Invincible Iron Man #10 Review

 

Writer: Gerry Duggan

Artist: Juan Frigeri

Colorist: Bryan Valenza

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Lucas Werneck; Chris Allen & David Curiel; Cafu; Meghan Hetrick; Bob Layton & Paul Mounts; George Pérez & Edgar Delgado

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: September 27, 2023

 

Industrialist Kelvin Heng, a.k.a. Feilong, bought Stark Unlimited via a hostile takeover. He used Tony Stark's proprietary technology to aid Orchis' attacks on mutants by building thirty-foot-tall Stark Sentinels. Tony's bid to destroy the Sentinels ended with Rhodey, a.k.a. War Machine, in prison.

 

Forced to comply with a court order, Tony deleted his B.O.S.S. operating system and gave Feilong his Mark 70 armor. Can Tony Stark free Rhodey, turn the tables on Feilong, and save mutants everywhere from the evil Orchis organization? Let's blast into Invincible Iron Man #10 and find out!

 

 

Story

Feilong is all about the show. He gets a guard to hand Rhodey a cell phone, then uses a masked servant at the Hellfire Club to bring Tony Stark one. Feilong arrives in time to watch Tony listen while inmates beat Rhodey to death. Thankfully, Tony's made a deal with Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. Kingpin, the new White King of the Hellfire Club. The big man's got friends in places high and low. That includes the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas, one of the harshest prisons in the United States.

 

Feilong doesn't realize that Tony could kill him at any time. Disguised as his assistant Hazel Kendal, Emma Frost would like nothing better than to use her psychic powers to fry his brain. But that wouldn't stop Orchis from hurting mutants or inciting hatred across the globe. Feilong holds all the cards, and Tony's only got one viable play. As readers of X-Men #26 know, opportunity strikes when you least expect it.

 

 

 

Feilong doesn't miss an opportunity to disadvantage Tony Stark in Invincible Iron Man #10. When he sees Tony hustle Hazel into a side room, he intrudes on Tony's privacy. Feilong misinterprets the inhibitor ring Tony wants Emma to wear for a wedding band. To see the former billionaire bachelor settling down with his secretary must smell like victory. How else can you explain Feilong following Tony and Emma to Las Vegas? Now that he's broken Tony, Feilong can help Tony rebuild his life. So long as Tony knows who's the boss.

 

Feilong doesn't realize Las Vegas is all a show for him. Or perhaps not all. Tony Stark's got practical reasons for slipping into Sin City apart from a shotgun wedding. Still, after Wilson Fisk lost his wife at the Hellfire Gala, Tony Stark gets a wife in Invincible Iron Man #10. Wilson Fisk wants Typhoid Mary back. Emma wants out of the relationship ASAP. As for what Tony wants, time will tell.

 

 

Art

Juan Frigeri portrays Tony Stark's reversal of fortune with imagery that celebrates Iron Man's rich history in Invincible Iron Man #10. Scenes inside the Hellfire Club marry well with those in X-Men #26. Colorist Bryan Valenza helps prison scenes hum with drama and surprise with explosive action. Some favorite moments include seeing images of Howard Stark, Tony clad in his first Iron Man suit, and the rented red Ferrari parked outside the aptly-named Gamble Of Love wedding chapel.

 

 

 

Joe Caramagna's dialogue occasionally shrinks in Invincible Iron Man #10, but most are easier to read than in X-Men #26. I especially like the typewritten narrative in light-blue boxes. Ostensibly extracts from Tony's memoir, they don't impress Emma Frost. Still, Tony Stark's autobiography could prove a best seller and fund his next financial empire.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Desperate situations call for unlikely partnerships and desecrating sacred institutions in Invincible Iron Man #10.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 Review

 

Cover Artists: Corin Howell & Brian Reber; George Pérez & Alex Sinclair; Clarice “Saowee’ Menguito

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: August 2, 2023

 

First Story

Writer: Erica Schultz

Artist: Julian Shaw

Colorist: Andrew Dalhouse

 

Second Story

Writer: Celeste Bronfman

Artist: David López

Colorist: KJ Díaz

 

A transplant from Milwaukee discovers why, as she tells her mother, New York City has a superhero on every corner. Not even birthday parties are safe in the Big Apple! What can Spidey do to protect people on the streets and in their homes? Let’s fwip into Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 and find out!

