The Good

Tony Stark can be a complex character. As a hero, he’s often portrayed as arrogant and full of bluster. This is a guy that has lived a life of privilege and happens to be extremely intelligent as well. He has a lot to brag about and has managed to do a lot of good as a hero and an Avenger. But all that is changing.

As a result of the events in AVENGERS & X-MEN: AXIS, Tony Stark is under a spell of sorts. He has been inverted in some ways. Making a move to San Francisco, Stark decided to unleash the Extremis app on the city. The app was automatically downloaded onto everyone’s phone and promised to change everyone into their ideal selves. This doesn’t sound too bad, right? Of course everything has a catch. Tony made this decision recklessly without apparently considering the consequences. To add to this, he’s started drinking once again.

Tom Taylor is giving us a more arrogant and impulsive Tony Stark. Tony is now indulging in other things while operated Iron Man remotely on missions he feels are beneath him as well as pushing the Extremis app. This is one of those cases where seeing a changed character is like watching a fascinating science experiment. Pepper Potts pays him a visit to try to figure out what is going on with him and provides an anchor to who Tony Stark is supposed to be. Throw in Daredevil and things are going to get messy and fun for readers.

I'm really excited about seeing more of Yildiray Cinar's art here. Along with Guru-eFX's colors, we get a new Iron Man suit that looks great for this big change in Tony's personality. They convey the disturbing nature to what's going on and you'll want to see more.

The Bad

Obviously this isn't the Iron Man we grew up with. Has Tony turned completely evil? Not really. He is drinking now and making some questionable business decisions. That could be a deterrent for hardcore Iron Man fans. For me, it does provide for a change of pace and makes an interesting story twist. Do I want Tony to go down this road? No. But I am for sure going to enjoy it while it lasts, which hopefully won't be too long.

This issue does have the task to set up the new direction. Those not reading Axis do get a brief recap on the first page but they still might be a little confused.

The Verdict

Heroes going down dark paths isn't anything new. Tom Taylor does have a knack for bringing out the worst in some of our greatest heroes. With Tony Stark drinking again and unleashing the Extremis app upon San Francisco, this is a title to keep an eye on. Yildiray Cinar's art is great in depicting the changes going on and gives us a nice new look for Iron Man. We have to assume this darker Iron Man won't be around forever so we should just sit back, relax, and enjoy the jerky things Tony has planned. SUPERIOR IRON MAN will definitely keep readers on their toes. We're off to a great start.

The question on my mind is, "how dated will this storyline feel in 5 or 10 years?"

It's like referencing MySpace in the early 2000's.

Nice I am really looking forward to this.

I think this is the most attention an Iron Man comic has gotten in years and years.

To me this book shows that Marvel needs to stop mortgaging a years worth of solo series. On silly story lines that are birthed out of "events". Axis has been a flop, with both fans and critics yet we know have a year of stories birthed from an event that has been terrible yet effected the whole universe for the sake of doing it.

Can't wait to get this, I really hope I can get the Alex Ross cover.

Tom Taylor is one hell of a writer. The guy knows evil.

Tom Taylor can write his a*** off. Can't wait to read this.

I am so confused about why this series is launching now. We do not even know all the specifics behind the Inversion yet and Marvel is launching a series based on the fallout of Axis. Why not wait until the Axis series is finished before we start digging into what it caused?

Before i say anything i have to say I AM NOT AN IRONMAN FAN.... i never liked tony stark he was never a hero in my eyes he caused more trouble for people then actually helping them now after saying that after reading this i can say I AM NOW A FAN OF IRONMAN... this issue was great Tom Taylor can write his butt off if anything people you need to pick this issue up it was great!!!!

@powerplay: Probably because there's already been fallout from Axis, and these characters have ongoings they may as well tie in.

As a die hard Iron Man fan who had reservations, after reading the first issue...i can't wait to see where Taylor is taking Tony and how all this ends, what kind of lasting impact will this have on Tony. This should be one heck of a ride.

This issue was hilarious and great, can't wait to see how his armor turns out

yooooooo this comic is awesome, can't wait for #2!!!

This was a great issue but the art was inconsistent at the start. It was really funny, and I thought it was cool what his armor was made of. Still don't like how Axis has made the heroes super jerks (check out Captain America and the Mighty Avengers) but it worked here

So...Stark essentially got hundreds of people addicted to Extremis all so he could make a profit. Yeah I'm starting to hate him again but I'm also interested to see exactly what Pepper and Daredevil are going to do.

Yeah, you tell him, Pepper!

Also, She-Hulk!

I'm so confused, on one hand, I love this book, on the other hand, I don't like Tony even though that's what they were going for ;n;

could this explain why steve rogers is looking for stark in he time runs out arc?

I agree with the "The Bad" section. Change to some degree can be interesting and entertaining.

i will looking forward for this, this is could be epic.

The iron man I grew up with (the man who's life was of alcoholic, he has great days but then his life thrown into the gutter) hasn't existed since Matt Fraction Run, (Every other marvel writer suddenly turned tony stark in Robert Downey Jr after the god awful Iron man 2).

However, I really enjoyed this issue for the simple fact both Tony and Pepper had some degree of personality which they completely lacked under Kieron Gillen run. Gillen spent more time introducing the comic book version of Helen Lewis, bring back death head,ruining the mandarin, repeating the extremsis era stories and de-valuing stark family history, then he did exploring the core characters Tony and Pepper. so in final when pepper is held hostage by her boyfriend it had zero impact.

Here they had some personality and conflict between them which interesting. Not a fan of whole AXIS thing and I'm not sure I would like tony stark to stay this way as much like the superior spider-man this gimmick is gonna ware thin after a few issues. Additionally the new armor continues to be a step down from the bleeding edge designs. But for the first time in MARVELNOW! era I'm excited to read the next issue of an Iron-man book

@br_havoc: I agree. I'm getting tired of all of this. I just want them to go on with the series instead of having tons of mini-series which is pretty much all Marvel is publishing nowadays.

I haven't found an Iron Man arc since I got into comics a few years ago that I wanted to binge and immediately read through like I have with Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Deadpool. I avoided AXIS since I still felled bummed from Original Sins, which was imo not that great.

I really like the new armor, and Cinar draws cool looking Daredevil. I found the plot a bit funny with a hint of cliché since I personally have hated the in-app purchase model for a while in mobile apps. I wonder how long this run will draw out - maybe it will reset after Secret Wars?

Question about the ending:

Who do you guys think it was in the very last page?

What the fuck is This shit? This is terrible

This is good!! Finally an old school Iron Man comic.

Great start.