Iron Man: Legacy #1

Comments: Issues 1-5 take place between IRON MAN (1998 series) #50-51. Transia is a fictitious Eastern European nation going back to AVENGERS #31; it is best known as the location of Wundagore Mountain, associated with the High Evolutionary and characters connected to him. The initial oil lobbyist villains are named Matvile and Carlin, which looks like a play on the names of married political consultants Mary Matalin and James Carville, incidentally on opposing parties.

Review: Iron Man versus ethnic cleansing? Why not, it’s a serious issue though one that is usually beyond the capabilities of comic book heroes to resolve. The set-up is grim, Tony’s flashbacks to his miserable childhood, and his determination to solve the problem with excessive violence place the reader in a position of half-supporting, half-questioning the hero’s resolve. And that master of the last-page reveal, Doctor Doom, is never a calming sight. Great comic but I can’t help cringing at the knowledge of what would likely happen in real life and that’s a tribute to the writer for allowing me to reside in both worlds at once.