This post is Filed Under:

Home page Highlights,
Interviews as well as Columns

Iron guy by Kurt Busiek as well as Sean Chen Omnibus

by Robert Greenberger

“I hear my IRON guy run will be collected in an Omnibus. Thanks, Robert Downey Jr! You’re welcome for the fancy tower as well as the armor pod, too!” Kurt Busiek tweeted this when he learned marvel Comics intended on releasing Iron guy by Kurt Busiek as well as Sean Chen Omnibus, collecting their collaboration during heightened rate of interest in all armored things thanks to Iron guy 3’s release next month. It’s really a worthy collection as it represents the fresh start marvel gave their core heroes after their dreadful sub-contracting to Image. The new beginning kicked off in 1998 with Busiek on Iron guy as well as The Avengers as well as it was clear he was steeped in Tony Stark’s adventures.

Recently, Kurt Busiek explained to me, “Iron guy was the marvel book I always wanted to write, however it wasn’t since I was a significant fan of the series. There are runs I like enormously, notably Archie Goodwin’s run on the character, however what made me want to write Iron guy was that I saw so much potential in the character, potential that I thought was only partly-realized in the various runs of the past.”

The mammoth book collects all 25 issues of Kurt & Sean’s run along with the 1999 Annual, Iron guy & Captain America Annual, Iron Man: The Iron Age, Captain America #8, Quicksilver #10, Avengers #7, fantastic four #15, Thor #17, Peter Parker: Spider-Man #11, as well as Juggernaut: The Eighth Day. As one may expect from so significant a book, all the stories can’t be winners however the batting typical is pretty high thanks to Busiek’s affection for action as well as understanding of character as well as story structure. Chen, just coming into his own as an artist, brought a fresh, sleek look to Stark, his armored change ego, as well as his friends as well as foes. other artists represented right here is a pretty impressive collection: Patrick Zircher, Andy Kubert, Derec Aucoin, George Perez, Sal Larcocca, Terry Shoemaker, as well as John Romita, Jr. Some issues were co-written by Roger Stern as well as the one-offs were handled by Richard Howell, mark Waid, Chris Claremont, Joe Casey, Dan Jurgens, as well as Howard Mackie. ideal there, this is a formidable line-up of talent.

Iron guy #9

The opponents shellhead faces are a collection of the familiar: Whiplash, M.O.D.O.K., Controller, Fin Fang Foom, count Nefaria, the Exemplars, as well as Ultimo, who lastly gets an origin. There’s a brand new villainous war machine as well as Busiek couldn’t resist working in the Mandarin. happy Hogan as well as Pepper Potts are welcome additions however Stark finds time to romance Rumiko Fujikawa.

Busiek went on to analyze what the charm is to him as a reader as well as writer. “I like the way he’s got four really strong as well as distinctive characters aspects: The superhero, the businessman, the inventor, as well as the ladies’ man. All four of those are excellent story engines, so having a character who’s got one of two aspects like that normally works out well, as well as Iron Man’s got four at once. As such, it’s simple to keep the series hopping, with stories coming from various of the character’s aspects.

“I like that he’s kind of a contemporary Rockefeller, feeling very consciously (or at least, as I see him) that his excellent wealth as well as stature comes from the people who work for him as well as the people who buy Stark industries stuff, so he owes those people his gratitude as well as protection. It’s a kind of noblesse oblige — he can’t fail to remember that he is who he is since the business works, as well as the business works since of a great deal of people other than him. So on the one hand, out of self-interest, a healthy world makes a healthy Stark Industries, which keeps him successful, so doing great things for the world assist him personally. as well as on the other hand, he owes something back to the people who make as well as sell as well as buy as well as use, the people who fuel his extravagant lifestyle. There’s a bit of the feudal lord in that, which makes for some fascinating contracts — is he protecting the world since he’s contemporary nobility as well as nobility is meant to secure the peasantry as well as profit from them? Or does he secure the world since he genuinely wants to make it work better, to make whatever work better?”

