Invincible Iron Man #14 Spoilers

[jackolover]

Honestly the worst part of his "Nothing Happens" issues are that the very few times something actually is about to happen, like the big fight with Tony, Rhodey, Peter Parker and that inhuman villain that ended up in an explosion, or like the capture of Doom in the previous issue, NEVER go anywhere. They are all IMMEDIATELY passed over and just left unresolved or to hopefully followed up later on. I went into this series and international iron man fairly neutral, the only thing of Bendis I read prior to the start of these series was House of M in TB just by itself with no real context for what was happening in the comics at the time, and thought it was more or less okay. After this stuff though...just, yikes, should have listened to the warnings of Guardians of the Galaxy fans.

Certainly, I echo your misgiving on this series of Invincible. The unresolved parts of Rhodey in the explosion, and, the issue #13 cliffhanger beings examples of loose ends. I can't find any reason why Bendis seems to have cut short his Invincible series, except maybe, Bendis had no time because of CWII commitments, but that doesn't seem logical enough. To just cut short a story thread without revisiting how it was resolved seems like unexceptable jumps, as though they were dream sequences almost. "Oh that wasn't important. What was important was just that fragments of incidents are shown instead, in a very jumpy sequence". I don't think this series ever got going, looking back on it. Some ninjas, Madam Masque, Japan, Peter Parker, Amara, Doom, Riri. These are all loose ends, the whole series never looked like resolving, and that is so frustrating, and makes you wonder what was the point of the whole series other than to just introduce these events in the life of Tony Stark, but it seems like a wasted effort as far as significance is concerned. If this was only going to be 14 issues long, wouldn't you do a start, middle and ending? What we got was a lot of starts, interrupted by CWII, which maybe what Bendis was looking for? Tony was frustrated, so the readers were frustrated?

[jackolover]

Wow. That was the biggest waste of #14 issues I've ever read. I have to take exception to the above poster regarding International Iron Man - Bendis interviews specifically stated that series would feature Doom as his unlikely partner as they deal with international threats. Absolutely 0% of that happened.

Similar issue with Invincible . Many times Brevoort said this was supposed to be the flagship Marvel book, that it was going to have all the big lead-ins to CW2, etc. The Biohack ninja story was specifically promoted as introducing a new threat to the Marvel Universe that would be addressed in CW2. Nothing remotely close to that happened. This book was basically 3 throwaway arcs. International was one big non-arc. Absurdly bad. Sadly I am still curious about Doom. As for Riri, Bendis has sealed his own fate on that one. Any chance I had of reading that one is way down the tubes

Again, echo your frustration.

I suppose what Bendis does achieve is the combination of Stark and Doom being a thing. Before Invincible, Doom was just a clean faced laughing happy person. Bendis took this Doom on a balcony, and put him in a story teamed up with Tony, where an inverted Doom was fleshed out and struggled to redeem himself. That would be Bendis great achievement here.

[jackolover]

As many will tell you, stick to Ultimate Spider-Man, some Icon books and his pre-Avengers comics. Those were his best, and much, much superior to his current output.

Having said that, while I'm frustrated with the series, that abrupt change in the second arc was clearly meant to be a part of the mystery. You know, "what happened to Stark?" It just happened to be poorly written... a short, basic, explanation of how they survived would have been appreciated.

Yeah, I'm just trying to get my head around Stark disappearing so suddenly, and, what that had to do with Rhodey, or, CWII? Was it his mental state being shown going into CWII - his company looking to sack him, Rhodey admitting his armor isn't updated, and constantly being harassed by a super villain who isn't acting like a super villain, so how does he deal with that?

It's an odd way to write an Event to have one of the main participants (Stark) getting all jittery but not relate it to how Stark makes his decisions on Predictive Justice. It's like we are missing a vital component here, that's staring us in the face.

[Panfoot]

On where Tony ends up after this and after CW2, I'm thinking he doesn't necessarily die but is instead seriously injured and out of the superhero game for a bit. That way it actually gives at least some reason why Riri and Doom seemingly replace him, while still letting the relationship between Tony and Amanda develop. Would seem kind of pointless to flesh out the adoption angle only to then immediately end that plot by killing off the main character.

[Triniking1234]

smh...

