What I find interesting is that so much of what is taken for granted as being part of Stark's character arc isn't actually present in the original Iron Man stories. You'll note there's no hint of Stark's career being morally ambiguous, as shown in re-tellings and the feature films. Even the ideas you mentioned about Tony being anti-counter culture (Pro-culture?) aren't present on the page. In other words, the readers bring a lot more of the own pre-existing cultural bias to Tony than they do other superheroes. It's interesting from a literary standpoint.
Recently they did a story where the ultimate spiderman (Miles)met the main universe spiderman (Peter), I thought just came to me. How weird would it me to see ultimate alcho Stark and the sober Stark talking to eachother. Tony tries to get himself to quick drinking
Problem with your cover analysis. To help build buzz for the comic the Hero of Iron Man was announced but it was left unclear who would be the man in the armor. Sure before you are even half way into the comic its clear it will be Tony but hey you already purchased it then to see that.
Also that thing being smoked is a cigarette holder. My great grandmother on my dad's side of the family used them. They were long to cool the smoke before it entered your mouth. What it really did is make the tar nice and sticky sooner so you were more prone to Pneumonia. It also allowed people to smoke the whole cigarette before filtered cigarettes were common.
Great use of clips. Laughed more on this episode than most others the first time through.
Sorry to say though looking at the two openings back to back although the old one might be a bit busy the new one feels much less energetic.
Love the Wasserman Commercial. Hope it gets into more episodes He Deserves it and sadly my searches for support for an anthology set of all the music from all the Power Rangers Series is not going as well as I had hoped. Still the 25th anniversary is still a little way away so that could change.
I think you are a little confused about the counter culture movement of the 60’s. While there were some elements of it around in the early part of the decade, Iron Man came out when America was still in its Camelot stage, with JFK being president. The counter culture movement did not become popular until the later part of the decade around 66. I know you are not an expert on any history besides that of the DC universe, but I think it is important to understand the shift that happened after this comic came out.
If you think this was racist you should see some of the other early Iron Man comics the writer at the time did not like Asians.
Good review. I now have an intense urge to wrestle the weak into submission.
Fun fact: I actually read this comic in, of all things, a sociology textbook. There was also a second Iron Man comic from several years later centered on one of Tony Stark's memories in Vietnam. The idea was to demonstrate how changes in cultural attitudes affect popular culture over time. Iron Man's origin story was essentially an America-saves-the-day-in-Vietnam story, while the second comic had a Vietnam-was-a-clusterf**k message instead. Rather interesting.
It's not often this happens but this one was actually getting on my nerves. Feigning ignorance (or even not bothering to do a lil' google search) for things 24 hour security and 'eye teeth' don't come across as funny just awkward and nitpicky. I always took the cover to mean 'Who is Iron Man?' as we get to see that it's clearly a person in a suit and not a robot which the full shot (and the name) suggests. This one kinda left me cold, and the drunk Tony was really hard to listen to, but that may just be me.
I'm not too surprised that they tried to make the Transistor as super-powered as they did, all things considered. Transistors were first coming out at the time and they pretty much revolutionized electronics. They allowed you to turn these huge, power-hungry radios into something you can hold in your hand, and power with simple batteries.
Ron Wasserman doesn't scare me. I'm going to boldly flaunt his announcer's warning and not purchase his album! Wait a minute... Ron Wasserman just appeared behind me. OHGOD
It seemed weird to do drunken voice the whole but other then that it was fine. Weird looking sometimes at older comics and their racial stereotypes. Funny thing at the end with Iron Man being a good WWE wrestler I use to as a kid use Secret Wars Iron Man (Also spidey, cap, doom, magneto from the line) toy in wrestling against GI Joe, Star Wars, and other figures. Funny thing is some of that led me to create my story lines and characters over the years.
You know there's one thing that bugs me about the drunk voice you use it right after he wakes up in the villain's camp, I'd assume he'd been unconscious for quite some time so the whole time you were doing the drunk voice I kept thinking, wow Linkara you really need a hangover voice.
I don't know what "eyeteeth" they're referring to, but there is a surgical technique that grafts a hollowed out tooth onto the eye to help the lens. It's pretty disgusting-looking, actually.
This was gold! I knew this was going to have some interesting... stuff from the 60s!
I love the drunk Tony Stark voice and it fits him here! I would love to see a review of the "Demon in a Bottle" story. I've always been meaning to read it someday in trades!
I do love how they've updated the origins by changing it from the Vietnam War to the Gulf to Iraq/Afghanistan Wars and yet all the key characters involved still have the same names even though they've had complete cultural shifts.
I'd like that Power Rangers Redux music but I'd actually want a physical CD... never been much for paying for something and not getting something that exist on a physical plan to hold with it! XD
I'm not a huge Iron Man fan but when did the Arc-Reactor come into continuity? I didn't quit catch it here did they do the whole super magnet in his chest plat keeping the shrapnel out of his heart thing? I've never liked that idea I much more preferred the idea that the shrapnel was removed but it caused so much damage to his heart he needs a pacemaker and he's just using the Arc-Reactor that powers his suit to power it! And, that's why every time his reactor shuts down or is damaged he goes into cardiac arrest.
I know that the song has nothing to do with the comics... but I'd love to see a "What if..." or some indie comic adapt of the song's story it is weirdly interesting! A man turned into a giant metal monster and killing everyone!?
Yay Teen Titans... oh wait it's the original ones... so, Dick Grayson kid Robin, Aqua Lad, Wonder Girl, and Speedy...
Between Drunk Tony and that bit with the helmet, this is one of the best episodes you've put out. Add in some Wasserman goodness and I think we may be living in the best of all possible universes.
"Eye teeth" are what a lot of people call the somewhat longer, sharper teeth formally known as "canines" or "incisors." I'm not sure how they got that name, but it's what I've called them most of my life.
Re: Iron Man and counterculture: I don't know if Jack Kirby had any involvement with Iron Man besides designing his costume, but I do know that he was hugely into '60s counterculture. His book "The Forever People" for DC was basically a love letter to the flower generation.
And for what it's worth, my father was a pretty big hippie back in the '60s and held liberal/counterculture views for the rest of his life, and he was a huge fan of Iron Man.
As for Stan Lee himself, he's always struck me as pretty apolitical. I'd bet him writing Spider-Man supporting protesters wasn't necessarily because he himself did, but because A) it made sense for the character, and B) Stan recognized young counterculture supporters as potential buyers and wanted to market to them.
I'll be honest, I think you made a mistake going with the "Drunk Tony" voice. It was too distracting, slowed the review down, and really didn't fit the Tony Stark we saw in this comic. I would've done a more traditional voice when actually reading Tony's dialogue, and saved the drunk voice for your cutaway jokes.
