Customer Reviews

Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle (Marvel Premiere Classic)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

By the time these issues were originally published, Iron Man had been around for nearly 15 years, but for all his popularity-- sharing a book with Captain America in the 1960s, moving to his own title, and playing a major role in the Marvel title The Avengers-- he'd never quite made a mark as a character the way other heroes of the Marvel-verse had. Simply put, he felt more like a concept-- take a James Bond-like playboy named Tony Stark and merge him with the idea of the Knight in Shining Armor-- than a fully-fleshed out idea. It's a neat concept, but one that a long string of very talented writers and artists failed to develop. Even literally giving Iron Man a new heart-- to replace the shrapnel-damaged ticker that had spurred the invention of his life-giving armor in the first place-- failed to pump new blood into the character. He seemed destined to remain a second-tier figure, fun and visually striking, but lacking the pathos of such landmark heroes as Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four.

In 1978, that all changed. Writer/co-plotter David Michelinie and Artist/co-plotter Bob Layton have stated in numerous interviews that they see themselves as craftsmen at the service of the characters, and that they want readers to become absorbed in the storylines, rather than thinking about the creators behind the scenes. Fine, but their own landmark work on this title belies that modesty. Simply put, what was needed was not a new heart, or new armor, or a big-time supervillain, but two artists alert to the possibilities buried within the title, and especially the title character. For all intents and purposes, they re-invented Tony Stark/Iron Man, and gave Marvel a whole new hero to play with.

M&L's solution to the riddle that had bedeviled even Stan Lee was remarkably simple: what if we really took this guy seriously, and tried to tell some realistic stories about him? What if we made him a real character-- funny, fleshed-out, full of strengths and ego and very deep flaws-- and tested his grace under pressure? What if we surrounded him with a top-notch supporting cast? What if we gave him a real girlfriend, instead of the Harlequin robots that had populated the book in the past? What if we really explored what it meant to be a Cold Warrior, to think about the ethics and unforseen consequences of your actions and inventions? In other words, what if we emphasized the "man" in the title, rather than the "iron"?

What resulted was a run of 40 issues (#116-156, although Layton left after #153) that offered a gripping and very human arc, respecting the genre conventions of the superhero tale (the costumes, the action sequences, the patented marvel hero crossovers) while also asking them to grow up. This wasn't new to Marvel, but it was new to Iron Man, and M&L's run on the title heralded a renaissance at a company that had been in a downward creative spiral for the previous half-decade: in the wake of M&L would come Frank Miller's Daredevil, John Byrne and Chris Claremont's X-Men (and Byrne's even-better five-year run on the Fantastic Four), Walt Simonson's mythic look at Thor, and the classic Hobgoblin arc in Spider-Man (it's not a coincidence that these books followed editorial and business-side shake-ups that would lead to better conditions for writers and artists, and draw some of the best talent to the company. After all, treating people like human beings shouldn't only apply to fictional characters).

I emphasize that whole 40-issue arc because some people have complained that the storylines here are wrapped up too quickly and neatly. That's a fair complaint, but I think it's more an effect of the TPB form (which has to end *somewhere*, and gives a sometime-false impression of closure) than the stories themselves-- the issues and ideas raised here continue to be developed after the stories collected in the book. In fact, M&L do such a good job re-inventing the character that they haunt every creative team that followed them on the book, as new writers and artists either choose to emphasize the extremes of Stark's flaws (Denny O'Neill's often fascinating but misguided restaging of Stark's alcoholism in the early 80s is but one example, althoug it's so grippingly done that, for all its problems, it probably deserves its own TPB, too) or ignore M&L's innovations altogether choosing to revert Stark to his crass playboy persona of the 60s (the recent Civil War series is at least an attempt to do something unique with what M&L wrought). In the end, not even M&L could live up to their own legacy-- their much-anticipated return to the title in the mid-80s (partially collected as an "armor wars" TPB) started strong, but was eventually overwhelmed by its action sequences, which didn't flow in and out of their characters as gracefully as their first run had.

Which is why it's great this first run is now collected and back in print. Is it perfect? No. Is it occasionally nostalgic? Sure (check out those disco-era fashions). But none of that eradicates M&L's achievement-- in a genre that sometimes emphasizes mindless mechanical action and macho cliche, they managed to create a brief, shining moment of humanism. And that, in the end, is what superheroes are all about.

