Iron Man enlists the help of War Machine, Rescue and an old business friend to help his new venture for global peace, just as the Hammer girls' Detroit Steel gambit takes a deadly, and successful, turn.
The Good
I continue to be impressed with Fraction and Larroca's command of storytelling. Every bit of dialogue and every panel angle has obviously got a lot of thought behind it and what's perhaps most impressive is when they rein back to let you fill in the details on your own. That's particular the case with Japanese terrorist situation foiled by Detroit Steel and the implication that the Hammer girls staged it just to make themselves look good. Nothing explained to you outright, but you can easily figure out what's happening. Along those lines, I was pleased to see the number of panels Larocca's was using per page throughout this. It's been a while since we've seen the kind of 3x3 layout grids that Gibbons used for Watchmen, but some of the 2X4 grids here gave the great sense of rhythm you so rarely these days. Everything's so finely tuned, it felt like a well-oiled clock.
The Bad
I feel like Larocca ought to think his take on War Machine over a little more. The suit never looked as rendered as Iron Man's and it never looked like it really "fit" on Rhodey, either. There were a few panels where the shoulder-mounted mini-gun really didn't look right, like it was too overly-long to be functional. Of course, you've got to fudge details of realism in any superhero outfit, but that really stuck out.
The Verdict - 4.5/5
Out of all the books on my list for this week, Invincible Iron Man was the one I was looking forward to the most. I was impressed with the last issue and the momentum started there hasn't slowed down. I've read Iron Man for years and this is the best I can remember it ever being. This has continued the kind sharpening and focusing I enjoyed in the movies, while still keeping it planted in the comics history.
