Marvel Adventures- Iron Man: Armored Avenger by Fred Van lente, Jeff Parker, Paul Tobin
Marvel Adventures- Iron Man: Armored Avenger
by Fred Van lente, Jeff Parker, Paul Tobin
This graphic novel is a collection of four different Iron Man issues. I haven't read a lot of Iron Man. Before the recent movies, I'd read none of Iron Man, and even then, most of what I read was in the context of The Avengers. Within the last few days, i've been watching the somewhat strange but adorable Iron Man: Armored Avengers animated show. So I was definitely in the mood for this book.
The first issue is Marvel Adventures Iron Man #13, in which we see a bit about Happy Hogan, who is Tony Stark's driver and previous bodyguard (before Iron Man came on the scene to "protect" Tony). I know Happy now only through the animated show, so it was great seeing the adult version here--still slightly clueless but really good at heart and receiving of Pepper's affections. I liked Tony trying to protect himself as Iron Man without letting anyone know he is Iron Man LOL. And I liked this storyline, fighting evil without a huge, evil vilain to fight.
The second story is Iron Man: Golden Avenger #1, in which all of Stark Industries is on the edge of its seat wondering who will be the next Employee of the Month. One employee who has a screw loose and still lives in her childhood bedroom (complete with mini desk and gigantic fluffy bunny stuffed animal) hatches a plan to win Employee of the Month. She kidnaps Pepper and then hires for vilains to hold Tony hostage so she can swoop in and save him. What she doesn't take into account is that evil vilains don't really like to take orders and are in if for themselves... and, of course, she doesn't know Tony is Iron Man. She doesn't stand a chance with her plan.
The third story is Free Comic Book Day 2007 Edition (which was before I started going to Free Comic Book Day). In this story, Tony heads to Brazil to test his new jet. There's some unrest in the Stark Brazil plant and it's up to Iron Man to figure out who's behind the thefts then take down the guilty party... all before a board meeting that Tony Stark must attend. Meanwhile, there's Bruce Banner, who is attacked by a "giant spider thing" and turns into the Hulk. He protects some innocents, including a cute little girl who is grateful that Hulk was on the scene. Both were short and light stories, but very nice.
The fourth story is also a Free Comic Book Day issue, this one a Marvel Adventures Iron Man, Hulk & Spider-Man from 2008. Poor Ant-Man plays an extremely important role but doesn't get top billing. The four heroes are there to stop the Mandarin, who I'd only heard of a few days ago in the animated series. It was AWESOME to see a diagram of his rings and what each does. In this story, they use some ants to steal some of the Mandarin's rings, to decrease his power. But it takes all four of them to track him down, once he teleports again, to somehow get the rest of the rings. The fact that they face giant immortal ants at one of the temples and Ant-Man isn't there to communicate kind of sucks. I am really in love with Spider-Man's personality lately--his constant jokes and good heart. And Hulk being brainwashed to attack his friends was a bit amusing. I especially liked the moment when Iron Man was able to claim the rings and... lets the Hulk take them out of the ant's mouth instead. LOL
Short, enjoyable stories all.