Things looked bleak, and it was hard to believe that Iron Man would, in just a few short years, kick off the inconceivably successful Marvel movie universe. Many readers jumped ship with teen Tony and never came back, causing Iron Man sales to plummet. When writer Kurt Busiek took over the book upon Stark’s return to the Marvel Universe, no explanation was given to what happened to teen Tony and it was never mentioned again. It seemed no one could find the right voice or direction for Tony Stark. Runs by Frank Tieri, John Jackson Miller and comics legend Mike Grell failed to boost sales. Under Quesada, creators on Iron Man came and went. When the Joe Quesada era began at Marvel, the editor-in-chief had spearheaded successful directions for Spider-Man, X-Men, Daredevil, and the Hulk, but success eluded the Avengers’ family of characters, particularly Iron Man. It’s hard to believe, but with two solo movies and the Avengers film becoming such worldwide pop culture phenomenons, that just eight years ago, Iron Man was the star of a floundering monthly comic. A careful reading of Extremis reveals a masterfully crafted comic that breathed new life into a character, but it also reveals clues about the direction Iron Man 3 will take. This all changed with Warren Ellis and Adi Granov’s Iron Man: Extremis (collecting Iron Man: Volume 4, 1-6). As the world holds its collective breath waiting for Iron Man 3, it’s easy to forget that Tony Stark was just a minor part of Marvel’s publishing plans less than a decade ago.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |