IRON MAN vol. 3 #53 (398)
(June, 2002) "Book of the Ten Rings."
Cover art: Michael Ryan.
Script: Mike Grell.
Art: Ryan Odagawa/Derek Fridolfs.
There's a new "designer" drug in town -- dubbed "sleeping dragon" -- and Iron Man is around to stop its diffusion onto the streets!! Yawn. Once again, Grell is utilizing Iron Man -- one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel (or any, for matter) Universe -- for common crimes that the police themselves could handle. That, or heroes more suited to the task, like Daredevil, the Punisher or even Spidey. Elsewhere, the Mandarin's son is training in some far-off castle, and a traveler pops in with a gift -- not only Mandy's rings, but the hands to which they're attached, as well! (Yuck!) All this, and guess who pops back up at issue's end -- Ayisha!! (The war-weary girl Stark befriended in issue #50.) She's apparently half-human, half-machine....think it has anything to do with the weapons system designed by Stark in #50? Oh, and think the street drug has anything to do with the same weapons system, hmm.....??
Odagawa's art is similar to Ryan's in many respects -- cartoony and characters are too "young-looking" -- but not to the same extent. His IM is strong and detailed, as it should be. The lettering in this ish has turned to that used in the The Ultimates -- lower case instead of all caps -- and IM has better looking word balloons, as well. Also, a cool touch is Stark's new "Girl Friday," which is the Jocasta-replacing computer program.
Hube's Recommendation: 2 1/2 repulsors!
Fan Reaction: Now is this what I pay $2.25 for each month -- the Invincible Iron Man battling twenty or so guys armed with hand-axes, and inexplicably one rocket launcher (not my weapon of choice for use in an UNDERGROUND lab)?! I'm getting the feeling these last issues have been old Jon Sable Freelance stories Grell found lyin' around. The new A.I. might turn out to be good, though -- but what the heck is floating in those two holding tanks in Stark's lab (pages 12, 13 panel 2)?! Yikes!! -- aukwaboy
Fan Reaction 2: Yep, the art is a touch improved but still too cartoony for my taste. How many issues has it been since Stark acquired a company and name it Stark Enterprises? What do they do there and who else works there besides Pepper, Happy and an A.I.? Stark seems like a generic hero in this story that could otherwise feature any hero although I felt a bit of deja vu when IM burst into the drug lab. Very similar to an Annual story a few years back that featured Sub-Mariner. I do hope that the flirting between Tony and Pepper results in more than (A). Being discovered by Happy before they do anything or, (B). Stopping themselves so they don' t hurt Happy. I think that Happy and Pepper are two of the more interesting 1960s supporting characters but they've been handled very blandly over the entire run of vol.3. When something does happen to them (attacked by the Titianium Man) it's forgotten with the next issue. -- spur@mindspring.com
Fan Reaction 3: I am not truly liking Grell's take on IM. This is the second time in two issues that Tony has failed to stop a person from dying while they've had a gun to their head... that's just sloppy for a guy who can magnetize a gun or think up about ten other ways to disarm someone that I couldn't even dream of. My other main gripe is that it "seems" that Mandy is dead. Yes, we were led to believe this after his last encounter with Tony, but Tony sure didn't think it had happened and I sure didn't think that had happened (mainly because it was a pretty lame "death" and I kept waiting for round 2). If he remains dead it will be a true shame for such a great villain especially to be replaced by a son that doesn't seem to bear many qualities that made Mandarin such a great foe. I'll reserve any further judgement until the conclusion of this storyline... and hope that by the end the true Mandarin makes his appearance. -- superginraix@aol.com
