IRON MAN: HOUSE OF M #2 REVIEW

[Ovid]

Reviewer: T. Martin, khpa3665@yahoo.co.uk
Story Title: Chapter Two: Independence Day

“Why do you do the things you do, Tony? What guides your decisions?”

Writer: Greg Pak
Penciler: Pat Lee
Inks and Colours: Dream Engine
Letterer: VC’s Rus Wooton
Production: James Taveras
Associate Editor: Andy Schmidt
Assistant Editors: Molly Lazer and Aubrey Sitterson
Editor: Stephanie Moore
Supervising Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published by: Marvel Comics

This middle act of Greg Pak’s three-part alternate reality (I know, I know) Iron Man arc takes the story in a new and better direction. What had been little more than a tale, if a well-told one, of a son constantly made to feel inferior by his father has become a far more interesting and tense story of moral compromise.

We had left Tony Stark being quite literally trampled underfoot by his father after trying to save members of the sapiens resistance from Sentinel attack. His escape, or rather his refusal to make his escape in order to stay and help the sapiens, brings unwanted attention from the press, the House of M and a certain sports rival called Johnny Storm. But the internment of Tony’s missing scientist, Hank Pym, means that going to ground is unfortunately not an option.

The main strength of this issue is in a sense also its primary weakness. Tony is supposed to be the hero of the title, yet the revelations and hints about his father imply that Tony is in fact the weaker of the two. While he is a decent man, he does not see any wider context or think much about how his actions might affect others. We sympathise with his plight since Pak delineates the difficulty of his position well. Tony is a very human character, struggling to be human and humane. Yet this does not necessarily make him a character with whom we want to identify. He’s too passive, or at least too reactive for that. What actions he does initiate are naïve and ill considered. Having said that, I look forward to watching Tony break out of his stupor in the next, climactic issue.

Another problem with the story is simply its position within the whole House of M event. This is a mini and unless Marvel pulls an unfair stunt along the lines of DC’s Sacrifice crossover, it will have no major effect on the MU. I am hoping against hope that the revelation that closes this issue will be the mechanism whereby the long-heralded change in the 616 universe takes place. That would certainly redouble the moral complexity of what Pak is exploring here, but otherwise it is difficult to feel the weight of the final threat.

Pat Lee’s design for the Iron Man suit is very impressive. This is not a superhero costume. It is armour and armament, with all the bulk and brutality that such functions imply. That is however the only positive thing I can think to say of the art. Lee’s backgrounds are spare and uninteresting, which would not be a problem if he could draw decent figures. But his characters are barely distinguishable except by their hair. He seems to have little grasp of anatomy. Character’s necks are either non-existent or stretched to an unnatural degree; in fact sometimes the same character’s neck changes length from panel to panel. Where Pak does draw a mutant with two giraffe-like necks, he makes them look like twisted wet towels. There are also narrative difficulties. It is unclear how a sapiens riot starts. On one page Johnny Storm and Tony are being pursued by Sentinels, in the next by the mutant guards which Pak’s script specifies. Dream Engine’s inks and colours are far too dark, so dark that it is sometimes difficult to tell what is going on and at least one key plot point gets lost.

Based on the story alone, Iron Man: House of M belongs next to Spider-Man: House of M as the mini which uses this reality’s premise most consistently and most interestingly. This is not a Doom or Hulk solo book or a New Avengers/Astonishing X-Men crossover. It’s a book about a racist society and the compromises and dilemmas faced by those trying to survive and/or destroy it. On the strength of his writing here as well as on Phoenix: Endsong Greg Pak deserves to be given a major ongoing title. It is a shame that the terrible art prevents this high-profile mini from being much of a showcase for him.

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‘Buy this issue online now from X-WORLD and save!’

[Mario J. Ramos]

Great review!

I agree, Pak should get an ongoing. I loved Endsong, even though at the end it doesn't really change anything...or maybe it sets up a sequel!

[All-Star]

the way the iron man suit is drawn is cool

[M-Angel]

Okay maybe you were a little bit harsh on Mr. Lee with the art but it's all a matter of opinion.

This story is..good, a great tie-in story very original very different, and very nicely done.

Greg Pak is very irregular this week I read a really good book by him (Iron Man: House of M) and a really bad book by him (1602: New World)

Maybe an Ongoing would help him become more..regular with his writing.

Bottom line: very good book

[GerM]

This and FF have to be the best things to come out of HOM. I love the art in this mini.

[Todd-Fan]

Well, I don't often buy Iron Man, I only getting this for Forge, who hasn't really been shown that much, but still... I do note Forgey doesn't have his prosthetic limbs, which could say he was never in 'Nam, if 'Nam even happened in this timeline.
It was an interesting issue though.