As a long time Iron Man fan, I certainly appreciate the importance of the Demon in a Bottle storyline both to Iron Man as a character, and comics in general. However, I hesitate to call it the definitive Iron Man storyline.

To be sure, Demon in a Bottle has its high points, the obvious one being Tony Stark's struggle with alcoholism. While this kind of story wouldn't make much of an impact today, 25 years ago it was quite a big deal. It definitely added a new dimension to the character, and emphasized the "man" in Iron Man. I also thought the introduction of Justin Hammer as a corporate rival and SHIELD's attempt to take over Tony's company were very interesting developments. The artwork is another high point. While the pencils provided by John Romita Jr. hardly resemble his later, more popular work, they are still quite solid, and are supported by outstanding finishing and inking by Bob Layton, who I will readily acknowledge is the definitive Iron Man artist.

That said, the book is not without a few flaws. The major emphasis, at least for the first 75% of the book, is on the standard superhero fare rather than Tony's alcoholism. This would be fine if it were handled well, but the various battles are relatively mundane, and the dialogue is downright awful during those fight scenes. Justin Hammer's floating island and private army (who could pass for an early prototype of G.I. Joe's enemy COBRA) are a bit silly as well. Plus, Tony apparently resolving his alcohol problem in one issue seemed way too easy. Still, these are relatively minor gripes against what is an otherwise good storyline.

Overall I'd rate Demon in a Bottle at 4 stars. It gets 5 stars for the importance of the subject and the depth it gave my favorite Marvel character, and 3/3.5 stars for the actual execution. Is it one of the most important Iron Man stories? Absolutely. Is it the definitive Iron Man story? Probably not. My money is on either the classic Iron Man: Armor Wars saga, or the recent Iron Man Vol. 1: Extremis story, both of which do a better job at getting to the heart of what Iron Man is all about.

One of the most important moments in Iron Man's history occurs in Demon in a Bottle, which makes it worth picking up for nostalgia's sake if nothing else. While villain Justin Hammer rears his ugly head, Tony "Iron Man" Stark takes on his toughest opponent: alcoholism. While David Michelinie (who's run on the title is the closest thing Iron Man ever had to a definitive writer) attempts to give a powerful/human story here, the issue gets resolved way too quickly for anyone to consider it believable. Not to mention that the book comes off as quite dated thanks to the atrocious dialogue and overall lame conflict and storyline. Despite that though, Demon in a Bottle marks a historic moment in the Iron Man mythos, and the artwork from Bob Layton and John Romita Jr. isn't bad either. All in all, Demon in a Bottle is worth picking up for nostalgia's sake alone for Iron Man fans, but all others should proceed with caution.

In the age when we lose track of older comics, Marvel has reprinted this classic Iron Man collection (issues 120-128)

The collection is called Demon in a Bottle, however it is really devoloped in one full issue in this collection. The situation of being Alcoholic shirted the Comic Code as Spiderman's Drug issues did, but it does seem rush in hinesight.

The reprint is done on a nice stock of paper, not that gloss cxrap that usually reprints use or the news print like paper stock that DC showcase and some Marvel Archieves uses. The color separation are also good. And one issue does recap ole Shell head's origin

I remember buying this years ago in the same format. David Michelnie's work is the reason to get this collection. I just wish DC and Marvel would stop reprinting stories from the 80 and 90'sd and start raiding the archieves and make affordable rare comics

However, buy this now and save the rush for those getting this when the new Iron man Film comes

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

David Michelinie, Bob Layton and John Romita, Jr. tackled a very serious issue for comic books, substance abuse, and they did it in a sensitive, but often times painful, presentation. Iron Man may be invincible, Tony Stark may be the cool exec everyone wants to know, but he isn't quite as invincible.

As a side note, years later, after Denny O'Neill had him relapse, writer Len Kaminski and artist Tom Morgan sort of revisited Tony's alcoholism when Tony's mind was thrown into the internet and an AI computer took over his body. Yes he drank, and Tony still took responsibility when he got back into his body (and fought both War Machine, made up, then joined forces with WM and Force Works to find an all-powerful Mandarin) and went to a meeting. The cover of issue 313 (vol. 1) is just fantastic: The "spirit" of Iron Man putting his hand on Tony, stopping him from drinking.

