For the longest time, Emma Frost and Tony Stark as a couple was a rumor, or even a white lie people told in secret. Then they became a thing under Gerry Duggan in Iron Man, and now, they’ve got a combo mini-series in Age of Revelation. With the two characters tied together not just in past marriages and rumors, but in title, can Iron & Frost pull off the relationship everyone is talking about (in anger and in excitement)?
Iron & Frost is an interesting comic because once you put it down, you can sense the premise is very strong and an easy one to greenlight. Writer Cavan Scott has a clever premise for this series, which only becomes apparent on the final page. Once you reach that final page, you might be as tantalized by the relationship dynamics in play as I am. For the most part, though, this is a fight comic that is all set up.
The issue opens in New York ten years in the future, where a covered figure visits a bombed-out area, then, with a page turn, quickly cuts to six years prior. We then see Emma, War Machine, Iron Man, and Firestar fighting Revelation’s goons: Marrow, Carmella, and Phaser. The baddies are clearly brainwashed and fighting for their godlike leader, while the good guys are trying to do the right thing: save innocent bystanders. We soon see a young girl who is travelling with her human mother in grave danger. This leads to the girl using her newfound mutant powers, and the mother’s mask falling off.
Fight, fight, fight!
Credit: Marvel
Underneath the fighting, Scott uncovers some deeper feelings between Emma and Tony. It’s not necessarily making them star-crossed lovers, but there’s a caring between them that’s revealed. This is paired well with some tragic events that might make you hate Marrow forever.
This leads to tragedy, although some convenient forgetting by Tony. Emma must go turn into a diamond, and you’d think Tony would remember she doesn’t have bodily functions like a heartbeat in this mode, but alas, he moves on.
The closing pages set up Emma in the present and a new discovery. This leads to some tantalizing dynamics to explore in the next issue. All that said, this issue is mostly a slightly long action scene, some convenient seperation of Emma and Tony, and then set up for the next issue. I like what is done here, but the issue feels a touch thin.
Iron & Frost #1 offers an intriguing start to one of Age of Revelation’s most talked-about pairings, using its action-heavy first chapter to tease a larger emotional and moral story beneath the surface. While it sometimes leans too hard on setup, the chemistry between Emma and Tony, and the promise of what’s to come, make it worth reading.
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