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Iron Man Noir #1
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Manuel Garcia
Cover: Mike Fyles
Price: US $3.99
Release Date: April 14, 2010

***CAUTION: SPOILERS ARE AHEAD. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK***

It’s 1939.  Tony Stark and his crew are exploring the white jungles of British Honduras for the jade mask of the Mayan underworld.  This mask is said to have healing powers.  Out of food and traveling without their jungle guide (a wild boar now has a happy tummy), the crew presses on.

Tony Stark’s crew is comprised of his loyal aid, James Rhodes, his assistant/girlfriend, Dr. Gialetta Nefaria, and Virgil Munsey, Stark’s chronicler for Marvels: A Magazine of Men’s Adventure.  Yes, Comic Attackers, this Tony Stark has faced the likes of Modok, dinosaurs, and Fin Fang Foom!  He’s the original Most Interesting Man in the World!  I wouldn’t be surprised if this Tony Stark taught Chuck Norris how to grow a beard.

The band of explorers reach an underground waterway.  They are getting closer to the treasure.  One bout with a giant snake and a tasking swim later, they’ve reached the temple.  Tony Stark has his mask.  His lady friend, well, she has a gun…and some new friends…Dr. Heinrich Zemo and Commander Baron Strucker.  Nazis!  Tony has been double crossed by a woman!  Some quick thinking from Tony and the temple is on fire, engulfing the now masked Nefaria in flames!  Chaos follows.  Stark and Rhodes are the only ones to escape the ordeal.

Who is going to chronicle the further adventures of Tony Stark now?  Enter, Pepper Potts.  Are there anymore familiar characters?  Well, a man named Jarvis is Tony’s garage man, so to speak.  Jarvis has been working on a curious suit of armor.

Tony’s double crossing, crispy critter of an ex-girlfriend kept her own drawer in his desk.  Tony picks the lock.  She had been researching a certain city that is rumored to be lost.  Hmm….

Scott Snyder has already successfully given us a new breed of vampire, and now he’s in the process of giving us a new breed of Tony Stark.  One part rich dude.  One part exploring adventurist.  All part awesome!  Throw in some Nazis for good measure, and hold on tight!  This series is going to be a fun ride!  It will be a short ride, only four issues, but a fun ride nonetheless.  Teamed up with Manuel Garcia, these two gentlemen instill a sense of wonder.  They give us a tale that is most deserving of the pages of Marvels: A Magazine of Men’s Adventure (but girls can read it, too!).  They give us, Iron Man Noir.

I’ll be honest.  I haven’t had much success with the Marvel Noir imprint.  I tried the X-Men, Spider-Man, and Daredevil offerings and came up shortchanged.  When I found out about the general theme of this book, I was intrigued.  The finished product didn’t disappoint.  I hope you picked this book up.  If not, make sure you grab it the next time you head into your local comic shop.  There will be a ton of Iron Man books on the shelf this summer.  This one, Iron Man Noir, deserves your attention.

Aron White
aron@comicattack.net