Broken Frontier

Spoiler Warning…

Apparently it’s a forgone conclusion at this point; Steve Rogers is back and he is ready to fix the world. Since last week, he has shown up and been name checked in three different books. The only problem with that being that he hasn’t been “reborn” yet in his own title.  Regardless, I love the crap out of Invincible Iron Man.

Up until this title, I had been a little cold to Fraction’s Marvel work and never consistently read an Iron Man title. Sure, I gave it a go coming out of Civil War, but my interest waned fast. However, over the previous 20 issues, Fraction has all at once humanized, deified, and redeemed Tony Stark. He defined Tony and slowly ripped him to shreds, sucking us in month after month and making it hurt. To add a genius cherry on the brilliant sundae (who doesn’t love hyperbole?), Fraction took the opportunity to run through Iron Man’s continuity like a greatest hits of the past 45 years – introducing the newbies to it all and saying goodbye for the vets of the character.

Invincible Iron Man is a book that lives up to the hype. Drink the Kool Aid. Join us, we have cookies. This is an excellent title to pick up for any fan of smart and well constructed adventure comics. Any medium can be elevated by character and story. Fraction’s caretaking of this icon is a shining example of this belief. Two years ago, the movie may have started this Iron Man craze, but Invincible has been cultivating that boom with such precision that it has since overshadowed its predecessor.

If you’ve never checked this title out, hunt down the trades, rummage the back issue bins, or wait for the inevitable giant hard cover edition. Whatever your poison or position in this crazy thing we call comics, don’t miss the bus on the best thing Marvel is publishing today.