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Marvel Noir
Iron Man Noir: La Quête du Coeur
Finally, IRON MAN enters the world of MARVEL NOIR, with an action-packed pulp reimagining like you've never seen before! In 1938, Tony Stark is a daring adventurer, traveling the world in search of its mythological treasures and trying to forget the responsibilities of an iron magnate. From the Fountain of Youth to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Tony has conquered them all...but only his closest confidants know it's all one last-ditch effort to cure the disease that is slowly killing him. But someone has been selling out Stark Industry secrets to Count Nefaria and his Nazi sympathizers and it's only a matter of time before they catch up with Tony on his latest quest!
COLLECTING:
Iron Man Noir #1-4
80 pages, Paperback
First published October 6, 2010
13 people are currently reading
428 people want to read
About the author
Scott Snyder
1,781 books5,154 followersScott Snyder is the Eisner and Harvey Award winning writer on DC Comics Batman, Swamp Thing, and his original series for Vertigo, American Vampire. He is also the author of the short story collection, Voodoo Heart, published by the Dial Press in 2006. The paperback version was published in the summer of 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 113 reviews
October 9, 2012
I like comic books. I like Iron Man. I like noir. I like Scott Snyder’s writing. So I liked this. More creators of entertainment should make stuff based on things I like. Because then I will like them.
In the 1930s wealthy Tony Stark races around the world seeking rare and weird objects of historical and scientific significance. The team that helps him includes a writer who documents Tony’s adventures in adventure magazines. However, Tony has a secret that is making him reckless, and when he finds clues about a powerful artifact located in the sunken depths of Atlantis, he rushes off to find it.
Oh, and his company has been building a new personalized version of a tank for the military. That kind of comes up later.
If I want to nitpick, I’d say that this is really pulp adventure, not noir. It’s got a lot more in common with Doc Savage than anything written by Raymond Chandler or James Cain. But if you’re in the mood for a story that puts that kind of twist on a modern superhero, you’d probably enjoy this. It’s quick and clever, and it’s a lot of fun watching Tony Stark act like Indiana Jones. Only it’s like Indy has an Iron Man suit instead of a bullwhip when he fights Nazis.
Setting today’s superheroes in different time periods or genres has been done often enough that this isn’t groundbreaking, but it makes for an entertaining story.
In the 1930s wealthy Tony Stark races around the world seeking rare and weird objects of historical and scientific significance. The team that helps him includes a writer who documents Tony’s adventures in adventure magazines. However, Tony has a secret that is making him reckless, and when he finds clues about a powerful artifact located in the sunken depths of Atlantis, he rushes off to find it.
Oh, and his company has been building a new personalized version of a tank for the military. That kind of comes up later.
If I want to nitpick, I’d say that this is really pulp adventure, not noir. It’s got a lot more in common with Doc Savage than anything written by Raymond Chandler or James Cain. But if you’re in the mood for a story that puts that kind of twist on a modern superhero, you’d probably enjoy this. It’s quick and clever, and it’s a lot of fun watching Tony Stark act like Indiana Jones. Only it’s like Indy has an Iron Man suit instead of a bullwhip when he fights Nazis.
Setting today’s superheroes in different time periods or genres has been done often enough that this isn’t groundbreaking, but it makes for an entertaining story.
February 8, 2022
It's a fine line you tread when you reimagine characters and stories in different kind of settings. If Superman: Red Son did not have nearly enough differences in it - being basically the exact same as any other Superman story and taking no advantage of the possibilities of its premise - then this particular story goes too far to the opposite end by having too much different.
Tony Stark's pulp incarnation is a Indiana Jones -esque gentleman adventurer, delving in ancient ruins and fighting Nazis. He's an adrenaline junkie rather than an alcoholic, and seems to be running away from his past and his father quite a bit more than in the main universe. He also doesn't appear to be overly concerned with weapons technology or arms manufacturing - it's all just sort of there, with very little story focus thrown at it - and more with starring in dime novels of his adventures.
