Preposterous main story smothers out the good elements...
The Invincible Iron Man has been one of the few "Fear Itself" tie-ins that has interested me. But while this has been a fun read, issue #506 spends to much time on the flat, off the wall Tony Stark angle and less on the stories that are actually interesting.
Writer Matt Fraction picks up with Tony sacrificing his sobriety to get Odin's attention and hopefully his help. This leads to a drunken Tony leading a group of foul-mouthed, short-tempered "dwarves" in building weapons to slow down the Serpent and his possessed avatars. Yes, that's the actually story and it's just as silly as it sounds. There are some interesting pages involving Pepper and her feelings of obligation to help in the fight. There's also some good sequences with Hammer Industries after they've lost contact with Detroit Steel in Paris. But these parts can't overcome the preposterous main story which could never hold my interest.
Larroca's art works in some places but it really falls flat in others. I'm a fan of his art style and it does shine through on certain pages. But other pages look dull and unattractive and some have a clouded, almost dingy tone. Sadly, the pencils and colors fall short more than they succeed.
This issue qualifies as a disappointment. After providing two fun "Fear Itself" tie-in issues, this one runs into a wall. It's main story is absurd and smothers out the parts of the issue that are entertaining while the art doesn't meet what I've grown to expect. This book seems to be a casualty of the very underwhelming "Fear Itself" event which is really unfortunate.
