Iron Man: Armor Wars #1

While examining the armor of his one time foe Force, whom had given himself up in exchange for protection from Tony Stark's rival Justin Hammer. Tony makes a startling discovery when he learns that Force's armor contains circuitry that belongs to him. Later, he decides to investigate and learns that the Spymaster stole his technology and sold it to Justin Hammer, whom also decided to sell it to armor costumed villains. Stark as Iron Man decides to reclaim or destroy his technology at any cost. -summary

The Armor Wars is another strong point in the David Michelinie and Bob Layton run on the Iron Man title. Although Demon in the Bottle sometimes receives the most attention in the Iron Man mythos because it examines a darker side to Tony Stark, the Armor Wars also examines his personality as well, and heavily dives into darker themes such as guilt and obsession. It's considered the pinnacle of the series as well as a classic by some fans and it's even regarded as a Marvel Milestone, however, when compared to other stories that are also regarded as milestones and classics such as; The Death of Gwen Stacy, The Captain, Days of Future Past, The Coming of Galactus or even The Korvac Saga. Armor Wars does indeed fall short, which is mainly due to its somewhat slow start, and yes, I'll hit on this again, the weak rogue's gallery that always seems to annoy me. Collecting issues 225-232, Iron Man: The Armor Wars tells the story of Tony Stark embarking on a personal mission that he will complete by any means necessary.

I think the major strength of this saga is the character development. Tony is very well examined here, and this could easily be his most human portrayal. He's consumed by guilt, due to the possibility that his technology was used to end lives and cause misery, when he originally set out to help mankind. One segment that really stood out to me was when he called Force in the middle of the night, and blatantly asked him, "How many did you kill?". This guilt soon becomes an obsession as it plagues his life, and at one point he even considered going back to drinking.

The story becomes more intricate when Tony resorts to corporate level espionage when legal channels fail. He later takes on the role of a vigilante, when he goes after the villains whom are using his Iron Man technology. The situation goes from bad to worst, as he attacks Stingray who happens to be a government operative, and this action eventually brands him a rogue. Later, his vendetta lands him into battles with the Mandroids whom are ran by S.H.I.E.L.D., as well as the Guardsmen that protect the prison for super powered criminals called the Vault.

There's a good amount of action to be found, but I feel the storytelling elements such as character development, and the evaluation of certain themes overshadows the fisticuffs, which is a good thing too because the lack of depth in his rogue's gallery is indeed felt here and it does hurt the story. This is definitely what keeps it from being the masterpiece that some folks hail it as. His battles, very easy battles, are against villains like Stilt-Man and even the Beetle. The Guardsmen aren't a threat to anyone, and this even goes for the Mandroids to a certain degree. The story even has you believe that he's going to engage in this big battle with the Controller, but he comes off as a weakling as well. For way too long, things appear too easy for Iron Man. Thankfully, the stakes are raised when he's forced to dampen his powers against other armored warriors such as Crimson Dynamo and Titanium Man, and soon goes up against his greatest challenge named Firepower.

The artwork during this era was the measuring stick for Iron Man stories and I can see why. There's very little inconsistency to complain about, because the artwork is so well done with some good coloring and neat lines. A majority of the armored foes look great, as well as Iron Man. The only downside would be the atrocious design for Firepower, in which he looks like a walking junk pile to me. The action panels have their entertaining moments, and the dialogue bubbles are very easy to follow.

Overall, this is a very entertaining saga and the final issue is by far the most powerful moment. It was an excellent way to cap things off, and it just couldn't have been any better. Despite the flaws, this is definitely an Iron Man story that should be read. Some fans feel that this is one of the more under-rated Marvel works. I disagree here though. Yes, it is true that plenty of other stories are praised first, but I don't think it has anything to do with certain characters being more popular. Those stories were just put together a lot better than this one, and the villains were charismatic enough to feel like serious threats. In any case, check this story out.

Pros: Top notch character development, evaluation of themes

Cons: Some battles are disappointing, villains could have been better used and picked