Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Stefano Caselli; Alex Maleev; David Marquez; Daniel Acuña; Leinil Francis Yu; Gerry Alanguilan; Jim Cheung; Mike Deodato Jr.; Mark Bagley; Andrew Hennessy; Scott Hanna; Andrea Sorrentino; Marte Gracia; Guru-eFX; Romulo Fajardo; Marcelo Mailolo; Rachelle Rosenberg; & VC’s Clayton Cowles
Cover Art by Chris Sprouse; Karl Story; & Edgar Delgado
SUMMARY:
Published by Marvel Comics for July 2018, this double-sized issue is entitled “The Search for Tony Stark: Finale.” As narrated by an A.I. matrix Tony Stark built to mentor Riri “Ironheart” Williams, it reveals Tony resurrecting James Rhodes using advanced technology.
Meanwhile, Riri and her armored ally, Toni Ho, are among others (including Miles “Spider-Man” Morales and Blade) recruited as a new squad by Leonardo Da Vinci. Toni’s elderly biological mother, Amanda Armstrong, is confronted by the sinister Jude (who is Tony’s biological father).
On the high seas, a mass super-villain army schemes to seize Stark Enterprises. After Dr. Doom’s Doom-bots attack the super-villains’ vessel, Iron Man & War Machine intervene. Dr. Doom is hideously deformed by a former ally. Interrupting a rooftop reunion, Mary Jane Watson saves Amanda’s life from assassination. A skirmish between HYDRA and Iron Man’s battalion ignites. Tony confronts his biological parents. The A.I. matrix teases possible future storylines, as Doom’s fate is left unresolved.
Note: For the variant covers (the images aren’t provided), the artists are: Alex Ross; Olivier Coipel; John Romita Jr., Bob Layton, Matt Yackey, & Michael Kelleher.
REVIEW:
Courtesy of a formidable arsenal of artists, much of Invincible Iron Man # 600 is enhanced by stellar graphics. The detriment, all too obviously, lies with Brian Michael Bendis’ stupidly contrived storyline. Case in point: Tony Stark’s god-like technology evidently can now raise the dead, even days or months after the fact, as James Rhodes is conveniently revived as good as new.
Another eye-roller is retroactively inserting an ex-rock star/part-time SHIELD agent and a HYDRA double agent as Tony’s true birth parents. Clearly, Marvel Comics didn’t learn its lesson years ago from a similarly hackneyed gimmick in Spider-Man (specifically, Peter Parker’s long-dead blue-collar parents are dubiously revealed as secret agents) to leave established backstories well enough alone.
Further, Bendis clutters this story with irrelevant characters, as far too few of them actually contributed to Iron Man reaching this 600th issue milestone. Appearances (even single-panel cameos) by the franchise’s long-time supporting cast (i.e. Pepper Potts) were inexplicably deemed unnecessary. In that sense, this supposedly commemorative issue wastes its top-flight artwork with such a ridiculous storyline.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
There’s a two-page photo homage re: Brian Michael Bendis’ goodbye to Marvel Comics. The final page offers cover reveals for Tony Stark: Iron Man # 1; Avengers # 1; and Champions # 20.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 4 Stars