"It's not often this happens but this one was actually getting on my nerves. Feigning ignorance (or even not bothering to do a lil' google search) for things 24 hour security and 'eye teeth' don't come across as funny just awkward and nitpicky."
You're right about the 24-hour guard thing, but I can honestly tell you I have NEVER heard the expression "eyeteeth" before.
Thank you for the ad on Power Rangers redux! I had no clue this had been made, and am loving it after just purchasing it. I've been watching the old episodes on the recently released Power Rangers DVD boxset, and was thinking the only thing making it more perfect was a new CD of these classic songs.
Great episode as usual as well. Loved learning about Iron Man's original origin.
I always thought, well according to how Tales of Suspense played out, that Iron Man was originally meant to be a horror comic. It wouldn't be the first war time Horror Comic/Novel like the Paul F. Wilson's "The Keep"
"Ake Polak has left a new comment on the post "Tales of Suspense #39":
Is it even possible in real life to have an unmovable shrapnel stuck in you body that slowly gets closer towards your heart?"
Maybe back then but not today... the only place on the body I think a foreign object can't be removed safely without death or worse causing damage is the brain or spinal cord!
"Matthew Cook has left a new comment on the post "Tales of Suspense #39":
an eyetooth is another name for the canine tooth or the fang"
Do you know why? It is claimed you can feel it all the way up into your eyes when they're pulled. That is why the saying exist to imply some one is willing to go through hat kind of pain to gain something.
Personally, I doubt that Stan Lee really had too many social messages intended in Iron Man's origin; from what I've heard him say, it was more his fascination with the then-current "scientific buzz-word" of transistors (as was the case with "cosmic rays" and "gamma rays") that led him to create a character based on it. And gadget-using heroes were an old favorite in comics too. Still, as the first power-armored hero (in American comics anyway) Iron Man certainly deserves his iconic status.
I think the minipanels in the cover are there to clue in the reader that Iron Man isn't a robot.
And you know, for all its racist overtones, the story DID play it fair by having a Vietnamese character help Tony create the armor (and save his life). They could just as easily have had Tony save himself and only used "Evil Commies" for the Asians.
You know... you were totally right about the 2 commercial thing... <.< I got two blip commercials in that break. At first from UK (which I think is funny but odd), then the video continued, but instead of seeing it, I only heared the Rob Wasserman commercial - because they shoved in another blip commercial over it! I had to pause the video so I'm not missing anything and had to sit through the most annoying german commercial they have right now... x_x (Well, I'm happy for you though, since it should've bring you at least a bit more money ^^; )
But there's one thing that irritated me about the review... With Ironman's look, and the scene in front of the Mirror, and all the "he's not really human anymore" lines this comic had... Not a single Cyberman referance? o.o You brought them up in so many reviews, stating that you like them because they're so nicely quoatable, but you didn't used a single reference to them in this comic where it more or less jumped into your face? Ironman nearly looks like a Cyberman - he upgraded himself (which at state of this comic wasn't be able to undone again) and at the same time complained about not beeing a real human anymore... This is the core of the Cyberman problem, at least along their introduction in the new series of Doctor Who... I thought the whole Review that you might save something for the end - so it really surprised me that there wasn't any mention about them... o.o
"Personally, I doubt that Stan Lee really had too many social messages intended in Iron Man's origin; from what I've heard him say, it was more his fascination with the then-current "scientific buzz-word" of transistors (as was the case with "cosmic rays" and "gamma rays") that led him to create a character based on it. And gadget-using heroes were an old favorite in comics too. Still, as the first power-armored hero (in American comics anyway) Iron Man certainly deserves his iconic status."
Perhaps, but I got it from two books - Son of Marvel Origins and Comic Books 101.
I think you are a little confused about the counter culture movement of the 60’s. While there were some elements of it around in the early part of the decade, Iron Man came out when America was still in its Camelot stage, with JFK being president. The counter culture movement did not become popular until the later part of the decade around 66. I know you are not an expert on any from history besides that of the DC universe, but I think it is important to understand the shift that happened after this comic came out."
It's a pretty good read, though, and it points out the shift from early Silver Age Marvel comics still being pretty anti-communist, pro-establishment, pro-war. It wasn't until massive reader requests (as documented on the letter pages) caused Lee and the rest of the Marvel staff to change the attitude of their stories, even though they themselves didn't agree with the counterculture of the late 1960s.
I could have sworn eyeteeth came up before... maybe in the recent "thing from another world" comics? or maybe one of the ones with the olde timee "villagers"... I dunno.
Also I want to thank you for inadvertently helping me win at a comic book trivia contest. Your secret origins months have really helped me kill in said category. I even quoted the flash video with the hard water and got extra points.
I'm wondering if you might review Guardians of the Galaxy 1 (1969) at some point. The main reason is that they are creating a movie for them in 2014. Yeah, I know they are completely different teams, but I'm just curious.
Who knew the Tony Stark drunk voice would be so polarizing? Personally I find it amusing but I'm a sucker for changed voices and sound gag stuff.
Liked the brief voice over with the title card at the mid-roll, was just weird with the Flash review when it was all silent.
I was never big into Iron Man, though I'm pretty sure in the mid-late 90s he was going through some serious stuff, even my dad stopped reading him. I do like the movies a lot though. It's interesting to see how much of the origin story was kept for the movie, I'd honestly had no idea about his origins before then. Strange though I think that how he's drawn makes me more think of Howard Stark from the Captain America movie. (yes I know the drawing came first.)
I'd heard the term eye-teeth before, still loved the joke.
Anonymous 7:03: I'm guessing that might be his 2014 Secret Origins Month team book. I don't know his exact "X Years Old Minimum", but I think 45 years would be a good margin.
This was the first time that I left one of your reviews in the middle. After hearing your commercial I had to take of that first. Great review by the way.
Hey, thought that was a good review. I like how you pointed out how Stan Lee came up with this crazy idea for Iron Man's character: a man who deals weapons that we are supposed to root for!!! Originally, I didn't think much of it but contrasted against all the bad shit the 60s brought on us....yeah, it is nothing short of a miracle that people accepted him. Then again, they accepted James Bond at the same time so stranger things have happened. I wonder what our culture will evolve into another 50 years from now.
Yeah, the stereotyping of the villains is pretty indefensible. America was even dumber back then.
Also, you don't need to do the drunk voice just to make us happy. The fact that we don't see Tony drink once just kinda feels...weird.
Great review of the first Iron Man story. This is incredibly dated, especially with the original Vietnam War setting.
