1990s Iron Man

We end "Iron Man" month with a fond look back on something i grew up with: the Iron Man series from the 90s. It, with the concurrent Fantastic Four cartoon, made up the Marvel Action Hour. There were a lot of positives going for the series: loyal designs from the comic book including Iron Man's then-current modular suit, a slightly re-tooled version of Force Works (Iron Man's own team of Avengers, again it's the 90s) and great actors like Robert Hays, Ed Gilbert, James Avery, Jim Cummings, and Jennifer Hale.

Unfortunately, the stories don't seem to hold up as well today, as I sit and review my sister's DVD of the series. It also has a twenty second clip of Tony putting on the Iron Man helmet in CGI. CGI that makes Tron look advanced.

Anyway, decide for yourselves. Here's a clip.

Review: Omega Factor War Machine

Don't ask me what an "Omega Factor" is, because I don't know. What I do know is that this redeco of the Movie Version of War Machine looks like a mass-produced, Army-approved version of War Machine. Like his patriotic companion I reviewed awhile back, there isn't much new with the figure except for the paint job.

This War Machine, abandoning the traditional gun-metal grey/silver, features a metallic olive color with silver and black trim. I personally feel that using both silver and black make the figure's design a little too busy. Also, adding some camo over the whole thing might have made it look even cooler. The paint job overall is pretty solid. You may be able to see in the picture the tiny slits of red painted on his chest and legs.

War Machine comes with the same accessories as the previous figure. A for-show gatling gun and gun belt and a larger "working" gatling gun that fires a red projectile. Pictured is obviously the more realistic attachment. The gun belt really limits the posing of the weapon, so use it only if you want it.

"Omega Factor" War Machine is fun alternative to the movie figures. He shares a lot of the same articulation as the Patriotic Iron Man, and is definitely more colorful. My only gripe is that his arms were a little loose for a new figure. He is a Kmart exclusive along with the previously reviewed "Iron America" (or Captain Man) and a translucent Mark V. B

Strange Bedfellows

Getting on the Iron Man 2 bandwagon is Norton Internet Security. Buying select Norton 2010 will get you a free Iron Man comic or you could just read it online. But that kind of defeats the purpose of a free Iron Man comic if you just give it away? Right?

The comic is a fun infotainment commercial for Internet security awareness, like those old Honda comics warning you to buckle your seat belts. I'm just wondering how effective this really is. Comic books, soon to be relics in their own way, are not written with children in mind anymore, and probably not read by children unless it was downloaded off of iTunes.

More to the point, children, being born in the digital era, already know much about computers and would probably give these comics to their parents to read and not vice versa. I suppose Norton could be generalizing that computer nerds and comic book nerds are one and the same, but then, wouldn't they already have Norton or one of their competitors at least?

Norton should get a nod for an old fashioned PSA, but a comic book and a computer security program strikes me as strange bedfellows.

Review: Iron Man With Vibranium Armor

Iron Man Month continues with a toy review. There's nothing new about this figure except for the paint deco. The figure is the Mark VI from the Iron Man 3-3/4" Movie Series with the shield from the Marvel Universe line. But the paint deco is really the reason to admire the figure anyway.



Iron Man is decked out in Captain America's red. white, and blue scheme. This is a nice change from the usual red and gold. He's almost certainly modeled after the What If - Civil War cover featuring a similar designed Iron Man. There's no explanation why Iron Man is like this, who is under the armor, or why you would need the shield when you have the armor.

That's because it doesn't matter. He just looks cool, thanks to the metallic paint job covering both the figure and the shield. The paint ops are overall pretty good. There's some nice detailing on the chest and arms that otherwise could have ended up looking sloppy. The paint's not perfect but very impressive due to its scale.

Since it is a recycled figure, this Iron Man shares all of the articulation of his brothers in the Movie Series. Head, mid-chest, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, ankles. The only real disappoint is that his head doesn't move up and down.



His only accessory is Captain America's shield. Due to the metallic look, the white parts are silver instead. I am a big fan of Hasbro's design for his shield. It has elastic bands to hold the shield on the character's back, a la Captain America, and a clip to snap onto his forearm. Iron Man's arm is a shade slimmer than the clip, so the shield's a little loose, but not too loose.

Overall, it's a fun figure to own, as long as you're okay that it's made from recycled parts. It's a K-Mart exclusive with Army Green War Machine (another cool redeco) and a transparent Mark V (a disappointment). B

Movie Review: Iron Man 2

The reason that I enjoyed Iron Man (I) was because it had everything that I enjoyed in the original comic. A repentant Tony Stark trying to make up for his past deeds by inventing a suit of armor that's also keeping him alive. Unfortunately, the sequel loses sight of this somewhat.

That's not to say that the sequel is bad. It is similar in style to the original. Robert Downey Jr is as entertaining and snarky as ever playing himself, and the quirky chemistry between his character and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) is still there. Even newcomer Don Cheadle should be able to win over Terrace Howard fans, for his portrayal of James Rhodey, who is torn between his loyalty to his friend and his country. All that Method acting paid off for Mickey Rourke as the main heavy, but Sam Rockwell seemed more Owen Wilson than Peter Cushing in his role of arms dealer Justin Hammer.

