Is the newest book in the Noir series worth the price of admission?
Seems like every Marvel character is getting a Noir book, even Luke Cage had one. Tony "Iron Man" Stark is the newest Marvel character to get his own Noir book, and although I tend to go into these Noir books extremely skeptical, I love to say I was pleasantly surprised.
The Good
I love a good adventure book, and that's exactly what this was: Indiana Stark. This book had everything that the 10 year old in me loves: Treasure, danger, adventure, Nazis (I don't love Nazis, but I love them losing in a story), and explosions. Obviously because this is a Noir book, it takes place in an alternate reality, and we understand that from the get-go. I never felt confused or the need to question something in the book. It flowed incredibly well. The art on this book was something that really caught my attention. It's a mixture of a few styles, and one of the styles that I noticed was a little influence from Leinil Yu, one of my favorite artists. I don't know whether or not it was intentional, or maybe Yu was one of the artist's inspirations, but it was something I loved.
The Bad
You could easily replace Tony Stark with Doc Savage. This didn't feel like a Tony Stark/Iron Man book, and I know the intention was to put a spin on it, but it feels like I'm not read Mr Stark. It feels like I'm reading about a millionaire adventurer on a treasure hunt who occasionally fights Nazis.
The Verdict
Even though Stark may be replaceable, this was the best of the Noir series so far. If you like anything adventure related, you'll love this book. And from the look of the final page of this issue, we're going to get a whole lot more adventure coming our way.
