Iron Man #1

Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Greg Land

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I have enjoyed reading Iron Man over the past few years and I really enjoyed Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca's series. When I heard that Kieron Gillen and Greg Land were replacing them on the new series I wasn't actually that bothered. Okay, I will miss Fraction's brilliant writing and Larroca's beautiful artwork but at least they are being replaced by a good writer and a good artist as Gillen has done brilliant work on Journey Into Mystery over the last year or two and although most people bash Land by saying he traces and isn't a proper artist at least it looks good, which is what really matters.

Plot

This issue sees Tony being his usual self and chatting up a beautiful blond haired woman. He eventually get her to go home with him before getting an emergency call from Maya Hansen which has a pre-recorded message saying that A.I.M. have stolen her Extremist designs and that she is probably dead. Tony has to abandon the woman he was seducing and go of to stop A.I.M.

Review

This was a good start to what is looking to be a great story. Okay it wasn't the best Iron Man issue I have read but for the start of a new series it was good and is a great jumping on point. Gillen is however showing that this series has the potential to be great as he can really write Tony well. His take on the character is a lot different than Fraction's was but still very good and I like that we are seeing Tony relaxing a bit more and acting like his old self (at least for now).

Land did a good job on the art and I love the way he draws Tony and Iron Man and really like the new Iron Man suit. When I first saw that it was going to be black and gold I wasn't to happy but now after reading the comic, I feel that it's a nice change from the usual red and gold and a really suit the armour. I still don't like the way he draws women though as the blond haired woman has been drawn the exact same way as Emma Frost was when Land was working on The Uncanny X-Men which was a bit disappointing. I also don't like how Land always has to draw people with smiles as they all look the same and it doesn't look nice. Besides that the art still looks great and I'd much rather repetitive art which is nice to look at than non repetitive art which isn't as good a quality.

What I really enjoyed about this issue and what I'm looking forward to in future issues was how Gillen has utilised a previous Iron Man story to create this one. It was nice seeing Maya back in the series (even if it lands up being brief) and how the Extremist is involved again. I also liked the Demon In A Bottle reference at the end of the issue as that story arc was brilliant and is a true classic. I also enjoyed how Gillen right from the start has teased Tony with the though of having a alcoholic drink and how Tony was able to casually and jokingly decline.

It was also nice to see Iron Man have to fight to prevent the bad guys (this case A.I.M.) from using something he helped create for evil. I like how this came about at a time where Tony is felling confident and is happy with his life as it brings more drama to the story. I also loved how Tony shaved off his moustache as a disguise to infiltrate A.I.M. I do however hope this is only temporary as Tony isn't the same without it. I also liked the new liquid armour that he was keeping in the case and although he has used a case to hold his armour in the past it was nice to see it again with a new type of armour. I am also looking forward to seeing more of the armour in the future and hopefully it gets even better.

The only thing that drops the rating on this issue is that for the most part it was a bit slow and didn't really have much action. This is however expected from a first issue in a story let alone a series so I can forgive it as it did show a much more wittier Tony which was nice.

Final Verdict

A good start to what will hopefully be a great series. Gillen has shown that the series has great potential and I hope it does. I would highly recommend it and am looking forward to seeing what happens in the next issue.

Rating: 4/5