Iron Man Noir #2
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Manuel Garcia
Cover: Mike Fyles
Price: US $3.99
Release Date: May 12, 2010
***CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD***
Are you ready for adventure!? Are you ready for excitement!? Are you ready for pirates!?
The original Most Interesting Man in the World returns in Iron Man Noir #2! Forget what you know about Tony Stark. This Tony Stark is a thrill seeking, treasure hunting adventurer!
Last issue Tony went digging through his dead, double crossing assistant/girlfriend, Dr. Gialetta Nefaria’s belongings and found reports and maps leading to the lost city of Atlantis.
After Tony dispatches Rhodey to take care of a few errands (he’s stuck playing assistant until they find a replacement for that dastardly dame), such as letting Jarvis know Tony has enough charge left in his heart and for Jarvis to keep working on the mechanized suit of armor, Tony, Rhodey, and Frank Finlay (the masculine pen name for one Pepper Potts) set out on a high seas adventure!
The three of them begin their search for Atlantis aboard the Lady Dorma; a vessel led by none other than the ferocious pirate, Captain Namor! He’s a scruffy, grumpy, salty ol’ cuss with pointy ears. That’s the mark of he and his crew; they slice their ears to look like shark’s fins. I wouldn’t want to mess with them. These guys don’t sissyfoot around like other pirates that roam the waters of the Caribbean.
Once in diving range, Tony, Rhodey, Pepper, and Namor board a Stark prototype submarine named the Happy Hogan. Atlantis is located and Tony is able to find the orichalcum, a metal that acts as a super-conductor, that was the purpose of this excursion. It’s time to go home. They resurface safely.
Ah, ah! Not so fast! There’s an afterclap of Nazis! Welcome back Zemo, Strucker, and the masked Nefaria. Welcome back another white-knuckled, pulse-pounding cliffhanger ending that I’m not going to tell you about. You’re gonna have to go to your local comic shop (LCS) and pick it up yourself!
Scott Snyder, the man who has gifted us with the red-hot American Vampire series, is giving us another awesome twist on a classic favorite. Yes, it is part of the Marvel Noir line but it is going off in a completely different direction than the other Noir books. The other books in the line focus on the dark and seedy criminal underworld, but this one focuses on extreme amounts of action and adventure like you would have found in the pulp novels of the day. Just like the pulp novels that Tony Stark, himself, stars in in this comic!
It’s not just the writing that propels us into this world of wonder, it’s also the art. Manuel Garcia’s pencils, Lorenzo Ruggiero’s inks, and the tone of Marta Martinez’s colors help give the pages a strong, commanding voice.
This series should not be slept on. If you’re like me and had trouble getting into the Noir books, this one makes the line easy to like. Who doesn’t like a book injected with a large dose of adventure and excitement?
Epic Writing + Stunning Art = Supreme Awesomeness! Now, who said you weren’t going to use math past high school?
Aron White
aron@comicattack.net
I think I’m going to be picking this up in Tpb when it comes out. Sounds really cool.
Well, it’s cool that you dug it but this entire line has been pretty lame so far.
Billy, that’s a good idea. It is pretty cool!
Andy, you’re right. Marvel Noir has been pretty lame but this one is a little different. It’s got legs to walk on.
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