Iron Man #3 Review
***SPOILER FREE REVIEW***
The most frequently heard complaint with Marvel's double shipping is that it puts a strain on people's budgets as the reader has to buy two comics a month. However, this issue of Iron Man shows frequent double shipping can also be a disservice to the comic overall. I felt like this was the weakest issue yet of this volume of Iron Man.
Gillen still has a good grasp of Tony's dialogue, but some of the other dialogue was off, especially Pepper Potts, who sounds more like a needy girlfriend this issue than a sucessful CEO.While we get a decent beginning and a really solid end to this issue, the middle feels rushed, and not a lot of detail gets explained. However, Gillen does write an interesting end to this issue, and along with the end to Issue #2 gives credibility to the belief that characters and ideas explored in this story arc will be expanded upon later on in Gillen's run. While this is far from Gillen's best work, there is enough interesting story beats here to warrant interest.
As I said in my review for the last issue, I've been enjoying Greg Land's art for the most part. He draws some solid action scenes and the underground tunnels where most of the action takes place are pretty creepy. Unfortunately, Land's artwork breaks down even more than usual when it comes to facial work, and it feels that he gets really lazy when drawing faces in this issue. Considering that he's had to produce basically double the amount of Iron Man comics, I'm willing to forgive some of the weaker art in this issue.
I'm continuing to enjoy Guru eFX's work on this title. Not only does he have richly vibrant colors for his action and the Iron Man Suit, but he provides darker and more subdued colors in this issue, which fit the darker theme of this comic.
I admit, part of my rating comes from the fact that producing four comics in six weeks is a ton of work (especially when we have the fifth issue coming out in another 3 weeks). I'm willing to give Gillen and Land the benefit of the doubt and go more lenient than others would when judging this book. This wasn't a bad issue, it just felt like too many story beats were rushed, and the art got sloppy sometimes (especially with Land's face work). However, as a new reader to Iron Man I still find this issue, and this volume as a whole enjoyable. Hopefully, with a less taxing schedule, the creative team can really bring their A game to this series. If you've been enjoying this run of Iron Man (as I have), pick up this issue. Otherwise, you may want to skip this issue.