While I love the TONY STARK portrayed in the MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE, I've always found the Tony Stark from the comics to come off a little arrogant, callous and (though he's a hero) a little cold.
So imagine my surprise when I discovered my favorite version of Tony Stark is to be found in the pages of SUPERIOR IRON MAN #1.
Continuing from the events in the MARVEL event AXIS, several characters in the MU-616 has flipped alliances and hasn't reverted back to their status quo. What once was bad is now good. What once was good is now bad. But in Tony's case, that line has become more blurred between the ultimate good and evil personified.
Tony's flying in (or rather his armor by remote) to assist SHE-HULK in taking down a C-rated villain wannabe named Teen Abomination. But while Tony's armor is doing most of the work, Tony himself is kicked back poolside, operating his armor by remote control. He's drinking again (heavily by his own admission) and he's making scary modifications to his armor. He's also given the people of San Francisco access to EXTREMIS 3.0, a techno-organic virus that makes people the "best" versions of themselves, via an app on their phones. But when it's revealed that the app's "trial period" is over, the app asks for $99 an hour for update to the full version.
Throw in an appearance by Matt Murdock aka DAREDEVIL and a surprise guest at the end of the book, and there's a lot to like about a Tony Stark that's completely unlikeable.
Writer TOM TAYLOR has given readers a TONY STARK/IRON MAN that's so irredeemable you can't put the book down. The artwork by YILDIRAY CINAR fits the comic nicely...not overshadowing the story with a flashy IRON MAN armor that's digitally created, but rather rendered in such a way that feels like a classic MARVEL comic so you're not distracted by shiny effects...which could have easily been done on this title. The book is well-paced and is a guilty pleasure of a read. The great thing about a comic book like this is once you get invested, you HAVE to see what happens...not just when the smoke clears, but also how Tony himself will deal with his behavior. ESPECIALLY his alcoholism, which I hope MARVEL doesn't simply wash over with a 3-panel rehab once he's back.
IF he's back.
I guess I won't know until I read the rest of the story. And you won't either, pretty perfect people, unless you go buy this book.
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