Review: ‘Invincible Iron Man’ #19 Has Too Little Iron Man, Too Much X-Men

The X-Men have already said their goodbyes to the Krakoan Age. There’s no “Fall of X” logo on this issue’s cover. Yet, Invincible Iron Man isn’t yet free of its obligations as an ancillary X-title. While the amount of Iron Man-specific material increases appreciably in Invincible Iron Man #19 — and the issue is better for it — the bulk of it is still dealing with the fallout of events which, ironically, the rest of the X-Men books have already left behind.

After being featured intermittently in subplot pages over the previous several months, Jim Rhodes takes center stage in this issue. Having escaped from jail via an old War Machine suit, Rhodey enters the Bar With No Name and sets about recruiting super-villain allies to take the fight to Orchis. Furthermore, he arms them with the cache of super-weapons Tony Stark bankrupted himself to acquire (allowing Feilong to sweep in and gain control of Stark’s company). It’s a smart move from writer Gerry Duggan, as it centers the action on a core member of the book’s cast while furthering subplots specific to the title (vs. the wider Orchis conflict shared across the line). 

Artist Andrea De Vito also helps contribute to the “Iron Man-ification” of the story. He is one of those artists who probably doesn’t sell a ton of issues on the strength of his name being in the credits, but is nevertheless a reliable presence. True to form, he brings a smooth, classical look to the issue. While lacking the over-the-top kineticism of previous issues, De Vito’s style fits the plot better. With dozens of super-villains running around, and a focus on the interactions between Rhodey and Tony Stark, the characters are distinct and the action easy to follow. Tony and Rhodey’s long-simmering showdown is elevated by Di Vito’s skill with clean lines and facial expressions, keeping their confrontation in the foreground even as stuff like a jet pack-wearing Rhino fighting a fleshy tentacle monster is happening in the background of panels.

At the same time, this is still functionally an X-Men title. The backdrop to all the action and character beats is the ongoing struggle with Orchis. Tony’s marriage to Emma is a point of contention with Rhodey. It’s revealed what Tony did with Feilong after the fight with Magneto in the previous issue. For as much as Duggan & De Vito are trying to put the more Iron Man-centric elements of the series in the foreground, it’s hard to escape just how overwhelmed the series has become by outside elements. 

That is a shame. The best parts of the issue are the more Iron Man-centric stuff: the classic villains, the Tony/Rhodey tension. It’s hard to care too much about all the Orchis material, given the final fate of that organization and their efforts against the X-Men has already been chronicled elsewhere. It’s also a shame because this series is ending next month. With the final fate of Tony and Emma’s marriage still to be addressed — as set up in this issue — there isn’t a lot room left for the book to do much in the way of “Iron Man” stuff. This iteration of the series was almost always going to go down in history as, “the one where Iron Man became an X-Men character for awhile.” But given how much more Invincible Iron Man #19 pops when the X-Men stuff gets shoved in the background (almost literally), it’s too bad the series won’t have more time to re-establish its own identity — especially when the X-Men titles themselves have already moved on.