World's Most Wanted

The Invincible Iron Man #16
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artist: Salvador Larroca
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Rating: 4 Stars

Things are crap all over for poor Tony Stark. First, his suggestions to a bunch of stuffy politicians led to the Civil War among Marvel's heroes and villains. Then, he lost his job as the head honcho of S.H.I.E.L.D. when Norman Osborn saved humanity from the Skrull Empire when they secretly invaded Earth. Now, ol' Normie has a serious mad-on to find him and make him pay for failing to protect humanity.

That's what's going on in Iron Man. The current storyline is called "World's Most Wanted" and issue #16 is part 9 of this arc!

So, Tony's on the run from Osborn's stormtroopers. Tony's got some pretty heavy stuff about all the people in the world who registered their secret identities with the U.S. government. As Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., it was up to Stark to protect all that information. So, to further his own devilish plans, Normie wants that info. Tony downloaded it all to his brain.

Tony decided the only way to keep that information, and all his Iron Man tech, from being taken by force was to deleted it from his brain permenantly. The only problem? It will turn him from being one of the greatest minds in the world into a complete (and probably drooling, because drooling only helps show how stupid one can be) moron. Now, he's globtrotting and trying to keep himself safe just long enough for the last bit of brilliance is erased from his brain.

Through close calls and near misses, Tony's slowly degrading into a norm and having more and more trouble controlling his own Iron Man tech. He's constantly needing to downgrade from one suit of armor to the next so he can continue to elude Osborn's clutches. Tony knows that it's only a matter of time before he will no longer be able to be Iron Man.

As far as Marvel Comics go, The Invincible Iron Man is second only to Captain America in quality. This book has been great from the beginning with good action and some really nice art from Larroca. If you are new to comics or don't really read anything from Marvel, but looking to try something new, I don't think you can do too much better than this title. You might want to wait until November to pick up on the new storyline, but definitely take a look at the collected trade book of "World's Most Wanted". You really get an idea of how far the Mavel U. has degraded since Osborn's rise to power. I really like seeing Stark being less of the maverick and instead being the guy who just needs to keep running with no other options at his disposal.

Oh... I really can't post this entry without mentioning that *sigh* The Hood and his crazy ass girlfriend, Madame Masque, has shown up in this arc and *bigger sigh* has played a pretty large role in the goings on. Can someone tell me why this douche is such hot shit right now and trapsing through pretty much every Marvel comic on the stands?

Thanks for reading. I will post again over the next couple days with some commentary from the Chicago Comic Con!