The Iron Age Revisited : Overview
It was a quiet weekday afternoon in early 1972 when my world as I knew it forever changed. Lying in bed with a nasty case of the chickenpox, I finally got around to reading two comic books that my grandmother had purchased for me. Until that day, comic books for me centered around the Archie world with the occasional Gold Key tossed in for good measure. Grandma Moore brought me a Superboy and an Iron Man. With the Boy of Steel and Lana Lang visiting the Legion of Superheroes in the 31st Century. the first comic served as harmless and disposable fun. That’s why I’d read it before Iron Man.
I tended to avoid Marvel Comics because I thought they were always continued and I wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment. I knew about Iron Man from an old Tales of Suspense reprint. Handsome rich guy with a suit of armor and a bum ticker.
But this issue, Iron Man #45, immediately struck me as something much more vivid than the Superboy comic I'd just read. The cover had student protesters throwing things at him. That was something I saw happening on TV and heard my parents talk about. Opening that cover, my eyes experienced artwork far more vibrant than that old reprint. The story opened with a mean robot beating the snot out of Iron Man before he finally zapped it out of commission. My preadolescent eyes were shocked to see a beautiful blonde in her underwear! There was a marriage proposal. An angry jealous guy who also had armor! Evil board members trying to steal Stark Industries. And that angry guy actually killed several of those students!
All of this came across as far more mature than any comic book I'd ever read before. Not understanding all of it made it that much more compelling. Enough so that I reread that issue multiple times and for the first time ever, purchased the next issue! I was prepared to keep buying Iron Man, but I didn’t like the way the pretty blonde looked in #47 so I left it on the rack. (Believe it or not, that was Barry Windsor-Smith’s art that I didn’t like!) For reasons that I don’t really recall, I bought #52, found #51 and that was all it took. A few months later, I added Spider-Man and Fantastic Four to my monthly purchases. Of course, more Marvels were soon added to feed my growing fascination with that remarkable, captivating world.
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But it all started with Iron Man.
That’s why I plan to review the first volume of his comic book, starting with #30.
The Reason Why
Thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man is now a household name. For years, he was essentially the face of the largest movie franchises ever. But that most definitely has not always the case. For too much of his comic book career, Iron Man served as the poster child of overlooked and disregarded series, held down by inexperienced writers and unpopular artists whose stories exemplified his weaknesses, as even the most laughable adversaries had their way with him. All of this led to dismal sales, leading him close to cancellation.
But even at those low points, I saw potential. If Tony Stark could address his heart, fix his armor and get out of his own way, I believed that he could be a top tier superhero with the power to take on the most formidable opponents. I also believed that a person with the wealth, charm, resources and genius of Tony Stark should be viewed as one of the most essential characters in the Marvel universe.
It’s that potential that snagged me on that afternoon when I first read Iron Man #45. That same potential is what I also will use to measure each issue.
As for why we’re staring at #30, it’s because a couple years later, I purchased every back issue to that particular one.
Format for Each Review
Let’s be honest. The early Seventies were not kind to our hero. I don’t plan to tiptoe around any of that. It’s my intent to be critical when needed, but reasonable. More important, I’m not taking any of this too seriously as we are looking at comic books that are over 50 years old. I intend to have fun with my review, hoping it’s the same experience for all of you.
In terms of the format, along with an Introduction and Synopsis, I’ll include ratings of both the story and art, as well as Wimp Factor and a Villain Rating. The former is to address various frustrations like heart problems and armor malfunctions while the latter will rate Iron Man’s opponents for that particular issue. Let's face it, when a guy named Demitrious has you at his mercy, someone has to call you out.
A new review will be published every other Friday morning. (I also publish a running blog that comes out the Friday's between reviews. You're certainly welcome to check out Running with Rick.) Feel free to sign up for email notifications. And I definitely look forward to comments!
Thanks for coming along for the ride!