 

First Story

Peter’s flying through the streets when he notices a demon harassing a woman from Milwaukee. After the fight, Spider-Man tracks the miscreant back to Limbo Embassy. His attempt to capture Demon Daddy sends both crashing inside. Naturally, this initiates more fighting as the miscreant's fellows take umbrage at Peter's intrusion. Amid the chaos, Hallows' Eve slips into Chasm's cell and tries to free him.

 

At first glance, Spider-Man seems incidental to Erica Schultz’s story. But the careful reader will notice the links I missed on my first read-through. I should have been reading Marvel's Hallow’s Eve series (and perhaps the X-Men), as Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 made me realize how much I've missed Janine, Ben Reilly, and Madelyne Pryor since Dark Web Finale #1. The ill-fated lovers' saga continues while the Goblin Queen discovers that ruling a kingdom is less fun than chicanery. Madelyne's weariness over the tedium—and her solution to Spider-Man's intrusion—is understandable. One can only imagine her pain for her fellow mutants' suffering after the events of X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1.

 

Art

Julian Shaw kicks panels into high gear in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. Characters show spark and individuality, and he captures motion well. Sometimes the demons' features look fuzzy. That's a shame, as they've got a spunky appearance. I especially liked Peter's Spider-Glider. While I've been reading this series for ten months, Julian's take on Bug made me sit up and take notice. I also loved the way the Limbo Embassy rose above NYC's crowded skyline and the architectural design of its halls and rooms.

 

After enjoying his coloring on Valiant titles like Bloodshot, Ninjak, and Rai, Andrew Dalhouse’s contribution to Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 was a pleasant surprise. Intense, bright colors gave ample contrast to outside scenes. The way he gradually faded the background colors was a nice touch. Characters usually stand out inside the embassy, and he makes Hallows' Eve and Chasm pop. I wish he could have made the walls, columns, and spiky ceilings brighter and less gray.

 

 

Second Story

After Erica Schultz’s twenty-page story, Celeste Bronfman's ten-pager gets off to a rocky start in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. At least it did for me, as I missed the Spider symbol that stood in for The End. The lack of titles for either story and editor Nick Lowe's decision to leave the second story credits for the final page tricked me into thinking this constituted a continuation of Spider-Man’s Limbo Embassy chicanery. Still, after a page or two, I remembered that annuals often include multiple stories. The difference in art styles also helped.

 

Mary Jane and her beau Paul throw a birthday party for her aunt Anna Watson. Sadly, chaos erupts due to events spinning out of X-Men Hellfire Gala #1, which editor Nick Lowe insists, "I’m telling you, stuff went down!" While Spider-Man plays the hero, the story doesn't show Peter at his best. Or how about the peeps at the bakery who wrote "Happy Earth Day, Anna" on the cake? Peter suggests it was a misunderstanding, but Earth Day only happens once a year. Or do people celebrate personal Earth Days? Is that a thing? In any case, I can't imagine it taking more than a few minutes for the decorators to fix the mistake. Also, Mary Jane's solution works so rapidly that I had trouble believing this tale.

 

David López’s characters are appealing and convey motion believably in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. I had trouble interpreting emotions in a few scenes, and most panels could have benefitted from more background elements. Perhaps a bolder palette would have enriched the party scenes. Still, those set at Ravencroft, when the characters are outside in the rain, and the final panel, will thrust a dagger into your heart.

 

 

Joe Caramagna’s lettering is beyond impressive. Ample-size uppercase black letters in white dialogue balloons are easy to read, even when scenes burst with dialogue. Sound effects and heightened dialogue are expressive and energetic. Small moments—such as Madelyne thumping her staff and Spidey hitting the pavement—are only two highlights of his word mastery.

 

Final Thoughts

The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 gives readers a peek inside New York City's exclusive Limbo Embassy, an invitation to Anna Watson's B-Earth Day party, and a haunting look at Ravencroft Institute. While Spider-Man seems more incidental than central, the stories explore the edges of his world and hint at possible future events.

 

Rating 8.9/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.