Iron Man Giant Size / Annuals
IRON MAN ANNUAL 2001
"Hunted." Cover art: "Haberlin." Script: Chris Claremont. Art: Michael Ryan/Sean Parsons. "Black and White." Script: Frank Tieri. Art: Craig Wilson.
In the first story, Tony Stark is in the fictitious southeast Asian country of Sarawak (as Iron Man -- yet no definitive reason is given as to why) and government armored troopers are after his armor! After being zapped by a powerful EM pulse, Tony has to ditch the armor and escape as Stark. The new armor successfully cloaks itself while Stark then has to devise a way to get the armor back without tipping off Sarawak officials. He befriends one Anna Wei, a electronics genius, who helps him get the armor back. Decent tech talk and action, although Ryan's art seems a step down from his "Heroes Reborn" work. Perhaps this is due to Parsons' somewhat heavy inks -- he does have a Jim Mooney-ish effect on pencils (in other words, his inks cloud the penciler's true feel).
The second yarn deals with recent Stark enemy Ty Stone and his Dream Vision machine. Tony receives a telegram informing him that he is still in Stone's cyber-realm! Royally PO'ed, Stark dashes into Stone's office and demands an explanation. Tony doesn't buy Stone's story, and then suddenly Rumiko Fujikawa bursts into the room -- and disconnects a wire hidden under Stone's desk! It's revealed that Stone is completely dependent on his Dream Vision and was trying to trick Stark into helping him. Rumiko pleads for Tony's help, but he refuses. The ending shows Ru turning on Ty. Neatly done all in black and white, Tieri ties up some loose ends. Wilson's art is cartoony, but the B&W "helps" him.
Hube's Recommendation: 3 repulsors!
