David Michelini, Bob Layton and John Romita Jr. close out the stage with Invincible Iron Man in a deluxe volume published by Panini Comics.
In record time, Panini Comics finished publishing the full run of Iron Man, in which David Michelini (as scriptwriter), Bob Layton (as scriptwriter and inker), and John Romita Jr. (as artist) were primarily responsible. The third and final part of this saga comes to us under the title of Marvel Masterpieces. Invincible Iron Man by Michelinie, Romita Jr. And Layton 3 of 3.
The secret man of international action
In this stage, the main character has been developed more than ever, smoothing the edges and giving him a clearer personality and a richer environment. And all of this affects Tony Stark more than his superhero counterpart, especially if we consider his recent alcoholism problem and the fact that he thinks it can’t be completely eradicated.
The Tony we meet here is a man dealing with his inner demons in the early 1980s, going through a world full of danger, whether of a criminal or commercial nature (Roxxon doesn’t last long). You can (including a girl). And he does all this while continuing his path of redemption, which is undoubtedly one of the great purposes of this stage.
Pajama time
Yes, the whole Tony-centric episode is great, but this volume isn’t called The Vine Tony Stark, but Iron Man Invincible. It doesn’t take long to see the Golden Avenger show off his skills to face his first big bad guy. The volume, formerly known as Latigazo and now calling itself Togo Negro, is an honorary member of the gallery, an alias that has never caught on. In this conflict, Vincent Martinelli, the son of our favorite millionaire playboy, plays an important role…
Speaking of the Marvel Universe’s greatest villains, however, the award goes to Doctor Doom, a character who ushers in a dynamic that most coffee-loving Marvel Comics readers will instantly recognize – time travel. to the kingdom of Camelot. There, Victor’s scandal makes good friends, of course, with a very important character in the story, Morgana Le Fay, and Tony will be the same with King Arthur’s side, although both are condemned to cooperate so that they can return. to their time.
We’ll also have a character created by Michelini and Layton themselves, Scott Lang. He will be the last great special guest of this level, from the next we will meet minor characters like Living Leather or Unicorn, two of them have not been in good health lately for good reasons…
A well-oiled team
Although the recent issues included here may have slightly lowered the usual standard of these volumes and left a bitter final taste, what the three main characters did was sign what would be the best level of the character at the time. His editorial life and remains in this regard today.
Michelini knew how to take the story to a more interesting place, Romita Jr. (who we’ll be looking at in particular in this volume) went from being a newcomer to an artist who no longer had a very big career, and Leighton contributed a lot. For the character, something obvious to anyone who has met the writer in person (some say Robert Downey Jr. paid a lot of attention to the translation). For all these reasons, this volume is the perfect finishing touch to close the foundational part of this character’s legend.
Published by Panini Comics in hardcover, the volume contains 344 color pages measuring 17 x 26 cm. And the US edition translation includes Iron Man #145 through #157, as well as all the covers of the issues included, an introduction by Michelini, and a nice extras section at the end. It has a recommended retail price of €42 and goes on sale in November 2023.
Marvel Masterpieces. Invincible Iron Man by Michelinie, Romita Jr. and Layton 3 of 3
Formed by David Michelini, Bob Layton, and John Romita Jr., the metal trio is an unusual group that takes the Golden Avenger beyond its limits. The return, updated and more dangerous than ever of Whiplash, now under the name Black Whip. The new Ant-Man takes his career at Stark International to superhero extremes.
And what happens when Doctor Doom and Iron Man travel back in time to King Arthur’s Camelot? Also, The Living Laser, Unicorn and the incredible new Silent Armor premiere.
Authors: Alan Kuperberg, John Romita Jr., Bob Leighton, David Michelini, and Luke McDonnell.