Comics / Comic Reviews / Marvel Comics

The Iron Age #2 (of 3)

By Dan Horn
July 14, 2011 - 12:42

In the middle chapter of the three part Iron Age--well, five part if you're counting the prologue Alpha and the upcoming finale Omega--an all-star, who's who cast of Marvel's bullpen  takes the reigns as Tony Stark's time-traveling odyssey continues.

The first half of this book deals with Stark being warped to NYC just after a drunken rampage has made him public enemy no. 1. Iron Man takes a back seat here as Tony realizes the best way to find the piece of time-travel tech from this era is to hire the assiduously guarded Iron Fist and Power Man as muscle for the mission so he can remain somewhat incognito.

The second piece is a raucous romp into an earlier era, where Tony's tech components lead him right into Doom's clutches. It's not quite as dire as it sounds, as this installment takes a campier approach to its target time period, exerting some pretty effective tongue-in-cheek satire (see: "nasal armor," for example, or Dr. Doom repeating something absolutely hilarious). That's not to say some heart-strings aren't pulled when Johnny Storm enters stage right, however.

Unfortunately, I can't endorse this issue with the same fervor I may have for the previous two books in this event series. The stories are nostalgic and entertaining, fast-paced and action-packed, but they lack the depth of Gage and Williams' contributions, which were featured in our Best of 2011 (Thus Far)! article. Dragotta's artwork in "On 42nd Street..." is gorgeous, reminiscent of the pulpy, grind-house exploitation and kung-fu films of the 70s, but I was disappointed with the legendary Frenz and Buscema's inconsistently ugly panels. The premise is wearing itself a bit thin as well, the fact that a separate and inexplicably simple quantum leap is needed for each interconnected vignette becoming dangerously tedious. The Iron Age is still, as ever, an enjoyable deviation from the formulaic crossover events of the Big Two and should be read, if not with a grain or two of salt.

Rating: 6.5 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12