Don't get me wrong, any of this could be made work: you could even preserve all of it and have just enough difference between him and Iron Man Prime to make the story worthwhile. If it weren't for the most damning thing of all: the armor.
Iron Man's armor is his Thing. It's what makes him special, sets him apart from all the other heroes and villains. Sure, you've got other power-armoured characters on both sides of the hero-villain fence, but Stark's armor is always the best, and the most tightly connected to the character himself. "The suit and I are one", as he himself has put it. Here, on the other hand? He suits up halfway through the story, Rhodey gets his War Machine armor right away, and then the Nazis go ahead and reveal their own mass-manufactured equivalents to immediately even the fight. The armour is at best a tangential part of the character and the story: it never seemed that important to him here, never had any spotlight, nor in any way special or more powerful or more impressive than the other suits. It was even first designed by his father rather than Tony himself.
The story is very low on personal stakes and growth: Tony is already an accomplished adventurer as we open it, he already got his heart injury (something that's never elaborated on either, though it's also an integral character trait), and overall it feels like him punching the Nazis is just another day at the job. Instead it focuses on this super-powerful metal trident that the villains could use to take over the world if they got their way. Yet I never felt it, because I never felt the characters. Pretty much everyone goes on about what a coward Tony really is, not brave enough to face the consequences of his childish adventure-play - but it's all telling and not at all showing, and even in the end I never got the impression that any of it stuck. He saves the day by blowing up more stuff, as he always did, afterwards seems ready for more of the same, and I'm not really even sure just what he was supposed to do to take responsibility instead.
Oh, and Pepper Potts is reduced to a damsel in distress. I guess at least part of it was because of the standards of the time period this is set in - written the way pulp stories of its age would have done it - but it could certainly have been done better and perhaps a little bit subversively, or at least give her more to do.
So on the whole, this one was a miss for me.
Tony Stark's pulp incarnation is a Indiana Jones -esque gentleman adventurer, delving in ancient ruins and fighting Nazis. He's an adrenaline junkie rather than an alcoholic, and seems to be running away from his past and his father quite a bit more than in the main universe. He also doesn't appear to be overly concerned with weapons technology or arms manufacturing - it's all just sort of there, with very little story focus thrown at it - and more with starring in dime novels of his adventures.
Don't get me wrong, any of this could be made work: you could even preserve all of it and have just enough difference between him and Iron Man Prime to make the story worthwhile. If it weren't for the most damning thing of all: the armor.
Iron Man's armor is his Thing. It's what makes him special, sets him apart from all the other heroes and villains. Sure, you've got other power-armoured characters on both sides of the hero-villain fence, but Stark's armor is always the best, and the most tightly connected to the character himself. "The suit and I are one", as he himself has put it. Here, on the other hand? He suits up halfway through the story, Rhodey gets his War Machine armor right away, and then the Nazis go ahead and reveal their own mass-manufactured equivalents to immediately even the fight. The armour is at best a tangential part of the character and the story: it never seemed that important to him here, never had any spotlight, nor in any way special or more powerful or more impressive than the other suits. It was even first designed by his father rather than Tony himself.
The story is very low on personal stakes and growth: Tony is already an accomplished adventurer as we open it, he already got his heart injury (something that's never elaborated on either, though it's also an integral character trait), and overall it feels like him punching the Nazis is just another day at the job. Instead it focuses on this super-powerful metal trident that the villains could use to take over the world if they got their way. Yet I never felt it, because I never felt the characters. Pretty much everyone goes on about what a coward Tony really is, not brave enough to face the consequences of his childish adventure-play - but it's all telling and not at all showing, and even in the end I never got the impression that any of it stuck. He saves the day by blowing up more stuff, as he always did, afterwards seems ready for more of the same, and I'm not really even sure just what he was supposed to do to take responsibility instead.