Great promo for Ron Wasserman's Power Rangers redux album, with a gag appearance from one of the Court of Owls, who apparently happens to be a friend of Wasserman. (At least I think, he's a friend of Wasserman . . .)
Can't wait for next week's review on the first Teen Titans story (the original Fab Five).
Strange though I think that how he's drawn makes me more think of Howard Stark from the Captain America movie. (yes I know the drawing came first.)
I think that may have been intentional. As Linkara pointed out Tony Stark was original modeled after Howard Hughs. That type of master techonlogical innovator and popular socialiate with ties to the military (untill his metal breakdown of course). Since Captain America's origins are so tied to WWII (when the real Howard Hughs was at the high of his influence before the ugly decline), I really think the movie was trying to make Howard Stark the Marvel Universe equivalent of Hughs with Anthoney the being the blessed/cursed heir to his lofty legacy
Linkara,a quick correction but you mention tat Stan Lee wasnt an active member of the military.
well, you are technically wrong, he enter US Army on 1942, but he wasnt a soldier Lee entered the United States Army in early 1942 and served stateside in the Signal Corps, writing manuals, training films, and slogans, and occasionally cartooning. His military classification, he says, was "playwright"; he adds that only nine men in the U.S. Army were given that title.
btw one of the other 8 men with this title of Playwright was the actual Theodor Seuss Geisel, the actual Dr Seuss
"Linkara,a quick correction but you mention tat Stan Lee wasnt an active member of the military.
well, you are technically wrong, he enter US Army on 1942, but he wasnt a soldier Lee entered the United States Army in early 1942 and served stateside in the Signal Corps, writing manuals, training films, and slogans, and occasionally cartooning. His military classification, he says, was "playwright"; he adds that only nine men in the U.S. Army were given that title."
You forgot my modifier - "active." I'm pretty sure he wasn't working for them in 1963. I might be wrong there, though.
Okay, I can understand that in the early 1960s views on South Vietnam and the U.S. involvement in the war were very different. But the racist caricatures... it's sick.
And I think that's the first time I've ever heard Linkara use the word 'bitch'.
The Pumpkin-face "I am Iron Man" will haunt my nightmares. Gorgeous artwork for the title card.
I think the Vietnam origin was canon up to 2002 when they brought back both Wong-Chu and Yinsen (sort of for the latter), until they retconned it in 2006 in the Iron Man arc leading to Civil War.
Fun thing : An Iron Man armor became sentient after it was struck by a bolt of lightning (Not malfunction, Tony. Number 5... is alive !) and started to behave like an obsessed girlfriend and declared its love for Stark (Writer of that story : Joe Quesada). So yeah, you can turn a transistor into a girlfriend.
"You forgot my modifier - "active." I'm pretty sure he wasn't working for them in 1963. I might be wrong there, though."
oh, i misunderstood you, i thought you meant that he never was actively part of the military on anyways, not active as in the moment that he made Iron Man, which i think he wasnt at the time
Ugh, not even going to start on the shrapnel approaching the heart thing. Coming from a medical background I'm just gonna sit over here and hit my head on the desk. Which reminds me, veering off-topic for a minute, but I loved the bits in the two vlogs when Liz kept talking about how studying forensics and police procedures affected her view of movies. I can really relate to that, given that probably 90% of medical plots in fiction have been spoiled for me by my profession (writers, get expert advisors! It's not hard...).
I did find the 24 hour guard joke funny - feigning ignorance and taking something extremely literally can be funny, although I guess it can be a matter of personal taste. I really thought that the confusion over eye teeth was just for laughs too, because the picture was perfect for it. I've heard that phrase a lot, although I wonder if its a British thing, because I'm in New Zealand and that's where a lot of our idioms come from, especially older ones... or maybe its just that it's faded out of use now, and I'm just showing my place as one of the 'outliers' :) Anyway, it made me curious about exactly why anyone would have thought to say that in the first place. I did a little research and found this, which includes a quote from 1866 so, yeah, definitely an old phrase.
But aside from all that, the one thing that I really want to know is how Iron Man recharges himself in seconds. I need that for my phone!
Oh hey, when you do the Teen Titans origin story, I hope your research did dig up the fact that Wonder Girl/Donna Troy owes her entire existence to a giant flub on behalf of the writer. (Which is also the cause for all those gazillion "Who is Donna Troy?" stories.)
"Oh hey, when you do the Teen Titans origin story, I hope your research did dig up the fact that Wonder Girl/Donna Troy owes her entire existence to a giant flub on behalf of the writer. (Which is also the cause for all those gazillion "Who is Donna Troy?" stories.)
That is one glorious tale."
Indeed it is.
Unfortunately, I'm not doing THAT origin - I'm doing what is TECHNICALLY the first appearance of the Teen Titans, which has Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad teaming up to fight Mr. Twister.
@Megasupermatt "Recently they did a story where the ultimate spiderman (Miles)met the main universe spiderman (Peter), I thought just came to me. How weird would it me to see ultimate alcho Stark and the sober Stark talking to eachother. Tony tries to get himself to quick drinking"
This actually reminds me of a statement Joe Quesada said during the early 00s, back when the Ultimate Universe was at the peak of it's popularity. Whe essentially stated that if the mainstream universe and Ultimate universe should ever cross over, it would be a sign that Marvel has run out of ideas, and that the company is going down in flames
"This actually reminds me of a statement Joe Quesada said during the early 00s, back when the Ultimate Universe was at the peak of it's popularity. Whe essentially stated that if the mainstream universe and Ultimate universe should ever cross over, it would be a sign that Marvel has run out of ideas, and that the company is going down in flames"
People who tell this either have forgotten or simply don't know that after he said this, Quesada also amended that his disecion wasn't set in stone, and if the idea was good enough, he would gladly change his mind.
Also, he didn't say anything about "going down in flames"
I believe I found a mistake on my second viewing of this. The lab coat Tony finds in the work room that he uses to hide the Iron Man suit is the lab coat he was wearing when he set off the booby trap. So it would've fit him anyway. HOWEVER, the labcoat might not fit him in Iron Man armor as well as it did when he didn't have the armor on, and it appears in the comic to fit the armor just as well. Good review though.
"This actually reminds me of a statement Joe Quesada said during the early 00s, back when the Ultimate Universe was at the peak of it's popularity. Whe essentially stated that if the mainstream universe and Ultimate universe should ever cross over, it would be a sign that Marvel has run out of ideas, and that the company is going down in flames"
I think the point of the original cover was the get across the idea that anyone of any kind could be Iron Man, which is evident considering he actually is wearing a mask unlike all of the other heroes created up to that point in Marvel, where it was obvious who they were from the first cover onwards. The "WHO? WHO!? WHO!?!?!?" aspect comes across with the anomynimity and to peak the curiosity of the reader, making one pick up the comic and find out it was...well, Tony Stark.
