Let me get the negative out before I speak on the positive: I really don't mind Salvador Larrocca's art, but that Tom Selleck mustache has got to go. Since Larrocca changed his style with Newuniversal, I've enjoyed it quite a bit. His new pencils work very well with machinery and backgrounds, which explains greatly why he's on Iron Man. Some may be bothered by the somewhat changing but I'm okay with it. It just the ridiculous porno-tasche they gave him. Even Hill mocks it in this issue. Please please please please give him his goatee back, guys. I don't like my Iron Man looking like Ron Jeremy.
Other than that, I really enjoyed this issue a lot, as I have the last three. Sure the cover of Stane electrocuting Iron Man had absolutely no bearing on the plot (bit of that going around) and Reed Richards looks like a surfer who lost a bet regarding hair dye, but I liked the issue nonetheless. More so than anything, like All-Star Superman #10 or Immortal Iron Fist #16, this issue serves as a character study for the main star. We really get to take a look at all the little idiosyncrasies and quirks that make ol' Shellhead who he is. Much of this issue revolves around Tony's perspective on technology and how he feels about, both in how it's used and how it relates to him and his friends.
Perhaps my enjoyment was enhanced by catching a rerun of the last season finale of Doctor Who on my Tivo. In the episode, the primary villain Davros makes the argument that the Doctor may not use weapons like guns or knives yet fashions ordinary people into weapons. In a similar effect, this issue seemed to say Tony may try desperately hard to keep his armor and weaponry under close rein yet the blood that's been shed can never be un-shed. Both the Doctor and Tony Stark are men who try to stop violence and horrors in some unattainable crusade to wash away the violence they themselves have done. and still do. Of course then I imagine Stane's goons yelling "Exterminate!" and Stane declaring Tony "the Destroyer of Worlds", but I digress...
This issue sees the Zeke Stane plot take a backseat (beyond a terror convention) as we see the fallout of Pepper getting an arc reactor put in her chest. Pepper is grateful and recovering yet wants it out quick as possible as she doesn't want to be "a bomb" as she says, someone who survives off tech used to kill until Tony tells her it wasn't built for that at all and is a joint-venture with Fraction's (former) other iron-based hero, Danny Rand. Nevertheless, the equipment is too similar to the Iron Man, thus sparking a conflict between Hill and Stark over Tony's refusal to use it in wounded SHIELD soldiers, howing us once again the great nightmare since Armor Wars: that Stark tech be used to make death. Of course, this makes the irony of the end, using pirated Stark tech as bait to draw Stane out all the more greater. What we have here is a man conflicted between doing the right thing and doing the other right thing and coming off like a jerk either way. If that ain't Tony Stark, I don't know what is.
All in all, this was a strong issue that I enjoyed immensely. From the chess play with Reed to the subtle jabs at his relation to Pepper, Tony was written as interesting and as well as ever by Fraction. Larrocca's pencils stumbled from time to time, but it still held its ground as a serviceable effort. As we inch closer to the final showdown with Zeke Stane, Matt Fraction is crafting a wonderful Iron Man book that I hope stays on its A-game for a good long while.
Story: 5 - Excellent
Art: 3 - Good
