Coming like a freight train into a big box of dynamite carried by tigers wearing slick leather coats is the major movie, Iron Man.  Now, there are very few people who can watch the trailers, see the suit in action and somehow manage not to get that grip of excitement in their stomachs; personally, I think the people that can’t would have to be clinically dead because every time I see those trailers, I get that feeling.  An excitement that has somehow brought that which we as fans love about the cool exec with a heart of steel to life and oh my God did he just fly with fighter jets that looks so freakin’ cool!  There are images from the latest trailer that have a sense of splash page to them, mighty punches, heroic brooding, a calm before the storm.  There are also at least one image from the latest trailer that looks a little like a scene from the first Ghostbusters movie, but that’s another story.

I’m proud to say that the Iron Man movie is a fine contender for this year’s Most Awesome Comic Movie of 2008.  The Dark Knight is going to be a tough one to beat, but I hold my Marvel flag high.  This is their first venture into the theaters under their own feet and it sounds (emphasis on sounds as the movie hasn’t come out yet) that they’re reaching for the stars.  Listening to Jon Favreau at WonderCon, it seems a rather freeing environment with the execs helping to greenlight anything and everything Favreau can think of.  Suits of armor, exotic locales, images pulled right from the comics themselves with Adi Granov painting the armors that are coming to life.  Really!  It’s incredible.  More and more, movies don’t have to adjust content in order to get Hollywood attention; 300 proves you can just film the artwork and people will flock for the heart of the story.  As good ol’ Blog@Newsarama reported earlier, David Maisel, chairman of Marvel Studios, said the stirring phrase, “We’re not in the movie business, we’re in the ‘Iron Man’ business right now.” and doesn’t that just sound snazzy?  As if all this glitz and glamor of the movie industry is less for the sake of the films and more for the promotion of our heroes.  Getting Iron Man just as well known and a part of the pop culture populace as Batman, let’s say.   Marvel Studios is in the Iron Man Business.

So what business is Marvel Comics in?

Taking a look at the current spread of Iron Man comics and trades available… things don’t exactly match up, do they?  While the movie seems to be getting this clean, back-to-basics approach to the character, reading the comic requires a lot more back story than it used to.  Again, we’re deep into speculation territory, but Tony Stark better have a change coming in his own title or I’m going to have to find away to describe the Extremis Virus in ten seconds or less to the customer at the comic shop counter in a mildly entertaining fashion.  While he’s certainly the Big Man on MU right now, finding a sense of cohesion between his more recent appearances is harder than it looks.  His own title deftly sidestepped his recent trip into womanhood in Mighty Avengers, his rather cocky demands tossed about in his Thor appearance are a far cry from his desperate hold of the reigns of SHIELD in Captain America, and he’s clearly seen in both a simple shirt and tie in Cap and an actual SHIELD uniform in New Warriors, Iron Man: Director of SHIELD had a great fear about him spending all of his time in the Iron Man armor.

Frustrating, no doubt, but it does give you the freedom of choosing what Tony Stark you want to sympathize with this week and getting to know a side of the character you want to rather than having to bother with every single title out there.

A lot of this confusion comes from the decompressed story arc and the bigger picture stories that can derail one another continuity-wise.  Every year there is some overarcing mega event from the House of Ideas that is built up like a mighty tower of cards until the epic is complete, we tear it all down and start a new story with the same cards.  Every year, something colossal is happening to a character that he has to survive along with his own personal problems in his own book.  No matter what the Mandarin does or how in danger Pepper Potts is, Iron Man has to stand for the Registration Act first, his personal storyline sacrificed for the larger picture.

Marvel Comics is in the storytelling business, not the Iron Man business.  Their focus on the broader events that bring everyone and their mom into the mix and tell a yarn where things will NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN makes or breaks their books, rather than the characters that propel them.  Whether this is good or bad is entirely  dependent on the consumer.  Do you want a clear, clean and sleek Iron Man story that’s easy to jump into and jump out of when the ride is over?  Or are you looking for something big and sprawling though multi-issue epic arcs where the events are cataclysmic and you really don’t know what’s going to happen next?  Each has their merits and drawback because that’s what they storytelling business is all about.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Marvel, News & Views, The Fifth Color, Version 1.0 Blog@. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.