Writer: Christopher Cantwell

Artist: Cafu

Colorist: Frank D’Armata

Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna

Release Date: 10/21/2020

Price: $3.99

I have heard nothing but great things about Christopher Cantwell. I just can’t wrap my head around those comments when he has done nothing for this Iron Man title. It is only two issues in, but nothing has happened other than Tony Stark being injured in a great way in both issues. I heard today that he has a “Tom King way of writing” this was clearly used by someone who not a fan of Tom King’s writing, I am, but Cantwell is no Tom King. Even King sets up a story and progresses it before getting completely philosophical. Cantwell on the other hand has two issues of Iron Man under his belt, a total of forty plus pages written and all I know about this story is that Tony Stark wears an Iron Man suit on occasion. There is no substance, and there’s no connective tissue.

Cantwell’s odd obsession with obscure villains is already getting old really fast. First the Unicorn, and now Cardiac. These characters would probably interest a reader if they put up a good fight and challenged our hero. But Cantwell only uses them as a body to fill a panel. There’s no significance to these characters because the story is not important. Which is a crying shame with such a great artistic team. Cafu and Frank D’Armata make this book worth looking at at least.

Even with the Hellcat appearing to be a character we will see a lot more of in this series, I feel she’s just the character that explains Stark’s internal thoughts to the reader, and her her explaining Tony’s white privilege to Tony was a bit eye rolling coming from another white character, though her being a woman does put it in perspective of being able to see right through Tony. Cantwell want’s to take Tony Stark on this eye opening experience and change him as a character, but he’s doing it in a very unentertaining way. Tony Stark, Iron Man, is about the gadgets, the money, fame. As Cap said in 2012’s Avengers ”  Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?” solidify that in a comic, with a really good story. That’s where Cantwell should be going with this, not this nonsense that he’s attempting now.

Final Thoughts:

If Christopher Cantwell wants to take this “Tom King” type of story telling for a character like Tony Stark he needs to quickly move away from whatever he is doing now and shift before it’s too late. Readers of this generation can only take so much set up for so long, with little “one-offs” that do nothing for the story or character, this Iron Man series will be dead in the water by issue six.

5/10