Oh, and Pepper Potts is reduced to a damsel in distress. I guess at least part of it was because of the standards of the time period this is set in - written the way pulp stories of its age would have done it - but it could certainly have been done better and perhaps a little bit subversively, or at least give her more to do.
So on the whole, this one was a miss for me.
April 13, 2013
Early 1939 and Tony Stark, adventurer and hero of “Marvels Comics: Adventures for Men”, sets out on a quest for the fabled city of Atlantis. Aided by his trusty engineer Jarvis, companion Jim Rhodes, and chronicler Pepper Potts, he sets off on a race against the Nazis to find the city and recover the all-powerful Trident of Atlantis, whose power would spell disaster if placed in the wrong hands.
Scott Snyder breaks with the “Noir” label of this series – a good thing as I was getting tired of trench-coats and shadowy cityscapes – to give us an Indiana Jones style adventure with Tony Stark in the driving seat. From the jungles of South America to the stormy seas of the Atlantic to the remote countryside of Eastern Europe, this feels as far from Noir as you’d expect.
Of course the “Iron Man” suit isn’t going to be as brilliant as the 21st century version but even so it’s quite impressive (despite impossible for its time) though a lot bulkier, a concession to the early stages of the tech. There are a few sly nods as well to the larger Marvel universe for fans to spot, a certain prickly sea captain and a Scandinavian with a penchant for hammers, but otherwise even if you’re not a fan this is a great adventure read.
Snyder writes a fantastic addition to the Noir series, one of the best in fact, packing in the adventure and action into the four issues with wit and fine writing. His take in this book is that of the pulpy serials of the time which, in a post-modern twist, is also what Stark does for a living in the book. Manuel Garcia does a great job as well, his artwork looks great throughout and his take on the Iron Man suit is pretty cool.
Overall, this is a great comic book reimagining one of Marvel’s best characters in a different age. Snyder hints at the end of another book forthcoming which would be welcomed but given the surging popularity of his work on Batman, I wouldn’t expect it anytime soon. Nevertheless, this book remains, and is definitely worth a look.
Scott Snyder breaks with the “Noir” label of this series – a good thing as I was getting tired of trench-coats and shadowy cityscapes – to give us an Indiana Jones style adventure with Tony Stark in the driving seat. From the jungles of South America to the stormy seas of the Atlantic to the remote countryside of Eastern Europe, this feels as far from Noir as you’d expect.
Of course the “Iron Man” suit isn’t going to be as brilliant as the 21st century version but even so it’s quite impressive (despite impossible for its time) though a lot bulkier, a concession to the early stages of the tech. There are a few sly nods as well to the larger Marvel universe for fans to spot, a certain prickly sea captain and a Scandinavian with a penchant for hammers, but otherwise even if you’re not a fan this is a great adventure read.
Snyder writes a fantastic addition to the Noir series, one of the best in fact, packing in the adventure and action into the four issues with wit and fine writing. His take in this book is that of the pulpy serials of the time which, in a post-modern twist, is also what Stark does for a living in the book. Manuel Garcia does a great job as well, his artwork looks great throughout and his take on the Iron Man suit is pretty cool.
Overall, this is a great comic book reimagining one of Marvel’s best characters in a different age. Snyder hints at the end of another book forthcoming which would be welcomed but given the surging popularity of his work on Batman, I wouldn’t expect it anytime soon. Nevertheless, this book remains, and is definitely worth a look.
April 30, 2018
This is a wonderful AU!
Review to come.
Review to come.
July 5, 2020
Tony Stark as an Indiana Jones-type explorer searching for lost wonders of the world. It's a fun read. The art is great. The ending is silly but it's a superhero book so that's Ok.
December 12, 2010
I chased this book down as I thought Iron Man might be a good fit for the Marvel Noir series, but I didn't spot a single noir element in there. It was entertaining enough - the Rocketeer vibe was fun - but as with the first film, they save the appearance of the suit for a while to build anticipation. The problem with that approach, as they don't have the dialogue or charismatic lead of the film to keep it entertaining until the reveal. On a plus note, the suits are very cool, with a militaristic feel missing from the usually shiny armour, and the artwork seems more refined once the hardware clashes.
