The New Iron Man Meets The Angel!
Iron Man goes sky-high this month as he finds himself at the mercy of The Angel who has been affected by a Nuclear Blast caused by Stark which—you guessed it—causes the X-Man to turn evil. I know, I know; I was rolling my eyes during the first few pages of setup too. I thought it was going to be one ofthose issues. Surprisingly (or not, if you look at the credits) however, Lee, Ditko and Reinman do a terrific job of selling the story itself which although having that terribly rough premise, actually comes crashing down to earth in a pretty exciting and dramatic manner.
Really though, much of the enjoyment of this issue comes down to Ditko and Reinman. Distilling Lee's over-the-top writing with Ditko's angular compositions and Reinman's eye-popping inks, much of the issue is simply wonderful to look at, even when the narrative is a bit iffy. To be fair, Lee does a fair job everywhere outside of the setup; we get some great moments between Iron Man and The X-Men for a start, not to mention one of the best endings and action sequences seen to date. Plus, we get to see The X-Men and Avengers rendered in the most colourful and vibrant style yet as Ditko and Reinman get to work. So I guess, if there's another drawback to this issue, it's that we all wish every comic could look this good. No offence, Kirby.
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