Honestly while it was funny, I did think "drunk Tony" was a tad inappropriate for the review since...well it wasn't really part of the character yet. While later writers did address the drinking, early ones more or less just saw him as a playboy and thus didn't have the need of mutating him into a lush. Though it was funny to see the stupidity of 1960s racism and the WTF devices Tony put in the original silver suit. (if you think suction cups are ridiculous, the gold suit he uses next has an infamous mode where he puts wheels on his body and just rolls around for travel...I'm dead serious about that...it makes his roller skates mode seem appropriate by comparison) It is a strong origin regardless but later writers and the movie expanded on it in epic ways, particularly the movie.
Next week...gonna be interesting to see the Titans first go, particularly since Young Justice actually did an interesting interpretation of Mister Twister, the villain of their first adventure...but I'll get into that when we do.
Loved the commercial break, very cool of Mr.Wasserman to done it. I enjoyed the announcer character and wouldn't mind him returning. Teen Titans huh? . Cool and the Original team too. As for this comic, Yeah I like Ironman's origins story minus the racism. It looked like it had a mixture of seriousness mixed with silly.
IN A CAVE! WITH TRANSISTORS! Ah, so glad they went the pseudo-realism route with the science in the movies.
It's fascinating to see the original First Story for Iron Man, especially since it was retold for Extremis (oh be still my heart) and in other mediums and universes. As hard as we wince at the dated-ness of it, it's a decent little snapshot of American sentiment in that era. In short, yes - you can critically analyze comics in a scholastic sense.
I just bought Power Rangers Redux! Thanks, Linkara! I didn't even grow up with Power Rangers, but I want to support the idea of DRM free FLAC/MP3 options. And the theme is always kickass.
I know you probably have a million of these to sort through, but one recommendation I'd request for next year is Whiz Comics #2, the first appearance of Captain Marvel.
Now that he's a Justice League member in the New 52, and considering how much he was ignored Post-Crisis in favor of his enemies (seriously all 3 of his nemeses had major parts to play in 52 and he was barely in it) I'd like him to get some credit for all the major things he did for comics. The Mad Scientist enemy, the female counterpart, ongoing stories, flying before Supes, we owe the guy so much.
I understand if you would rather do a different character, but still, the guy doesn't get enough credit in my opinion.
I really like the "drunk Tony" voice. It distinguishes him from other heroes. This may be a unpopular opinion, but I prefer Iron Man when he's drinking rather than sober. After he stopped he got stiff and boring.
I also think it's rather funny that Dennis O'Neil was the writer who made Tony stop drinking after getting Speedy hooked on heroin in the first place.
Jarkes - The Court of Owls is from New 52 Batman. That's roughly all I know, except I saw two of those same masks at my LCS yesterday.
"I'm wondering if you might review Guardians of the Galaxy 1 (1969) at some point." I take it you mean Marvel Superheroes! Presents #18? (1969) What the phantom menace does that have to do with the upcoming movie?
Linkara - I think there's an X-Men collection DVD, too. And, yes, I did know that song has nothing to do with the character. Unless Stark has destroyed the earth lately.
I find the jokes about transistors and mini mortars especially funny because oddly some people actually thought that way during the Vietnam war, I mean in the sense that if you just threw more technology at the problem it'll be fixed somehow. Little known fact but a lot of the equipment used in Desert Storm (Smartbombs, specialized SEAD aircraft, attack helicopters) was developed during the Vietnam war.
Linkara, you're always complaining about feminist characters not being written or by actual feminists. You should try Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose. A real feminist is behind it, and it's a great read for people wanting to learn about the philosophy.
Just noticed the first-edition Shortpacked! Brings Back the Eighties on your couch in the opening. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteYou're pronouncing guerrilla wrong.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find interesting is that so much of what is taken for granted as being part of Stark's character arc isn't actually present in the original Iron Man stories. You'll note there's no hint of Stark's career being morally ambiguous, as shown in re-tellings and the feature films. Even the ideas you mentioned about Tony being anti-counter culture (Pro-culture?) aren't present on the page. In other words, the readers bring a lot more of the own pre-existing cultural bias to Tony than they do other superheroes. It's interesting from a literary standpoint.
ReplyDeleteRecently they did a story where the ultimate spiderman (Miles)met the main universe spiderman (Peter), I thought just came to me. How weird would it me to see ultimate alcho Stark and the sober Stark talking to eachother. Tony tries to get himself to quick drinking
ReplyDeletean eyetooth is another name for the canine tooth or the fang
ReplyDeleteMaybe Tony Stark is forced to read Marville between issues, and that's why he's so drunk.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it explain a lot?
Hope Todd won't mind all those mails xD Cause you know people are going to play along, don't you Linkara?
ReplyDeleteIs it even possible in real life to have an unmovable shrapnel stuck in you body that slowly gets closer towards your heart?
ReplyDeleteProblem with your cover analysis. To help build buzz for the comic the Hero of Iron Man was announced but it was left unclear who would be the man in the armor. Sure before you are even half way into the comic its clear it will be Tony but hey you already purchased it then to see that.
ReplyDeleteAlso that thing being smoked is a cigarette holder. My great grandmother on my dad's side of the family used them. They were long to cool the smoke before it entered your mouth. What it really did is make the tar nice and sticky sooner so you were more prone to Pneumonia. It also allowed people to smoke the whole cigarette before filtered cigarettes were common.
Great use of clips. Laughed more on this episode than most others the first time through.
Sorry to say though looking at the two openings back to back although the old one might be a bit busy the new one feels much less energetic.
Love the Wasserman Commercial. Hope it gets into more episodes He Deserves it and sadly my searches for support for an anthology set of all the music from all the Power Rangers Series is not going as well as I had hoped. Still the 25th anniversary is still a little way away so that could change.
What Have We Learned? - It's not alcohol or whiskey that makes Tony Stark a drunk. It's those transistors. Those plentiful transistors.
ReplyDeleteI think you are a little confused about the counter culture movement of the 60’s. While there were some elements of it around in the early part of the decade, Iron Man came out when America was still in its Camelot stage, with JFK being president. The counter culture movement did not become popular until the later part of the decade around 66. I know you are not an expert on any history besides that of the DC universe, but I think it is important to understand the shift that happened after this comic came out.
ReplyDeleteIf you think this was racist you should see some of the other early Iron Man comics the writer at the time did not like Asians.
