Comic Book Review: Iron Man #10

The Revolution is a big fan of the Knaufs’ run on Iron Man. For the first time in a long while, Iron Man is actually a great read. The Knaufs have Iron Man humming and are turning out some entertaining issues. I am confident that Iron Man #10 is going to be another great read. Let’s find out.

Creative Team
Writers: Daniel & Charles Knauf
Penciler: Patrick Zircher
Inker: Scott Hanna

Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10.
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10.

Synopsis: The issue starts with Tony Stark seeking refuge at the home of his old mentor Sal Kennedy. Tony tells Sal what has happened. Tony has a total break down and Sal comforts him.

We then shift to Nick Fury being instructed that the Peace Summit will be held as planned.

We cut back to Tony at Sal’s house. Tony has shaved his goatee (Boooooooo!!!) and dyed his hair blonde since he is now a fugitive. They then go to Sal’s lab at Berkley University. Sal conducts some tests on Tony and finds a foreign mass imbedded on Tony’s brain. Sal doesn’t know if it is caused by Extremis or not. Sal tells Tony that the only person who can help him is Maya Hansen who created the Extremis virus in the first place.

We shift to Maya in prison being attacked by another inmate. Iron Man suddenly appears and saved Maya. Iron Man then springs Maya free from the prison.

We cut back to Sal’s laboratory where Tony and Maya argue over the fact that Tony thinks she is a sociopath and can’t be trusted.

We then shift to the peace summit where not only S.H.I.E.L.D. is present for security, but so are the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.

We zip back over to Sal’s house. Maya finally agrees to help Tony figure out what is wrong with him.

We then pop back to the peace summit where we see the hooded assassin walk into the stadium where the peace summit is being held.

We then cut back to Sal’s laboratory. Maya informs Tony that the mass imbedded in his brain is not from the Extremis virus. That it is a biomagnetic receiving unit. Also, that the mass is older technology and has been in Tony’s brain for a long time.

Maya tells Tony that they can’t remove the mass since it would cause massive damage and the Extremis virus needs brain function to power it’s super healing factor. Tony then deduces that someone must be using a cellular frequency that is scrambled and allows them to access control of Tony’s mind. That there must be a single sender and a single biomagnetic receiver.

Tony then exclaims that he has figured it all out, but he is interrupted as the ceiling explodes. The Sentry floats above them all. Tony armors up and we have a braaaaaawwwl! Sentry quickly takes out Iron Man and then radios Nick Fury to tell him that Tony has been neutralized. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Iron Man #10 was a very good issue! The Knaufs continue to kick ass on this title!

I loved the opening scene with Tony at Sal’s house. The scene where Tony just loses it is wonderfully done. There is practically no dialogue. Just a well plotted scene with plenty of emotion. Perfect.

The scenes with Sal, Maya and Tony were all well written. The characters all interact well with each other. The fact that Tony is being controlled by some signal to a mass that has been placed in his brain is unexpected. I didn’t think this was coming. Now, that doesn’t mean I don’t like it. I think it is a neat little plot twist. I am very curious to learn how this mass formed and who is behind this entire plan.

The Knaufs are doing a great job with the writing chores. The Knaufs have given depth and emotion to Tony that I don’t think I have seen in forever. The Knaufs are making Tony a wonderfully complex and interesting character. Tony has always been one of the more generic, vanilla and underdeveloped characters out of all of Marvel’s big name heroes. The Knaufs have totally changed this. I love reading the Knaufs’ version of Tony. He has so many different facets to his personality and is finally an interesting character with a definite and recognizable personality.

The Knaufs are able to write a story that grabs the reader by the neck and pulls them into this comic book. The reader feels the emotion and intensity from all the various characters. And best of all, the Knaufs manage to keep the reader wanting more with the end of each issue.

The dialogue is also well done. The Knaufs invest the effort to make sure each character has his own unique voice. The Knaufs’ story is well constructed and the pacing is perfect. Also, the Knaufs are doing a good job not revealing too much too quickly. The big questions are who is the assassin, who is the person that the assassin is working for and who imbedded the mass in Tony’s brain.

My wild guess? Well, since the mass is of older technology and has been in Tony’s brain for a long time then how about that Ho Yinsen placed the mass in Tony’s brain when he saved Tony’s life. Yinsen then helped Tony build his armor. Yinsen is now using Tony to kill the men who tortured him and Yinsen is angry at Tony for not avenging him. All right, that is probably totally wrong. My more sane guess is that Mandarin is somehow behind all of this.

I’m starting to warm up to Patrick Zircher’s art more and more with each issue. Overall, Zircher’s art is pretty solid. I’m still not a huge fan of Zircher’s Iron Man. But, he does a nice job drawing all of the other characters. Plus, Zircher is great at drawing plenty of emotion in his characters. Zircher is able to pull the reader into the story and get us to feel what the characters are feeling.

The Bad: I think having Tony shave his goatee and dye his hair blonde was a little goofy. It isn’t like he is out and about in public places. He only leaves his hideout when he is in his armor. I dunno, this just felt too generic.

The fight between Sentry and Iron Man was waaaaay to fast. With the Extremis virus and his more advanced armor, Iron Man is supposed to be one of the strongest characters in the Marvel Universe. It doesn’t make any sense that the Sentry could drop Iron Man this fast. Unless, Iron Man is playing possum. We will have to wait and see.

Overall: Iron Man #10 is another great issue. The Knaufs have breathed new life into Iron Man. I have not enjoyed reading Iron Man in a very long time. The Knaufs have remedied that problem. Iron Man is an entertaining read. Strong writing and solid artwork. I would definitely recommend checking out this comic book. It is worth your money.