Tony Takes the Fight to Space in Iron Man #7

Tony, Hellcat, Rhodey, and Team “God Fighters” find that space ain’t the place in Iron Man #7. Written by Christopher Cantwell, drawn by CAFU, colored by Frank D’Armata, and lettered by Joe Caramagna, the latest installment of the Armored Avenger adventures has Tony and his ramshackle team taking the fight to Korvac; both on the material and mental planes. Can they win? Probably not. But that isn’t going to stop them from trying anyway. We open on the super-dysfunction already in progress.

I have been having a hard time as of late getting people to believe that the new Iron Man is a good book. But I think Iron Man #7 might have just made that particular goal a bit easier.

Armed with an underappreciated acerbic energy and rendered in static, but evocatively old-school art, Iron Man #7 finally gives us the book promised in it’s wry opening sequence all the way back in #1; a sequence of Tony Stark, in all his bluff and bluster, realizing once again that he’s just a “man in a can” and having to operate (and shift his worldview) accordingly. Except THIS time, six issues later, we have all manner of gnarly side-details and a boisterously fun and still growing cast to support him and his increasingly brazen moves against the might of Korvac.

We open on Tony, the newly freed from Korvac’s klutches Rhodey, and the rest of his Not-Avengers. Tired of playing on the backfoot, Tony has decided to take the fight to Korvac, loading his team onto a Faster-Than-Light ship and aiming them in a merry chase across space to Galactus’ world-ship Taa II, where Korvac plans to ascend further and remake the universe in “harmony”. Snagging Tony’s plan of attack however, is the tiny detail that Korvac basically broke his neck and spine right before take off. Thus forcing Patsy Walker to perform a sort of ad-hoc and immensely horrifying surgery on Tony, fusing pieces of his armor together in an attempt to hold his freaking BONES in his skin long enough for them to put down Korvac and his mind-wiped minions.

So there’s THAT…

But even BEYOND that (which is far more bone-crunching than you would expect main title superhero books to be), Christopher Cantwell is now pretty much operating at a full sprint. While the early issues were understandably knocked for their pacing and bald character building (set mainly around his down-but-not-out take on Tony and his new wonderfully fun Gal Friday Hellcat), Iron Man #7 is just go go go from the jump. While some the smaller details of the team and their assembly might be lost for someone just coming in here, I would say Iron Man #7 is a pretty strong statement of intent for the Cantwell Era of Iron Man. Both allowing readers ample opportunity to get on this crazy ass ride alongside allowing it’s eclectic cast a real room to show out now that all the table setting is done.

Better still, Cantwell’s characterizations REALLY shine here in Iron Man #7. As Gargoyle, Scarlet Spider, Frog-Man, and Misty Knight debate divinity in the front of the ship (itself piloted by the Cantwell created mutant Halcyon), Tony and Rhodey share a terse, but stunningly in character “tune-up” session in the back, preparing themselves and their armor for the fight ahead. Then series co-lead Patsy Walker gets her time in the spotlight, standing alongside new super-BF Tony as they make amazing use of Patsy’s now re-awakened psionic powers to call Korvac to the carpet, ideologically speaking, forcing him to show them the nuts and bolts of the “harmony” he plans to bring to the universe. Obviously Tony and Patsy are less than enthusiastic about his plan (“It’s nothing grazing on nothing.” Tony flatly observes), but the real gold here is the characterizations still. Providing us diametrically different, but wholly entertaining shifts from their tenures under the pens of Dan Slott and Kate Leth. 

Though if I had one complaint with this new volume of Iron Man it would be that I would enjoy a bit more visual bombast for sure. Even though I really do love the team of CAFU and Frank D’Armata (a colorist that I think we undervalue as a Comics Community somewhat), Iron Man #7 does little to pep up the title’s visual immediacy. That said though, I DO think CAFU’s more expressive, slightly realist art style does jive well with Cantwell’s tensely, darkly funny scripting. But I also realize that that style isn’t for everybody and does tend to look droll when it comes to the action sequences, and Iron Man #7 is no exception.
But even with that quibble, I think Iron Man #7 is the issue that should finally get you paying attention to this series. While I am absolutely open to debating the merits of the Tony/Patsy pairing (a pairing that I myself am still not fully sold on beyond “well, they think they are going to die so I am okay with them kissing in the moment”), I think Iron Man #7 finds the series hitting its stride. Which is both exciting and concerning. Cantwell has already broken Tony and threw him and a bunch of misfits after a cosmic demigod, how much more weirdness and body horror can our Kinda-Avengers take? I have no idea, but I am very excited to find out. It’s about time you were excited along with me and Iron Man #7 will likely (hopefully) get you there.