Iron guy #1

As one would expect, a brand new version of the crimson as well as gold armor is introduced as well as Busiek told fanzine advanced Iron, “Alex Ross as well as I had pitched an Iron guy proposal back when John Byrne left, before we did Marvels. Alex as well as I worked up a new style for the armor, as well as I really liked it, however the Iron guy editor never read the proposal.“When Sean as well as I took over Iron Man, Tom Brevoort was the editor at first. He as well as Sean as well as I went through a zillion armor designs, however nothing really worked for us. So I asked Alex’s authorization to use the armor style he as well as I had worked out, as well as Alex said sure.”

Busiek was fortunate to be paired with Chen, who brought a renewed touch to the characters, befitting the reboot. “I was very lucky to get to work with Sean as well as with Patrick Zircher as well,” he told me. “Sean’s work had an incredible style, a slick, polished look that really served Tony’s world well, as well as the glossy sheen of the armor stuff. Patrick is just a excellent storyteller, with a great deal of power as well as energy to his work.

“Roger Stern joined me as co-writer when I was overcommitted as well as getting sick — on Avengers Forever, we’d co-plot the stories as well as I’d dialogue them, on Iron guy we’d co-plot as well as Roger would dialogue them, as well as it’s always a treat to work with Roger, who has a excellent depth of understanding of marvel history as well as a excellent sense of story structure as well as character.”

The new series kicks off with the new armor however touches of the old marvel universe including the return of Countess Stephanie de la Spirosa from Tales of Suspense #69, demonstrating Busiek’s mastery of the continuity. however it isn’t all tripping down memory lane as he likewise introduces Carol Danvers’ alcoholism as well as her Warbird becomes a recurring player in the title, which comes in helpful when they fight a Sentry as well as then the Mandarin’s minions. then you get the Black Widow, Madame Masque as well as the new war machine (Parnell Jacobs), sporting the very first iteration of the armor from Iron guy #281. By the time Busiek bowed out with #25, we got not only Ultimo when more, however the short return of Bob Layton to Iron Man.

The weak spot is the Eighth Day crossover event that tried to boost Juggernaut as well as his ties to the mystical world through Cyttorak, who was revealed to be one of eight mystics trying to see who is supreme through the Wager of the Octessence. All eight created totems that, when touched by a human, would make them their pawn in the battle as well as lo, a crossover was created as well as just as swiftly forgotten.

Iron Man: The Iron Age

More successful is the two-part Iron Age tiny with art by Zircher. told by Pepper as well as Happy, it explores Tony Stark’s early days of running Stark industries as well as getting accustomed to his new discovered responsibilities as the golden Avenger. This is filled with many little touches – Roxxon, his parents, the gray armor — to make the old-time Marvelite’s heart beat a little faster.

“I’m a little shocked at just exactly how much of what I did with Iron guy turned up in the movies,” Busiek added. “I don’t think Jon Favreau was seeking to my run as source material, really — just that we were drawing on the same inspirations for a great deal of what we did. So I brought back happy as well as Pepper after years of disuse, as well as so did he. I used Whiplash as well as war Machine, so did he. That’s just us having similar tastes in great Iron guy material. some of the stuff, I introduced — the smart house, Stark Tower in Avengers, the flying armor-pod — as well as it was nice to see stuff like that turn up onscreen.

“But mainly, I think the people doing the motion pictures as well as I were simply appreciating the excellent strengths of the character as well as cast, as well as we drew from a great deal of the same stuff. It was fun to see such a familiar-feeling Iron Man, whatever the reason.”

Clearly, there was more he wanted to make with the characters, notably bringing back the Mandarin along with new villains as well as many more Tony-centric tales. Instead, he moved on as well as others guided the hero ever since. Still, he noted, “In the end, I’m pleased with what we did. It wasn’t my dream, however it was some great solid interesting comics.”

Classic comic covers from the Grand Comics Database.

Purchase

Iron guy by Kurt Busiek as well as Sean Chen Omnibus