Invincible Iron Man #3 Review and *SPOILERS* - Marvel Monday

Enough with the Formalities

Written By: Brian Michael Bendis
Art By: Sefano Caselli, Marte Gracia
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: January 18, 2016
Publisher: Marvel

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Invincible Iron Man hasn’t been bad but honestly it seems like all we’ve done is get to know our new main character because she wasn’t properly introduced before now. It’s starting to weigh on me heavily. I’m at the point where I just want to get started on an actual story for this character and I’ll just catch up with all the characterization as we go. I’m hoping that’s where we are going in this issue. I’m just tired of set up and I want to sink my teeth into some really juicy story. Let’s jump right into this issue and see if Bendis gives me what I want or just more of what I’ve already gotten.

Our issue begins at Stark Industries and of course the C.E.O. is making a bit of trouble once again as he wants control of the company to be transferred to the board now that Tony Stark is no longer able to run the company. He speaks with Friday and Mary Jane Watson who inform him that Tony Stark recent found his birth mother and made sure to give her power of attorney. Therefore Stark’s mother is now running the company. Lynch forces his way into Stark’s laboratory where he meets Amanda Armstrong (a.k.a. Amanda Strong, the musician). Lynch is taken by surprise as he is such a big fan of her music and she uses his flustered state to establish her authority over him and she shows him the door.

After dealing with Lynch, Amanda returns to Friday and Mary Jane and she tells Friday to do whatever she must to make sure the company survives. She then tells Mary Jane that she is going to use the company to do some real good in the world. We then cut back to Riri Williams who is currently dealing with her AI version of Tony Stark. Riri has been able to finally finish up the new Iron Man suit that we’ve been seeing on all the covers of her book. She and Tony discuss a new name to go by and Tony offers some rather poor suggestions before telling her that she should talk with some of her friends about a new name.

Tony then begins to grill Riri about her lack of friends as she tries on her new suit. Tony has been digging through Riri’s life, reading her texts and such which obviously angers the new Iron hero. Tony then drops Natalie’s name and Riri gets quite before dawning the full armor and taking off. Riri flies around taking care of different situations while she argues with her AI. She takes care of Rhino at one point and even teams up with Spider-Man (Miles Morales) for a moment before eventually becoming extremely angry with Tony, landing on a building and throwing her helmet down. It is during this argument that Tony suggests the name Ironheart. The two are interrupted when Pepper Potts shows up, sporting her own armor. She refuses to speak with the AI of Tony Stark and instead talks with Riri Williams and the two catch up quickly. During their discussion, Riri decides to trust Pepper with her identity. However, the two are not left alone for long as a familiar scene takes place when all of their armor begins to disassemble and surround their new enemy. This is where the issue leaves us.

Honestly, this comic still isn’t bad but we have just got exactly what we got before. The difference is that we now seem to be done with all the set up and will instead be jumping into a new story. We finally have a solid grasp on who this new character is and she has met most of our major players in this book. In addition, we got some nice new stories from the characters still at Stark Industries but right now the two stories are completely separated and if they stay that way, it might keep the book from being a solid and cohesive story. Still, this book gets a bit of a lower score for giving me the exact same thing for three months in a row but I have hope before we forward.

Bits and Pieces

We once again get more of the same from this book and it’s frustrating. These last three issues have been a result of Bendis not properly introducing this character prior to this moment. We know this character’s bare bones now though and we can finally start diving into an actual story and the cliffhanger gives me some hope on that front. I’m begging this book to pick up at this point. If it doesn’t, I’m not sure how long I’ll continue keeping up with it.

6.5/10