An Iron Man You've Never Seen Before!

Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas, originally uploaded by photontorpedoes.

Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas. Marvel must have given this book to Jon Favreau to help him fulfill his childhood dreams of writing a comic. It will sell well, because of the movie. And I'll say this--if you are an Adi Granov fan--you must buy this book. The artwork is just superb.

The story, however, is all over the place, and may want to make even the Granov fans wait for the trade. It's out of continuity, doesn't resemble the Marvel Universe Iron Man, or even the movie Iron Man (as he has a secret identity here). Stark is literally Richie Rich. He owns airline companies and a Las Vegas Hotel/Casino. It's a silly story designed to induce cheap laughs. The most unreal moment for me is when Stark changes to Iron Man in an airplane bathroom. How is that possible? I can barely turn around to wipe my ass in there!

And then there's the lurking menace of Fin Fang Foom, a monster that's been overdone to death. I think Warren Ellis made the best use of FFF in Nextwave #1-2 (why is that monster wearing underpants). Favreau wastes a double page Granov spread on desert lizards/iguanas/geckos what have you. But he makes up for that mistake by having Granov draw some gorgeous tattooed women.

There you have it, dumb fun, for die-hard Iron Man or Granov completists. Nuff said.