Ok, so I did a naughty and bought this one from Amazon, as the £14.99 cover price for 4 issues was too steep for me. With hindsight, I don't feel to guilty bypassing my regular indie store, as if I'd paid retail, I'd have been very disappointed. For what I paid, it was ok.
Ok, so I did a naughty and bought this one from Amazon, as the £14.99 cover price for 4 issues was too steep for me. With hindsight, I don't feel to guilty bypassing my regular indie store, as if I'd paid retail, I'd have been very disappointed. For what I paid, it was ok.
June 15, 2018
Okay, this isn’t really noir. I would argue there are more pulp elements in this AU than anything else and it felt a little like an Indiana Jones story; “Raiders of the Lost Ark” not “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”
Now that we’ve established that, I have to say I really enjoyed this AU. It just makes sense to put Tony Stark in this era. The dialogue is great and they’ve made things just sensible enough to make it realistic in the years leading up to WWII. The artwork, though not my favorite, is pretty solid.
And Tony is still recognizably Tony <3
Overall, an enjoyable read. But don't call it noir haha
Now that we’ve established that, I have to say I really enjoyed this AU. It just makes sense to put Tony Stark in this era. The dialogue is great and they’ve made things just sensible enough to make it realistic in the years leading up to WWII. The artwork, though not my favorite, is pretty solid.
And Tony is still recognizably Tony <3
Overall, an enjoyable read. But don't call it noir haha
August 1, 2017
I'll be honest I couldn't finish it. <3 Scott Snyder but this was BORING.
June 8, 2019
Good noirpulp interpretation of Iron Man and various nefarious villains...
Noticed, on the second read, small and large homages to Thor and Namor the Submariner, among others.
Noticed, on the second read, small and large homages to Thor and Namor the Submariner, among others.
March 16, 2025
i picked this up on a whim and it was mid. the concept itself is pretty cool with noir comics reimagining characters in old timey settings (rlly wanna get my hands on that spiderman one bcs i know for a fact that one will hit).
1939, indiana jones ahh tony stark - seems cool enough and solid plot. it felt 75% tony and 15% iron man tho – it shoulda been called iron man? noir way.
snyder did a good job with the plot twist at the end and rewriting mainworld tony’s relationship with certain characters with the different roles they play.
i enjoyed watching iron man beat up some fascists – it’s scott potential but i wouldn’t go for it agn tbh 🫤
2.5/5.
1939, indiana jones ahh tony stark - seems cool enough and solid plot. it felt 75% tony and 15% iron man tho – it shoulda been called iron man? noir way.
snyder did a good job with the plot twist at the end and rewriting mainworld tony’s relationship with certain characters with the different roles they play.
i enjoyed watching iron man beat up some fascists – it’s scott potential but i wouldn’t go for it agn tbh 🫤
2.5/5.
September 20, 2020
Better developed than many other titles in the line, but yet again lazy Nazi villains drag down the tale.
December 29, 2011
When these Noir books work they're a treat - really immersing the personality and mythology of a favourite hero in the mid-century feel.
When they fail, it's usually like this - the author thinly veiling their back-of-the-envelope understanding of noir across an otherwise self-congratulatory wink-wink nudge-nudge "funny" reintroduction to the hero's rogues gallery in ham-handed ways. Really, the dude named Jarvis has to make a "butler" joke in his first meaningful monologue?
The adventure, the emotional trials and interest ramp up once the story gets established. And then they give us a half-page panel devoted to whipping a torn-shirt-clad woman - by Nazis? What is this, a Roger Corman flick? And not a page later, Snyder congratulates himself again with another ham-fisted wink at a completely-unrelated-to-Iron-Man Marvel hero? What's with this Snyder dude, is he just incapable of writing without one fist wrapped tightly around his manhood?
