The Future Is Ultron’s In Tony Stark: Iron Man #17
by Tony Thornley
One of the most frightening villain revamps in Marvel Comics history was when Ultron – already one of the most powerful foes in the universe – merged with his creator, Hank Pym. Every time this amalgam has resurfaced since, it’s taken every hero available to stop him. So what happens when it’s just one Avenger and his ragtag allies? That’s what Tony Stark: Iron Man #17 answers…
Dan Slott, Christos Gage, Francesco Manna, Edgar Delgado and Joe Caramagna put the Ultron Agenda in the spotlight!
Ultron has painfully merged Tony Stark with his armor and forced him into a violent confrontation over Central Park. While Tony desperately fights for survival, Rhodey, Jocasta and Wasp do their best to help. Can they prevent Ultron’s plan to tearing through the city and save the day?
While the plot is enjoyable with solid character work, this arc has lost a lot of the charm of the early issues of this volume. It’s shifted from a fascinating superhero sci-fi story about how near future technology could change the world, to a fairly standard superhero dust-up. Slott and Gage do a good job creating a solid, enjoyable story, but it doesn’t stand out or pop outside a conventional superhero comic.
Manna does a very solid job. He’s very “Marvel house style” but he has a fantastic sense of design, both with the amalgamated Tony-Iron Man body and the cyborg monsters on the attack. His fight choreography is very solid, with an eye for creating a sense of scale with wide layouts and POV that pulls in all the action to the frame. It looks great, especially with Delgado’s always great colors.
Tony and his friends have a battle for their lives and it’s been a fun read. I’m looking forward to what’s next.
Tony Stark: Iron Man #17 is available now from Marvel Comics.
