Invincible Iron Man #500.1 – Review

by Matt Fraction (writer), Salvador Larocca (art), Frank D’Armata (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: Tony attends a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous, where he retells his history and his struggles.

What’s Good: This is one incredibly well-written comic.  Given that there are a lot of words on the page, as it’s basically one giant monologue from Tony, there’s a lot of room for Matt Fraction flex his muscle as a writer and the product is an impressive display of his talents.  It’s abundantly clear this month just how intimately Fraction “gets” Tony Stark as character, superhero, and, above all else, human being.  From his self-deprecating candor, to his vulnerability, it’s a compelling read in that it makes clear that Iron Man, one the most iconic superheroes around, is really just a man.

With the whole thing revolving around an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Fraction makes the comic feel real, concrete, and fully believable, regardless of the crazy cosmic events he has Tony describe.  Suffice it to say, by issue’s end, it’s impossible not to both like and empathize with Tony.  Part of the reason for this is that Tony is so aware of his own failings and vulnerabilities.  His self-analysis is comprehensive and astute and so it’s easy to both respect him and feel affection for him.  What we’re left with is, under Fraction’s hand, perhaps the most engaging and compelling leading man in superhero comics today, a fully three dimensional character that is infectiously readable.

Salvador Larroca’s artwork was also a big surprise for me this month.  He’s been working so steadily on Invincible Iron Man that I’ve come to associate that look with him so much that it’s hard to believe that he’s’ capable of anything else.  This month though, Larroca essentially becomes two different artists.  The present day portions are illustrated in his typical style, but when tasked with drawing flashbacks, he adopts a more old-school look.  It’s still detailed, but a little less super-realistic, less glossy, and a bit more scratchy.  I actually had to double-check to make sure there wasn’t a guest artist on board this month.

Iron Man: Demon In A Bottle (Hardcover) – Review

By David Michelinie (writer), Bob Layton (co-writer, inks), and John Romita Jr. and Carmine Infantino (pencils)

Touted as the story that defined Tony Stark, Iron Man: Demon In A Bottle beautifully reprints Iron Man #120-#128. First printed in the late 1970s, this story of drug abuse isn’t pioneering by any means, nor does it try to preach to its readers. Instead, it starts off as something casual before almost morphing into a running gag. But before you know it, the joke becomes something more serious and when tragedy hits Tony he hits the bottle… and hard.

Most of the issues collected within this hardcover have nothing to do with Tony’s alcoholism. Iron Man fights an evil oil corporation (which showed up in many other Marvel books of the time period), gets his origin story re-told, and deals with Justin Hammer – a man who’s found a way to control the circuitry in Tony’s armor. As we go through these stories, there’s a panel here and there strewn about showing Tony casually drinking. Eventually, the drinking affects him during a fight and this is where things become a tad more noticeable.

Now, if you think about it, this whole drinking problem slowly built up over nine issues. Imagine reading this month to month back in the late 1970s. How long would it have taken before the drinking became noticeable? I say this because when reading it in collected form you know what to look for, but back then, it must have hit readers maybe five or six issues in that there was a problem brewing. A lot of this credit has to go to David Michelinie, who cleverly crafted this story. John Romita Jr. also deserves a ton of credit for making the scenes work. But Bob Layton is ultimately the one who has his fingerprints all over this. His finished art over Romita’s pencils is highly distinguishable and his contributions to the story, undeniable.

The actual “Demon in a Bottle” story is saved for last, and when you finally get to it, the whole world seems to collapse around Stark. It’s incredibly easy to see why this issue is lauded. It’s not just the overpowering effects of alcoholism that propel this story, but it’s also Tony’s fallibility that makes this issue so engaging. And yes, it’s a bit silly to see him recover from it all over the course of one issue, but there’s no mistaking the losses and struggles he deals with. Iron Man was never known for having engaging stories, but in this one rare case it happened and that is why we treasure it. (Grade: B)

– J. Montes