TNTM The Show Trade of The Week: Iron Man The Armor Wars

Iron Man: Armor Wars

David Michelinie 

Writer

Mark Bright

Barry Windsor-Smith

Pencilers

Bob Layton

Inker

Bob Sharen

Barry Windsor-Smith

Colorists

First and foremost this graphic novel is old school, like 1987-90 old school. That being said you should know it's wordy, long, drawn out but exactly what I enjoy and appreciate about that era of comics. This era of art also consists of a lot of detail. Colors were more plain and simple. There's not that much shading or depth. The art feels stiff and stoic at times. The story gets off to a slow start. From the beginning and throughout it doesn't feel like a war even though it's called The Armor Wars. If anything it seems like a war on terror or drugs but with armor. It starts off with Tony analyzing an enemy's armor to which he discovers is made up of his own tech. In his discovery he realizes that many of his enemies have similar tech. Out of guilt he does more snooping to find out who stole his tech, what enemies have it, and where they are so he can render it useless. He goes after Stilt Man, the Controller, a group of thugs called the Raiders, various government sanctioned armored agents, one of which he falsely went after, and a couple Russkies, as they call them. These all have real world implications that you don't realize they set up for even early on. At this point in comics Tony Stark was trying to keep Iron Man's identity secret by saying that he was his body guard even though the (West Coast) Avengers knew his true identity. Stark Industries gets a lot of flak for all the activities Iron Man is involved in since he works for them. Attacking government projects also puts him at odds with Steve Rogers and the Avengers. 

What I truly appreciate about this book is that they don't shy away from death and when they do confront it they make it very personal. In an age when being a man was all about being tough and masculine, the men in this book are surprisingly in touch with their feelings and emotions. It's quite refreshing. To most, especially during that time was to show weakness but I think it's the opposite. It takes a certain kind of person to accept responsibility for their actions, emotions, and feelings instead of just pushing them away and discarding them. This book may not be indicative of its title, The Armor Wars, but it speaks volumes of Iron Man and Tony Stark. It made me realize that as long as there is an Iron Man there will always be Armor Wars. This book laid the precedent for years to come in regards to Iron Man. Every now and again Tony Stark is forced to purge the world of his stolen tech and armor though it's usually done in a more fast paced, action packed, bombastic fashion within the last couple decades. This book definitely isn't the most exciting, intense, action packed book that has a lot of repercussions but it changed the outset of Iron Man comics for years to come. For that and that alone it's definitely worth a read. More so than that it actually is a phenomenal read. It's a superb character profile of Stark, his personal, professional, and superhero life. I absolutely adore this art. There's so much detail even in the mundane. My favorite panels have to be those of seeing the intensity and emotion of Stark in the suit through the eye and mouth slits. That is pure skill right there. The story is very incapsulating as it continues to get more intense as it builds to its conclusion. This may not be for everyone but this is definite for me. I give The Armor Wars a STRONG BUY!!!

Grade: STRONG BUY!!!

You can pick up this graphic novel at Age Of Comics or

 Twin Suns Comics & Games, or
 online from Amazon