Tony Stark has two birthdays to celebrate in 2023. It has been fifteen years since Robert Downey Jr. first played the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Iron Man (2008) and it is the 60th anniversary of Tony’s first appearance in Tales of Suspense #39. It’s the latter that Marvel Comics’ new miniseries, I Am Iron Man, celebrates. Penned by Murewa Ayodele with art by Dotun Akande, the book offers six issues that take place in different periods across Tony’s life.
I Am Iron Man #1
Dotun Akande (Artist), Murewa Ayodele (Writer), VC’s Joe Caramagna (Letterer)
Marvel Comics
March 1, 2023
I’ll be honest: this comic was hard for me to follow. It sounds like the plan for I Am Iron Man is a series of connected but individual stories (not quite one-shots), which is tricky: telling a solid story with satisfying stakes is no easy feat with less than 30 pages. This issue packs in too much content without the needed explanation to work. My best understanding is that Tony is met with a bass guitar-wielding villainess who has time traveled on multiple occasions to face off against him. Without getting too spoiler-y, pocket dimensions are also involved.
With all the specific details that go uncontextualized, this reads like it should be a few issues into a connected, longer run. I don’t consider myself a neophyte of experimental comics either, as I’ve enjoyed some strangely-structured work in my time. This, however, feels needlessly time-jumpy and complicated for an issue that seems to have a fairly simple villain. Although comic art need not entirely hold the hand of the reader, a little more clarity in both story and art could assist in comprehension.
The main issue with clarity here is both temporal and spatial. Where is Tony, when is Tony, and why is the villain there with him? The way time works in current Marvel Comics and its malleability might create some pause for a reader who isn’t well-versed in the universe’s lore. When the book does try to explain this aspect, it becomes dense and hard to track, with a herd of speech bubbles peppering the art. This timeline feels worthy of a longer series that could expand and feed the complexity to a reader slowly. The pocket dimension seems to be a huge part of the narrative as well, yet it’s thrown in with no meaningful backstory. It was a cool concept, but with no context, I couldn’t fully enjoy it.
Although advertised as a great starting point for new Iron Man readers, newbies will need to also accept some vagueness. In particular, Tony’s tech and abilities are put on full display but not explained. The book lands well when Tony’s voice as a character shines through, but more of his personality on display would help make this feel more introductory.
Akande’s art is a little disjointed when it comes to action sequences and it can sometimes be difficult to figure out what’s happening across panels, but the coloring feels dreamy in its smoothness, helping to elevate the futuristic aspect of the timeline. The rendering of Tony’s technology is also compelling and works to balance out the lack of context around it.
Overall, the bassist villain is a little silly, which is typically fine, but I wish there were more weight and meaning to the story. I’m willing to give I Am Iron Man a few more issues, especially since the individual story format may allow for stronger stories, down the line.
