Christopher Cantwell’s run on Iron Man has been dark, deeply fulfilling, and epic. Take, for instance, the latest collection Books of Korvac III, which has Tony Stark attempting to stop Korvac from becoming a god. That leads to them both becoming gods, and Cantwell gets to explore the infinitely complicated psyche of Tony Stark through the prism of ultimate power. Scary and compelling stuff.
Collecting Iron Man #12-19, this is a lengthier trade paperback than most Marvel publishes, giving it a lengthier and more complete feel. That makes this collection a fairly easy jumping-on point for new readers. Sure, Cantwell has developed the insecurities and frailty of Tony Stark well over the previous eleven issues, but to see him first try to stop Korvac and then lean into Korvac’s plan is exciting stuff.
This collection opens with Iron Man and Avro-X inside the belly of Galactus’s worldship, which is not pleased they are there. Alarms are ringing, and defenses are powering up. Much of this issue is about these two characters narrowly avoiding death from a variety of security features that likely can take on enemies far more powerful than two men in super suits.
The action is fantastic, and Angel Unzueta with Frank D’Armata on art do stunning work. Unzueta is very good at capturing the armors of these heroes and sci-fi-looking technology that’s trying to kill them. The angles on the action always seem to push in at the right time to give the reader a sense of danger or damage to our heroes. There are some creative traps set that would put Kevin McCallister to shame.
Props must go to Joe Caramagna, who lets the singing fly — yes, singing — and does a good job with sound effects and alerts too. There’s a fantastic “kraaczztchh” used to split an enemy in two.
Trippy stuff.
Credit: Marvel
Two issues later, Iron Man is a god, and artists Cafu with Angel Unzueta take the visuals to some mind-bending, trippy places. One might liken the way the creative team has visualized Iron Man experiencing the power of a god to tripping or having an intense dream. The story is driven by Iron Man’s captions, which put us inside his head, but the visual artists also capture the weirdness and psychic trials Iron Man must overcome.
As the story continues, Iron Man revisits his lonely childhood, with parents who were too busy and then tragically dead. Cantwell continues to do good work by probing Tony’s mind and adding new wrinkles to the psychoanalysis, making this series so compelling. He’s a superhero, after all, and seeing him realize he can fix everything is understandable. The thoughts he has rolling this over in his mind are interesting.
Through visuals and self-realization, Cantwell is showing there is real growth for Iron Man that’ll matter when he confronts Korvac in the next issue. Much of what happens in this issue is like a tease as we know Tony is uncovering truths about himself and the universe, but we don’t know what these truths will mean until the next issue.
The problem is that the saying “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain” also applies to Tony Stark. Much of the last few issues deal with Tony slowly becoming Korvac in his thinking. It seems super intelligence leads to disappointment in those around you. Smartly, Cantwell extends Tony Stark’s deep loneliness and irrational need to push forward his ideas as he thinks any push back is rejection or worse. It’s a bold choice to turn Tony Stark into the villain, but it works thanks to the character’s psychological development in previous issues.
Iron Man Vol. 3: Books of Korvac III is a fantastic collection well worth purchasing for casual readers and ongoing fans of Christopher Cantwell’s series. Everything has been building to this story arc, and it pays off as the deep exploration of Tony Stark is tested in the biggest of ways. It’s up there with Cantwell’s Doctor Doom to the point where I’d be surprised if it’s not nominated for an Eisner.
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