Iron Man #500.1
Written by Matt Fraction Art by Salvador Larroca and Frank D’Armata
Full Disclosure: I do not read Iron Man regularly. I have not kept up with him during Siege. This actually gives me the best perspective to review this issue, I am it’s target audience.
Iron Man #500.1 is a solid piece of storytelling, and while not a must-read, it’s nothing you’ll regret spending your time and money on. It’s a recap issue, catch-up for the next stage of the comic, and while it goes above and beyond it’s job for the new reader, there’s definitely something here for the older fans.
A lot’s happened to Tony Stark in the past few years. If you know it, you know it. If you don’t, I’m not going to tell you because that is the very purpose of the story. For the most part, it succeeds. There are some areas that may raise questions if you haven’t kept up with Tony Stark or even Marvel as a whole, but it’s not enough to scare you off, and I’d like to think new readers would identify with Stark even more because of it.
The story is framed around Tony Stark and an AA meeting, which could be cliche, but that’s perhaps the point. Not only has Stark been associated with alcoholism through the decades, but in the story, we immediately identify with him. He is humanized throughout the entire story. Not the armor, not the man-computer, just a guy with problems. Several problems.
As Stark tells his tale, fans will be amused at his trademark snappy wordplay and glossing of details as they contrast with the visual story being told. Not only are we given a revealing self-admission of Stark’s character, but a full history of Iron Man, from the very start through the decades, ending more or less with a direct nod to Civil War. Why it cuts off here is important to the next year or so and the issue doesn’t actually get into it. As I said, if you know it, you know why. If you don’t, you’re right along with Tony and will hopefully take the journey with him.
It’s comes across as a fast read, but take a moment to explore the double meaning of his narrative, and explore each panel, and it’s actually a richly detailed story. A love letter to Iron Man, capturing everything we would want to need or know in 21 pages.
Salvador Larroca is perfect for the story. Everything is grounded in reality, and it needs to be for the narrative to work. I’m talking about the AA meeting and it’s dirty but bright feel, how everyone looks like a person in real clothing, how the Iron Man suit is clearly a shell and machinery over the man, the postures and expressions of every single person, trivial to the story or not. By emphasizing the realism, Larroca keeps us within Stark’s seemingly cliche AA redemption story, without overemphasizing the robots and explosions.
There are robots and explosions and Iron Man armors aplenty. There’s even Fin Fang Foom. But it’s all executed in a wonderful contrast to what Iron Man tends to be.This is dirty and stark, not bright and glossy. It works.
But it wouldn’t work without Frank D’Armata. He brings the brighness and the grit. Every flashback has it’s one palette and filter, clearly identifying time periods and events, which is the only way to really lock down the jumping narrative. The coloring is clean, with wonderful use of washes. The AA meeting scenes are given a harsh light, emphasizing how much Stark is exposing of himself. The superheroics are bright and pop in contrast to the AA scenes, but still have a dimness to them, underlining the dark times being referenced in the monologue, and at times playing the image’s tone off of the text’s. It’s subtle stuff, but this is what the comic medium is all about.
Joe Carmanga does an expert job lettering. The captions are classic Iron Man, the word balloon and caption layout is clean and easy to read. This story really could have been cluttered, and I have to give respect to the letterer for keeping it dense and open at the same time. Sometimes you can walk away from the most text heavy issues in a matter of minutes because everything is front-loaded, and you feel cheated, because there was a lot of text, but nothing happened. This issue does not do that. But it could have. So respect to Carmanga.
You get a preview of the coming year, but it’s just eight panels spliced in a teaser trailer fashion. I’d be lying if I said they didn’t hook me, though. They are viscerally Iron Man. Tech. Babes. Mandarin. More tech.
Buy it if you’re an Iron Man fan, buy it if you’d like to get on board February’s Invincible Iron Man #501. Hell, just buy it so you know what a tight narrative and fantastic artist team can do when they pull together. Who says you need a six issue arc to get a story across?
