Dex's Comic Awareness

Ultimate Iron Man #3
written by Orson Scott Card
pencils & cover by Andy Kubert

This has been another comic book written by an author who normally writes prose. Card is best known for his "Ender's Game." It's a great sci-fi read and I suggest it and the rest of the series to anyone interested in sci-fi.

This book has been coming out as frequently as Secret War, which is to say that it's coming out every three to four months. It's been so long that I had to actually read the little review section at the beginning. But I guess that's what they are there for. I must say that I really don't give a shit about Secret War after all this time. The same is not true of this. It's really starting to get good.

Now some people are going to have a problem with Tony having regenerative powers on the same level as Wolverine, which he evidently does. And they explain his great intellect as a result of his whole body being one large brain. It definitely changes the character's archetype of a normal human in a suit of armor. But this is the ultimate universe and I really don't see a problem with it here. Card is doing a great job with it now that we've actually gotten to the point in the story where we are seeing Tony do more than cry as a baby.

Stane goes to prison after Tony is rescued and Loni leaves him to rot in there. She takes her kid and half his money and companies. She meets up with Tony's dad and offers to give him all of his old company back in exchange for getting her kid into the special school that the Fantastic Four are at.

Tony meets up with Rhodes who is being bullied by racists. Tony tries to help out and makes things worse. But Tony's so ingratiatingly nice and honest that Rhodes takes a liking to him. Pretty much Tony gets Rhodes to test out his new armor which has an electrical shock to it. The racists come off as a little cliché simply because I can't imagine three kids being so stupid and mean. But then again, I didn't go to an all boys’ private school so I don't really know. From my experience though, private school kids are usually fucked up, assholes, or anti social so I guess it fits.

This series is supposed to only be Tony’s origin story in a similar vein to the ones they did for Elektra and Daredevil. It's a nice sci-fi story and you come to really like Tony and Rhodes together. I'd recommend fans of Ellis' sci-fi comics and those into the Ultimates pick this book up.

Rating - Good