Good review. I now have an intense urge to wrestle the weak into submission.
ReplyDeleteFun fact: I actually read this comic in, of all things, a sociology textbook. There was also a second Iron Man comic from several years later centered on one of Tony Stark's memories in Vietnam. The idea was to demonstrate how changes in cultural attitudes affect popular culture over time. Iron Man's origin story was essentially an America-saves-the-day-in-Vietnam story, while the second comic had a Vietnam-was-a-clusterf**k message instead. Rather interesting.
Linkara, any thoughts on Iron Man 3?
ReplyDeleteGreat review and also off topic but what is your opnion on Invincible
ReplyDeleteIt's not often this happens but this one was actually getting on my nerves. Feigning ignorance (or even not bothering to do a lil' google search) for things 24 hour security and 'eye teeth' don't come across as funny just awkward and nitpicky. I always took the cover to mean 'Who is Iron Man?' as we get to see that it's clearly a person in a suit and not a robot which the full shot (and the name) suggests. This one kinda left me cold, and the drunk Tony was really hard to listen to, but that may just be me.
ReplyDeleteSo Tony Stark is essentially a prototype Stan Smith
ReplyDeleteAlso, the character of Judge Dredd essentially works on the same principle
By the way, why would the Court of Owls be interested in the soundtrack of a cheesy 90s show that used foreign footage?
IN A CAVE WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!!!!
ReplyDeleteOk, now that we have THAT out of the way....
Good review!
I'm not too surprised that they tried to make the Transistor as super-powered as they did, all things considered. Transistors were first coming out at the time and they pretty much revolutionized electronics. They allowed you to turn these huge, power-hungry radios into something you can hold in your hand, and power with simple batteries.
Ron Wasserman doesn't scare me. I'm going to boldly flaunt his announcer's warning and not purchase his album! Wait a minute... Ron Wasserman just appeared behind me. OHGOD
"The suit is as drunk as I am" I think that might just be my favorite joke of yours ever.
ReplyDeleteAnother awesome episode Linkara!
ReplyDeleteThough I have to say, as a Vietnamese, sitting through this story is very painful for me. Stay classy, Cold War propagandas.
Ron claiming he doesn't have special music based magical powers? Psssh... He's just being modest.
ReplyDeleteDoes this mean you are going to change the opening of HOPR so it had the "Go Go redux" theme instead of the old theme.
ReplyDeleteIt seemed weird to do drunken voice the whole but other then that it was fine. Weird looking sometimes at older comics and their racial stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteFunny thing at the end with Iron Man being a good WWE wrestler I use to as a kid use Secret Wars Iron Man (Also spidey, cap, doom, magneto from the line) toy in wrestling against GI Joe, Star Wars, and other figures. Funny thing is some of that led me to create my story lines and characters over the years.
You know there's one thing that bugs me about the drunk voice you use it right after he wakes up in the villain's camp, I'd assume he'd been unconscious for quite some time so the whole time you were doing the drunk voice I kept thinking, wow Linkara you really need a hangover voice.
ReplyDeleteGreat review!
I don't know what "eyeteeth" they're referring to, but there is a surgical technique that grafts a hollowed out tooth onto the eye to help the lens.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty disgusting-looking, actually.
This was gold! I knew this was going to have some interesting... stuff from the 60s!
ReplyDeleteI love the drunk Tony Stark voice and it fits him here! I would love to see a review of the "Demon in a Bottle" story. I've always been meaning to read it someday in trades!
I do love how they've updated the origins by changing it from the Vietnam War to the Gulf to Iraq/Afghanistan Wars and yet all the key characters involved still have the same names even though they've had complete cultural shifts.
I'd like that Power Rangers Redux music but I'd actually want a physical CD... never been much for paying for something and not getting something that exist on a physical plan to hold with it! XD
I'm not a huge Iron Man fan but when did the Arc-Reactor come into continuity? I didn't quit catch it here did they do the whole super magnet in his chest plat keeping the shrapnel out of his heart thing? I've never liked that idea I much more preferred the idea that the shrapnel was removed but it caused so much damage to his heart he needs a pacemaker and he's just using the Arc-Reactor that powers his suit to power it! And, that's why every time his reactor shuts down or is damaged he goes into cardiac arrest.
I know that the song has nothing to do with the comics... but I'd love to see a "What if..." or some indie comic adapt of the song's story it is weirdly interesting! A man turned into a giant metal monster and killing everyone!?
Yay Teen Titans... oh wait it's the original ones... so, Dick Grayson kid Robin, Aqua Lad, Wonder Girl, and Speedy...
I didn't know Ron Wasserman was with the Court of Owls.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably been said already, but your drunk Tony voice is absolutely hilarious.
ReplyDeleteSweet, had to pause the video to laugh it off again!
ReplyDelete11/10. :D
Between Drunk Tony and that bit with the helmet, this is one of the best episodes you've put out. Add in some Wasserman goodness and I think we may be living in the best of all possible universes.
ReplyDelete"Eye teeth" are what a lot of people call the somewhat longer, sharper teeth formally known as "canines" or "incisors." I'm not sure how they got that name, but it's what I've called them most of my life.
ReplyDeleteAlso: Yay for the return of the drunk Tony voice!
14:00 - WHAT?!? Sorry Linkara, but I'll finish the show later!!
ReplyDelete*runs off to get is debit card*
-M4A
Re: Iron Man and counterculture: I don't know if Jack Kirby had any involvement with Iron Man besides designing his costume, but I do know that he was hugely into '60s counterculture. His book "The Forever People" for DC was basically a love letter to the flower generation.
ReplyDeleteAnd for what it's worth, my father was a pretty big hippie back in the '60s and held liberal/counterculture views for the rest of his life, and he was a huge fan of Iron Man.
As for Stan Lee himself, he's always struck me as pretty apolitical. I'd bet him writing Spider-Man supporting protesters wasn't necessarily because he himself did, but because A) it made sense for the character, and B) Stan recognized young counterculture supporters as potential buyers and wanted to market to them.
ReplyDeleteI'll be honest, I think you made a mistake going with the "Drunk Tony" voice. It was too distracting, slowed the review down, and really didn't fit the Tony Stark we saw in this comic. I would've done a more traditional voice when actually reading Tony's dialogue, and saved the drunk voice for your cutaway jokes.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it with Marvel origins and wrestling? First Peter Parker starts as a masked wrestler, and now we have Tony Stark fighting an evil wrestler.
ReplyDeleteI have a couple of those Marvel DVDs. They're great, until you hit any crossover and realize half the story isn't there. :(
*is dizzy from headbanging to Iron Man*
ReplyDeleteOkay... I kind of expected more from that origin story. Dunno, more epicness and such.