[Ovid]

Originally Posted by All-Star

the way the iron man suit is drawn is cool

Lee can definitely draw robots and...

Originally Posted by M-Angel

Okay maybe you were a little bit harsh on Mr. Lee with the art but it's all a matter of opinion.

I usually think of a rating on the basis of a first impression, then examine the comic in the light of trying to explain my reaction, and revise the final rating depending on what I find. In this case, I thought I'd give Lee a 1.5 but then found more and more wrong with the art. I really think it's so bad that Marvel would be well within its rights to withold payment.

Although, to be fair, Dream Engine's appalling inks and colours contribute to the art's failure.

I think the main problem with the story, and it's a problem it shares with Spider-Man: HoM, is that heroes don't survive dictatorships, lying weasels do. Both Stark and Parker are successful and to do that in a tyranny, you've got to be at least weak and morally blind, if not actively nasty. In both books this is really well written, but it makes it difficult to identify with the leads.

And as for Pak getting an ongoing, I'd love him to replace Whedon on AXM.

[Northstar-9]

While I am the first person to agree that this title is fabulously written, I will also admit that I have had little exposure to Mr pak's work in the past and as for my exposure to Mr Lee, well the only time I've ever come across his work I was distinctly unimpressed and remain so after two issues of this title. The only thing that this title ever had going for it, was that one of the most tragic and conflicted characters appeared with in these pages and it is for this reason alone that I bought the series.

I am talking about Hank Pym (aka too many code names to go into).I was interested to see what the Marvel writers at large were going to show his greatest desire to be; the only thing I could think of was that either his first wife Maria had lived or that he had never beaten the Wasp. However neither of these seems to be the case; Maria is nowhere to be seen and well as far as I can tell he's never met Jan (so perhaps he did get his wish).

No, instead it seems that his greatest wish was to be a terrorist; a second-rate Cameron Hodge. His desire to tip the scales back into the balance of the Sapiens seems ill-founded. Why? Why? Is he fighting so hard and so radically? There has thus far been no explanation. And this issue flies directly in the face of his depiction in HoM 2 - where he was a non-racist scientist seeking to unlock the secrets of the mutant genome and appeared to be quite friendly with Hank McCoy, but the last page of this issue shows him almost getting a twisted joy over the fact that he can off every mutant in the city.

Will someone please explain the justification of the utter rape of his mainstream universe character? Why is this happening? What is going on? And why has my beloved Hank Pym turned into a person that Graydon Creed would be proud to have on his rolodex?

[Catalyst]

Originally Posted by Northstar-9

While I am the first person to agree that this title is fabulously written, I will also admit that I have had little exposure to Mr pak's work in the past and as for my exposure to Mr Lee, well the only time I've ever come across his work I was distinctly unimpressed and remain so after two issues of this title. The only thing that this title ever had going for it, was that one of the most tragic and conflicted characters appeared with in these pages and it is for this reason alone that I bought the series.

I am talking about Hank Pym (aka too many code names to go into).I was interested to see what the Marvel writers at large were going to show his greatest desire to be; the only thing I could think of was that either his first wife Maria had lived or that he had never beaten the Wasp. However neither of these seems to be the case; Maria is nowhere to be seen and well as far as I can tell he's never met Jan (so perhaps he did get his wish).

No, instead it seems that his greatest wish was to be a terrorist; a second-rate Cameron Hodge. His desire to tip the scales back into the balance of the Sapiens seems ill-founded. Why? Why? Is he fighting so hard and so radically? There has thus far been no explanation. And this issue flies directly in the face of his depiction in HoM 2 - where he was a non-racist scientist seeking to unlock the secrets of the mutant genome and appeared to be quite friendly with Hank McCoy, but the last page of this issue shows him almost getting a twisted joy over the fact that he can off every mutant in the city.

Will someone please explain the justification of the utter rape of his mainstream universe character? Why is this happening? What is going on? And why has my beloved Hank Pym turned into a person that Graydon Creed would be proud to have on his rolodex?

because that's who he really is on the inside; someone whose rage is masked by an inferiority complex? maybe Pym's wish was for power. makes since if you follow the evolution of the character. he was tired of being ridiculed by his peers so he created a shrinking formula. he was tired of being seen as the weak link of the Avengers so he created a growth formula. the guy wants recognition.

[Doug Glassman]

I really think it's so bad that Marvel would be well within its rights to withold payment.

I agree with you there, and there are about thirty people that should get said money...