Invincible Iron Man #15 recap and discussion post

[empty-splendor.livejournal.com]

Just like previously, in case you haven't been reading these before:

Reply here or I can't respond :D Spoilers behind the link, obviously.

http://starkoholic.blogspot.com/

Comments

[cosmicbiscuit.livejournal.com]

::eyetwitch:: Dammit, Fraction. Dammit, Larroca. I want to be sad. I want to be fascinated. I want to be involved in this story, and you make it so fucking hard. Pacing? Sucks. Art? Sucks. Scene-setting? Sucks. Dialogue? All over the damn place. One page, it's all in character and fits, the next, you make me want to fling the comic at the wall. And that's not even getting into the Tony/Pepper that's being hamfistedly shoved into this, which pisses me off, especially after the bit about Happy.

[cygna-hime.livejournal.com]

Oh, so finally the writer fucking notices what he's had Tony do to himself! *flings hands in air irately* Why did it take until symptoms started showing for these very smart people (by which I mostly mean Pepper) to realize what those symptoms were going to be?!

And Tony/Pepper = ew. So very do not want, and so hamhandedly shoved in. The Happy bit is heartbreaking, but it becomes tarnished as a moment when it's surrounded by haphazardly!shoved!in!fail!pairing. (Also, Pepper, this may not be legally the case, but I thought I should mention that Tony is not IMO capable of informed consent at this time, what with the brainmelty and suicide and all, so not just ew, but NOT OKAY.)

If people talked to one another, Civil War wouldn't have happened, and MArvel is convinced that no one (except me) would be interested in reading a mega-crossover called Civil Disobedience. Even though it would have been awesome, and a fresh new idea, and open for all kinds of fun.

[kiarasayre.livejournal.com]

Man, your reviews are 100% of the plot, but with added hilarity and none of the shitty art! (Seriously. So shitty.)

[marinarusalka.livejournal.com]

I swear to God, I'm getting to the point where I want to track down Larroca and smack him with a shoe. Because there were quite a few scenes in this issue -- Tony's breakdown, Maria's "shoot the bag" freakout, the confrontation with Whitney -- that really worked for me. Or they would've, if I didn't keep getting distracted by the hideously hideous hideousness of the art. Argh.

[tsukinofaerii.livejournal.com]

This makes me kind of glad I by-passed this one at the story yesterday. D: Happy...

Also, um, wtf with the angsting over being normal? Because I'm pretty sure normal people don't have to write themselves notes to remember how to use a screw driver. This is several magnitudes of not normal.

(sticks her fingers in her ears and sings Istanbul, Not Constantinople during the blatant Tony/Pepper ham-handedness)

[perrypadfoot.livejournal.com]

See, here's the thing, I've actually been buying these, and while I agree it's frankly crap art and awkward dialogue, I'm holding on for some kind of big payoff, even if it is Tony jumping into a volcano. That would be fairly awesome, actually...

Am I hoping for too much?

Tony: Who's Happy?
Me: DDDDDDDDD:

Also- Plot Train: woowooooo.
Icon. Need it.

Spoilers ahead (War Machine #7)

[00d.livejournal.com]

War Machine #7 ruined this run of IM (not that the art didn't already do that but I was still hoping for some kind of improvement). It shows Stark being fine and dandy, running a new company called "Stark Solutions" (which apparently is a real company, look it up). I don't keep up with WM (I just got this issue because I read Stark's in it) so I can't tell when exactly in Marvel time this is happening but it is during Dark Reign and Osborn's in charge so I can't imagine it's in those brief days Stark still had a hold on his business.

I'm speculating Extremis will have fixed itself of the Skrull virus and return IM's memories. Though I wonder how Stark can operate a company while still being most wanted on Osborn's list. Maybe he struck a deal with him? Or an impostor/clone/skrull/etc?

Returning to the issue at hand, the only thing that bothers me about the Tony/Pepper relationship is that Pepper's most likely going to die. Considering how well Stark's romantic relationships have gone in the past I'm assuming their hooking up is the writer's way of telling us to say goodbye to the character. I really hope that's not the case and I'm just being pessimistic.
Also, Stark asking who Happy was...saw it coming and loled when I read. Felt awful afterwards.