The story is classic by now and known not only to Iron Man fans, so the contex of this book won't be reviewed here. What is worth saying is the top quality paper and wonderfull job done at the colours. Additional credits should be given for the hard cover and the jacket illustration. Every issue comes with it's original cover.

This is Iron Man and Marvel at their best. May many more stories follow in same format.

I picked this up thinking that it would be all about Tony and his drinking problem. imagine my surpize to find it only happened in the last issue in this collection. Now, I can surmize the point of the issue, but its a real letdown than one would expect.

it gets three stars because even though it was a good read, the real questions that the book clames to tackle ultimately get resolved too quickly to prove lasting.

There was apparently an Iron Man animated series running in the early 90s, the period of my youth, when I wasted many an hour watching episodes of Batman, Spider-Man, and X-Men, making me lifelong fans of all three franchises; however, I never saw so much as one episode of the Iron Man show, and so I never developed much interest in the character (or the entire Avengers franchise in general, which was absent from the screens in that era, only arriving in highly diluted form after the big boom was over). Once I started reading comics, I gradually became familiar with him, and with the big movie on the way (which looks great), we're seeing a renaissance of Iron Man product; this is often heralded as Tony's big story, so I bought the very nice-looking Premier edition, collecting the nine-issue "Demon in a Bottle" arc (which, in the tradition of older comics, is really a series of one-, two-, or three-parters linked by a common subplot.

The overall verdict: pretty good stuff. Certainly quite readable, and Michelinie and Layton largely avoid smothering the pages with captions, giving Romita Jr. room to work, something Chris Claremont never learned to do (not to say there aren't plenty of captions; much more than you'd find in a modern comic; in particular, there's the understandable need for each issue to recap, in space ranging from a few panels to a few pages, the preceding issue, which is rather awkward in a modern collected edition which this story clearly wasn't written with in mind).

This is trumpeted as Tony's big brush with alcoholism, but for all but the last issue or so that's deep-background; the main plot involves the newly-introduced Justin Hammer's attempts to undermine Stark Industries by various means, which is just the main of many pressures building on Stark that drive him to drink (including a notably unresolved plot introduced before this collection even begins involving SHIELD, but the ending provides a sort of "go get `em" closure where you know Tony will get by fine now that he's got his winning edge).

The principle supporting cast is Bethany Cabe and James Rhodes; the former, Tony's new love interest (with some discreetly implied casual sex in a hotel), is a memorable character; Rhodey's fine here, though he hasn't yet become War Machine (or even found out about his boss's real name). Also present are the Avengers (notably a sparring session with Captain America), the late Ant-Man II (a Michelinie creation), and Namor (there are few better choices for a misunderstanding-fight than Namor, given his nature). One thing I found kind of amusing is the status of secret identities here: nobody knows who Tony is; not Cap or any of the other Avengers, not Bethany or Rhodey, not Ant-Man (particularly notable, since Tony doesn't know Scott is Ant-Man either); it feels a bit forced, really, but it's not anything close to a real issue. I really like Romita Jr.'s art here; nowadays his stuff is just boxy and ugly, but the classic look is wonderful.

When I originally wrote this review this section was called "The Power of Iron Man".
This is the way I like to see; "Superheroes", with believable foibles and Tony Stark's were a dodgy ticker, and reaching for a bottle of; "Jack Powers old no.7 Kentucky Whiskey" when the pressure get's too much.
I always found the superheroes with believable "problems" to be much more interesting, lack of money (Like Spiderman)or those that had weaknesses I could sympathize with (Starks alcoholism).
It was reading comics like these that started my love of Art in later life.
My favourite story is; "Journey" as I get to see the Origins of Iron Man, and the development of his Metal suit.
But the most interesting on a Human interest level is; "Demon in a bottle".
Which concerns his more personal battle.
The artwork is a visual feast, go on, engorge yourself!

I'll be honest. I had amazing fond memories of this storyline and I was anxious that they re-released it. I had been reading the single issues. However, I have to confess that comic book writing has come so far, that it is hard for me to enjoy pre-1995 comics these days. I look back and the writing is so standard and formulatic. This storyline is great, because it deals with Tony Stark and his alcoholism, but I can't help but think that if they redid this story today, it would be so much better. That said, it is an important piece in Iron Man's history. This book just reminded me why I don't buy old Graphic Novels anymore.

Re-readability: 7/10

*I alwats put re-readability in my reviews for people who like to keep their TPB to re-read*