If Snyder could just stick to the job of writing be might actually get good enough to stand out on his talents. As it is, he seems too shallow to stand on his own merits, or maybe just too impatient and egotistical to stick with the job he started doing.
It sure seems like Snyder likes "derring-do" and other symptoms of deus ex machina storytelling.
At least the art was great.
When they fail, it's usually like this - the author thinly veiling their back-of-the-envelope understanding of noir across an otherwise self-congratulatory wink-wink nudge-nudge "funny" reintroduction to the hero's rogues gallery in ham-handed ways. Really, the dude named Jarvis has to make a "butler" joke in his first meaningful monologue?
The adventure, the emotional trials and interest ramp up once the story gets established. And then they give us a half-page panel devoted to whipping a torn-shirt-clad woman - by Nazis? What is this, a Roger Corman flick? And not a page later, Snyder congratulates himself again with another ham-fisted wink at a completely-unrelated-to-Iron-Man Marvel hero? What's with this Snyder dude, is he just incapable of writing without one fist wrapped tightly around his manhood?
If Snyder could just stick to the job of writing be might actually get good enough to stand out on his talents. As it is, he seems too shallow to stand on his own merits, or maybe just too impatient and egotistical to stick with the job he started doing.
It sure seems like Snyder likes "derring-do" and other symptoms of deus ex machina storytelling.
At least the art was great.
August 9, 2011
There's not much in this to actually make it "noir", but it's a fun concept with a good execution. It's nice to see a Tony Stark who's generally positive, and not drowning in angst and self-hate.
September 3, 2016
This was really good and it contained just the right elements to make it seem believable.
July 1, 2020
Skvelá záležitosť z alternatívneho sveta Marvel Noir. Tony je tu okrem priemyselníka a konštruktéra aj dobrodruh a jeho cesty za artefaktami sa podobajú na Indiana Jonesa. Dokonca je príbeh zasadený do počiatku druhej svetovej vojny a tak sa Tony musí často vysporiadať aj s nacistami. Je to zaujímavá akčná jednohubka, ktorú si vychutnajú primárne fanúšikovia so základným prehľadom, ktorý tak ocenia fragmenty tohto vesmíru, ktoré sú trochu inak.
July 3, 2012
Marvel scored a lot of notoriety in the pulp community over the last few months thanks to the arrival of Mystery Men by David Liss and Patrick Zircher. But while this is the company’s first major attempt to create in-continuity pulp heroes, it is not the first pulp superhero story they’ve created. In fact, Marvel produced several in the last few years often hidden by view in their line of Noir titles.
Marvel: Noir was made to bring a 30s-40s sensibility to popular Marvel characters, but several creators involved with the titles took the chance to move past the conventions of noir in to straight pulp. No title took this to heart quick like Iron Man: Noir.
Now famous for his work on Batman and his American Vampire comic collaboration with Stephen King, Scott Snyder was still a relative unknown when he wrote the title with art by Manuel Garcia.
The story sets up Tony Stark as a big time investigator with Jim Rhodes as his aide. His secretary betrays him for Baron Zemo and Baron Strucker. She steals their latest find, a jade mask, Stark’s biographer (in pulp form of course) is murdered. After Stark and Rhodes make their mistake, we quickly learn that Stark is kept alive by a synthetic valve on his heart. His personal mechanic Jarvis helps keep it charged and Tony alive.
After recruiting a new writer, Pepper Potts, Tony and Rhodey set out to trail his former assistant’s last case: the finding of Atlantis. Along with a pirate captain named Namor, they discover the ancient civilization and even more trouble.
Of course, this all leads towards Tony taking up a full-powered suit of steampunk-style armor to battle against Zemo and Strucker. By story’s end, one can’t help but feel they’ve just experienced the first adventure of a great new pulp hero.
Alas, Iron Man: Noir never had a sequel so any subsequent adventures are left solely in the mind of fans. Nonetheless, Iron Man: Noir is pulp heroes brought to comics in all the right ways and well worth a read by any new pulp fan.
