General Information
Title: Iron Man #19-20
Author: Christos Gage
Illustrator(s): Butch Guice (pencils and inks) and Dean White (colours)
Original Publication Date: Cover dated August and September 2007
Cover Price: Each issue priced $2.99 US, $3.75 Can
Past comic reviews can be found
here.
Premise
These two issues cover the latter portion of "World War Hulk #1" and the first portion of
"World War Hulk #2" from Iron Man's perspective, showing the plans he has prepared and implemented, as well as how
he deals with his battle against the Hulk.
High Point
Hulk confronts Dugan.
Low Point
Dugan made great progress in most of issue 20, and then suddenly slipped a few notches at the
end.
The Scores
The originality suffers a bit from a common thread in the crossovers.
Unlike Civil War, which had enough room for every character to have their own story, the World War
Hulk event essentially puts every character in the same story. The miniseries are showing new aspects, but
the crossovers with existing titles all seem to be additional viewpoints of the same story. This, like the Civil
War crossover in the same title, seems to set up some changes for the future of the title, but doesn't appear to
add anything to the main title that won't be explained there, too. I give it 3 out of 6.
The artwork is good, and in many cases preferable to Romita's work on the main
series. It's a more serious tone of writing here than in the main series, and it's got the artwork to match. I
give it 5 out of 6.
The story is interesting. The first issue is just an expansion of a few pages
of the main series, which doesn't do a lot to engage the reader. The second issue starts to move forward very
nicely, with some great exploration of Dugan. I give it 4 out of 6.
The characterization in the first issue comes mainly in the sections of
dialogue copied exactly as is from the main series. The second issue does a great job with new material for Dugan
and Stark. Dugan in particular has a few moments to shine. I give it 5 out of 6.
The emotional response builds nicely, with the second issue
getting great stuff done after the mild first issue. (At least, I found it mild, as I've been following the main
series. The most powerful moments had already been revealed.) I give it 4 out of 6.
The flow is nice and smooth throughout the whole set. The nicest thing about the
"between the panels" nature of the crossovers is that the panels the stories slide between in the main series
clearly left room for the stories to be told! (*cough*PunisherCivilWar*cough*). I give it 5 out of 6.
Overall, this is a decent crossover, using the main event to set up an
interesting position in the main title. I give it 4 out of 6.
In total, Iron Man #19-20 receives 30 out of 42.
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