Armor Wars II Review
Do you enjoy that rare sequel that lives up to the original? Then Armor Wars II is for you!
When I stumbled across Armor Wars II, I was sure a gimmick was at play. And, the more I think about it, maybe it was. Let me explain... First things first, why this is called Armor Wars II makes zero to no sense. For the uninitiated, Armor Wars was a famous Iron Man story where his foes stole his tech and used it against him. Essentially that's the gist, anyway. That story has been told to death at this point. So, you could understand my hesitance with an Armor Wars sequel. But, lucky for us, the only gimmick at play here is the title.
Let's focus on the title thing for a second, because I think it's important: Armor Wars. Sounds badass, so I get it. Originally, the first Armor Wars was titled "Stark Wars" and, when considering this, it makes a whole hell of a lot more sense that this would be the spiritual successor to that. In fact, they could have saved themselves the confusion I had reading this - wondering why the hell it was called Armor Wars when no one is stealing Tony's tech - when really this tome is more focused on a flat out war against Tony. Not just against his company, but his body - which is hijacked by the way (Awesome, right?? Keep reading). Think of Armor Wars as Armor Wars and Armor Wars II as Stark Wars. Okay. All good? Let's continue...
Title aside, this collection is the epitome of what a sequel is supposed to do: 1) It continues a thread/theme from the original and 2) it expounds upon it by contrasting it with something new and (this is the important part) NOT doing a retread.
When I think of Armor Wars II I think of the genius of James Cameron. Stay with me.... See, what Aliens was to Alien, that's what Armor Wars II is to Armor Wars. For sci-fi movie buffs, you already understand my point. For those of you who aren't, F#$* you! But seriously, the point I'm making is how does one sequelize an already astounding achievement? You 1) (as mentioned above) continue the story but 2) you expound upon it by providing a fresh take and turning the badassery up to 11! That's what Cameron did with Aliens. Instead of the slow, chilling build of tension with abrupt quakes of terror, we got a constant, unrelenting build of suspense that lasted for 2+ hours. And for that reason (plus a crap ton of more aliens) we got a worthy sequel - One many even consider to be better than the original!
What we get with Armor Wars II is, in its very approach, Aliens-esque. We get a new, fresh-faced approach from masters John Byrne and John Romita Jr. Here it makes all the difference. The result is just as pleasing, yet its wholly original and completely different in its execution. The fight scenes are some of the best I've seen from JRJR and that's saying something considering this is a master of bringing action scenes to life. Armor Wars II is us, as readers, seeing an artist breaking away from the old, conventional style of drawing towards his more synonymous, "blocky" style which has distinguished him today.
One could argue about the pros and cons of JRJR's blocky art all day but there is no arguing his choice to adopt a more primal, unique style is absolutely brave. Its done in earnest. JRJR has synthesized the purity of a fight scene to the point that his dynamism pours off the page. The art alone is worth the read! This is probably the best artwork I've seen from JRJR, I'll just leave it at that.
As for the writing - it's spot on. Byrne understands Tony; understands Rhodey and their relationship together. More than that, Byrne knows how to do what any great Iron Man writer before and after him has done - break Tony down. All great Iron Man stories usually end up being the "worst" for Tony in that he's been beaten down or shaken to the core. Here, we see a personal war waged on Tony, one so intimately foul that his body is actually hijacked. An interesting thing I found in here was the nuance of Tony's Iron Man suit being the one thing that can save him. Through this Byrne shows that though Tony has many failings, the Iron Man has always been his greatest success.
It's nearly impossible for me to call this a superior comic to Armor Wars, as they are vastly different, but I don't mind considering it its equal. Armor Wars II is a prime example of how fun and well constructed a sequel can be without being too beholden to the original. This Byrne and Romita collaboration is required reading for any Iron Man fan.
5/5 Must Read!