Iron Man Noir #1: Review

Apr 2010

Scott Snyder, Manuel Garcia

Story Name:

Iron Man: Noir Part 1

Review & Comments

Rating:

Iron Man Noir #1 Review by T Vernon (October 2, 2021)

Comments: British Honduras would be renamed Belize in 1981.

Review: One of a series of film noir inspired reimaginings of various Marvel characters made at this time. Problem is, the title here doesn’t fit. This isn’t noir, it’s a pastiche of pulp adventure stories of the 1920s and 30s, similar to the Indiana Jones movies. That aside, it’s a pretty cool adventure, hitting all of the right notes for its genre including a fast pace, a voyage to an exotic location, and a horde of ruthless baddies. It also features the period sexism towards Pepper Potts while including her as the standard sassy woman writer/reporter the 1930s pop culture world was known for. Oddly, the story omits the period racism with no one questioning Rhodey’s being in a leadership position. Jarvis as an inventor, not a butler, gives him a more important role in the story and Namor as a pirate, disconnected from the Atlantis that figures in the plot, was a daring move. Strangest moment: Virgil’s narration ends abruptly when he is killed. All told, this is a nice little miniseries, just misnamed.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Iron Man Noir #1 Synopsis by T Vernon

1939: adventurer Tony Stark is leading a party through British Honduras; his companions are James Rhodes, naturalist; Gialetta Nefaria, assistant and lover; and Virgil Munsey, chronicler of his adventures for Marvels magazine. They are searching for the fabled jade mask of the Mayan underworld. Tony discovers the entrance and unlocks the secret entrance. They travel underground through a watery cave and Tony fights a giant snake. At a pyramid, Tony discovers the jade mask—and Gialetta reveals she is working for the Nazis. Baron Zemo and Baron Strucker arrive with back-up and start by murdering Virgil. Gialetta dons the mask and Tony sets off explosives and the villainess is caught in their wake. Tony and Rhodey escape through the water-filled tunnels and surface in the sea where a pair of attractive young women discover them….

Back in New York, Tony and Rhodey are introduced to the new writer who will be chronicling their adventures for Marvels magazine—and a stunned to find it is a woman, Ms. Pepper Potts, who is eager to start….

Tony and Rhodey go to Stark Lab where they are met by a suit of weaponized armor. It is Jarvis, sidekick to Tony’s late father the inventor Howard Stark. Jarvis is working on perfecting Howard’s designs for a suit of battle armor. Jarvis then performs his most important activity: recharging Tony Stark’s damaged heart with a huge battery….

Later, Tony looks through Gialetta’s things and finds maps and a notebook on the lost continent of Atlantis and he has the idea for his next adventure….