Marvel: Noir was made to bring a 30s-40s sensibility to popular Marvel characters, but several creators involved with the titles took the chance to move past the conventions of noir in to straight pulp. No title took this to heart quick like Iron Man: Noir.
Now famous for his work on Batman and his American Vampire comic collaboration with Stephen King, Scott Snyder was still a relative unknown when he wrote the title with art by Manuel Garcia.
The story sets up Tony Stark as a big time investigator with Jim Rhodes as his aide. His secretary betrays him for Baron Zemo and Baron Strucker. She steals their latest find, a jade mask, Stark’s biographer (in pulp form of course) is murdered. After Stark and Rhodes make their mistake, we quickly learn that Stark is kept alive by a synthetic valve on his heart. His personal mechanic Jarvis helps keep it charged and Tony alive.
After recruiting a new writer, Pepper Potts, Tony and Rhodey set out to trail his former assistant’s last case: the finding of Atlantis. Along with a pirate captain named Namor, they discover the ancient civilization and even more trouble.
Of course, this all leads towards Tony taking up a full-powered suit of steampunk-style armor to battle against Zemo and Strucker. By story’s end, one can’t help but feel they’ve just experienced the first adventure of a great new pulp hero.
Alas, Iron Man: Noir never had a sequel so any subsequent adventures are left solely in the mind of fans. Nonetheless, Iron Man: Noir is pulp heroes brought to comics in all the right ways and well worth a read by any new pulp fan.
February 11, 2017
I'm a fan of the Noir series, its a refreshing take on the stories we are used to. Iron Man Noir is no different, it has a great throwback to old adventure tales with subtle details that relate to our heroes. The writing is great from Snyder and the art is pretty good too. Tony is an adventurer looking for old treasure like the jade mask, Atlantis, and so forth. There is classic double cross moments and a big reveal at the end that add up to a really fun book. of coarse cameos are made but some are more fun than others. Namor was cool as a surly boat captain and the little nod to Thor was funny. I really like that the suit was heavily featured and had limitation. I would tell anyone to go ahead and read it.
March 10, 2013
Review in short: This needs to be an ongoing series. Now. Or at least an regularly occurring mini-series.
Review in long: I remember seeing this in my comic shop when it was initially released, but paid little mind to it. I wasn't reading "mainstream" comics at the time, and was very anti-superhero. My horizons have been broadened since then, so when I saw some art for this series floating around online, I checked out the concept and decided to pick it up.
Though not noir-ish at all, it is a wonderfully fun and inventive take on Iron Man. Take Tony Stark, rework him into a 1930's globe-hopping adventurer who could very easily be the lovechild of Indiana Jones and Lara Croft, add Nazis, Atlantis, cameos from quite a few members of the Marvel Universe, and stir vigorously. The result is an action-packed adventure that still feels true to the characters, and I really, really wish Marvel would revisit this concept in the future.
Review in long: I remember seeing this in my comic shop when it was initially released, but paid little mind to it. I wasn't reading "mainstream" comics at the time, and was very anti-superhero. My horizons have been broadened since then, so when I saw some art for this series floating around online, I checked out the concept and decided to pick it up.
Though not noir-ish at all, it is a wonderfully fun and inventive take on Iron Man. Take Tony Stark, rework him into a 1930's globe-hopping adventurer who could very easily be the lovechild of Indiana Jones and Lara Croft, add Nazis, Atlantis, cameos from quite a few members of the Marvel Universe, and stir vigorously. The result is an action-packed adventure that still feels true to the characters, and I really, really wish Marvel would revisit this concept in the future.
June 15, 2013
Instead of Iron Man Noir, I think Iron Man Pulp or Indiana Stark might be more fitting for this volume in the Marvel Noir series. There is very little here that is noir, which was a little disappointing since I love that genre and while I appreciate things like Indiana Jones, it is not one of my favorites either. In spite of that, this is a pretty entertaining origin story for Tony Stark in the 1930's. There is just enough witty dialogue and surprises both in the plot and with a few cameos to keep this interesting. The art is pretty solid and I liked the way Tony was drawn in particular. I do have to say, the covers are not good for this short series however. Thankfully, that won't impact your enjoyment of the story and fans of pulp and especially Indiana Jones will enjoy this take on Iron Man.
