Public Enemy Number One
Tony Stark has been stripped of his title as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and replaced by Norman Osborn. Both Stark and the terminated Maria Hill have become H.A.M.M.E.R.'s two most wanted people. Stark makes Pepper CEO of Stark Industries and she finds her own iron suit at the office. Stark sends Maria Hill to Texas to recover a hard drive and deliver it to Captain America. Norman Osborn sends Namor after Iron Man who manages to escape to France. Osborn then talks with the Hood and Madame Masque about going after Iron Man.
My Thoughts:
Series writer Matt Fraction continues to take Iron Man's character in an interesting direction. Now that Stark has been made public enemy number one, we see a whole different side to his character. On the run from the law, he is basically doing whatever he has to in order to survive. Salvaging his armor from scraps and fighting the likes of War Machine, Namor and Shockwave turned out to be a thrilling read.
One thing I didn't like was that Stark kisses Pepper and tells her she is his dream girl and then a few pages later he starts kissing Maria Hill and sleeps with her. I know Stark is known as a playboy and all but I didn't like the way that was written. I'm also not to sure how exactly I feel about Pepper wearing an Iron Man suit. She just doesn't scream superhero to me. I liked how Stark saved her life by putting the chest plate in her and I knew it was only a matter of time until she put on a suit but it just seems a little weird having her out there in an iron suit.
The art in this series continues to impress. Salvador Larroca's pencils are so nicely done and the coloring is amazing. One small problem I had was with the way Norman Osborn was drawn in a few panels. It just didn't look exactly like him. But other than that I really don't have any big complaints.
Things are getting very interesting and I'm looking forward to what happens next. It looks like things aren't about to get any easier for Tony Stark with the Hood and Madame Masque coming his way. This is a series worthy of your time if you haven't checked it out.
Rating: 4/5