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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
This is Iron Man?, April 18, 2006
This review is from: Ultimate Iron Man, Vol. 1 (v. 1) (Hardcover)
I'm a big fan of Marvel's Ultimate line, and Iron Man is one of my all-time favorite characters, so when I heard about the Ultimate Iron Man limited series I was more than a little excited. After seeing how well Tony Stark's character was handled in the Ultimates, I was looking forward to seeing him in the spotlight here.
Marvel pulled off quite the coup in getting bestselling sci-fi author Orson Scott Card to write this series. Unfortunately it doesn't really pay off. I'm not familiar with Card's previous work, but he seems ill-suited to this particular task. I'll try not to give too much away here, but some of the plot points are just not right for Iron Man. Everyone can accept Tony Stark the boy genius. But Tony Stark the blue-skinned science mutant with weird powers? That is not what Iron Man is all about. A big part of Iron Man's appeal is that he had no superpowers. He used his intellect to create the Iron Man armor and hold his own among gods, mutants, and other super-heroes.
The story had some good points. The Stark/Stane corporate rivalry was handled well, and the secret government school for science prodigies (the same one from Ultimate Fantastic Four I assume) was a good setting for the young Tony Stark. I just wish it was explored a bit more. The dialogue between characters is awkward, and the supporting cast never seems to gel, especially compared to the other Ultimate books.
I'm sure Card is a good writer, but I think his talents would have been better utilized elsewhere (perhaps in the regular Marvel Universe). There is a certain standard in the Ultimate line established by writers like Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, and Warren Ellis, and Orson Scott Card just doesn't live up to that standard.
Andy Kubert's artwork is as always, quite good, and in this case is the book's only saving grace. It would have been nice if he had managed to finish the entire series, but Mark Bagley does a decent job on the book's closing chapter.
I suppose I was going to be disappointed with an Ultimate Marvel book eventually, I just wish it wasn't Ultimate Iron Man.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Its ok but not what I had hoped for, April 25, 2006
This review is from: Ultimate Iron Man, Vol. 1 (v. 1) (Hardcover)
[...] I really looked forward to this storyline, hoping that it would have the same kind of emotional pull and realism (as real as comics can be anyway) of other Ultimate lines such as The Ultimates and Ultimate Spider-Man. While I'm not disappointed in the Iron Man storyline, I'm not exactly thrilled either. I agree - the story moves WAY too fast. That's my biggest gripe - granted its a comic book, but exposition and character development does count for something. Spend a page or two developing these characters more - it can't hurt. I learned more about Iron Man and Tony Stark by reading the one page dossier at the end of the book than I did by reading the comics!
What I did like about the book was the explanation behind the development of the armor in the first place. I can only imagine how tough the premise has to be - why would a billionaire playboy develop a suit of killer armor? I'm ok with the explanation and rationale here. Its a little freaky, but it works. I also like the fact that Rhodey is introduced so early and that he's not just a gung-ho, "T.C." type of character, a la the original Iron Man series. He's a smart kid with a lot of potential but seems to have a bit of a temper problem. That's a good mix! But again, more development would be nice.
Overall, not bad - but not the best either. I'm sure things will develop nicely as time goes by, so I'm not too worried about IM. I'm just glad the armor ends up looking like it does with the Ulitimates and not at the end of this book. Looks too much like the "Iron Giant".
Excelsior!
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
I think Card has been writing the Ender series too long., August 16, 2006
This review is from: Ultimate Iron Man, Vol. 1 (v. 1) (Hardcover)
Don't get me wrong, Orson Scott Card is an exceptional writer -- in addition to the Ender series, his book "How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy" is incredible. But I think he was ill-suited to write this particular piece. He seemed to make all the same mistakes Ang Lee made on the Hulk movie -- turning the Story of Tony Stark into a kind of S-F greek tragedy. Now, admittedly, Iron Man has never been one of my favorite characters (and my opinion of him has dropped even further since this Civil War debacle), and his sixties origin is a product of its time; but in today's political climate, I think something comparable could be worked out if a writer wanted to update it (I understand an Iron Man movie is soon due out which also abandons his traditional Viet-Nam origin). The bottom line is, I felt this book just missed the point. The Iron Man armor in an action situation doesn't show up until the last few pages and then, worst of all, the story ends right in the middle. I am unsure a continuation is forthcoming. Nor am I sure Iron Man fans would care if it was.
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