran turned soldier of fortune turned private pilot and man-friend to Tony Stark, he eventually graduated to superhero when he stepped into the Iron Man armor in 1983. While Tony struggled with his alcohol addiction, Rhodey posed as Iron Man in the Avengers. He later received his own gun metal-gray suit of armor decked out with state of the art conventional weaponry and became known ass War Machine. A grittier and more down-to-Earth answer to the sci-fi Iron Man, Rhodey enjoyed a cult following until his eventual print cancellation and subsequent obscurity.
There are several far wiser bloggers (such as Gary Miller) with a deeper understanding of War Machine's intervening years, but when he turned up in 2008 (coinciding with the first Iron Man feature film) he took over the monthly Iron Man book, renaming it War Machine: Weapon of S.H.I.E.L.D. The character still had a big appeal as fans rejoiced at the slight nod in the film when Terence Howard glanced at the reserve Mark II armor, 'next time, baby.'
The following War Machine series by Greg Pak was a knock out. In the new series, Rhodes was tragically being eaten away by the technology keeping him alive. Hooked up to a global database network, War Machine operated off of a list of perps around the planet, meting out justice with extreme prejudice. The series had its ups and downs but it so clearly defined the character of Rhodey and War Machine that I was shocked when it was canceled after only 12 issues.
In a new series Iron Man 2.0, Rhodey is back in service to the military as a compromise between the Army brass and Tony Stark. His first case involves Palmer Addley, a brilliant yet troubled technician whose tech started turning up after his death. Somehow he is still operating from beyond the grave and enacting terrorist plots of destruction. During is initial mission, he is nearly killed and loses his War Machine armor. He is then given a vastly improved suit of armor that utilizes tech that even Stark is not using (is he beta-testing it at Rhodey's expense?? Best not to ponder that one). The new suit is impressive, but it drops all of the trademark imagery that separates War Machine from Iron Man, making me wonder why they made the suit so slick and high-gloss.
This all points to the evidence that Iron Man 2.0 is an odd duck.
It is very well written, features a bevvy of extraordinary artists and impressive co-stars. However, despite a strong first issue it rarely features Rhodey at all. In fact, one entire issue is devoted to the unseen villain of the monthly book's opening arc, Palmer Addley. When that story is scuppered, all of the Immortal Weapons from the Iron Fist series show up to crowd Rhodey out of his own book!
Rhodey is crowded out of his own comic by the Immortal Weapons
I don't want to give the impression that this is a bad series because that is far from the truth. The plots are tight, the action intense and the dialog sharp... I just wish there was more Rhodey on the page. The Fear Itself storyline is so far the stand out success thanks in part to the guest characters and the solid art of Ariel Olivetti. I also suspect that it has strong hints to the development of the upcoming Defenders series, so anyone interested in that title would do well to pick these issues up while they can!
The Palmer Addley story will be resolved in issue 7.1 due out today and I hope that will allow Spencer to more fully develop the title to a point where it can achieve its own identity. Nick Spencer has been building himself a positive rep thanks to his work on the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and also Secret Avengers, so I hope that he is given more time to get this title going. So far it is definitely worth a read, but it feels more like a Marvel Comics Presents book than a War Machine series.
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