Pj’s Four Favorite Things About Iron Man 2

1. Suitcase armor – Well, duh. Even if you haven’t seen the movie, you’ve probably seen the scene where Tony Stark’s armor forms around him from a red-and-silver suitcase – a very comic book moment. How can you not love that?
2. Captain America’s shield – Clever moment tying together Stark’s father to the iconic patriotic superhero, amusingly punctuated by S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson asking Tony if he knows what the shield is even as Tony’s using it to prop up a steel conduit.
3. Black Widow in action – Really, it’s not just because Scarlett Johansson is in a skin-tight suit. While her take-down of Happy Hogan in the boxing ring earlier in the film was amusing, Natasha finally getting to cut loose by taking out an entire building’s worth of armed security forces single-handedly was brilliantly choreographed and just plain awesome.
4. Final battle – I guess if you’re still reading, you know this post has been a little spoiler-ish, but I’ll still try to not give away too much. But I think I’m safe by saying Rhodey and Tony teaming up to kick the metal arses of dozens of robot drones and a vodka-fueled Mickey Rourke in giant armor was a goddamn delight.

Pj’s Four Least-Favorite Things About Iron Man 2

1. Drunk party scene – While not nearly as bad as the “evil Peter Parker singing-and-dancing” scene from Spider-Man 3, Tony Stark stumbling around and pissing himself in the Iron Man suit was just … ingratiating. I get that it’s there to establish his frame of mind and Rhodes’ obtaining of the armor, but it was just ludicrous and over the top, DJ AM’s (R.I.P.) appearance notwithstanding.
2. Justin Hammer – I love Sam Rockwell. I love every character he’s every played. He was brilliant carrying Moon as a one-man tour-de-force. But combined with scenes such as the aforementioned drunk Iron Man debacle, Rockwell’s over-the-top performance as a moustache-twirling “evil” CEO detracted from the realism that anchored the first film and enabled it to be pure awesome. Robert Downey, Jr.’s Tony Stark is already glib and showy – having a buffoon attempt to one-up that so obviously just didn’t work for me. Especially the scene where Hammer awaits Ivan Vanko’s deplaning with a gourmet meal inside an airplane bunker. It was camp, plain and simple.
3. Randy’s Donuts meeting with Nick Fury – You’ve seen the snippet from this, right? Where Tony’s armored up, sitting inside the iconic giant donut, eating donuts when S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury shows up to chastise him? That was clever. But taking the scene inside the donut shop for Natalie/Natasha’s reveal as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent was amateur hour. I mean, here’s this top-secret espionage organization having a meeting in a public place with everyone in their silly costumes.
4. Length – The Randy’s Donuts and Stark birthday party scenes – along with many other iffy moments – give Iron Man 2 the feeling of a film that crammed in a lot of scenes that sounded cool on paper but should have been left on the cutting room floor, making the film leaner and meaner. And less damn silly.

Overall, I enjoyed it. It was enjoyable. But it felt very full of itself, like director Jon Favreau got a little cocky following the success of Iron Man and just went balls out with everything he could. And really, you can’t blame the guy for trying, but if there’s to be a third film – and after Iron Man 2 hauled in $133 million in three days, does anyone think there won’t be? – Favreau (and writer Justin Theroux) would do well to trim the fat and avoid the mistakes of other superhero film franchises such as X-Men and Spider-Man (both of which were bloated and nonsensical by their third installments).

But really, I think the problem is, the punchline of the post was this “one-page preview” image which apparently few visitors clicked to view:

Click to April Fool's-size it!

Yes, readers of my old geek-in-review blog will recognize this as a page from A.I.M.2: Power Corrupts, a graphic novel I wrote and drew when I was, um, 15 years old, a project I found going through some old files last year and mockingly reviewed over a few posts on the Pop! Goes the Icon blog. It’s funny stuff, if you’re into that sort of thing.

The truth is, yes, I actually AM working on a few comic book pitches, but they’re what we call “creator-owned properties,” and not of the mainstream, spandex-clad variety (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). I’ve been pretty secretive about this stuff because, as mentioned in the April Fool’s post but actually fully sincere, I don’t like to publicly air details on projects that are not absolutely done, ready-for-press deals. But I will say this: The main project I’m shopping right now is something like the mash-up of 24, Heroes and the Bourne series of films. If that sort of super-powered, fugitive, espionage, secret government agency type of stuff is up your alley, well then my friend, hang tight and save your pennies.

Otherwise, a heartfelt “thanks” to all my friends and visitors who so robustly congratulated me on “news” delivered during an April Fool’s blog post. As I lamented on Twitter that day, you really can’t trust a single news story, headline or blog post with an April 1 date anymore. Really.

Iron Man: Agent of A.I.M.

If you’ve been reading Marvel Comics for the last year or so, you’ll know that after the end of Civil War, Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, became not only director of S.H.I.E.L.D., but also head of the 50-state Avengers Initiative. But after a nearly successful invasion of the Earth by the shape-shifting Skrulls, Stark was not only excommunicated from the Avengers and fired from S.H.I.E.L.D., but also effectively became a fugitive.

Well, in Agent of A.I.M., Iron Man takes over Advanced Idea Mechanics, the multinational weapons developer and supplier of destructive devices to the super-criminal community. Why? Covertly, to take on the new head of S.H.I.E.L.D. replacement agency H.A.M.M.E.R., Norman Osborn (also known as Iron Patriot), and dismantle A.I.M. from the inside while doing it. This tale of intrigue, deception, romance and over-the-top action culminates in a no-hold-barred final showdown between Iron Man and Iron Patriot!

It’s coming this summer to a comic shop near you, and as soon as I have more details, I’ll post exact dates and what not. For now, satiate yourselves with this one-page preview from the first issue. Excelsior!

In 1989 or ‘90, John Byrne took over the writing duties on Marvel Comics’ Iron Man title for a very brief period, in which he was stuck having to fulfill the sequel to a popular story arc from a few years prior called “Armor Wars.” Of course, Byrne’s story ended up having absolutely nothing to do with the original, which had Tony Stark’s alter ego Iron Man hunting down unauthorized uses of his patented armor technology, kind of like a one-man, heavily-armed RIAA.

“Armor Wars II” ended up being some sort of allegory for Stark’s corporate and personal lifestyle choices, I think, but really, it didn’t make very much sense nor did it advance the title’s characters or plots in any significant way. But it did feature the art of my favorite comic book artist, John Romita, Jr., and, well, to save you the pain of those seven-odd issues, here’s my 30-second (give or take a few minutes) recap of “Armor Wars II”…