Product Description

Experience the armored Avenger's earliest adventures - including classic confrontations with arch-foes Crimson Dynamo, the Mandarin, and the Titanium Man. Guest-starring the X-Men, Captain America, and the Black Widow.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70366 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Customer Reviews

The Golden Avenger begins here - volumes 1 & 2
Again there does not seem to be any way of reviewing separate volumes of the Essentials series so this review covers volumes 1 & 2.
I knew about the origin of Iron Man but Volume 1 gave me the first chance to actually read it. Another great Stan Lee creation, millionaire industrialist Tony Stark is hit by shrapnel in Vietnam, that along with the commie bashing firmly dates this volume in the early 60's.
The shrapnel is lodged near his heart and begins to move towards it. Together with another prisoner and his own design of transistors he creates an iron suit with built in transistors worn on a chestplate that keeps his heart beating after the shrapnel has entered his heart.
The black and white art does not do justice to the amount of changes, often subtle, that take place in his costume within the first few years before it settled down to what we know and love, the modern day red and yellow suit.
Like the Hulk he is a tortured character. He is an international playboy yet cannot get too close to any woman due to the metal plate he has to wear all the time. He develops separate traits for his public persona as Stark and as Iron Man. Stark's two closest work colleagues are 'Pepper' Potts and Happy Hogan who are at the centre of many tales. Both Stark and Hogan are in love with Potts, a common theme amongst Marvel characters. Stark has to convince them he is different to Iron Man so goes out of his way to be arrogant at times in contrast to the heroism of his alter-ego. So many times he gets close to death and is only saved by a timely re-charge, it has to be noted that as technology advances in the real world so it does here and Stark is constantly upgrading the life saving transistors. Real pacemakers were a creation of the 1960's technology boom as well.
Being a specialist in the armaments trade many of Iron Man's foes are industrial saboteurs including Jack Frost, The Phantom and The Melter in this selection. There are the obligatory commies, The Red Barbarian, Crimson Dynamo, The Unicorn and Titanium Man. Then the greatest of all the villains featured here, his arch nemesis over many decades, the Mandarin. The last three part tale with the introduction of the Titanium Man and a televised duel of East v West is a superb story.
Then there are the Marvel universe super-villains The Chameleon and Kraven the Hunter who appear in one story-line. The X-Men and the Avengers also put guest star appearances in. In short it's all here, it even introduces Senator Byrd who is determined to get under Stark's skin.
Iron Man was the launching pad of several of Marvel's greatest characters, The Black Widow and Hawkeye first appear in this collection. Both were to play major roles in the history of Marvel comics.
The artwork by Don Heck is outstanding and Stan Lee's storytelling is at its multi-faceted best.
These Essential books are a nostalgic treat for me and for those of you who missed these first time round give them a try.

Volume 2 is just as stunning, there's the usual feast of super-villains, the Black Knight, Melter, Grey Gargoyle, Unicorn, Moleman, Crusher and the welcome returns of both the Titanium Man and the Mandarin.
Happy Hogan becomes the Freak, as well as being the only person who knows Iron Man's identity. Hogan and Pepper get married. Senator Byrd's investigation into Tony Stark continues for a while putting Stark's life at risk. There's also a return visit to Viet-nam and the evils of communism.
There's a trip into the distant future as a warning about over-reliance on computers as one of Stark's own creations takes control of the planet.
Even his Tales of Suspense companion the Sub-Mariner has a battle royal with Iron Man.
Best of all is the introduction of the ever eager SHIELD agent Jasper Sitwell (looking like a slightly older Joe 90) especially in the story arc with the Maggia and Whitney Frost, also starring AIM and my favourite early Marvel villain the Gladiatior.
We see a seriously injured Stark, aided by Hogan, improving his armour, especially the chest plate as all too often the stories showed him being so close to a fatal heart attack, hardly ideal for someone known as the Invincible Iron Man.
These tales only take us up to Iron Man 11, still in the 1960's and I eagerly await volume 3 when it comes out.

The Black Widow is a sexy character!
I like the premise of Iron Man, he is basically a modern day knight in armor, but his armor is technologically superb. The stories featuring the Soviets do seem rather heavy handed and have dated badly. Nikita Khruschev's appearances are amusing, I hadn't realised that a Soviet leader had appeared in Marvel comics! However, I do like the character of Natasha Romanova, alias the Black Widow. Her first incarnation is as a femme fatale in a pencil dress and furs. I also enjoyed the story which introduces Hawkeye, this story also features the irresistible Black Widow.
It is interesting to see how Iron Man's suit of armor changes over the space of these twenty episodes. Look out for the face mask which is introduced in issue 54, in the first part of the story in which he fights his arch-enemy the Mandarin the face mask of Iron Man has rivets down the middle of it, suddenly, these dissapear in the second part of the story despite Iron Man being a prisoner of the Mandarin throughout.

Must buy for every true Marvel-Fan
Just like all the other essential books marvel published the last few years (X-Men, Spiderman, Thor, etc...) this book is a must for every marvel fan. Ironman happens to be my second favorite Avenger (thor being nr 1) and it's fantastic to read his earliest stories from the sixties. Of course some storylines are a bit dated, like his constant battles with the communists, but that was part of the american culture during the sixties. I can really recommend this title to everyone. If you have never read an ironman comic before, this is a great place to start.