Unappreciated runs: Len Kaminski's Iron Man run

[Shadowcat]

From the dark days of the 90's, when people were angsty to be angsty and comics were ruled by all things X, we have this hidden gem of a run where Len Kaminski & crew bring us some scintillating tales of Tony Stark before the travesty that is Teen Tony (cue the dun dun dun).

During this run we were treated to the crossover Operation: Galactic Storm, the coming of the War Machine armor and my personal favorite, the Hands of the Mandarin crossover with Force Works.

So if you're a fan of this run, or even interested in picking it up join in the discussion.

[Vic Vega]

If you liked Kaminski's Iron Man you might want to hunt the back issue
bins for Malibu Ultraverse's Hardware.

Written by Kaminski and it has similar themes to his Iron Man except the armor wearer really is just a grunt.

[Shadowcat]

If you liked Kaminski's Iron Man you might want to hunt the back issue
bins for Malibu Ultraverse's Hardware.

Written by Kaminski and it has similar themes to his Iron Man except the armor wearer really is just a grunt.

I read it, and wasn't much of a fan for some reason. It kinda reminded me of his run with Rhodey as Iron Man.

[hawkeyefan]

I only vaguely remember this crossover, so I went with "average". If I recall correctly, there were a couple of cool ideas, and the Mandarin was given some henchmen, I believe, which I liked.

But the fact that I don't remember how it all worked out or the general plot makes it unremarkable in my mind.

Plus, Force Works....ugh.

[stingnewell]

This used to be my favorite armor growing up. As to the story I recall the Iron Man cartoon season 2 basing some of the story from this arc.

[FanboyStranger]

I voted 3 stars, but I'd probably say more like 3.25 stars. I think Len Kaminski was a vastly underrated writer, particularly on books involving technology, conspiracies, or the occult, but he wasn't blessed with the greatest artistic collaborators. At Marvel, he did have a Hellstorm book with Peter Gross, but that was completely overshadowed by the Ellis/Manco run that followed it. He faired better at DC, but none of his books ever caught on.

Out of all the guys branded as "90's writers", Kaminski is the one I wish would come back. (Well, he and JF Moore.)

Also, the second year of Force Works was a lot better than the first, even with The Crossing. There was so much bad art in the first year of FW that it deserves it's own tpb: "How NOT to Draw Comics the Marvel Way. When Jimmy Cheung came on, the book improved immensely, although Jimmy hadn't yet developed into the artist he is now. I liked what DnA were doing with US Agent, too. It would be the last good portrayal of John Walker until he got crippled.

[Tony Stark]

Thanks for this thread Shadowcat! i gave it 5 stars. This run is so severely underrated. I heard he left because of The Crossing. Man that Crossing still gives me nightmares. He did some many awesome stories. He also did one of my all time done in one stories with Tony going to an AA meeting on New Years Eve. I just remember reading it and seeing his father make him drink alcohol when he was a kid to make a man out of him. Of course that's according to Howard, but you got to see inside Tony's head and heart and I still go in my bpes anmd pull it out and reread it every few weeks!

[Marvell2100]

I have the run. It was hit and miss for me but overall good.

[Shadowcat]

I only vaguely remember this crossover, so I went with "average". If I recall correctly, there were a couple of cool ideas, and the Mandarin was given some henchmen, I believe, which I liked.

But the fact that I don't remember how it all worked out or the general plot makes it unremarkable in my mind.

Plus, Force Works....ugh.

I may be in the minority, but I loved Force Works. And I wasn't specifically speaking about the Hands of the Mandarin story specifically, but Kaminski's whole run.

Thanks for this thread Shadowcat! i gave it 5 stars. This run is so severely underrated. I heard he left because of The Crossing. Man that Crossing still gives me nightmares. He did some many awesome stories. He also did one of my all time done in one stories with Tony going to an AA meeting on New Years Eve. I just remember reading it and seeing his father make him drink alcohol when he was a kid to make a man out of him. Of course that's according to Howard, but you got to see inside Tony's head and heart and I still go in my bpes anmd pull it out and reread it every few weeks!

I agree. Up until the Crossing, the Avengers line of titles were some of my favorite. Especially this and the Harras era Avengers.

[Nomads1]

The Hands of the Mandarin cross-over is avarage at best (even if I do love Force Works), but the run in itself is awsome, and so are its instalments in Operation Galactic Storm. I strongly recommend the War Machine TPB for those who'd like a taste of it. After Michelinie and Layton's two tours, this is my favorite Iron Man run.

