Invincible Iron Man #503 – Review

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

The Story: Tony fights to disarm Doc Ock’s bomb while Pepper goes for another round with Sandman and Electro.

The Review:  I think it’s issues like this that make people aggravated about event tie-ins.  Looking at the cover of this issue, you’d think Fraction had postponed the conclusion of his Doc Ock arc altogether, going for the tie-in straightaway.  Thankfully, that isn’t the case, with Fear Itself only being introduced as the next storyline in the issue’s final few pages.

Unfortunately, that most likely mandated prologue makes this Doc Ock arc feel rushed in its conclusion, as Fraction seeks to tie up this story as quickly as possible in order to move on to Fear Itself ASAP.  It’s a damned shame, given how solid this arc has been.  This rushed feeling permeates the issue.  Pepper’s fight with Electro and Sandman is shockingly brief this month, with the baddies putting up no fight whatsoever.  Meanwhile, with respect to Doc Ock’s bomb, Fraction goes for the oldest and most predictable twist possible.  Given how much I’ve been enjoying the duel between Otto and Stark, that Fraction would resort to such a tired trick, and then act as though it’s clever, was more than a little disappointing.   Then there’s an image of Tony breaking Otto’s neck, but this is never addressed or referenced.

And all this is sped through in this manner to lead into Fear Itself through an event that is so conveniently timed as to feel utterly forced.  Ugh.

It’s sad really, given that there is a lot to like here, were it not for the big event gumming things up.  For instance, Doc Ock’s getting Tony to beg and call him “master” was a lot of fun, and this being his entire motivation for this scheme was crazy goodness.  I loved seeing Doc Ock gloating, rewinding and re-watching Tony’s begging again and again, treating the video as though it were internet porn.  Also, while the pacing was off, I did like how Fraction ended this plot, with a whimper and not a bang.  There’s no conclusive end of Doc Ock here, no huge battle, and no Otto walking away in handcuffs or lying unconscious.  While this particular conflict and situation are fully resolved, Fraction leaves the story feeling a little more open-ended and hence, less run-of-the-mill.  In fact, seeing Otto simply leave after getting his video of Tony (for his own personal enjoyment) just adds to the demented nature of the character.

Invincible Iron Man #502 – Review

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

The Story: Tony continues his battle of wits with Doc Ock while Pepper battles Electro and the Sandman.

The Review: In its second installment, this Doc Ock story-arc continues to be really good, almost surprisingly so.  It’s great writing by Matt Fraction.

Case and point is the dynamic between Tony and Otto.  The dialogue between the two puts forth two completely opposite personalities at odds with one another.  Otto is bitter, stoic, and sullen while Tony is his witty, charming self and the resulting verbal duel is quite a lot of fun.  Naturally, Tony talks far more than Otto and is obviously the smarter and quicker of the two, yet Otto is, quite simply, a wall.  Tony may continually seem to be scheming, always one step ahead of Doc Ock, but Otto remains inscrutable and impassable.  Where dialogue is concerned, Tony is lots of flash while Otto is a blunt force object.  It’s a wonderful duel of wits where while Tony should win, Otto prove immovable and fickle.  Indeed, this struggle is much akin to the real battle for Tony to cure Otto, with the dialogue being representative of the stubborn nature of this quandary.  Essentially, Fraction writes dialogue between two characters that, in many ways, has a dynamic that is symbolic of the narrative’s conflict itself.  Tony can be super-smart and try a million things, but he just can’t get past Octavius, whether it be his villainous plans or his physical trauma.

That said, were the entire issue just this intellectual battle between Doc Ock and Stark, I can imagine a whole lot of grumpy Iron Man fans reiterating their complaints regarding Fraction’s book being to slow and/or talky.  Thankfully, Fraction expertly paces this comic by having the focus shift repeatedly between Stark/Doc Ock and Pepper’s battle with Electro and the Sandman.  As usual, seeing Pepper kick ass is always tons of fun.  She’s a hugely sympathetic character and it’s truly enjoyable seeing her whip some bad guy ass.  There’s also a really funny scene in this fight involving Pimacher.  I won’t spoil it, but whoever thought an Electro vs. Pimacher fight would actually be competitive?