May 17, 2012
I picked Iron Man Noir up because I'm a fan of Iron Man. I really enjoyed the steampunk aspects of this graphic novel, but as the previous poster pointed out, this isn't noir. The book itself isn't horrible, but it wasn't the noir I was expecting. However, Iron Man Noir is still enjoyable and the "twist" was unexpected. Plus, the artwork is very nice! All in all, I'd say that Iron Man Noir is an average graphic novel at best. I'd probably recommend it to already established Marvel or Iron Man fans, but it wouldn't be my first choice for someone uninitiated to start with. Perhaps the other titles in the Noir series are better.
November 1, 2011
Loved the IDEA of this a million times more than the execution. Disappointed. Should probably knock it down to 2 stars for Pepper's boob shots alone. Big sigh. Not noir.
January 21, 2012
Dark suits Iron Man, and I love everything this chooses to be.
November 19, 2014
This one was awesome!!! Who knew Luke Cage and Iron Man would be the awesome Noir comics.
I most definitely want more of this.
I most definitely want more of this.
November 13, 2018
Very good.
This one should be a series.
Oh, oh yes.
This one should be a series.
Oh, oh yes.
November 29, 2014
This four-issue limited series is one of my favorite versions of Iron Man so far. Sure, it's not actually noir in the slightest, and I understand that that puts some readers off, but if you can accept it for what it is you might have a lot of fun. It's a pulp adventure story set in the late 1930s in which Tony is an adventurer (in the mold of Indiana Jones) who fictionalizes his escapades in "Marvels: A Magazine of Men's Adventure." Temples! Atlantis! And then, because this is Marvel, a face-off against Baron Zemo, who is very... interesting... in this particular continuity.
Tony is recognizably Tony, with just enough self-loathing to have an edge, without descending too much into depression -- he's still an adventurer, after all. He's got a dodgy heart and an Iron Man suit too. Of course.
The secondary characters -- Rhodey, Jarvis -- are great and, oh, wow, Pepper. I love Pepper in this. I love her introduction, her clothing, her position as Tony's chronicler under a pen name... I just kind of wish she hadn't turned into scantily-clad kidnapping victim near the end. Oh well.
I really wish there had been more of this, although honestly the fact that the Noir suit is visible on the promotional art for 2015's Secret Wars redux event gives me hope. Tony Stark of Marvels, the multiverse needs you!
Tony is recognizably Tony, with just enough self-loathing to have an edge, without descending too much into depression -- he's still an adventurer, after all. He's got a dodgy heart and an Iron Man suit too. Of course.
The secondary characters -- Rhodey, Jarvis -- are great and, oh, wow, Pepper. I love Pepper in this. I love her introduction, her clothing, her position as Tony's chronicler under a pen name... I just kind of wish she hadn't turned into scantily-clad kidnapping victim near the end. Oh well.
I really wish there had been more of this, although honestly the fact that the Noir suit is visible on the promotional art for 2015's Secret Wars redux event gives me hope. Tony Stark of Marvels, the multiverse needs you!
November 9, 2013
Tony stark and Rhodes and few other people go on an adventure in British Honduras to search for a treasure,a mask of incredible power, but one of the members turns evil. They fight a little but evil wins. We see later see noir pepper pots and beloved characters.We know baron zemo is a villan, but the true antagonist will surely blow the reader's mind. We see how tony creates his suit of armor,i am still happy on how they designed the suit.The epic conclusion explores Howard stark and tony' relationship. This great comic is a master piece with few flaws. Overall this is a comic, I would recommend it to some of my friends, but only the ones that like a darker versions of the marvel heroes, which snyder has acomplished .Snyder wrtting is awsome as always. I think he is good and stay with dc. The Art work is stunnig and match the 1930's feel. I would not call it noir, eventhough snyder's writing justifies the title, but would call it pulp. I would do a ww2 were iron man and captain america battle side to side againt the nazi,i mean how awsome would it be the noir avengers facing gammaray infected hitler?