At least it's not as bad as when Tony's last "Invincible" series ended and we had to read "Hulk vs. Iron Man", "New Avengers", "AXIS", "Superior Iron Man" and "Time Runs Out" tie-ins for closure.

[Prof. Warren]

If you care about the character of Tony Stark and where his head is at and what his deeper thoughts are on what's going on in his world, I don't see how this can be shrugged off as an issue where "nothing happened." As far as Tony goes, quite a bit happens. He has a real conversation with Carol, really pours his heart out to a woman who he's respected and loved and still considers to be a friend. Likewise, he hears her side and hears her plea to end their conflict.

No, Tony didn't fight the Crimson Dynamo or Whiplash. There was no traditional superhero action here. And no, we didn't see what happens next with Doom yet but it isn't always about pushing the plot forward. It's about allowing the characters their chance to breathe. Some writers are very plot-orientated and they make sure everything is hitting the marks and events happen at a certain clip. And that's fine. But Bendis isn't like that. In the middle of an event, he'll devote an issue to Tony attending an AA meeting. And I like that.

I can wait to find out what's up with Doom because I'm glad that Bendis took the time to give us this expanded take on Tony's state of mind. The Doom stuff is cool, I'm looking forward to it playing out but at the immediate moment, I found the emotional content of this issue more interesting than just "cutting to the chase."

I understand that it's not what some people want, that they see it as just Bendis dragging things out, treading water and so on. And that's fair. If it's not a style of writing that appeals to you, I get that. But Bendis has been writing this way for long enough that you should know by now whether his stuff is for you or not. For myself, I've enjoyed his IM run so far and it's clear that even though Riri and Doom are stepping up, Bendis isn't at all done with Tony.

[Dthirds123]

I know the single phrase that sums this up.... GOD DAM IT BENDIS

[MindofShadow]

If you care about the character of Tony Stark and where his head is at and what his deeper thoughts are on what's going on in his world, I don't see how this can be shrugged off as an issue where "nothing happened." As far as Tony goes, quite a bit happens. He has a real conversation with Carol, really pours his heart out to a woman who he's respected and loved and still considers to be a friend. Likewise, he hears her side and hears her plea to end their conflict.

No, Tony didn't fight the Crimson Dynamo or Whiplash. There was no traditional superhero action here. And no, we didn't see what happens next with Doom yet but it isn't always about pushing the plot forward. It's about allowing the characters their chance to breathe. Some writers are very plot-orientated and they make sure everything is hitting the marks and events happen at a certain clip. And that's fine. But Bendis isn't like that. In the middle of an event, he'll devote an issue to Tony attending an AA meeting. And I like that.

I can wait to find out what's up with Doom because I'm glad that Bendis took the time to give us this expanded take on Tony's state of mind. The Doom stuff is cool, I'm looking forward to it playing out but at the immediate moment, I found the emotional content of this issue more interesting than just "cutting to the chase."

I understand that it's not what some people want, that they see it as just Bendis dragging things out, treading water and so on. And that's fair. If it's not a style of writing that appeals to you, I get that. But Bendis has been writing this way for long enough that you should know by now whether his stuff is for you or not. For myself, I've enjoyed his IM run so far and it's clear that even though Riri and Doom are stepping up, Bendis isn't at all done with Tony.

The issue is that the convo wasn't that deep and was dragged out page after page due to Bendis-speak

it could have been a great, in depth convo, but instead it was just like the OP summarized...

Tony: We are friends
Carol: Yes
Tony: You're wrong though
Carol: No you're wrong
Tony: Stop
Carol: No you stop

[Prof. Warren]

The issue is that the convo wasn't that deep and was dragged out page after page due to Bendis-speak

it could have been a great, in depth convo, but instead it was just like the OP summarized...

Tony: We are friends
Carol: Yes
Tony: You're wrong though
Carol: No you're wrong
Tony: Stop
Carol: No you stop

If you read this issue and that's all you got out of Tony and Carol's conversation, I wouldn't put that on Bendis.

I think it was a much richer, more emotional talk than "I'm right, you're wrong!" "No, you are!" They're two stubborn people, with a long history, who find themselves at loggerheads over an issue that has no truly clear solution. I've recently been rereading the Busiek/Chen post-Heroes Reborn run which dealt a lot with Tony and Carol and his fight to help Carol kick the bottle and this issue felt very true to where these characters have been and what they mean to each other.

