I love Dirk Anger

Invincible Iron Man #506 and Fear Itself #4

If you have read any of my posts, you should already know that I can't keep a secret. Spoilers ahead.

So I subscribed to Iron Man two months ago and purchased #504 knowing that there's a significant delay for new subs. Needless to say, I missed #505, but it looks like all I missed was 32 pages of the last panel of #504. Now, the last Iron Man I read was, oh...#178. Granted, I read that one last year and not in 84' when it was published, reason being I was a two-year-old in 84'. In any case, Stark was a drunk then and Rhodey was Iron Man.

Fast forward. Fear Itself #4. This is another case of missing #3 and counting on the recap page to fill me in. This time I did miss something. Apparently, Captain Bucky had his arm removed and his life turned off by the Red Skull. But that's neither here nor there. We're focusing on Iron Man. This episode pretty much picks up from where Iron Man #505 supposedly left off. That's because Fraction is writing both of these books. Basically, if you're confused about this event, and you will be since Marvel has given zero guidance in regards to reading order, just alternate reading the Fear Itself books with the Invincible Iron Man books with a couple Secret Avengers sprinkled in to explain the 'Blitzkrieg USA' bullshit.

I'd like to bring attention to this page in particular. I believe Tony's been sober for the last 25, or so, years in real time. That's probably about ten minutes comic book time. This is a pretty powerful page for an emotional guy like me, and since I can really only read a comic if it has better-than-average artwork, Stuart Immonen pencils me through just fine.

Which segues into Invincible #506. I have observed Salvador Larroca's evolution as an artist since the mid 90's, through his X-Men days in the mid 2000's and I can really appreciate the growth he has had in that time. It's improvement with practice, right? That doesn't always happen. Look at Chris Bachalo, who had superb pencils in the beginning of his career, and it steadily degenerated into the angular mess he produces today (See Avengers #15). It truly hurts me to say that. Bachalo used to be one of my favorites. Now it just seems so assembly-line. I'll complain about his artwork in another show. Good on you, Sal. As I've said, Fraction wrote both of these books and the plotting seems to glide from one to the next. Tony sacrificed his sobriety to get Odin's attention, and it worked, so to add insult to injury, Ol'One Eye threw Tony to the Dwarves, who treat sobriety as the disease. Can't make weapons of mass destruction without mass intoxication.

What my personal fear, and maybe that's the point of Fear Itself, is Tony falling off the wagon. Rhodey's not around to pick up the slack this time, so we would inevitably get Pepper to pick up the mantle, which kind of scares me. It's not that I don't like Pepper. I do. It's just that I like Pepper as the counterbalance and not the star. We'll see. If Fraction keeps it realistic this one drink has made Tony relapse and we will have to deal with Tony's alcoholism for another 30 issues.

I give these two books one ruined life down, and two tankards of mead up in cheer.