January 8, 2014
Dear Marvel,
"Noir" and "pulp" are entirely separate genres. Good effort, though!
-p.
Which is to say this is pretty enjoyable, although there were a few jarring moments (why, exactly, is Pepper chained to a wall and being whipped out of her clothes by the evil ex-girlfriend? Oh, right. It's sexy!), but there is not one single element of this book that resembles noir -- not the art, the plot, the dialogue, the coloring, the themes, nothing. It's more like Indiana Jones meets the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, while Tony continues to have terrible taste in women and also there are Nazis. And Atlantis. And Namor the Pirate.
I do, however, really love any Iron Man series in which Tony gets progressively weaker until he manages to drag himself into some safehouse to plug his heart in. I love it kind of a lot.
"Noir" and "pulp" are entirely separate genres. Good effort, though!
-p.
Which is to say this is pretty enjoyable, although there were a few jarring moments (why, exactly, is Pepper chained to a wall and being whipped out of her clothes by the evil ex-girlfriend? Oh, right. It's sexy!), but there is not one single element of this book that resembles noir -- not the art, the plot, the dialogue, the coloring, the themes, nothing. It's more like Indiana Jones meets the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, while Tony continues to have terrible taste in women and also there are Nazis. And Atlantis. And Namor the Pirate.
I do, however, really love any Iron Man series in which Tony gets progressively weaker until he manages to drag himself into some safehouse to plug his heart in. I love it kind of a lot.
April 24, 2012
As I've never read any Iron Man comics, but enjoyed the movies, when I saw this book, I decided to snatch it up to read. I don't know how well it follows the traditional Iron Man Origins, but I really enjoyed this story.
It's kind of too short to go into a lot of detail, being approximately four comics long, but the art is really lovely and the storyline is a lot of fun. The characterizations are as expected, with Tony, Rhodey, Pepper and Jarvis working to keep a particular metal from Atlantis out of the hands of the Nazis.
The only thing disappointing about this graphic novel is that it was only about four comics long. I'd have liked to have stayed in this universe a while longer.
It's kind of too short to go into a lot of detail, being approximately four comics long, but the art is really lovely and the storyline is a lot of fun. The characterizations are as expected, with Tony, Rhodey, Pepper and Jarvis working to keep a particular metal from Atlantis out of the hands of the Nazis.
The only thing disappointing about this graphic novel is that it was only about four comics long. I'd have liked to have stayed in this universe a while longer.
May 17, 2025
This is an enjoyable read. However, it does suffer from the same problem almost all of the Marvel Noir line suffered from...a complete misunderstanding of what Noir is. This is classic Pulp Adventure, tapping into the same vibe as The Rocketeer or The Phantom. It isn't Noir. It's about blasting Nazis, searching for Atlantis, and robot suits. It isn't about crime, getting lost in the system, femme fatales, or any of that. It's worth a read. In fact, it's a good deal of fun. It's just not Noir.
February 13, 2013
I think I need to look up the definition of noir again. I thought it meant gritty urban scenes, gangsters and tommy guns, hard-edged violence and drama with a mono-chrome feel to it all.
What we get is a rip-roaring adventure book set on the cusp of the 40s. There's Nazis, jungles, tombs and plenty of exploring. It's basically any Indiana Jones movie or the Saturday serials they were inspired by. Certainly not a bad thing, but mis-marketed? Maybe.
What we get is a rip-roaring adventure book set on the cusp of the 40s. There's Nazis, jungles, tombs and plenty of exploring. It's basically any Indiana Jones movie or the Saturday serials they were inspired by. Certainly not a bad thing, but mis-marketed? Maybe.
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