[Marvell2100]

If you care about the character of Tony Stark and where his head is at and what his deeper thoughts are on what's going on in his world, I don't see how this can be shrugged off as an issue where "nothing happened." As far as Tony goes, quite a bit happens. He has a real conversation with Carol, really pours his heart out to a woman who he's respected and loved and still considers to be a friend. Likewise, he hears her side and hears her plea to end their conflict.

No, Tony didn't fight the Crimson Dynamo or Whiplash. There was no traditional superhero action here. And no, we didn't see what happens next with Doom yet but it isn't always about pushing the plot forward. It's about allowing the characters their chance to breathe. Some writers are very plot-orientated and they make sure everything is hitting the marks and events happen at a certain clip. And that's fine. But Bendis isn't like that. In the middle of an event, he'll devote an issue to Tony attending an AA meeting. And I like that.

I can wait to find out what's up with Doom because I'm glad that Bendis took the time to give us this expanded take on Tony's state of mind. The Doom stuff is cool, I'm looking forward to it playing out but at the immediate moment, I found the emotional content of this issue more interesting than just "cutting to the chase."

I understand that it's not what some people want, that they see it as just Bendis dragging things out, treading water and so on. And that's fair. If it's not a style of writing that appeals to you, I get that. But Bendis has been writing this way for long enough that you should know by now whether his stuff is for you or not. For myself, I've enjoyed his IM run so far and it's clear that even though Riri and Doom are stepping up, Bendis isn't at all done with Tony.

There are people out there who aren't reading this because of Bendis but who are fans of Tony. We gave it a shot despite Bendis. Iron Man was promised as the flagship character/title of ANAD Marvel. This is anything but.

14 issues of nothing.

[Prof. Warren]

There are people out there who aren't reading this because of Bendis but who are fans of Tony. We gave it a shot despite Bendis. Iron Man was promised as the flagship character/title of ANAD Marvel. This is anything but.

14 issues of nothing.

Again, your definition of "nothing" and other people's definition of nothing are not the same. And as someone who is a fan of Tony, I've enjoyed this run.

I know that seeing what's going on with Riri and Doom is leading some to think that Tony is getting the boot and is just going to fall off the face of the Earth but I don't think that's going to be the case at all.

[Marvell2100]

Again, your definition of "nothing" and other people's definition of nothing are not the same. And as someone who is a fan of Tony, I've enjoyed this run.

I know that seeing what's going on with Riri and Doom is leading some to think that Tony is getting the boot and is just going to fall off the face of the Earth but I don't think that's going to be the case at all.

And I don't recall saying that you were wrong about your opinion. I simply stated mine. 14 issues of nothing.

[Prof. Warren]

And I don't recall saying that you were wrong about your opinion. I simply stated mine. 14 issues of nothing.

But you did identify yourself as a "fan of Tony" and included yourself in a group of fellow Tony fans ("We gave it a shot despite Bendis."), implying that only Bendis fans would possibly like this book, and that fans of Tony must feel cheated by it. However, it is possible to be both and to find value in this run.

For those who haven't liked it, I do sympathize but I think it's been far better than some have portrayed it to be.

[spirit2011]

I didn't knew it was Tony that helped Carol with Alcoholism and was her sponsor. carol and Stark have a deep friendship, it's sad see them fighting each other

[Marvell2100]

But you did identify yourself as a "fan of Tony" and included yourself in a group of fellow Tony fans ("We gave it a shot despite Bendis."), implying that only Bendis fans would possibly like this book, and that fans of Tony must feel cheated by it. However, it is possible to be both and to find value in this run.

For those who haven't liked it, I do sympathize but I think it's been far better than some have portrayed it to be.

If we're going by what I said, I said we gave it a shot despite Bendis. I didn't say "we" hated it. I then said 14 issues of nothing. No where in that sentence is the word we. Your opinion is that it's better than some portray it to be. I didn't say I disagree with your opinion. I simply stand by my own. 14 issues of nothing.

I'm not dissecting or dissenting with anyone's opinion of what Bendis is doing but that's exactly what you are doing in your statement.