Book of the Week

3-3-10

Even though it had a pretty decent finale, I have some mixed feelings about this Stark: Disassembled arc. First off, I think that five issues is a little long to to spend with a main character in a coma. It seems like Marvel just wanted this character in stasis until The Siege was over.

I really liked the surreal scenes in Tony's subconscious, which is a storytelling technique that I normally find kind of annoying. I credit this to Salvador Larocca's gorgeous artwork and designs. I guess also that usually in these situations are usually just characters walking around in heaven or something talking to dead people and not getting chased around in the desert by giant robots, which is infinitely cooler.

What I really feel mixed about are the scenes outside of Tony's mind. While there were really good touching scenes with the supporting cast dealing with the fact that Tony might die, there was also the subplot of an assassination attempt by Ghost, a third tier character that I'm not really sure what he does or even his relation to Tony. I guess you need some action in a superhero comic, but this just seemed silly and posed no threat. Not that I really think Dr. Doom or Mandarin or anyone would ever kill Iron Man, but as a reader I could suspend my disbelief a little easier.

The other thing I find awkward is the end. We've spent almost a year and a half with Tony trying to redeem himself for the Registration Act, the death of Captain America, and all around generally being an asshole. So when they implant Tony's downloaded memories, it turns out that they were downloaded prior to all this which seems to relieve him of all of these responsibilities. I know that you would want the care-free Iron Man around the time of Iron Man 2's release, but it just seems like an easy reboot. Like Spider-Man's deal with Mephisto; it could work out. I guess we'll have to wait to see where Fraction goes with this.