Bang For My Buck: 30 Days Of Marvel Unlimited, Day 12 – Heavy Metal

To take full advantage of the fact that Marvel Unlimited is only 99 cents for the first month if you sign up by March 14 — which, sadly, is now in the past — Nick is trying to see how much use of the service he can get for just under a dollar. Every day, he’ll share what he read. See the previous day here.

So I totally missed a day. What can I say but “life happens?” With my schedule, I knew there was a decent chance that might happen, though I tried my best to always set some time aside for some digital comics. Honestly, if I was a regular subscriber to Marvel Unlimited, this wouldn’t have bothered me in the least — even though we love them, I sincerely hope everyone takes a comics break from time to time. But since the point of this whole thing was to get in as many comics in 30 days as possible (within reason!), a day off seems like a wasted opportunity.

Nevertheless, I got right back in the saddle with two separate but semi-related Iron Man runs. I think I mentioned this at the beginning of these columns, but Iron Man is my favorite Marvel super hero, and has been since I was a kid. I’m not a completest and do drop the book when it’s boring me (I’m close to doing it currently, to be honest), but I always come back to Shellhead sooner or later.

With that in mind, I chose to revisit a story that had a fairly big impact on me in my pre-teen years in the “holy crap, I can’t wait for next month to see what happens next” sense. The sequel? Not as much, but I took a second crack at it too just to keep the theme going.

Iron Man (vol. 1) #225-232

Why I read it: Though it wasn’t referred to as such during its original release, this is the “Armor Wars” storyline that saw Tony Stark discover that his tech was being used in the suits of other armored villains, and some minor heroes as well. David Michelinie (who I always thought was underrated) wrote it along with Bob Layton, who also finished the art over Mark D. Bright’s breakdowns. The great Barry Windsor-Smith drew the creepy eplilogue issue, which was reason enough to include it. The arc also includes the explosive end to the “Silver Centurion” armor.

What I thought: Armor Wars is a great example of a story that doesn’t have quite as much impact once you already know where it’s headed. Upon first read, it’s not clear whether Tony is willing to go all the way with his quest, which includes turning his back on his friends, getting kicked out of the Avengers and taking down both the Mandroids and the Guardsmen.

Looking back on it now, the attack on Stingray is especially silly since Tony isn’t sure his suit even incorporate the Stark technology — and it doesn’t. The idea, though, is that he can’t rest until he’s absolutely sure the armors can’t be used to hurt or kill innocent people ever again, and the only way to do that is to neutralize the tech and wipe out the information stolen by Spymaster that started the mess in the first place. In that regard, it’s a success. Rarely has Tony seemed so driven.

Michelinie and Layton also weave in the supporting cast to great effect. Rhodey is a key figure, but Mrs. Arbogast and Abe Zimmer get a bunch of face time too, and there’s an important cameo by Scott Lang. The showdown between Tony and Steve Rogers remains terrific.

The end of Armor Wars seems to tie up the whole thing neatly, but there were continuing repercussions, so I can’t complain about it too much. Really, my sole complaint with the writing is the way each issue has a summary of the story to that point, almost like Marvel didn’t trust people to buy the series regularly. In modern comics, there’s usually a summary page to handle the same task so the characters don’t have to resort to exposition.

Bright and Layton do some clean work on the art, even if it isn’t terribly distinctive. And oh man, Tony’s hair … That’s better left in the 80s.

Iron Man (vol. 2) #258-266

Why I read it: It’s “Armor Wars II!” And … it’s not really a sequel at all. In fact, if anyone knows why Marvel decided on marketing it that way, please let me know. But hey, John Bryne and John Romita Jr., so that’s a good thing.

What I thought: Even with much bigger names on board as the creators, this arc just pales in comparison to the actual Armor Wars. Mostly, this story centers on Tony losing control of his nervous system and being forced to control the Iron Man armor remotely, which doesn’t work out too well. This becomes an ongoing problem which carries on past the end of the story.

Rhodey really comes to the rescue of his boss/friend again. Also, there are cool villains involved, including the Living Laser, the ghost of Titanium Man (not really), Mandarin and Fing Fang Foom. The crappy part is that some of them are only tangentially involved, and the real villain of the piece is … Actually, just read this, it’s a pretty accurate and funny summation.

Not Byrne’s finest hour, or even close. JR Jr. though, he’s always alright in my book.

Day 12 issues read: 17

Total issues read to date: 151