Product Description

The most imaginative, groundbreaking comic of 2005! International bestseller, four-time Hugo award, two-time Nebula award and World Fantasy Award winner Orson Scott Card (author of Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Shadow Puppets) comes to the Ultimate Universe. He's joined by industry legend Andy Kubert (Ultimate X-Men, Marvel 1602, Wolverine: Origin) to show the shocking beginning of Ultimate Iron Man! If you thought The Ultimates told you everything you needed to know about Ultimate Iron Man, think again! Collects Ultimate Iron Man #1-5.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #71477 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 136 pages

Customer Reviews

Not just a retelling...
A word of warning for Iron Man fans, if you were expecting a retelling of the 616 Marvel version of Iron Man's origin, you won't find it here. Without giving too much away Tony Stark has an almost brand new back story here. His genius is explained, and the development of the Iron Man armour is no longer just something that Stark dreamt up in a flash. The story follows Stark from birth, and ends with him as a teenager, showing traits of the Tony we all know and love. I have yet to read any work by Orson Card, but inter-play between characters is amazing, the writing is top notch. The supporting cast are as well fleshed out as the protagonist, but this doesn't mean Stark himself gets no attention. The art is also fantastic, and looks similar to the Ultimates series (which cannot be a bad thing) especially with the colouring. There are a few extras with the TPB, the usual assemblage of a few sketches and a variant cover, and fact files. Nothing spectacular, but a nice touch none the less. Especially reccommended for fans of the ultimates.
All in all a nice collection Bring on Vol 2!

Brilliant but flawed
I'm a massive fan of Iron Man and a huge fan or Orson Scott Card, so I thought life couldn't get much better when I saw this. But I guess with most things that look too good to be true, they usually are, and unfortunately this is no exception.
Don't get me wrong - it's a great read. Enders Game is one of the best books in its genre and Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide are not far behind - the character development, subplots, darkness, twists and the way Card can make you empathise and feel with the characters is genius. So anything written by the same guy, especialy about a character who has flaws, issues etc etc will be good. But I just kept feeling cheated. The story is really good, the characters come to life, the plot is there, but it just seems too abbreviated. You get a little build up to something, it promises to be good, then it's over like a flash. There's no depth. It's like it needs another 100 pages or so.
My head says give it 3 stars, but my heart says 4 because although it is too brief in my mind, what is there is excellent.
What it has done is made me want to go and read Enders Game again!

Disappointing but not surprising.
When I came across this book, I was delighted. Orson Scott Card has written one or two of my very favourite books and his interpretation of Iron Man was sure to be interesting.

And it was. Interesting. But not good.

What I had failed to realise is that, while Card has written a couple of books I love (and Ender's Game is a masterpiece), he's written far more that I couldn't stand. Most of Card's characters are essentially good, though sometimes misguided. He avoids creating a truly evil character whenever possible. In his books, he has depicted genocide and murder as the result of youthful missteps or tragic misunderstanding. And this outlook has irredeemably coloured his depiction of Tony Stark.

In a story containing torture, addiction and murder, Card has somehow managed to slide around the truly powerful moments in the story. Our hero's tragic flaw becomes a matter of biology, rather than one of character. Every blow is softened and every shriek is muted. The story of Iron Man could be a study in debauchery and heroism but Card's portrayal brushes neither the peaks nor the depths. Instead it paces in the middle ground, constantly shying away from opportunities to move the reader and ignoring the more glaring contradiction's in Stark's character.

As one might expect, the writing is skillful and the art (identical to the Ultimates series) carries the story well enough. The reimagining of Iron Man is just one example of Marvel's recent effort to update their characters and put some flesh behind the image. However, anyone looking for a more realistic, conflicted Iron Man would do better to read The Ultimates, Marvel's modern translation of the Avengers.