The OLD ORDER CHANGETH:
A weekly column by AML founder Van Plexico

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Just finished IRON MAN #4 last night, and I'm trying to put my finger 
on exactly what it is that's... well, not bugging me, because I am very 
much enjoying the book...  I'm not quite sure what it is.   While I've read 
a lot of IRON MAN comics over the years, I haven't remotely read them 
all, so maybe it's just me.  But this does not remotely seem like any of 
the other IRON MAN runs I've read, and that sense only increases with 
each new issue.  

I've been very laudatory so far about the handling of Tony Stark-- Tony 
has his integrity back; he's a GOOD guy, a guy you root for and can respect.  
But in the past, for some reason, it's always seemed to me that Iron Man 
took on a different personality in the armor than Tony had just walking 
around in a suit.  Sort of like the way Spider Man seems to be a totally 
different character from Peter Parker--except when Kurt handled him 
in UNTOLD TALES OF SPIDER-MAN.  I'm starting to realize that this new 
Iron Man isn't really "Iron Man," this is Tony Stark in a suit of armor.  
That's not a complaint, just an observation.  It's different-- at least, 
to me it is; there may have been a writer somewhere along the way who 
handled Shellhead this way, but I doubt it.  And really, it's a more complex 
way of handling him.  More intelligent.  Dare I say-- more realistic?

The main way I see this affecting the storyline is that it makes the 
IRON MAN issues seem more like installments in a larger "adventure/intrigue" 
novel, and less like a periodic straight "action/adventure" series.  Could 
this be part of what's putting some readers off?  Probably.  It may seem 
like an odd thing to say, but as I alluded to above, this comic reads much 
more like Kurt's UNTOLD TALES OF SPIDER MAN than anything else I can 
think of.  Is that a compliment or not?  Depends on your point of view.  
To me, it's a breath of fresh air that this title has needed for the better 
part of fifteen years.  It's simply unexpected.

So:  In sum, Tony's different-- outside of the "Teen Tony," this is by far 
the youngest Tony Stark I've ever seen, in looks and in thoughts and words-- 
yet he's smooth, self-assured, and in total control.  I like him a lot.  
Iron Man's different-- it's Tony in armor, and not a separate super hero 
guy who's supposed to be Tony's alter ego.  Both are "good," yet both are 
seemingly unfamiliar to the reader.  I dunno.  I've gone on this long, and 
I'm still no closer to nailing down exactly what it is about this comic...  

There's nothing about the new IRON MAN that I don't like.  Getting Tony 
away from the old cliche of Stark International/Enterprises; putting him 
in various exotic settings, with sultry women running around; giving him 
at least one little opportunity every issue to use the armor to do something 
exciting (am I the only one who finds it hard to imagine Kurt writing THIS 
Iron Man as staying in the armor for four or five issues in a row, like Mantlo 
did back in the '70s?)...  But something about it, somewhere, continues to 
gnaw at me... and defy my efforts to explain it.  I've said it before, so I'll 
say it again:  It's a great comic.  Maybe next issue I'll figure it out...

--Van