Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Book Review: Iron Man - Tony Stark Declassified


He’s a genius entrepreneur, an inventor, a business mogul, and a super hero—not to mention an Avenger reassembled in his physical form and reunited with his humanity. And now Tony Stark is ready to talk about it all.

Revisit the story of one of Marvel Comics’ most heroic, heralded, and complex characters in his own words, as well as through notes, interviews, and files assembled from the Avengers’ archives. Featuring Tony’s perspective on his most important friends, allies, and enemies including Captain America, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, James Rhodes, Ironheart, Bruce Banner, and Arno Stark, and his thoughts on the Marvel Universe’s most memorable moments, this first-of-its-kind archival collection is a must for fans of all eras.

Iron Man: Tony Stark Declassified by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore will be published November 14, 2023. BenBella Books provided an early galley for review.

Though I never read Iron Man comics regularly, I got a healthy dose of the character through my many decades of reading The Avengers. So, I certainly find the character intriguing. The MCU films, of course, brought the Tony Stark character to the large public consciousness. So, this in-depth look at the character was something that interested me.

The format is done as a series of interviews between the author(s) and the character, as if this were any other kind of nonfiction biography. It is then supplemented with reports, newspaper clippings and other items as different characters and events are referenced. It is an interesting approach to take - treating a comic book character with many decades of experiences in the four-color pages as if they were a living, breathing human being. I did enjoy how closely it follows the comic books of the time, weaving it all into a cohesive narrative.

I would recommended it for the comic-book fans rather than the film fans. There are some spoilers if you have not read the major story lines though.

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