My next Bento Box came in with four graphic novels themed on the “gray,” where good guys may be bad and bad guys may be good. Once again, I’m reading them in the order the card inside suggested, so that means up first is Superior Iron Man Volume One: Infamous.
Man, this is two months in a row that Comics Bento has sent me an Iron Man trade. I’m still not much of an Iron Man fan outside the movies, but here goes.
The basic concept of Superior Iron Man was a result of Marvel’s Axis storyline. That crossover event thingamabob had a situation where a group of heroes and villains, all battling the Red Skull, had their moral compasses switched around. The heroes became evil, and the bad guys became heroic. When that story ended, three characters were not changed back. One of those was Iron Man. So, the “superior” Iron Man is basically, “What if Tony Stark was evil?”
So, to be clear, Tony’s not out killing people or robbing banks. Instead, he relocates to San Francisco and starts giving out a modified version of Extremis to make people handsome and strong and all that fun stuff. First 24 hours is free, after that its about a $100 a day. And the stuff’s addictive. So, now Tony’s kind of a drug dealer.
He’s also changed his armor to show his face more, because he’s a lot more vain. And he’s drinking again. And he’s spying on the entire city. See, he’s still trying to be some sort of hero, but it’s rather dark when you see how he’s doing it from behind the scenes and not out in public where everyone loves him.
Well, not everyone. Daredevil had also relocated to San Francisco, and tried to bring Stark in when he realized what he was doing. Most of this trade seemed to be showing how incorruptible Matt Murdock is, while also showing all the different ways Tony could smack him around. It’s never close to a fair fight. Especially when some kid turned into a gamma monster gets involved.
The trade was OK, but knowing this series started just a bit before Secret Wars and Tony’s back to normal now from the looks of things, I am inclined to think the whole series is something of a waste. Let’s give it six out of ten badly named juvenile supervillains.
NEXT BOOK: Valiant Comics has been getting good press lately, so good news for me…the next trade is one of theirs. Be back soon for Rai: Welcome to New Japan.
Gabbing Geek 
The Daredevil arc was kinda interesting but I just wanted to punch that smug Superior Iron Man in the face. I stopped reading after that, but I don’t think they ever actually resolved him being “inverted”. I think they just let it go by the wayside as he relaunched out of Secret Wars as back to basics.
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I’d be surprised if they didn’t just fudge it change him back, like during that period where Tony was a teenager again, but I likewise think you were supposed to want to punch him in that smug face.
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