What happened to the glitz and glamour of foil and hologram covers on comic books? Sure you can get 20 different variant covers, 19 of which are probably drawn by Mister Turner, but gone are the days of straight to shelf flashy covers. Or you could always go to Dynamic Forces if you are willing to part with your hard earned.

T'was the early to mid nineties, maybe the height of the "speculator" craze that brought about so many variables to the fore. Or maybe it was because the comic companies were just trying to defribulate a market that was all but dead. Either way, covers like Iron Man #290 with its gold foil inlay, Superman #123 with glow-in-the-dark electricity zapping from his new duds, Wolverine #75 with a banging hologram stuck straight on the cover and Spider-Man #25 with its giant hologram cover making it one of the coolest covers of its time.

Either way, these covers were exciting. Even though I wasn't slightly interested in any 2099 series except Spidey, I still had to get every issue #1 just for their kick butt chromium facia.

I'm not saying that chromium, foil and hologram covers are no longer released. Only that their prevalance on the shelves is going the way of the collectors card... only difference is, I was happy to see cards go.

 

Since the 60's, Marvel Comics have been inking pages with the action filled adventures of Tony Stark, cashed up playboy and superhero.

Lions Gate and Marvel Comics team up again (Ultimate Avengers 1 and 2) for the straight-to-DVD animated movie The Invincible Iron Man. Doctor Strange will be the next collaboration between the two entertainment giants. When I first heard of the plans for this flick I thought that it would be nothing more than a marketing ploy to gauge interest for the release of Jon Favreau's Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised as this film definitely holds its own.

Iron Man is arguably one of the most real and almost familiar characters in comic books to date. He has had battles with real-life issues such as addiction, confrontations for and against the law and a constant struggle with his alter ego's ego.

The film itself rewrites Iron Man's beginnings preferring to omit his involvement in the Vietnam War in favour of an existence surrounded by little to no responsibility outside of overseeing the operation of his multi-billion dollar company, Stark Enterprises. The film also includes his friendship with long time comrade and fan favourite, War Machine aka Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes.

Other small differences between the comic book and the film pop up throughout. Such as Mandarin's rings in the film are powered by magic whereas in the books they are powered by advanced alien technology.



The Invincible Iron Man is a great mix of classic animation and CG sequences that seem to blend reasonably well although the CG at times was too sharp for the hand painted backgrounds but all in all it worked well.

The action took quite a while to kick into gear. Not seeing the Invincible Iron Man kick butt until halfway through the movie was painful. What made up for this were the geek-friendly scenes that showed of the multitude of Iron Man suits that have featured in the comics throughout the years.

All in all The Invincible Iron Man is a great animated movie with a reasonably complex story line touching on issues of paternity and cultural phenomena. Filled with great action, animation and a great score, The Invincible Iron Man will make a great addition to any comic fans' DVD shelf right alongside The Ultimate Avengers and UA2.

The Invincible Iron Man is available at the Comic Shop now.

 

Get that tingling feeling, it's a prod of metal straight to the face with a classic touch of Iron Man reaching out for some of that malt liquor love.



Naturally, with an alcohol limit pretty much on the verge of 0.8 every other hour during those years back in the hey day, it's an amazing thing he hasn't been buying up big on the livers with his fortunes.

 

So, on with the stuff coming on March 3:

Legend #1 and Seventh Shrine #1 both look good enough to pick up. Why? Just because they're number ones with no previous runs (as far as the memory will recall). Chaykin on one, Robert Silverberg on the other. Here's to something else.

Casefiles: Sam and Twitch #14 might be a pick only if it was sort of like in line with #13. That issue was all about Sam, his brother and their relationship. Fragile at that. Was a good read, but still unsure if that was right.

Ultimate Ironman #1 looks like it might have foil. Foil covers, how long has it been since one of those? Not long enough. Starting to feel no inkling toward just grabbing Ulimate line titles on the sheer power of the universe alone. Maybe.

Captain America and The Falcon #13 is the penultimate issue. After this there's no more fun and head work, gone is another fine buddy book from Priest. Here's hoping the art by Dan Fraga holds up well following the stint from Bennett. Squirmy art at a lie.

Ultimate Spider-man #73 is three issues away from the current read pile. What the hell was that Doctor Strange thing all about?