Comics / Comic Reviews / Marvel Comics

Iron Man Legacy #3

By Hervé St-Louis
June 27, 2010 - 10:36

Tony Stark is a prisoner in Transia and after having faced the old Transian god of technology that replicated his armour and weapons he meets the real designer of all the technology and weapons he fought last issue. But escaping Transia may not do much for Stark if Doctor Doom, in neighbouring Latvia gets involved.

This story is clearly set to mimic several classic arcs from Iron Man’s past. The fake god angle is quickly dropped to reveal a more traditional enemy for Stark. Someone is stealing his technology again. The way he builds himself armour from string to escape is too much like his origin and lacks originality in this story. If I want to read old stories of Iron Man, I know where to get the originals in a better form more exciting. Another thing that annoys me is how Vietnam has been dropped from Iron Man’s origin in favour of Afghanistan, to match the recent iron Man movies. Here, it can’t be clearer than that.  Marvel Comics seems to fumble and mumble on the issue instead of taking a clear stance. So where was Iron Man’s first armour built? This issue continues to confuse with slurs Doctor Doom directs at Slavs while commenting on the Muslim population in neighbouring Transia, an analog for Bosnia. If he’s gonna try to mimic the type of ethnic slurs and comments one expects people in areas with ethnic tensions use, how about using some logic? If Latveria is Slavic, why would Doctor Doom be insulting his now people and ethic group? Stories like that reveal that the writer simply borrows ideas and concepts as if he were in a supermarket and mix them together to create one story that makes little sense and has little logic. That’s my last issue of this series.

Kurth’s work is likable and annoying at the same time. I don’t like the finite detail in the line work. It draws attention away from a good reading of the story. Yet Kurth draws good figures and realistic backgrounds. Martinez, the collaborating inker should tone down the finite line work inking and let Kurth’s decent work shine through, instead.

Rating: 6 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12