But hey, compared to others it's really not that bad. At least it wasn't all that goofy in hindsight.
PS: Thanks for the commercial. ^_^
Now if only it wasn't night here...
As someone who recently sat down and read Bob Haney's early Teen Titan stories I both highly anticipate next week and deeply, deeply pity you.
ReplyDelete"Linkara, any thoughts on Iron Man 3?"
ReplyDelete...Well, "What a nice trailer?"
"It's not often this happens but this one was actually getting on my nerves. Feigning ignorance (or even not bothering to do a lil' google search) for things 24 hour security and 'eye teeth' don't come across as funny just awkward and nitpicky."
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the 24-hour guard thing, but I can honestly tell you I have NEVER heard the expression "eyeteeth" before.
Please, please, please, no more drunk Tony Stark unless it's the Ultimates.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the ad on Power Rangers redux! I had no clue this had been made, and am loving it after just purchasing it. I've been watching the old episodes on the recently released Power Rangers DVD boxset, and was thinking the only thing making it more perfect was a new CD of these classic songs.
ReplyDeleteGreat episode as usual as well. Loved learning about Iron Man's original origin.
I always thought, well according to how Tales of Suspense played out, that Iron Man was originally meant to be a horror comic. It wouldn't be the first war time Horror Comic/Novel like the Paul F. Wilson's "The Keep"
ReplyDelete"Ake Polak has left a new comment on the post "Tales of Suspense #39":
ReplyDeleteIs it even possible in real life to have an unmovable shrapnel stuck in you body that slowly gets closer towards your heart?"
Maybe back then but not today... the only place on the body I think a foreign object can't be removed safely without death or worse causing damage is the brain or spinal cord!
"Matthew Cook has left a new comment on the post "Tales of Suspense #39":
ReplyDeletean eyetooth is another name for the canine tooth or the fang"
Do you know why? It is claimed you can feel it all the way up into your eyes when they're pulled. That is why the saying exist to imply some one is willing to go through hat kind of pain to gain something.
Personally, I doubt that Stan Lee really had too many social messages intended in Iron Man's origin; from what I've heard him say, it was more his fascination with the then-current "scientific buzz-word" of transistors (as was the case with "cosmic rays" and "gamma rays") that led him to create a character based on it. And gadget-using heroes were an old favorite in comics too. Still, as the first power-armored hero (in American comics anyway) Iron Man certainly deserves his iconic status.
ReplyDeleteI think the minipanels in the cover are there to clue in the reader that Iron Man isn't a robot.
And you know, for all its racist overtones, the story DID play it fair by having a Vietnamese character help Tony create the armor (and save his life). They could just as easily have had Tony save himself and only used "Evil Commies" for the Asians.
You know... you were totally right about the 2 commercial thing... <.<
ReplyDeleteI got two blip commercials in that break. At first from UK (which I think is funny but odd), then the video continued, but instead of seeing it, I only heared the Rob Wasserman commercial - because they shoved in another blip commercial over it! I had to pause the video so I'm not missing anything and had to sit through the most annoying german commercial they have right now... x_x
(Well, I'm happy for you though, since it should've bring you at least a bit more money ^^; )
But there's one thing that irritated me about the review...
With Ironman's look, and the scene in front of the Mirror, and all the "he's not really human anymore" lines this comic had... Not a single Cyberman referance? o.o
You brought them up in so many reviews, stating that you like them because they're so nicely quoatable, but you didn't used a single reference to them in this comic where it more or less jumped into your face?
Ironman nearly looks like a Cyberman - he upgraded himself (which at state of this comic wasn't be able to undone again) and at the same time complained about not beeing a real human anymore... This is the core of the Cyberman problem, at least along their introduction in the new series of Doctor Who...
I thought the whole Review that you might save something for the end - so it really surprised me that there wasn't any mention about them... o.o
"Personally, I doubt that Stan Lee really had too many social messages intended in Iron Man's origin; from what I've heard him say, it was more his fascination with the then-current "scientific buzz-word" of transistors (as was the case with "cosmic rays" and "gamma rays") that led him to create a character based on it. And gadget-using heroes were an old favorite in comics too. Still, as the first power-armored hero (in American comics anyway) Iron Man certainly deserves his iconic status."
ReplyDeletePerhaps, but I got it from two books - Son of Marvel Origins and Comic Books 101.
"Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteI think you are a little confused about the counter culture movement of the 60’s. While there were some elements of it around in the early part of the decade, Iron Man came out when America was still in its Camelot stage, with JFK being president. The counter culture movement did not become popular until the later part of the decade around 66. I know you are not an expert on any from history besides that of the DC universe, but I think it is important to understand the shift that happened after this comic came out."
I agree there. There's actually a thesis paper (published as a book) about ideology and propaganda in Marvel comics from Cold War to Détente. Unfortunately for you all, it's in German.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/3631444605
It's a pretty good read, though, and it points out the shift from early Silver Age Marvel comics still being pretty anti-communist, pro-establishment, pro-war. It wasn't until massive reader requests (as documented on the letter pages) caused Lee and the rest of the Marvel staff to change the attitude of their stories, even though they themselves didn't agree with the counterculture of the late 1960s.
I could have sworn eyeteeth came up before... maybe in the recent "thing from another world" comics? or maybe one of the ones with the olde timee "villagers"... I dunno.
ReplyDeleteAlso I want to thank you for inadvertently helping me win at a comic book trivia contest. Your secret origins months have really helped me kill in said category. I even quoted the flash video with the hard water and got extra points.
Win. Keep doing what your doing.
I'm wondering if you might review Guardians of the Galaxy 1 (1969) at some point. The main reason is that they are creating a movie for them in 2014.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I know they are completely different teams, but I'm just curious.
Who knew the Tony Stark drunk voice would be so polarizing? Personally I find it amusing but I'm a sucker for changed voices and sound gag stuff.
ReplyDeleteLiked the brief voice over with the title card at the mid-roll, was just weird with the Flash review when it was all silent.
I was never big into Iron Man, though I'm pretty sure in the mid-late 90s he was going through some serious stuff, even my dad stopped reading him. I do like the movies a lot though. It's interesting to see how much of the origin story was kept for the movie, I'd honestly had no idea about his origins before then. Strange though I think that how he's drawn makes me more think of Howard Stark from the Captain America movie. (yes I know the drawing came first.)
I'd heard the term eye-teeth before, still loved the joke.
Am very excited for the next review.
Anonymous 7:03: I'm guessing that might be his 2014 Secret Origins Month team book. I don't know his exact "X Years Old Minimum", but I think 45 years would be a good margin.