The story itself is not really the problem. Its focus is on Tony Stark and his problems, which are plentiful. This isn't a dumbed down, explosion-soaked "summer blockbuster." We watch as Stark crumbles under the pressure of his problems and his ego, only to pull himself up again. Unfortunately, the way the movies goes about this is often convoluted and not very straightforward.

There are three new armors in this film, one for each of the fight sequences in the film. But rather than see Stark actually design these armors (such as the first film), they all just appear on screen as if prepackaged and shipped from China. One of Stark's strengths is that of an inventor, but the film glosses over it.

Still, there's a lot of fun "Easter eggs" for comic fans, including one at the end of the credits. It's a fun movie, even if the script's a bit flawed. B

Summer Movies (In Review)

Here's the movies I've seen this summer, and what I think of them: (Pretty simple, huh?)

1. The Incredible Hulk: Having more in common with the old television show than the comic books, the film portrays Bruce Banner as a fugitive from the government as he tries to find a cure. Edward Norton makes a better choice for Banner than Eric Bana. It felt like Hollywood on autopilot. It was fun to watch, but lacked any real emotional core. C+

2. Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Lucasfilm's second attempt to create a decades-delayed sequel to a beloved movie franchise, and with better results. Harrison Ford is Indiana Jones, no matter the age. Sadly, it's the first of his films in the past decade that I haven't regretted seeing. While the movie seemed to focus more on mystery and less on action, it still could have been a lot worse. God save us from the day we're forced to see "Mutt Williams and the City of Atlantis." B

3. Iron Man: The opposite of the Hulk movie: a well-balance diet of snarky remarks, fleshed out characters, and spectacular action sequences. It makes Tony Stark as compelling a character as Batman Begins did with Bruce Wayne. What can I say that millions of other positive reviews haven't? A

4. Speed Racer: Ah, Speed Racer. The most maligned movie this summer, and I can't figure out why. Top-notch effects and non-linear storytelling made Speed Racer a surprise hit with me. Whether you come away with the "artistic individual vs corporate monotony" message or just enjoyed all the explosions, there's something here for everyone. Everyone except the critics, I guess. A-

5. The Dark Knight: The movie picks up where Batman Begins ended, with Batman and Gordon feeling hopeful that they can put an end to the mob's corruption in Gotham City with the help of the new DA, Harvey Dent. From there, everything goes wrong and continues to worsen until the end credits. This movie is intense, dark, and unrelenting. Heath Ledger breathes life into the Joker as a haunting yet frightening character, and it's a tragedy he will never be able to reprise the role. A-

I still have yet to see Hellboy 2 and Star Wars The Clone Wars. I'll let you know what I think.

"Ultimate" Avengers DVD

Marvel's released an animated adaptation to "The Ultimates" (Ulitmatized Avengers, hence the title) I haven't seen it yet, but it sounds like how you'd expect it to turn out: an all-ages version of Mark Millar's story. The animation looks promising: clean, smooth, but nowhere near Hitch's detailed artwork.

Cap's Cap. Iron Man looks more Iron Manish. And Thor's looks more like He-Man without his beard. I was surprised to see one of my favs, Black Widow, to get to appear in the movie. I guess it's to smooth out that man to woman ratio on the team.

When I get to see the whole thing, I'll try to post a review.

Comic Review: Iron Man #1 and other stuff

Warren Ellis has taken over writing everyone's favorite armored Avenger as Marvel "reloads" Iron Man.

The "Extremis" storyline introduces yet another modernization of a superhero's origin. Now, Tony Stark got impaled by shrapnel from an exploding landmine during a Taliban attack, all revealed through an interview/flashback. Meanwhile, someone's stolen a experimental something that's called Extremis and it's been injected into someone, causing a most disturbing metamorphosis...

I like this story, though not much really happens during this initial issue. But it does a good job of introducing the tortured Tony Stark, trying to make up for his past designing weapons for the military. It sets up the story pretty well, and I am eager for future issues to find out what this Extremis is all about.

Adi Granov's digital art looks almost cinematic at times, like on page fifteen. I recommend this to all Ellis fans and Iron Man fans alike. The only real drawback of this issue is its $3.50 price tag.

In other news, Marvel released a Handbook of the Dead 2004, listing all of the dead characters. Bucky was fortunately still listed as dead. I was surprised to find Thor listed as dead, but that explains why there's a new young Thor prequel comic book out. I found it comical (no pun intended) that Phoenix was listed as dead, even though a new miniseries is being made to bring her back after only being dead for what, a year at the most. (See previous discussion of using death as a marketing tool.)

Also, the newest issue of DC's Identity Crisis miniseries seems to be indicating that Ray Palmer, the Atom, is the serial killer who's going after superheroes' family members. (Remember the other day when I was saying about heroes being turned into villains for shock value? Anyway, they should have learned from Hal Jordan.)