David Michelini, Bob Layton, and John Romita Jr. bring Invincible Iron Man to face off against supervillains and business rivals in a deluxe volume published by Panini Comics.
Not long ago, Panini Comics published Marvel Masterpieces, the first installment of a trilogy of Iron Man adventures, when American comic industry heavyweights such as David Michelini, Bob Layton, and John Romita Jr. were the main figures. And now we are ready to enjoy the second part. Sometimes good things take time, other times they don’t…
Pure seventies comedy
In fact, the comics collected here are based on the beginning of the eighties, but it is not wrong to say that it is far from the changes made in the seventies. After some works were published, mainstream comics (Alan Moore or Frank Miller are mentioned here) changed the medium forever…
As seen in the first installment, the issues covered in this volume are more or less self-contained stories in which Tony Stark meets the enemy at work. But this general tone of the show does not prevent us from reaching the last page of the matter in question. Just by turning the page.
A rogues gallery that falls short
And who will the Golden Avenger face as an adversary? Although there is no villain of constant importance in the volume, some can be revealed more than others (in general, we are talking about small-time villains that most readers do not even know)) such as Titanium Man , All-Devour, Justin Hammer, the Hulk or Tony’s old love, Madame Mask, who Known as Whitney Frost.
It’s this badass who stars in one of The Voice’s funniest moments as Tony must free his current love interest, young Bethany Cabe, from her clutches. It’s a chapter that perfectly represents what the character is and manages to bring out all his aspects in a relatively short length: the hero, the millionaire playboy, the lover and the man of action. This also ignores the theme of being a recovering alcoholic, which is present throughout the volume.
Armor, lots of armor
A constant in this character’s history over the years is the constant technological innovation regarding the armor he always wears. All characters from both Marvel Comics and DC Comics have undergone costume changes over the years, some cooler than others, but almost always for stylistic reasons. But in this case, his avant-garde armor gives him new abilities, more or less essential abilities.
In this regard, perhaps the most surprising is the so-called Hulkbuster, whose main function is obvious in the name and is called the Mark XLV, although it did not make it to the cartoons until the 21st century. But in this volume we are presented with another one that is very important at that time, that allows him to go outside the ground, which will be fundamental in the war against Hammer and Roxxon in the last numbers of this volume, something, something. It is in front of us. On the cover.
As for the graphic section, here we find the dance of cartoonists and not all of them come out well. But we have to celebrate the first issue where Sal Buscema never fails, with the issues drawn by one Bob Layton who gave the characters a unique look and style in many ways ahead of him and most importantly John Romita Jr. He who reached the final stage, although a young man with little experience at the time, was destined to become one of the greatest cartoonists in the history of ninth century art.
Published by Panini Comics in hardcover, the volume contains 360 color pages measuring 17 x 26 cm. And the US edition of #129 to #144 of Invincible Iron Man, in addition to covers of the included issues, includes an introduction and an extra section at the end written by Michelini. It has a recommended retail price of €42 and goes on sale in August 2023.
Marvel Masterpieces. Invincible Iron Man by Michelinie, Romita Jr. and Layton 2 of 3
The second of the three volumes compiles the best level of Iron Man. Tony Stark escapes his trouble with the bottle by throwing himself into globetrotting business (and pleasure), but his enemies will do him no good: the All-Eater awaits in Hong Kong, the Titanium Man ready to dance in Times Square. And Fuerza makes his brutal debut in the Bahamas!
But sometimes it’s your friends who worry the most: Will Stark be able to defend the company against Nick Fury and SHIELD’s hostile invasion? With authentic characters, brilliant casting and a constant stream of new armor, Michelini, Leighton and Romita Jr. will make sure that there is no one like them to develop the adventures of the Golden Avenger.
Authors: Jerry Bingham, Joe Brozowski, Sal Buscema, John Romita Jr., Alan Weiss, Bob Leighton, David Michelini, Jim Shooter, and Roger Stern.