Peace

[DrTraveler]

I'd definitely say its an under rated run. There was some awesome stuff in this run.

[Deason]

Check this out: http://goodcomics.comicbookresources...-baby-day-ten/

Len Kaminski himself posted in the comments section

[Deason]

Something I wrote in 2008




Every now and then one is lucky enough to experience the joy of seeing one of your favourite characters portrayed in a way that just feels “right” to you. You have the sense that the writer really understands what makes the character in question uniquely themselves, and their view of the character makes total sense to you. In the better cases, not only is the presented characterisation completely compatible with your own understanding of the character, but it also resonates with the cumulative characterisation presented over decades by dozens of previous writers. In the best cases of all, not only does the writer’s version of the character agree with your own understanding thereof, but reading the former deepens, enhances and improves the latter.

As an audience member wishing to be entertained, ideally, you want to be presented with surprises (for entertainment; things you wouldn’t have thought of yourself) that nevertheless, upon reflection, “make sense” – in retrospect, you realise that, yes, that development or event or reaction is compatible and consistent with the character as they have always been presented; the best ones not only make sense but give one deeper insight into the character – the development or event or reaction builds constructively and organically upon the sum of previous characterisation.

I was lucky enough to experience that joy reading Len Kaminski’s run on Iron Man. Repeatedly.

SPOILERS!!!

There were many great issues, I’ll just mention a smattering of some of the things that made perfect sense:

* Seeing the view from inside Shellhead’s armour, complete with the armour’s SE computer operating system, drop down menus, system diagnostics, etc
* Discovering that some alien technology (say, Ronan’s) could be clearly superior to even the more powerful Iron Man space armour (being only human tech)
* Dr Doom decreeing a day of mourning in Latveria when he learns Stark has died
* Tony believing in Fermat’s Last Theorem and Goedel’s Proof
* Bruce Banner being able to deduce who was in the suit, back in the days when Iron Man still had a secret identity
* The West Coast Avengers showing up to challenge the “Iron Man” seen running around after Stark’s funeral

… and some of the things I loved:

* The rich mixture of classic foes (Firepower, Justin Hammer, Ultimo, Crimson Dynamo, Mandarin and many, many more) with new (Technovore, Vor/Tex, Masters of Silence) and “new to Iron Man” (Venom, Omega Red, Shatterax)
* Following fine “Iron Man” traditions, like that (e.g. the Star Hunter in #237) of seeing a very threatening opponent vanquished and then forcing the reader to see this foe in a different, unexpected, sympathetic light (e.g. Living Laser in #289), with poignant results; or that (e.g. the issues that introduced the original underwater, orbital and stealth armours) of exploring new environments (cyberspace, the “inside” of various computers, and the internal organs of Captain America(!)), and new suits. (Was there ever a comparable run with as many new suits, and whole new styles of suits?)
* The humor, like Hercules’ dialogue in the first Galactic Storm crossover (#278), or lines like “As if things weren’t already complicated enough. I smell another one of those massive logistical nightmares where several hundred superhumans convene to figure out how to “save all humanity” coming up again…. And as usual, I’ll probably get stuck with the catering bill.” (Sidenote: as a rule, the compulsory crossover tie-ins were handled with style and grace.)
* Taking down the X-Men single-handedly (welllll, kinda
* The talk with Cap in #303, the fight with the Hulk (and its surprising but more-than-plausible conclusion) in #305, the AA meeting in #313, …

… and some things that deepened my understanding:

* Tony quoting Dylan Thomas in the middle of battle
* We learn (for the first time?) that Tony’s father was also an alcoholic
* Everyone’s dreams/visions: e.g. Rhodey’s in #284, Stark’s in #284-288, #300 and #306

I’ll finish with one personal highlight that was all three – made perfect sense, deepened my understanding, AND I loved it:

Tony’s conversation with the Goddess (from Infinity Crusade) on pages 8 and 9 of issue #294. Just… distilled perfection. It’s too long to quote here but if a better and more glorious concise explication of Anthony Stark’s world view has ever been printed, I can’t recall it.

(And this in a scene linking to a company-wide crossover… talk about making a virtue out of a necessity!)

Bravo!

Somewhere there’s an alternate universe where “The Crossing” never happened, and Mr Kaminski stayed on as Iron Man scribe for years longer. If I was able to request the Watcher to get me copies of comics from anywhere, that don’t exist here, they’d be near the top of the list.

