Iron Man: The Inevitable #1 (of 6)

Writer: Joe Casey
Art & Colors: Frazer Irving
Letters: Comicraft


Tony Stark, the invincible Iron Man, buys a black market weapon that he believes was made using one of his oldest enemies, the Living Laser, who has been reduced to a mindless ball of energy. He calls in a specialist to see if the Laser can be reached and his consciousness revived. Meanwhile the sins of Iron Man’s past threaten to be his undoing as a few more of his old enemies plan to take him down.

At first glance Iron Man: The Inevitable may seem like it’s simply Marvel’s attempt to fill the void left by the notoriously late ongoing Iron Man series by Warren Ellis and Adi Granov (the first issue of which shipped in Nov. of 2004 while issue number six is not slated to hit shelves until March of 2006). Fortunately this book is anything but filler! With Joe Casey’s obvious love of the character and history and his sense of the character’s cutting edge qualities combined with Frazer Irving’s knockout artwork make this one of Marvel’s most promising mini-series of the year. And while I’ve really enjoyed Ellis and Granov’s take on the character this book just might be even better than the so-called regular series.

Probably one the most enjoyable (and humorous) parts of the book Casey’s handling of the is-he-or-isn’t-he aspect of the Tony Stark/Iron Man relationship. Over the past few years Stark finally revealed to the public, after years of denying it, that he was, in fact, Iron Man. Then, during the Avengers Disassembled storyline, he publicly stated that he would no longer be wearing the armor, though Iron Man would still be around. Stark is still functioning as Iron Man but he has returned to his old cover story, that Iron Man is actually his employee and bodyguard. But in Joe Casey’s story no one’s buying it. It’s very much like the boy who cried wolf and when Stark denies that he is Iron Man everybody just sort of smiles and nods reassuringly, saying “Right, whatever you say.”

And what can be said about Frazer Irving that would do justice to his gorgeous work? His art on The Inevitable is even more amazing than it was on the Seven Soldiers mini, Klarion, where I first fell in love with his tight style and unique, mind blowing colors. His rendering of Iron Man is perfect, cutting edge and powerful, his tech designs are fascinating and each page is draw-droppingly gorgeous. There were so many great visuals packed into just the first issue that I absolutely can’t wait to see what he does over the course of the next five.

So for those of you craving an Iron Man fix then Iron Man: The Inevitable is definitely the place to be. And for the rest of you, Iron-fan or not, do yourself a favor and buy this book as soon as it hits the shelves. It’s bound to be one of the coolest and best-looking books of 2006!

Special thanks go out to Jeremy Shorr, owner of Titan Comics for allowing us to use his advance preview books for review purposes.

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