IRON MAN vol. 3 #63 (408)
(Feb. 2003) "You Can't Always Get... part 2."
Cover art: "PMR."
Script: Mike Grell.
Art: Michael Ryan/Sean Parsons.
Well, at least Iron Man didn't have very much trouble freeing himself from the sinking naval vessel in this issue's first few panels -- as it should be! Ryan and Parsons' art only continues to get better -- the IM splash on page 3 is absolutely sensational! Cool seeing IM utilize a head-mounted searchlight in his quest for freedom, but why use a force field which uses "up a lot of power down here" (as seen on page 4)? Doesn't make much sense. After a gratuitous scuffle with a giant squid, IM gets together with the [friendly] sub crew and begins the search for the North Korean and Iraqibad guys. Meanwhile, Rumiko and Pepper are still arguing...and Ru throws a bomb: She tells Pepper "You think you know him (Tony) so well? You didn't even know he was in love with you." Upon leaving the party, Ru runs into the street person (Angela the Angel?) from last ish.
IM tracks down the rogue submarine -- in New York harbor! He jams their announcement that the Big Apple is about to buy it, and then busts into the vessel itself in another awesome all-IM splash page! He finds the nuke -- but it doesn't look as if he'll be able to defuse it in time! Just when it looks like NYC will be become a crater, we next see Tony greeting Rumiko on the street! It looks like Tony/IM had some no-so-subtle "divine intervention!" Considering when these last two issues came out (December), Grell ends up delivering a nice little reminder of what the holidays are all about.
Hube's Recommendation: 3 repulsors!
Fan Reaction: My assumption on the force field comment was that the suit's force field is what was keeping it from being crushed at that depth. I don't think he meant an external one, but the field that keeps the suit rigid.
Hube, I have to disagree with your complaint about the force-field. I think Grell was refering to the force-field that keeps the armor rigid. Without it, Iron Man is just a guy in chainmail and would squished like a normal human at a fraction of that depth. Otherwise, your review was perfect. The art is really cool this issue and watching Iron Man trash the submarine was awesome! Iron Man really seemed like Iron Man this issue!
Hube responds to the above two: The "internal" force field that keeps the armor rigid is always functioning. According the IRON MANUAL and HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE: BOOK OF WEAPONS, HARDWARE & PARAPHERNALIA (#15), this "field" is actually a "magnetic effector beam." Maybe that's what threw me, as I assume "force field" means an external, deflecting field. Nevertheless, certainly, Shellhead would need to divert extra power to the field to compensate for the pressure. Of course, utilizing his Hydro Armor would have been a better idea, but alas...
Fan Reaction 3: Just finished the latest ish of IM. Nice neat little wrap up to the storyline (almost too neat). Really don't see the point of the scuffle with the squid. I guess Grell made Ru a little more likeable this ish as well. My real comment for this issue was the letter page. The people's letters that they are printing must all be Iron Man Newbies. Those people need to go to a comic shop and buy out the late 70's and 80's of IM to know what a good comic is. Looking forward to the big crossover issues. -- SZKZ
Fan Reaction 4: My review of #407 and #408? Still totally crap but an improvement over the "In Shining Armor" fiasco. ‘Nuff said about that. It was worth buying that crap if it finally got Grell off this book. WE SHOULD BE CELEBRATING! In my 30 years+ of reading this title I’ve never been more upset at the direction of the book. And yes, that includes the Teen Tony/Time Slide mess. I ask one question: "When was the last time we saw a super villain in this title?" I don’t know; I’d have to look it up. I think that says everything for me. Fighting the normally powered Mandarin’s son, giant squids, solving murder mysteries and knights from the past is totally boring crap. Granted, good story arcs don’t have to have super villains (see Daredevil, The Ultimates) but come on. I’ve always loved issue #127, Iron Man kicking some major butt and a lot of action. Armor Wars, action. No one has had less of an understudying of either Iron Man, Tony Stark or this title in general. Now we have to live with Grell’s legacy of Tony revealing his secret identity to the world for no good reason plus Tony getting Pepper pregnant. Great writing, not! God, I miss Bob Layton. I’m giving this baby 4 repulsors to celebrate a brighter future for Iron Man. -- Greg Varesco
Fan Reaction 5: This issue was cool! Nice to see Iron Man smashing through torpedoes and submarines like the old days! By the way, I agree that the force-field refered to was the one that animates the armor.