[Shadowcat]

Something I wrote in 2008




Every now and then one is lucky enough to experience the joy of seeing one of your favourite characters portrayed in a way that just feels “right” to you. You have the sense that the writer really understands what makes the character in question uniquely themselves, and their view of the character makes total sense to you. In the better cases, not only is the presented characterisation completely compatible with your own understanding of the character, but it also resonates with the cumulative characterisation presented over decades by dozens of previous writers. In the best cases of all, not only does the writer’s version of the character agree with your own understanding thereof, but reading the former deepens, enhances and improves the latter.

As an audience member wishing to be entertained, ideally, you want to be presented with surprises (for entertainment; things you wouldn’t have thought of yourself) that nevertheless, upon reflection, “make sense” – in retrospect, you realise that, yes, that development or event or reaction is compatible and consistent with the character as they have always been presented; the best ones not only make sense but give one deeper insight into the character – the development or event or reaction builds constructively and organically upon the sum of previous characterisation.

I was lucky enough to experience that joy reading Len Kaminski’s run on Iron Man. Repeatedly.

SPOILERS!!!

There were many great issues, I’ll just mention a smattering of some of the things that made perfect sense:

* Seeing the view from inside Shellhead’s armour, complete with the armour’s SE computer operating system, drop down menus, system diagnostics, etc
* Discovering that some alien technology (say, Ronan’s) could be clearly superior to even the more powerful Iron Man space armour (being only human tech)
* Dr Doom decreeing a day of mourning in Latveria when he learns Stark has died
* Tony believing in Fermat’s Last Theorem and Goedel’s Proof
* Bruce Banner being able to deduce who was in the suit, back in the days when Iron Man still had a secret identity
* The West Coast Avengers showing up to challenge the “Iron Man” seen running around after Stark’s funeral

… and some of the things I loved:

* The rich mixture of classic foes (Firepower, Justin Hammer, Ultimo, Crimson Dynamo, Mandarin and many, many more) with new (Technovore, Vor/Tex, Masters of Silence) and “new to Iron Man” (Venom, Omega Red, Shatterax)
* Following fine “Iron Man” traditions, like that (e.g. the Star Hunter in #237) of seeing a very threatening opponent vanquished and then forcing the reader to see this foe in a different, unexpected, sympathetic light (e.g. Living Laser in #289), with poignant results; or that (e.g. the issues that introduced the original underwater, orbital and stealth armours) of exploring new environments (cyberspace, the “inside” of various computers, and the internal organs of Captain America(!)), and new suits. (Was there ever a comparable run with as many new suits, and whole new styles of suits?)
* The humor, like Hercules’ dialogue in the first Galactic Storm crossover (#278), or lines like “As if things weren’t already complicated enough. I smell another one of those massive logistical nightmares where several hundred superhumans convene to figure out how to “save all humanity” coming up again…. And as usual, I’ll probably get stuck with the catering bill.” (Sidenote: as a rule, the compulsory crossover tie-ins were handled with style and grace.)
* Taking down the X-Men single-handedly (welllll, kinda
* The talk with Cap in #303, the fight with the Hulk (and its surprising but more-than-plausible conclusion) in #305, the AA meeting in #313, …

… and some things that deepened my understanding:

* Tony quoting Dylan Thomas in the middle of battle
* We learn (for the first time?) that Tony’s father was also an alcoholic
* Everyone’s dreams/visions: e.g. Rhodey’s in #284, Stark’s in #284-288, #300 and #306

I’ll finish with one personal highlight that was all three – made perfect sense, deepened my understanding, AND I loved it:

Tony’s conversation with the Goddess (from Infinity Crusade) on pages 8 and 9 of issue #294. Just… distilled perfection. It’s too long to quote here but if a better and more glorious concise explication of Anthony Stark’s world view has ever been printed, I can’t recall it.

(And this in a scene linking to a company-wide crossover… talk about making a virtue out of a necessity!)

Bravo!

Somewhere there’s an alternate universe where “The Crossing” never happened, and Mr Kaminski stayed on as Iron Man scribe for years longer. If I was able to request the Watcher to get me copies of comics from anywhere, that don’t exist here, they’d be near the top of the list.

I just read this the other day. Bravo on the insightful analysis on this run. Please, contribute more to the thread. I'd love to pick your brain over it.

[Vic Vega]

I really appreciate Kaminski's detail work.

Like how all Stark employees were also shareholders. Or that Stark's rationalism
was one of his defining traits.

I didn't like Kaminski's Mandarin but I generally don't like anybody's Mandarin save for the
white suited corporate Mandarin we got briefly in the 90's.