Post by goldenfist on Nov 23, 2007 0:12:00 GMT -5
Tony Stark may be just about the most powerful and well-connected individual in the Marvel Universe these days, but he's kind of a letdown. As leader of the world's premier peace-keeping organization, Stark is always dealing with some crisis or another. Long gone are the days when he would just sit down, toss back a few brewskies, and play naughty with supermodels. Luckily, those simpler, happier days aren't completely gone. Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Annual #1 is as much a throwback to the less sober days of Iron Man as well as a means of developing an important new thread that should affect multiple Marvel books in the coming months.
Notice the title. This isn't plain old Iron Man, or even The Invincible Iron Man. This is Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. now. As befits the new title, this issue plays out quite differently from recent Iron Man comics. The lesser agents and commanders of S.H.I.E.L.D. play a more active role for once. Stark himself rarely appears inside his trademark suit of armor. Overall, this issue provides very good evidence for why an ongoing S.H.I.E.L.D. series is not only possible, but a very good idea. Frankly, I'm tired of waiting for Spider-Woman to come out, and if Marvel ever decided to let Christos Gage run wild with a new series, I'd be all for it being one like this. Gage is not exactly a consistent writer, but he seems to produce his best work in the spy/espionage genre, as this issue proves.
Stark's quest in this annual is to unseat Madame Hydra from her throne as ruler of the island nation of Madripoor. Because a full-frontal assault would lead to disastrous repercussions, Stark is instead forced to take a vacation in one fo the island's many posh resorts and attempt to encourage the locals to do his job for him. I suppose you could drag all sorts of real world allegory out of this story. That would be a huge waste of time, though. Behind all the political intrigue this issue is just good fun, something we see far too little of in Iron Man. This lighthearted tone is only furthered by artist Harvey Tolibao. Tolibao's style is sleek and oftentimes sexy, though the characters all tend to appear slightly Asian regardless of nationality. Tolibao doesn't really draw a respectable Iron Man suit either, but that hardly matters in an issue focusing almost entire on Stark's human half.
If the last two years of Iron Man have come across as a disappointment, this issue might be right up your alley. The overall direction veers far away from what the Knauf's have been working towards, but that's not really a bad thing at this point.
Review Score 8.1 (Impressive)