Hijinks Inc.

I’ve got to be honest, any reviews or opinions on media coming from me are almost always going to be a bit, shall we say, tardy?  I could be talking about old, but hardly nostalgic GameCube games - being behind the times by years, or, as with this post, late only by a matter of weeks.  Lest you think my tardiness is due to me being a lazy procrastinator (I am!), this is actually greatly related to my mendicant lifestyle.  Feel free to ask me about it sometime!

But you’re not here to listen (er, read) to me talk (uh, write) about me - you’re here about the first hot movie of the summer cinema season, Iron Man!  Alas, being tardy, the other Dave has already given you his opinion on the movie, which you can read here.  Back?  As I finally saw the movie yesterday, I’ll just second Dave that it’s AWESOME.

So what’s left, then?  Follow me, please.

Today well look at the roots of comic book movies, comic books.  Did you know you can check them out at the library now?  Me neither!  How do they stack up?  Check it after the jump.

Like Dave, I really didn’t read many comic books growing up.  I had most of my super hero exposure from cartoons and video games.  But recently, I’ve started to actually turn to the printed page, with mixed results.

Essential Avengers: Vol 1 - Alright, it’s not just him, but Iron Man is synonymous with Marvel’s answer to the Justice League, the Avengers, right after Captain America.  In fact, due to the success of Iron Man on the big screen, we’ll be seeing a lot more of these guys with the recently announced Thor, Captain America, Iron Man 2, and Avengers movies.   Start saving now, kids!

This collection is the first two years of the adventures of “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”, meaning these stories are OLD.  How do they read nowadays?  Against all odds, surprisingly well.  Seriously, I expected to be groaning in embarrassment every other panel.  But despite Tony Stark’s reliance on “transistor” powered technology, the word “fella” being bandied about with the prevalence of today’s “dude”, and the lack of color in these reprints, these stories are a prime example of why Stan Lee and Jack Kirby are as highly regarded as they are (and why the former keeps popping up in cameo roles nowadays).  The writing is classic Stan, and even though common facts can feel repeated a lot, due to the original episodic release of each issue, I never feel like Lee feels he has to bend over backward for me to get the facts and understand the story.  The art is lively and “pops” even without it’s original color.  Definitely worth a purchase for the paltry sum of $20 for twenty four issues.  Or be like me, and hit your library up for it.

My one complaint is the portrayal of women throughout the book.  I don’t know if it’s just Stan trying to connect with teenage boys ideas of women, or just a product of the 60s, but almost every women is a vapid, fashion obsessed, air-head.  The Wasp, a founding member of the Avengers, is particularly grating, as she hits on everyone from Thor to the Hulk (okay, not really) in order to make her beau Ant Man/GiAnt Man/Goliath/Yellow Jacket/The Burger King/Henry Pym jealous.  Or complaining about her make-up smearing.  Or off to one of many fashion shows.  Honestly, I wonder if she’s actually interested in fighting crime, or is just after a man to complete her forlorn existence.

Ultimate Iron Man Vol.1 - For about the same price, you could also pick up the more recent, more colorful Ultimate Iron Man, penned by the author of Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card.  For those not in the know, Marvel’s Ultimate universe books, feature more modern takes on their classic heroes for today’s sensibilities (no mention of transistors here!).  This book collects Ultimate Iron Man issues 1-5, in one nice package.  Er, kind of.

Chronicling the story of Tony ’s childhood, adolescence, and teen years, the book shows where his inventive skill comes from, as well as the start of his alcoholism, and the surprisingly sympathetic reason for it.  Well written, and very well illustrated, the book is unfortunately hampered by the lack of one thing - no ending.

Yes, I realize that the episodic nature of comic books is to be considered, but as a collection, Ultimate Iron Man Vol.1 fails at telling a complete story.  When compared to the Avenger comics from almost half a decade ago, in which each issue tells of an adventure with a beginning, middle, and ending in just about 20 pages,  the almost cliffhanger-like ending of Iron Man feels almost criminal.  As such, with no knowledge of if the next collection will have any more of a conclusion, or how many individual issues are required to get there, I can’t really recommend this one.

So, there we go, two very different takes on the Armored Avenger.  Where one shows Iron Man’s role in a team setting, and his relationships forming with these other big guns of Marvel, the other does a great job showing just what makes Tony tick under that armor.   See if your library as them.