Well, this issue’s pretty lousy.

Not much in the way of people in it–mostly just Iron Man versus Iron Monger Jr.–so Larroca does all right. The fight scene isn’t exactly exciting or engaging, but it’s a competent action scene.

But the writing–not even the entire issue, just the end–is awful.

See, if Tony Stark’s supposed to be a genius and is supposed to know what Zeke Stane is doing… he should be better prepared.

And all Tony Stark’s prepared for in this issue is to get his butt kicked and set Zeke up for one of the lamest cliffhanger lines I’ve ever read. This issue is a lot like the first in the series, with Fraction’s “movie” writing appealing to the least intelligent reader (or is it viewer) in the audience.

Again, I’m back to counting down to this story arc ending.

It’s getting rather tiresome.

I’m of two minds about this issue.

Maybe three.

On one hand, it’s a talking head book. There’s almost no Iron Man armor appearance (with Tony in the armor) and, even when there is an appearance, he’s talking to someone.

In other words, it’s a Salvador Larroca talking heads book. It’s exceptionally ugly. But the dialogue is great, so it’s somehow ugly and passable. Dealing with Larroca as the delivery system for Fraction’s great conversations… unpleasant but necessary.

But then there’s the content itself, the plotting. The way Fraction puts the issue together, he gets a lot done in a relatively speedily paced issue. It feels like time passes and situations progress (it might just be the small things, like Tony taking time to argue hilariously with Maria Hill).

The issue ends with a successful cinematic moment (Fraction’s “romance” between Tony and Pepper is actually really sweet), probably biasing me.

Bring on the expository dialogue, I haven’t heard enough from Zeke Stane about his stupid skin getting burnt up by his organic Iron Man setup. Is his name supposed to sound like a synonym for track marks? Because it kind of does; it’s appropriate, because he’s a crap villain.

This issue reads, again, like a sequel to Iron Man, only this time, it’s Pepper Potts who gets to become… Iron Woman? Iron Girl? Iron Lady? Iron Maiden? If Pepper’s a maiden, though…

A lot of it is decently written, so the ending with the expository rant is out of place. It’s also unbelievable SHIELD has due process and they can’t just arrest Zeke Stane. Fraction pushes for a “reasonable” Marvel Universe, post-Civil War and all, but it just doesn’t compute.

I have nothing to say about the Larroca art this issue, which is probably a good thing.

But eh.

What’s with Larroca and faces? Hasn’t anyone told him his digital art for faces looks just plain awful? The issue has really solid art for the first eight pages or so and then I realized why–he’d only drawn like one or two faces.

Once the faces are there, it looks awful again. I can run Photoshop filters on photographs on my own, I don’t need to buy a comic with them in it.

This issue’s a little better than the first–there aren’t any Iron Man movie references until the end, when Fraction brings in the bad flirting Tony does with Pepper. It works pretty well here for a second, but it’s not believable he’d send her for champagne. Not in the comics.

And the stuff with Thor is really lame and feels contrived to tie in to Civil War.

Otherwise, it’s safely on the low end of mediocre.

I’ve read this comic before. I don’t like it. It’s half sequel to the Iron Man movie and half adaptation of that movie’s distinct action sequences. I also don’t like Larroca’s artwork here. Maybe I don’t like him in general, but I know I don’t like him here. It’s plastically slick and photo-referenced.

To describe it a little more diplomatically, I think The Invincible Iron Man is distasteful corporate synergy.

So why am I reading it (again)?

Because I know once this dreadful arc is over, it gets great.

And because Fraction can get some of the material above the dreck. His stuff with Tony and Pepper is great. Not sure I like Tony’s silly five greatest fears. The first makes sense, maybe even the second, but fears two through five compound and Fraction does it to sound good, not because it’s a good idea.

Only five issues to bliss.