Dan Slott Iron Man or Cantwell Iron Man run?

[Tony Stark]

IMO I don't think Tony has been totally "cured". He keeps trying a "do it yourself" approach and it never really works. He works one himself a lot of the time like he is one of his machines or suits or armor. He's been dead, turned into an A.I etc. So even if he got a "new life" it's what he carries around inside that really hasn't been "fixed".

These are my feelings on it as well, but you stated it better than I could.

The whole "Howard and Maria aren't my parents/Amanda is my real mom/Arno is my brother who wants to kill me/am I real or A.I./my alcoholism flared up" can mess with you.

It messed with me and I'm not Tony . I think Cantwell is trying to clean all of this up by dealing with the mental aspect of all of these things just constantly coming at you. It can create some kind of identity crisis which is what Tony's been experiencing. I've been glad with Cantwell's run because of the return of some classic villains and some good art. The story is compelling but it shouldn't drag on for too long. That's been the problem with a lot of stories of late.

And that's not even calling into the BS were Howard might have sold Tony's soul to Meephisto.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

And that's not even calling into the BS were Howard might have sold Tony's soul to Meephisto.

That's the nonsense Jason Aaron vomited up over in Avengers. BS is right.

[CentralPower]

Slott's run was about Stark's struggle with his own identity, with whose son he was, and if he even had a soul after all the genetic engineering and rebooting he'd gone through. I found that interesting.

The problem was that Slott lacks the basic grounding in tech that most people have, and even a cursory understanding of "philosophy of self" (or whatever term one likes) to actually write about either. (And, as a professional writer, he damned well should have done the research on both before even outlining his "Iron Man" run.) He almost could have gotten away with swapping the tech for magic in a different series. But, "Iron Man" needs at least a veneer of material logic.


My biggest problem with Cantwell is the virtue-signalling (which may actually be driven by Marvel Editorial).

[FFJamie94]

The problem was that Slott lacks the basic grounding in tech that most people have, and even a cursory understanding of "philosophy of self" (or whatever term one likes) to actually write about either. (And, as a professional writer, he damned well should have done the research on both before even outlining his "Iron Man" run.) He almost could have gotten away with swapping the tech for magic in a different series. But, "Iron Man" needs at least a veneer of material logic.


My biggest problem with Cantwell is the virtue-signalling (which may actually be driven by Marvel Editorial).

Where did you get to the conclusion of virtue-signalling?

[The Cool Thatguy]

Where did you get to the conclusion of virtue-signalling?

Perhaps not virtue signalling, but certainly failed attempts to include progressive elements.

See Below.

Honestly, I think this entire run is just a collection of failure of execution.

The crux seems like it wants to be religion against science. But the only real conflict there is artificial, for a host of reasons. For one, many famous scientists were men of faith. As a matter of fact, the Catholic Church holds evolution as fact. There are plenty of religious believers at conflict with science, but they're on the fringe, and for a conflict to exist, their beliefs need to be established.

And for another thing, what exactly would a conflict between science and religion look like? On a practical level, I'm hard pressed to see how it might work. Even in a world where literal Gods walk around.

The second failure is the attempt to include progressive politics in this run. Execution matters, and it's been terrible here.

Cardiac was turned into a cartoonish, death trap villain. He was woke against corporate greed before woke was a concept!

Patsy lecturing Tony about his privilege for his ability to pay his own hospital bills was/is asinine in general, but looks even worse under examination. Tony is basically a first responder, and his inability to get health insurance because he's been hurt so many times helping others should be an indictment against our insurance system, not Tony's wealth.

That was followed by Patsy dismissing Tony's issues following his death and rebirth. The idea that trauma is a contest, that one is worse than another, is one that many progressives have rightfully fought against. Trauma is trauma. Patsy saying hers was worse is not a way to help.

And most glaring of all, was how the writers just glossed over Tony's attempted murder of Melter.

Frankly, in certain ways, I found it frightfully realistic. Tony, an otherwise good man, is pushed past his limits and nearly murders a man simply for destroying his car.

I often wonder, how many police officers who were/are otherwise good people, simply had one bad day? Who, lacking meaningful emotional support, gave into their worser instincts and left themselves and the public forever scarred by it? Everyone has a breaking point, and without meaningful help, can get closer to it than we should allow.

Yet the attempted murder is simply glossed over, and more focus is given to Tony whining about not being in first class than him attempting to end a man's life because of a car.

So yeah, I'm ready for a new writer. Bendis almost looks good at this point.