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Iron Man/Thor #1: Review

Jan 2011
Dan Abnett, Scot Eaton

Story Name:

God Complex (Part One)

Review & Comments

Rating:
3 stars

Iron Man/Thor #1 Review by (July 26, 2012)
Review: Big exciting epic is a throwback to the Silver Age when fake drama and dumb action were how to sell comic books, culminating in a climactic battle full of made-up jargon! The sole attempt at anything approaching depth comes in issue #3, when the villain amplifies the simmering mistrust the heroes have for one another; this just makes for a short dramatic kink in the plot and is immediately forgotten. What seems at first an impressive array of villains turns out not to be—they have no characterization at all; they are here simply to cause trouble. There’s the High Evolutionary, (naïve super-genius and poster boy for “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should”), Ulik the Troll (big hairy tough guy), the Crimson Dynamo (nameless, faceless guy in an armored suit), and Diablo (Jafar from Disney’s Aladdin), all filling in their roles nicely in this undemanding tale. I would attempt a critique of the theological aspects of the story, along the lines of the pointlessness of a human trying to create a god if I thought that the writers intended any of it to be taken seriously; I don’t so I won’t. The art is suitably over-the-top and action-packed though Thor’s face is way more rugged and thick-featured than usual. Verdict: Mindless entertainment, done the right way.

Comments: Reprinted in collected form as THOR/IRON MAN: GOD COMPLEX (note that the heroes’ names are reversed).




 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Iron Man/Thor #1 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

In the Carpathian Mountains, a hulking brute invades the castle of Baron Mordo, slaughters his monstrous servitors, and makes off with the magic amulet that hangs around the sorcerer’s neck….

In an unnamed dictatorship (dude, it’s North Korea; that’s Kim Jong Il standing there), Moses Magnum demonstrates his state-of-the-art orbital weapons platform, with advanced cloaking technology so that no other nation has detected it. As the demonstration proceeds, an armored figure, impervious to weapons fire, pierces the platform, emerging on the other side with an important component clutched in a red gauntlet, as the platform explodes behind him….

At the site of the destroyed Asgard in Broxton, Oklahoma, Thor stands in a bleak reverie, and Iron Man is overseeing a crew of high-tech workers as they clear the ruins in search of survivors of the disaster (see SIEGE for details). Someone is detected under the rubble but it turns out to be a huge fire-breathing dragon. And it’s angry too. Iron Man rescues his workers as Thor tries to subdue the monster—then Volstagg steps forward to claim it as his pet. Iron Man then receives an emergency call from Steve Rogers, telling him that there has been an experimental disaster in Russia and that they are asking for Tony Stark’s help in containing a black hole. Iron Man rushes to the scene, but it is a trap and he is attacked by a larger, magically upgraded Crimson Dynamo. Meanwhile back in Asgard, the workers have uncovered the Destroyer armor just as Ulik the Troll King, his body enhanced by science comes to claim it. Thor fights him—and is stunned to discover that his enemy can deflect a blow from Mjolnir. Ulik hits back, flattening Thor. In Russia, Iron Man is subdued by his foe and seized by a giant version of the High Evolutionary, who intends to build a god for the 21st century, and Iron Man will be the raw material….

 


Preview Pages
Click sample interior pages to enlarge them:




Scot Eaton
Jaime Mendoza
Veronica Gandini
Ron Garney (Cover Penciler)
Ron Garney (Cover Inker)
Jason Keith (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Captain America
Captain America

(Steve Rogers)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Tony Stark)
Thor
Thor

(Odinson)

Plus: Crimson Dynamo (Anton Vanko), Moses Magnum.

> Iron Man/Thor: Book info and issue index

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