Iron Man Noir #3
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Manuel Garcia
Inker: Lorenzo Ruggiero
Scott Snyder, the mind behind Vertigo’s American Vampire, is doing just as much great work over at Marvel writing the compelling and fun Iron Man Noir series. A cross between Iron Man and Indiana Jones with a dash of Steampunk, Snyder’s “Noir” iteration of Iron Man is an action-packed adventure told just like the old adventure serials.
A lot of the conceits of the standard Tony Stark story are there, his heart is in trouble, he has Jarvis, etc., but for some reason this time and place seems a lot more interesting to me. It’s set during the late 30s, Nazi’s are all around, looking for artifacts to help win the war, Baron Zemo is leading the villainous charge, but who is he really? You might not like the answer to the question, but I certainly did and it added such a layer of depth to the whole issue and raised so many intriguing questions that I’m dying to read the next one. Although it reads like a pulpy-adventure, after reading and re-reading the issue, you can tell that the story is told with a careful finesse that seems to come natural to the storyteller. It begs to be read over and over again. The story is fun, the art is pretty to look at, and the story telling is great.
This is definitely a book you should be picking up. I understand if you feel like you’re jumping in too late and want to wait for the trade, but I guess my point might be that you missed the boat and you should pre-order your trade now.
Snyder is proving to be a force to be reckoned with in the comics medium and, as excellent as his prose work is, I hope he’s able to stay working in comics for a very long time.
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