****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
In the late 70's Iron Man was a stagnating without much major character development since his first appearance in 1963. Enter the creative team of David Michelinie and Bob Layton who had just fled from writing a few minor books at DC which was about to slim down their staff as comic book sales were declining. When given the choice of which books to work on, books that were slated for cancellation due to low sales numbers, Layton jumped at the chance to write for Iron Man, a character that the more DC focused Michelinie was unfamiliar with. Iron Man entered a new era with the fresh perspective of Michelinie and the fan knowledge of Layton. Needless to say, Iron Man ended up not getting cancelled and the rest is history.Up until this point Tony Stark had mostly just been a vehicle to move the story along until Iron Man showed up but now he's become far more human, plagued by the stresses of running a company and being a super hero while also just wanting to live his life as the playboy he is. Excessive drinking would evolve into full-blown alcoholism in this book's most famous arc, "Demon in a Bottle," and a character that used to be known for his physical frailties would develop some compelling and believable mental ones.While "Demon in the Bottle" is undoubtedly the spotlight, so much of this book will come to define how Iron Man stories would be told in the future. Corrupt industrialist villains like Justin Hammer and corporate espionage plots play perfectly into the character's playboy businessman roots, adding a distinct dash of James Bond like adventure into the basic super hero formula. Iron Man is tossed against many memorable villains both new and old and even goes toe-to-toe with the Hulk in a fantastic three part story.Later in the run we're given the two-part "Doomquest," based on a story that Bob Layton had thought up when he was young. Iron Man and Dr. Doom are transported to King Arthur's Camelot where they join in battle on opposite sides. It's an incredibly fun adventure and pits Iron Man and Doom directly against one another for the first time. The two armored super geniuses with very different personalities and views instantly make for perfect adversaries. The pairing is a bit of genius that will leave you wondering why no Iron Man writer had thought of it before.In this run we are also introduced to popular supporting characters like the awesome bodyguard/love-interest Bethany Cabe and Tony Stark's best friend, the future Iron Man and War Machine, Jim Rhodes. It also introduces the idea of specialty armors so Iron Man can accomplish tasks his normal armor would be ill suited for like executing stealth missions or going into space.Last but not least the art is done by a young John Romita Jr. While he doesn't yet possess the unique style he'd come to be known for his work here is bold and dynamic, in many regards similar to John Byrne's art who he would later work with on Iron Man in the early 90's. The already solid art is definitely enhanced by Bob Layton's now classic inks which give Iron Man's armor a crisp, metallic quality that it never quite had previously.There's not much else I can say. This is THE definitive run on Iron Man and the place where anyone interested in the character should start. The only thing it's missing is a Mandarin story which is unsurprising since the Mandarin as he was at that time didn't really fit the kind of stories they wanted to tell. Regardless, if you are new to comics and you want to know what the comic book Tony Stark is all about, this is the volume you need and every fan of the character will tell you the same.When I first came across David Michelinie's run of Iron Man, I initially wasn't really a fan of the character. Sure I read the first volume of Iron Man Essentials, but other than that, I wasn't too familiar with Tony, or his world. I found the Demon in the Bottle TPB and was instantly hooked. (If you know about Tony Stark's drinking problem, everything about it starts here btw) The writing for that one TPB was so good that I HAD to buy the omnibus. Michielinie is a phenomenal writer. One of the problems with going so far back in the past with comic books was that the writing was so corny! Yet there were almost always fresh (and sometimes adult) funny jokes in this series. Rhodey is one of the stand out characters in the Iron Man world. He was the definition of blacksploitation and always spoke in jive but I love him for it.Humorous and dependable, he always came through. We have a couple of strong women roles in the book as well. Beth Cabe is a strong woman in her own right that doesn't play the part of the helpless damsel in distress. She's quick on her feet and smart as she is beautiful. She runs her own business as well. Later in the book we run across VP Yvette Avril. Probably unheard of back then for a woman to be so high ranking in a company. However, when it was time to be serious, it was so. The first two chapters really stood out to me (I won't spoil anything in this review). David has Tony's playboy arrogant, yet kind attitude down to a T as well. The problem with Iron Man for some people is he doesn't have many compelling villains (a-la-Dr. Octopus or the Green Goblin), but I don't think that is what Iron Man's story is all about. This run is about a very public and successful figure who runs a international company, manages a relationship, and still saves the day as his own "bodyguard". How do you run a company with supervillains coming out of the woodwork to screw you over? How does pressure of being 2 very public figures, Tony Stark and Iron Man, (for good or for bad) affect your personal life? What do you do to escape those pressures? I think David Michelinie answers these questions very well.Artwise, we got John Romita Jr. and Bob Layton. I really have respect for these guys for doing what they did before our digital age. As one could imagine, it's very difficult for one to show Tony show any emotion while in his suit. Yet somehow you sense the anger, sadness or shock on his face while he is Iron Man. The art is fantastic. I find myself looking at certain panels just to check for Easter eggs written or drawn in. There are plenty of eye popping pages to be had here with some nice scenery. (There is a funny one regarding the disliked Editor in Chief Jim Shooter in #135).The presentation is a little bit different than the usual Marvel Omnibus. It looks like they wanted to use cheaper paper. The paper is fine, it doesn't affect anything at all. I've honestly had it only for a little less than a week, but if it can take being shuffled around in my bookbag for days, I think it will be alright.In short, if you like Iron Man, this book is for you whether you are a new fan like me, or have been in for the long haul. If you want to try something new, this book is for you. You don't have to know what happened 50 issues ago to get the story line. Tony's origins are explained in the book so it gives you exactly what you need to keep up. This is a great collection of stories. Assuming from the "1" printed on the side, there will be a second omnibus for Michelinie's second run. You better believe I'll be picking it up after reading this.No complaints on the product, apart from maybe the colouring, which is bright and vibrant, but a bit 'pai t by numbers' with perhaps a bit less subtlety than the origonsls. Happy with it nonetheless, but would NEVER have spent 200 pounds of my own money on it. My work has a rewards scheme where recognised people get Amazon vouchers and as I had a few, I decided to take a punt as it seems the (cheaper and reasonably priced) epic collection series is going to avoid these stories as long as they can!This era of Iron man is in line with Claremont's Uncanny X-men or Miller's Daredevil. The best that the Marvel could produce in the 80's.In tone it is different from the X-men or Daredevil, more light hearted, but it is the definitive arc for the title character. Fun and action packed adventure stories and sometimes surprisingly deep writing.The product quality is good for the price, it's cheaper than the avarage Marvel omnibus and the cover feels a bit different and the paper is thinner (maybe a bit too thin but nothing major), but it looks good and lays flat very well.If somebody is looking for some classic Iron man I would absolutely recommend this book.A good read but book a bit knocked about for a new copy!Awesome art and story....A great buy....Thank u amazon for providing me this book...I wanted it for long timePara todos los fans de Iron Man sin duda bastantes clásicos e historias que marcaron a este personaje aquí recopilados.
