Comic Info
Comic Name: Iron Man Noir
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Manuel Garcia
# of Issues: 4
Release Date: 2011
Iron Man Noir #2
Reprints Iron Man Noir #1-4 (June 2010-September 2010). Tony Stark is on an adventure to Mayan ruins in 1939 when his chronicler is killed and his girlfriend Gia Nefaria betrays him to Dr. Zemo and Baron Strucker of the Nazi party. Tony and James Rhodes barely escape with their lives and now have been assigned Pepper Potts who writes under a male pseudonym for Marvels: A Magazine of Men’s Adventures. Pepper, Rhodey, and Tony are now on a quest for the lost city of Atlantis and the possibility of new power. Tony is racing against the Nazis but also his own life as his damaged heart continues to grow weaker…his only chance might be the new source of power and a robotic suit of armor he’s designed to protect soldiers in combat.
Written by Scott Snyder, Iron Man Noir was part of Marvel’s alternate universe “noir” line of comics which included the X-Men, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Deadpool, Luke Cage, Punisher, and Wolverine. The four issue limited series features art by Manuel Garcia. The issues were also collected in Marvel Noir: Daredevil/Cage/Iron Man.
The Noir line seemed to come out of nowhere and did not feel majorly publicized as opposed to some of Marvel’s alternate “universes”. Spider-Man Noir was eventually incorporated into the mainstream Marvel comics in multiple appearances (which actually led me to this collection), but Iron Man and the other Noir characters do not seem to get much effort put into them by Marvel.
Iron Man Noir #4
The story is quite simple but does fit well in a world of noir with Tony Stark as a playboy adventurer. He’s a bit Indiana Jones, Doc Savage, and Flash Gordon all rolled into one. I’m sure this is what Snyder was attempting and he succeeded, but it is hard to develop the characters in the short four issues he was given. It has a bit of a steampunk feel also with the heightened technology. The series featured a boost to its recognition with Scott Snyder taking such a big and important role at DC Comics as the writer of Batman…and this Tony Stark feels a bit like a precursor.
Manuel Garcia’s art is good, but nothing spectacular. It is pretty standard fare comic book art that doesn’t make any great risks, though the cover art for the series is quite fun. It has the retro-high tech look that the series really needs and I wish that the painted style of the covers could have been included in the story.
The Noir line has pluses and minuses. With so many comic and alternate realities around, it takes a lot to ask buyers to go into another line-up of characters and continue to be interested. That being said, the Noir line is more interesting than some of the other big budget lines that both DC Comics and Marvel Comics have put out. They deserve a chance and hopeful will continue to pop-up occasionally besides Spider-Man…but if they do, it needs to be something more substantial than a one-shot or a quick “event” month.
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