You can see why your average comic reader would identify with a character like Peter Parker or want to be Wolverine, but take away the Iron Man suit and what have you got? Who would want to be Tony Stark? And while it might not deal with the consequences of addiction in the same powerful ways as films like French Connection 2 – this is a comic, after all – having re-read the tale almost 20 years on, it holds up amazingly well. All the normal Marvel ingredients from the late 1970s and early 80s are present and correct: there are kung-fu kick ass babes, some truly daft super villains and the odd in-joke, which may or may have been directed at the-then editor in chief, Jim Shooter. John Romita Jnr.’s art still rocks and his work here is as good as anything in his long career. What really still impresses are the decent cliff-hangers. When you read a collection of issues like this, it is easy to forget the impact a cliff-hanger can have, especially when you have to wait a month to find out the resolution. The ending of issue 124, when Iron Man goes wrong with fatal consequences, is a brilliant piece of story telling. The final issue – 128 – is the one where Tony faces up to his drinking problem and there is an added twist to do with Jarvis’s resignation, which lays the foundation for future story lines. Some of they storytelling and the portrayal of Tony Stark as a millionaire playboy may be a little hackneyed, compared to recent Iron Man offerings, but you can see how this collection has taken an important place in the character’s history. Its impact on the recent movie, staring Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark, is there for all to see. The mighty house of Marvel have been using Tony Stark as a metaphor for poor old George W. Bush in recent years, but this collection proves that the best stories are the ones when super heroes become ordinary mortals, and have to deal with the same old crap that everyone else does. A real hero doesn’t have to wear a suit, just have the courage to face their demons – whatever they may be.
