We Will Be...Invincible

When Iron Man 2 came out in theaters last spring, I decided to flip through the Iron Man comic(s) currently published to see what was going on in the world of Iron Man.  I've never been a huge fan of the character, so I never read Iron Man regularly.  However, I did appreciate the fact that he was "real" and had personal problems such as alcohol abuse.  The closest I ever got to reading Iron Man regularly was when I was reading the Avengers and West Coast Avengers back in the 1980s. 

When I picked up the most current issue of Invincible Iron Man, I immediately noticed the impressive art.  It was incredibly lifelike.  I had never before heard of the artist, Salvador Larroca, but I was amazed at the realism on the pages.  Never had Tony Stark looked so three-dimensional to me.  He didn't have that creepy, mustached, middle-aged man look to him anymore.  He was younger, handsome, and sporting a goatee.  Even his blue eyes stood out against his dark hair.  

Invincible Iron Man #30

I bought issue #25 and brought it home to read.  Not only was the artwork something to behold, but the story (written by Matt Fraction) was fantastic, too.  It involved human interaction and personality clashes.  Fraction seems to be all about character development -- traits, flaws, strengths -- which is why I've stuck around for the past year now.  There's very little superheroing and a lot of character interaction.  In issue #30, Tony and Sasha Hammer play a game of cat and mouse with all kinds of sexual innuendos.  I've learned more about Tony Stark and his supporting cast in the past year than I would have if I had read Iron Man throughout the entire 1980s.  

As long as Fraction and Larroca are onboard for The Invincible Iron Man, so am I.