Iron Man: Recommended Reading
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's According to Adam
If you hadn't heard, "Iron Man 2" is doing pretty well at the box office. It's a movie worth seeing. But what if you want more Iron Man? Well, you could always watch "Iron Man" on Blu-ray again, but I'd recommend hitting up your local comic book shop and getting your read on. As we all (should) know, Iron Man is one of the many comic book characters who made the transition to the big screen, but the general public isn't as familiar with him as they are with Batman, Superman or Spider-Man. So here's some recommended "Iron Man" reading for before or after you hit your local multiplex (MMMM… $17 popcorn….)
Essential Iron Man, Volume 1
This collection, released in 2000, collects the early Iron Man stories from the monthly "Tales of Suspense" anthology book. While a lot of the Cold War references -- and character attitudes/actions in general -- have a dated feel to them, this is where most of the Iron Man characters we know today got their start. Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan and even Jarvis (in his human form) all show up within the first few issues. Plus, Black Widow (played by Scarlett Johansson in "Iron Man 2") makes her first appearance in Tales of Suspense #52.
Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle
One of the main characteristics that defined Tony Stark was his love of drinking. Eventually, Tony's alcoholism reached a tipping point, resulting in this great series of issues from the late '70s. Aside from being an incredibly well-written storyline, this collection also features the debut of Justin Hammer (one of the villains from "Iron Man 2") and the growth of Jim Rhodes as a character -- he made his debut two issues before this collection begins.
Iron Man: Iron Monger
As you can probably tell from the title, this story features Iron Monger/Obadiah Stane, the primary villain from the first "Iron Man" movie. You don't need to read this book to have an understanding of the first movie, especially since the plots are so different. The book features a homeless Tony Stark recovering from his latest alcoholic relapse and taking back control of his company from Obadiah Stane. Seeing a down-on-his-luck Tony Stark is definitely a different take on the character, and a nice perspective that we'll probably never seen in a movie.
Iron Man: Extremis
This one is more about the art than the storyline. Not that the storyline is bad (it's actually quite good, putting Tony in something of a loner position against a powerful villain) but the artwork by Adi Granov is some of the most definitive Iron Man work. It was so good that when Marvel went to make an "Iron Man" movie, they tapped Granov to do design work for the movie. The covers in particular, reproduced in the latest hardcover edition of "Extremis", are works of art.
Invincible Iron Man
This ongoing series has been running for 25 issues, and is split up currently over four trade paperback collections. I can't recommend one specific one over another, since it's really all part of one long ongoing storyline, but if you have to read any part, read "The Five Nightmares". One of the key points of the story is Tony worrying about his technology falling into the wrong hands, which, of course, is also a part of the "Iron Man 2" plot. But really I'd recommend reading the whole thing. Matt Fraction's stories are among the best in Iron Man history, and Salvador Larroca's art is outstanding -- peaking with the new Iron Man suit in the latest issue.
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