Iron Man Legacy Of Doom #1 (OF 4)

Iron Man is my favorite writer.  Doctor Doom is my favorite villain.  David Michelinie and Bob Layton is my favorite Iron Man creative team.  So, naturally, when I heard Legacy of Doom was in the works, my excitement was palpable.  I was disappointed with the way the main series has gone about at the time and was yearning for some old school Michelinie/Layton/ Iron Man goodness with Doom to top it all off.

So did it live up to my expectations?  Yes... kind of.

The first issue of this mini truly IS old-school in many ways.  It's old-school writing.  It's old-school art.  It's even old-school time placement.  If you're somebody who hasn't read the old Michelinie/Layton issues (especially the Camelot issue), this book probably isn't for you.  However, if you're a big Iron Man (all three of you who still stood after Civil War), this book is at least worth checking out.

The issue starts somewhat awkwardly as we see Tony Stark melting down the Armor Wars version of the Iron Man suit for recycling.  The rationale is that the Extremis suit is so powerful and can do pretty much anything the others can that he really doesn't need the old armors anymore.  The problem here is... he kind of does.  As we saw in the last issue of Iron Man, a UN issued power dampener meant Tony couldn't use his Extermis powers, necessitating an older non-Extremis central armor like the Silver Centurion armor or the Classic Armor.  Plus, Tony has used the armors in tandem as an erstaz army of sorts in battles such the one against the Yelena Adaptoid.  Plus, that means no more Hall of Armor... and that would kind of stink.  Granted, techno-theft would certainly suck, but I can't see why he can't keep the suits under lock and key for a rainy day.

Still, Tony proceeds to melt the armor as he goes through the memory chips to gather what intel he can and finds footage of a space mission he doesn't remember happening.  This is only further complicated by the arrival of a holographic Doctor Doom in all of his Michelinie-written arrogance and bluster.  Doom simply tells Iron Man he summons him to Castle Doom and that millions of lives hang in the balance.  After a little antagonism and Doom managing to manipulate Iron Man into pushing back insurgents to Doom's throne, the shoe drops.  Mephisto has found a way to jump start the end of Spider-Man's marr--I mean the end of days.  After Iron Man confirms that his transporter to Hell is no different than Doom's, the two begin their trek.  After disposing of some demon Jell-o, they make their way to Mephisto where the other shoe drops: for some unknown McGuffin, Doom has traded to Mephisto Iron Man's freedom.  After revealing the whole point of journey was to inflict revenge upon Iron Man for thwarting his actions in the Camelot story, Doom reveals Iron Man's transporter doesn't work after all and abandons him in Hell.

I must say I really did like this book.  Yes, it was clearly a plot that was written back in the day that's only getting published now.  Granted, it comes off as outdated and old, but I think it's still good as a retro Iron Man tale and the writing is very indicative of the point with these guys were churning out Demon in a Bottle, Camelot, and later Armor Wars.  For those of you looking for remember the glory days of Iron Man, this book might just be for you.