Marvel Comics 2020
Written by Matthew Rosenberg
Illustrated by Juanan Ramírez
Coloured by Federico Blee
Lettered by VC's Clayton Cowles
Tony Stark's adopted brother, Arno Stark, and his business partner, Sunset Bain, have seized control of Stark Unlimited and the Iron Man name. Their goal is to institute new regulations for A.I.s to limit the potential hazards of rogue robotics harming humans. These measure have resulted in widespread dissent in the robotic community, and small radicalised factions of machines have begun rising up and launching Violent terrorism attacks in protest. Together, a small group of military operatives stands as humanity's last line of defence against the robot rebels.......
I was curious about this, mainly because I really wanted to see how Mockingbird and U.S. Agent were going to be portrayed. When I saw the first page I knew I was going to like this and immediately picked it up. Boy howdy am I glad that I did too because this makes me want to see Force Works come back as a monthly book. The quality and level of storytelling that we see throughout the book is fantastic and it makes me think that Marvel really is in the midst of a great revival in their books. While I had no idea the reason behind this coming to be, I am still not a fan of all the tie-in stuff, that it still feels like it's own entity and can be enjoyed that way is fantastic.
I like the way that this is being told. The opening is bold and dynamic which captures the eye and attention immediately making you want to see more. Also that it's War Machine who has always gotten that second fiddle Iron Man stigma is finally getting to shine here is a lot more interesting than I had anticipated it being. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold and how the reader learns information is presented really well. The character development is sensational! Bobbie and U.S. Agent in particular because that really is who I wanted to see and the dialogue from them is perfectly done. The respect and care that we see in how these characters are treated has already made me a fan. The pacing is superb and how it takes us through pages revealing the twists and turns along the way it helps to create this really nice ebb & flow.
The interiors here show some absolutely stellar work. The linework is strong, clean and how we see the way the varying weights are utilised to highlight the attention to detail really is beautifully done. The first page we look at determines if we are going to like this style of work or not and whether people admit that or not it's true. The detail and the imagery and care taken made me instantly want more. The way backgrounds are utilised, there are still opportunities for more, and how the work within the composition in the panels bring depth perception, scale and a nice sense of size and scope to the book. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a really nice, solid eye for storytelling. Also the sense of movement we see within these pages, specially with the Agents shield is just another added bonus. The colour work is laid down beautifully as well. The way that we see the various hues and tones within the colours utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows some very nice understanding of how colour works.
Forget Tony and whatever the heck is going on over there. Maria leading this team from afar and letting Rhodey take the lead on site is a bloody great tactical route to go. With a core of four team members they have the opportunity to do things others cannot and for that alone they need an ongoing book but this creative team makes the other massive argument for it. This is the kind of book I want to read pure and simple.