IRON MAN vol. 3 #60 (405)
(Dec. 2002) "In Shining Armor, part 2."
Cover art: Mike Grell.
Script:Mike Grell. Art: Mike
Grell/Scott Hanna.
Well. After I thought Grell was actually on to something with the way-cool addition of a time machine to Stark's cache of playthings, we get....this. Archeologist Dr. Mallory asks Pepper to send her back in time to assist Tony Stark/Iron Man. Meanwhile, 1000 years in the past, Stark is being tortured by the evil Aislinn for the secret of his armor. Later, Tony engages in some incredibly boring and stiff dialogue with fellow captive "Brann," and then the duo escape; this actually spans five pages, folks. YAWWWWN. Brann and Stark then witness the arrival of Dr. Mallory...who then promptly merges with Aisinn into one being! We're then "treated" to more escape "action" littered with lame dialogue, and then three more pages of astonishingly uninteresting banter between Stark and Brann.
This story arc, which as I said before had such promise, quickly degenerates into total pablum. It's not even mildly appealing. I can't remember reading a more boring IM issue. One saving grace is Grell's art, which, along with Hanna's inks, is pretty decent. Another is the cojones of the editors for publishing several scathing letters in "Iron Filings," including two from past and present A.I. contributors (Jason Stephens and Mike Kalibabky).
Hube's Recommendation: 1 1/2 repulsors!
Fan Reaction: Dull. Grell's dialogue is just plain dull. I thought the heart could draw power from the armor? Wasn't that a key plot point during issue #50? Stark getting to the armor so it could recharge his heart? So why is Stark worried about dying while wearing the armor? And why is he worried about lightning? Lightning is the best thing that could happen to him if the armor doesn't have enough power to recharge the heart. Has Grell forgotten the armor's energy-absorption grid again? Even the lightning of Thor just made Iron Man more powerful. But the lack of power would be forgivable if Grell's dialogue wasn't so incredibly dull. His art is pretty, at least. -- Vanderloosen
Fan Reaction 2: Hi Hube, Long time reader of the site and the time has come for a first time Issue Review. It is THE worst comic I have ever read in my entire life. Now over the years I have read some Dross but the Grell Run has really taken the cake culminating in this suckfest. I can't see how it can even rate one repulsor. Let's just look at the run to date: So far all Tony and Iron Man have done is get beaten up a lot and ignore the world around him. First off this time machine guff. OK, in the last few issues Tony got his ass handed to him by a Drug Lord Kung Fu Ninja type, a welder on a merchant ship can fix the most advanced piece of technology on the planet (maybe it was Dr Doom in disguise), The Titanium Man was sent to wreck the satellite (and succeeded and got away) and set the building on fire, caused Pepper to lose a baby that he has admitted he fathered (never mind that fact that Happy is his oldest friend and saved his life), and revealed his ID to the world. What mention does all this get ??? NONE. This is Tony Stark, Iron Man. He followed Dr Doom to Latveria to retrieve some computer parts Doom Stole, he invaded MARRS Corp to deal with Kearson DeWitt, he tracked down and destroyed any armour that used his technology for evil, so in the face of all this what does this hero do?
He builds a time machine and leaps into it. I am now convinced that Mike Grell is using this book as a try out to take over Daredevil or Batman. What REALLY grates me, however, is that it carries on, Peter David and Joey Da Q can have their moronic Captain Marvel competition/experiment. Pay ATTENTION to what else is going on with your titles Joey. Readers are leaving in droves -- check your sales figures. There's a reason it's dropped, you know. My suggestion: fire Grell and then get on your knees and BEG Baby Face Bob Layton or Len Kaminski to write the book until you find someone who doesn't have to rehash stories from the 60's (my heart, power needed etc.) and knows the difference between a toaster and the armour.
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Fan Reaction 3: Hube, nice cover again, but that's all the praise I can give. I think Grell is some mad pilot on a kamikaze mission to demolish any credibility left in this mag and he will not release the damn joystick! I can't buy IM anymore, not with this group of so-called creators in charge. Grell doesn't research, he skims, and all that results is wafer-thin babble of the boring kind. My only hope is that 1) Grell is removed; 2) that armor is melted down into a slag heap and never ever sees the light of day again, and 3) the intro of a respected creative artist + writer forthwith! Heres to a better future. --michaelian@lineone.net
