Iron Man: The End (trade paperback eidtion)

An aging Tony Stark is coming to the apex of his career as both an inventor and super hero. He’s created a technological utopia and for a while it seems like most of his foes have been vanquished. But when an armored for from Tony’s past returns, Stark must decide whether to suit up one last time or face the reality- it may be time to pass the torch to someone else.

The End wasn’t so much a sad story as bittersweet. Though, there was a lot of elements that reminded me of Batman Beyond. Since that classic Batman cartoon came first, I’m thinking that it heavily influenced some aspects of this book.

My copy of The End was a trade paperback reprint of that tale along with a unique look at Tony Stark’s origin at becoming Iron Man and his first meeting with Rhodey.  Featuring re-mastered art of Tales Of Suspense #39 and Iron Man #144, that story is framed between an all-new tale that has Tony Stark running out of time before a nano-virus wipes his memory. I liked this story but I think it ended too soon and I would’ve actually liked a little more backstory as to how Tony became infected.

Lastly, there are reprints of Tony Stark facing off against Madame Masque, the Ani-men, and a crippling bullet. Those tales are Iron Man #116 and #244. They were pretty good, especially the Madame Masque tale. I never knew Tony Stark was wheelchair bound for a while during the 80s and again I would’ve like more backstory instead of the tale I was presented.

Overall, not a bad book but also not my favorite collection of Iron Man stories either. As for being part of the Marvel: The End series, this collection had the best art I’ve seen (thus far) but was a little thin on plot as mentioned earlier.

Worth Consuming

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Tales of Suspense, Featuring Captain America Iron Man #1

The past is coming back to haunt Captain America and Iron Man. A villain is plotting on killing a powerful Asian businessman in an attempt to take over the world. This villain appears to have gotten his hands on Tony Stark’s original armor specs from his captivity is Vietnam and he also happens to be an old Nazi enemy of Steve Rogers.

The motive for the plot is a little muddled, just as to why Capt. and Iron Man are at odds with each other a good dozen years or so before Marvel’s Civil War storyline. The book is at times beautifully painting, but the anatomy is at tad off with some panels having the characters looking like they’ve got giant legs and tiny heads.

Not the best read, but it was still entertaining. For 1990s Marvel (a period I think was their weakest) it’s not bad and I didn’t feel like the money I spent on this was wasted.

 

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.