ReplyDeleteThis was the first time that I left one of your reviews in the middle. After hearing your commercial I had to take of that first. Great review by the way.
ReplyDeleteHey, thought that was a good review. I like how you pointed out how Stan Lee came up with this crazy idea for Iron Man's character: a man who deals weapons that we are supposed to root for!!! Originally, I didn't think much of it but contrasted against all the bad shit the 60s brought on us....yeah, it is nothing short of a miracle that people accepted him. Then again, they accepted James Bond at the same time so stranger things have happened. I wonder what our culture will evolve into another 50 years from now.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the stereotyping of the villains is pretty indefensible. America was even dumber back then.
Also, you don't need to do the drunk voice just to make us happy. The fact that we don't see Tony drink once just kinda feels...weird.
Great review of the first Iron Man story. This is incredibly dated, especially with the original Vietnam War setting.
ReplyDeleteGreat promo for Ron Wasserman's Power Rangers redux album, with a gag appearance from one of the Court of Owls, who apparently happens to be a friend of Wasserman. (At least I think, he's a friend of Wasserman . . .)
Can't wait for next week's review on the first Teen Titans story (the original Fab Five).
Strange though I think that how he's drawn makes me more think of Howard Stark from the Captain America movie. (yes I know the drawing came first.)
ReplyDeleteI think that may have been intentional. As Linkara pointed out Tony Stark was original modeled after Howard Hughs. That type of master techonlogical innovator and popular socialiate with ties to the military (untill his metal breakdown of course). Since Captain America's origins are so tied to WWII (when the real Howard Hughs was at the high of his influence before the ugly decline), I really think the movie was trying to make Howard Stark the Marvel Universe equivalent of Hughs with Anthoney the being the blessed/cursed heir to his lofty legacy
Linkara,a quick correction but you mention tat Stan Lee wasnt an active member of the military.
ReplyDeletewell, you are technically wrong, he enter US Army on 1942, but he wasnt a soldier
Lee entered the United States Army in early 1942 and served stateside in the Signal Corps, writing manuals, training films, and slogans, and occasionally cartooning. His military classification, he says, was "playwright"; he adds that only nine men in the U.S. Army were given that title.
btw one of the other 8 men with this title of Playwright was the actual Theodor Seuss Geisel, the actual Dr Seuss
"Linkara,a quick correction but you mention tat Stan Lee wasnt an active member of the military.
ReplyDeletewell, you are technically wrong, he enter US Army on 1942, but he wasnt a soldier
Lee entered the United States Army in early 1942 and served stateside in the Signal Corps, writing manuals, training films, and slogans, and occasionally cartooning. His military classification, he says, was "playwright"; he adds that only nine men in the U.S. Army were given that title."
You forgot my modifier - "active." I'm pretty sure he wasn't working for them in 1963. I might be wrong there, though.
Okay, I can understand that in the early 1960s views on South Vietnam and the U.S. involvement in the war were very different. But the racist caricatures... it's sick.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think that's the first time I've ever heard Linkara use the word 'bitch'.
The Pumpkin-face "I am Iron Man" will haunt my nightmares. Gorgeous artwork for the title card.
ReplyDeleteI think the Vietnam origin was canon up to 2002 when they brought back both Wong-Chu and Yinsen (sort of for the latter), until they retconned it in 2006 in the Iron Man arc leading to Civil War.
Fun thing : An Iron Man armor became sentient after it was struck by a bolt of lightning (Not malfunction, Tony. Number 5... is alive !) and started to behave like an obsessed girlfriend and declared its love for Stark (Writer of that story : Joe Quesada). So yeah, you can turn a transistor into a girlfriend.
"And I think that's the first time I've ever heard Linkara use the word 'bitch'."
ReplyDeleteGo watch Neutro and Suburban Knights then. :)
"You forgot my modifier - "active." I'm pretty sure he wasn't working for them in 1963. I might be wrong there, though."
ReplyDeleteoh, i misunderstood you, i thought you meant that he never was actively part of the military on anyways, not active as in the moment that he made Iron Man, which i think he wasnt at the time
Ugh, not even going to start on the shrapnel approaching the heart thing. Coming from a medical background I'm just gonna sit over here and hit my head on the desk. Which reminds me, veering off-topic for a minute, but I loved the bits in the two vlogs when Liz kept talking about how studying forensics and police procedures affected her view of movies. I can really relate to that, given that probably 90% of medical plots in fiction have been spoiled for me by my profession (writers, get expert advisors! It's not hard...).
ReplyDeleteI did find the 24 hour guard joke funny - feigning ignorance and taking something extremely literally can be funny, although I guess it can be a matter of personal taste. I really thought that the confusion over eye teeth was just for laughs too, because the picture was perfect for it. I've heard that phrase a lot, although I wonder if its a British thing, because I'm in New Zealand and that's where a lot of our idioms come from, especially older ones... or maybe its just that it's faded out of use now, and I'm just showing my place as one of the 'outliers' :) Anyway, it made me curious about exactly why anyone would have thought to say that in the first place. I did a little research and found this, which includes a quote from 1866 so, yeah, definitely an old phrase.
But aside from all that, the one thing that I really want to know is how Iron Man recharges himself in seconds. I need that for my phone!
I think I know why he had such an alcohol problems: His transistors boots anything's power by 1000 - even booze XD
ReplyDeleteOh hey, when you do the Teen Titans origin story, I hope your research did dig up the fact that Wonder Girl/Donna Troy owes her entire existence to a giant flub on behalf of the writer. (Which is also the cause for all those gazillion "Who is Donna Troy?" stories.)
ReplyDeleteThat is one glorious tale.
"Oh hey, when you do the Teen Titans origin story, I hope your research did dig up the fact that Wonder Girl/Donna Troy owes her entire existence to a giant flub on behalf of the writer. (Which is also the cause for all those gazillion "Who is Donna Troy?" stories.)
ReplyDeleteThat is one glorious tale."
Indeed it is.
Unfortunately, I'm not doing THAT origin - I'm doing what is TECHNICALLY the first appearance of the Teen Titans, which has Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad teaming up to fight Mr. Twister.
@Megasupermatt
ReplyDelete"Recently they did a story where the ultimate spiderman (Miles)met the main universe spiderman (Peter), I thought just came to me. How weird would it me to see ultimate alcho Stark and the sober Stark talking to eachother. Tony tries to get himself to quick drinking"
This actually reminds me of a statement Joe Quesada said during the early 00s, back when the Ultimate Universe was at the peak of it's popularity.
