Iron Man [2020] #16 - Marvel Comics

IRON MAN No. 16, March 2022

Seemingly determined to make Tony Stark appear even more egotistical than ever before, Christopher Cantwell’s narrative for Issue Sixteen of “Iron Man” was probably rather hard to wade through for those fans of Shellhead who recall the genius inventor’s simpler days when he was just a man fighting a carousel of super-villains in a technologically-advanced armoured suit. Indeed, the American producer’s reimagining of the Golden Avenger as a cosmically-transformed Iron God disappointingly doesn’t arguably lead to any sort of action whatsoever, but rather ensures that this twenty-page periodical predominantly consists of several characters just talking to one another; “Steve. Let me just wrap this -- Steve. Can I just. Finish. Please?”

Foremost of these dialogue-driven discussions is the silver-coloured deity’s disagreement with an understandably concerned Captain America over the billionaire’s ill-thought out idea to imbue everyone in the world with “my intellect”, and turn them into “Stark-level geniuses.” The sheer hubris on display by the titular character in this ‘set-piece’ is both absolutely breath-taking and extremely well-penned, as the Chicago-born writer makes the narcissist’s words all the more threatening by occasionally switching the spotlight onto the troubled concerns of his apprehensive audience, rather than focusing purely on the giant-sized figure towering over Washington Square Park.

However, instead of Tony’s poorly-planned decision leading to some exciting, action-packed adventure where the ultra-evolved industrialist’s misguided good intention causes a criminal mastermind to lay siege to New York City using their enhanced intelligence quotient, or even commit a minor felony for that matter, Cantwell’s script instead rather tamely just depicts a drawn-out series of tongue-in-cheek ‘six-panel long’ insights into how Iron God’s unrequested gift has impacted upon the lives of everyday mortal folk.

Perhaps therefore this publication’s best moment is when Jackson Weele is suddenly startled awake from a coma, and momentarily appears to be about to cause chaos to the Big Apple’s traffic network whilst dangerously driving a gigantic Big Wheel. Dynamically drawn by Julius Ohta, this initially intriguing confrontation looks set to pit Hellcat against a classic Spider-Man minor league foe from the late Seventies, yet lamentably swiftly peters out due to Stark simply unceremoniously cocooning Marv Wolfman’s co-creation within an energy bubble.

The regular cover art of "IRON MAN" #16 by Alex Ross