First off…
Let me start by saying that I realize that this blog hasn't had much "campaigning" compared to the "gaming." I do realize this. It's just that it's the SUMMER. This is my time for enjoyment. During the school year, I am DEEP in politics and campaigning (Virginia does elections yearly), so I understand how much time goes into it. And truthfully, my heart isn't in reporting what's going on now. What with Benghazigate, the IRS scandal, Eric Holder, ugh, it's incredible. All of those things speak for themselves.
I'm going out to Utah soon for an upcoming political event. I can't wait to tell you all about that.
But right now, let's talk about something deathly important to the comic book world.
Those dark times between November 1996 and November 1997. I can't speak for the other Marvel comics taking place in the alternate Earth (Avengers, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four), but let me put aside this common misconception that most people don't realize.
Volume 2 of Iron Man did NOT suck.
Did you catch that? It did not suck. At least, not compared to what came before it.
You see, when I first read Volume 2 of Iron Man, I hadn't read the final issues of Volume 1 (320-332) in a while. After rereading those issues of Volume 1, and then all of Volume 2 (12 issues, not including a completely unrelated issue), I can most assuredly tell you that Volume 2 was actually pretty freaking awesome.
Okay, some context. So the end of Volume 1 literally ruined Iron Man. It ruined the series enough that Marvel had no idea what to do with Iron Man so they sent him to a parallel dimension. Near the end of Iron Man's initial run, Tony Stark was revealed to have been in league with Kang the Conqueror (later retconned) since near the beginning of him becoming a hero (later retconned). During this time, the stupid writers at Marvel had Tony Stark become a murderer. He killed a few people that didn't matter and fought against EVERYBODY. So how do the Avengers solve something like this? Welp, in usual comic book fashion, they went back in time and brought a "Teen Tony" to fight his older self (or at least knock some sense into him). Older Tony ends up dying to save Teen Tony and by issue #326 of Iron Man, we get to see a young Tony Stark AT COLLEGE getting into trouble with his COLLEGE FRIENDS. Seriously? We had YEARS of amazing Iron Man comics and the series literally changed in the course of a year to episodes of Saved by the Bell.
As mentioned earlier, Marvel didn't know what to do with Tony. Despite what the fan letters they posted said, no one appreciated the new direction Iron Man was taking, so, along with the other failing comics, Marvel created the Onslaught event and dumped all of their failing characters in a pocket dimension. At this time, Marvel also declared bankruptcy due to their declining comic sales. They had to do something. So they shipped Iron Man comics out to WildStorm to be written by Jim Lee and let me say… I think it worked.
Volume 2 of Iron Man started out with Tony Stark already the successful businessman he was known to be. You could tell it took place in an alternate universe, though. People dressed weird, acted differently, even looked differently. Tony Stark was a jerk and cared about no one. After becoming Iron Man in the first issue (due to an accident with the Hulk), he later changed and became a hero.
So let me tell you why Volume 2 worked.
It was fun! After the AWFUL comics that ended Iron Man's initial run, just getting to see a wisecracking, older Tony fight bad guys like Whirlwind, Crimson Dynamo, Titanium Man, Hydra, the Mandarin, and Dr. Doom, was awesome. I really enjoyed these issues.
The writing was top-notch. I know I keep comparing these comics to Volume 1's last few, but it's a comparison that must be made. Jim Lee did a phenomenal job at writing a jerk Tony Stark that you couldn't help but love. Sort of like how Stan Lee originally wrote him. By the end of Volume 1, Tony was a whiney college-aged adolescent who caused more trouble than he solved. I know that if I had bought the comics when I was four (which is why I didn't), I would've stopped buying Marvel. And that is serious for someone who has yet to ever drop a comic from his pull list (that's even with the crap that was the first couple issues of Marvel NOW!'s Iron Man).
Dr. Doom! Everyone loves Dr. Doom, especially in their favorite comics. Dr. Doom is actually an arch villain to Iron Man. They've fought each other numerous times, and it was great to see this relationship re-established in Volume 2. The last time they fought was almost a hundred issues before Volume 2 in issue #250 of Volume 1.
There are countless other reasons. More importantly than anything, many people will call Marvel's move to outsource their comics as bold and risky. But you can't deny that it saved Marvel. They left bankruptcy and look at them today. Sure Volume 2 of Iron Man had crappy armor, and the art was sometimes ugly (but not as ugly as that AWFUL art during the final stretch of Volume 1. Seriously… did people really enjoy that awful 1994-1997 art so much?), but it brought Iron Man back to its roots. Tony Stark became quite the hero, and truthfully, it would've been awesome to see that Tony Stark in his own ongoing series. I think it would actually be cool for him to be the Stark in the Ultimate universe. Anyway.
Iron Man was transported from the pocket reality by Franklin Richards and became the older Tony Stark again (with the memories of Teen Tony, as well). Kurt Busiek wrote Iron Man Volume 3, which ROCKED. Iron Man was finally awesome again.
So yeah, Volume 2 wasn't the best. It was nowhere near Volume 1's quality, or Volumes' 3 and 4. But it served its purpose. It helped to establish Tony Stark as a hero again. It helped to wash away the taint that Marvel so foolishly placed upon him. It saved the character that people adored. You can find Volume 2 for really cheap on Amazon. Again it's only 12 (plus one) issues. Check it out.
-Christian