Whe essentially stated that if the mainstream universe and Ultimate universe should ever cross over, it would be a sign that Marvel has run out of ideas, and that the company is going down in flames
yeah...
And thus, Q from 3rd Strike is born.
ReplyDelete"This actually reminds me of a statement Joe Quesada said during the early 00s, back when the Ultimate Universe was at the peak of it's popularity.
ReplyDeleteWhe essentially stated that if the mainstream universe and Ultimate universe should ever cross over, it would be a sign that Marvel has run out of ideas, and that the company is going down in flames"
People who tell this either have forgotten or simply don't know that after he said this, Quesada also amended that his disecion wasn't set in stone, and if the idea was good enough, he would gladly change his mind.
Also, he didn't say anything about "going down in flames"
I believe I found a mistake on my second viewing of this. The lab coat Tony finds in the work room that he uses to hide the Iron Man suit is the lab coat he was wearing when he set off the booby trap. So it would've fit him anyway. HOWEVER, the labcoat might not fit him in Iron Man armor as well as it did when he didn't have the armor on, and it appears in the comic to fit the armor just as well. Good review though.
ReplyDelete"This actually reminds me of a statement Joe Quesada said during the early 00s, back when the Ultimate Universe was at the peak of it's popularity.
ReplyDeleteWhe essentially stated that if the mainstream universe and Ultimate universe should ever cross over, it would be a sign that Marvel has run out of ideas, and that the company is going down in flames"
*Looks towards Avengers Arena*
Yep, I agree.
I think the point of the original cover was the get across the idea that anyone of any kind could be Iron Man, which is evident considering he actually is wearing a mask unlike all of the other heroes created up to that point in Marvel, where it was obvious who they were from the first cover onwards. The "WHO? WHO!? WHO!?!?!?" aspect comes across with the anomynimity and to peak the curiosity of the reader, making one pick up the comic and find out it was...well, Tony Stark.
ReplyDeleteHonestly while it was funny, I did think "drunk Tony" was a tad inappropriate for the review since...well it wasn't really part of the character yet. While later writers did address the drinking, early ones more or less just saw him as a playboy and thus didn't have the need of mutating him into a lush. Though it was funny to see the stupidity of 1960s racism and the WTF devices Tony put in the original silver suit. (if you think suction cups are ridiculous, the gold suit he uses next has an infamous mode where he puts wheels on his body and just rolls around for travel...I'm dead serious about that...it makes his roller skates mode seem appropriate by comparison) It is a strong origin regardless but later writers and the movie expanded on it in epic ways, particularly the movie.
Next week...gonna be interesting to see the Titans first go, particularly since Young Justice actually did an interesting interpretation of Mister Twister, the villain of their first adventure...but I'll get into that when we do.
Okay, what's this "Court of Owls" thing people keep talking about that appeared in the Wasserman commercial? I don't get it...
ReplyDeleteLoved the commercial break, very cool of Mr.Wasserman to done it. I enjoyed the announcer character and wouldn't mind him returning. Teen Titans huh? . Cool and the Original team too.
ReplyDeleteAs for this comic, Yeah I like Ironman's origins story minus the racism. It looked like it had a mixture of seriousness mixed with silly.
IN A CAVE! WITH TRANSISTORS! Ah, so glad they went the pseudo-realism route with the science in the movies.
ReplyDeleteIt's fascinating to see the original First Story for Iron Man, especially since it was retold for Extremis (oh be still my heart) and in other mediums and universes. As hard as we wince at the dated-ness of it, it's a decent little snapshot of American sentiment in that era. In short, yes - you can critically analyze comics in a scholastic sense.
I just bought Power Rangers Redux! Thanks, Linkara! I didn't even grow up with Power Rangers, but I want to support the idea of DRM free FLAC/MP3 options. And the theme is always kickass.
ReplyDeleteLoving Secret Origins month as per usual.
ReplyDeleteI know you probably have a million of these to sort through, but one recommendation I'd request for next year is Whiz Comics #2, the first appearance of Captain Marvel.
Now that he's a Justice League member in the New 52, and considering how much he was ignored Post-Crisis in favor of his enemies (seriously all 3 of his nemeses had major parts to play in 52 and he was barely in it) I'd like him to get some credit for all the major things he did for comics. The Mad Scientist enemy, the female counterpart, ongoing stories, flying before Supes, we owe the guy so much.
I understand if you would rather do a different character, but still, the guy doesn't get enough credit in my opinion.
My friend is a recovering alcoholic.
ReplyDeleteEvery day he is struggling to remain sober.
Not cool, Linkara. Not cool.
I really like the "drunk Tony" voice. It distinguishes him from other heroes. This may be a unpopular opinion, but I prefer Iron Man when he's drinking rather than sober. After he stopped he got stiff and boring.
ReplyDeleteI also think it's rather funny that Dennis O'Neil was the writer who made Tony stop drinking after getting Speedy hooked on heroin in the first place.
Fun times...
Jarkes -
ReplyDeleteThe Court of Owls is from New 52 Batman. That's roughly all I know, except I saw two of those same masks at my LCS yesterday.
"I'm wondering if you might review Guardians of the Galaxy 1 (1969) at some point."
I take it you mean Marvel Superheroes! Presents #18? (1969)
What the phantom menace does that have to do with the upcoming movie?
Linkara - I think there's an X-Men collection DVD, too.
And, yes, I did know that song has nothing to do with the character. Unless Stark has destroyed the earth lately.
Where did you get that recording of "Iron Man"? I like it!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous:
ReplyDelete"Where did you get that recording of Iron Man? I like it!"
I can't vouch for where Linkara got it, but I have it on The Best Of Black Sabbath (unless it's a cover version or something.)
I find the jokes about transistors and mini mortars especially funny because oddly some people actually thought that way during the Vietnam war, I mean in the sense that if you just threw more technology at the problem it'll be fixed somehow. Little known fact but a lot of the equipment used in Desert Storm (Smartbombs, specialized SEAD aircraft, attack helicopters) was developed during the Vietnam war.
ReplyDeleteAlso, MORE DRUNK TONY STARK!!! XD
Linkara, you're always complaining about feminist characters not being written or by actual feminists.
ReplyDeleteYou should try Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose. A real feminist is behind it, and it's a great read for people wanting to learn about the philosophy.
He's not smoking a paint brush. Giving that it's war era 'nam I could almost guarantee you that it's an opium pipe.
ReplyDeleteDrunk Iron Man rules! But transistors don't power anything!
ReplyDeleteCatching up on AT4W's I've missed, and I just realized, you drunk Tony Stark sounds remarkably like Bill Cosby!
ReplyDelete