Superhero Media: Infamous Iron Man

In a world were Tony Stark has sacrificed himself to save the Earth from an alien menace, who will fill the role of Iron Man? The answer is, of course, Victor Von Doom. After the events of Secret War (the other one), Doom is returned to Earth, Latveria is in ruins and he has had the epiphany that being a "villain" has not turned out they way he wanted. The natural conclusion that Doom reaches? Become the new Iron Man. As a big fan of Doom, I like seeing him in the hero role, even if the concept is a little trite. Doom 2099 was great, and I should probably read it again at some stage, but Infamous Iron Man hits all of the right notes and goes about as far as you can in the 616 continuity. Seeing Doom work through his emotional baggage, and struggle to interact like a human sometimes makes from some great quiet moments, and some exceptional character scenes when other characters interact with the "new" Doom. 

The artwork, by Alex Maleev, has an impressionistic look, which suits the theme of Doom's disassociation from his former self, but the action scenes are pretty ugly and hard to follow as a result. And that's when the art doesn't cop-out by cutting away, or just not really showing the climatic fight, a magical battle between Doom and Mephisto with Doctor Strange helping out Doom. That could have been really visually interesting in the hands of a better artist, but really lets down the epic conclusion of the mini-series. Of course, it doesn't help that Brian Michael Bendis barely writes a finale, but I'm willing to cut him a little more slack given how many comics Marvel has him writing every month. Again, the smaller moments, like Doom talking to Ben Grimm or exchanges with Ironheart, are where Infamous Iron Man is strongest, as Doom is one of the smartest people on the planet, making excellent points, while all anyone can remember is the several times he nearly destroyed the planet and/or killed a bunch of people. 

Although this is just a mini-series, Victor Von Doom, the Iron Man, continues on in some Avengers comics, but all things being as they are in comics, by the time you're reading this, Doom has likely long-since returned to his old ways. As much as retcons and reboots are something comics fans like to complain about, returns to the status quo are how we get fun little diversions like Infamous Iron Man. Of course Stark will return to the suit at some point, but the comics where Doctor Doom is a hero and everyone is blindsided will sit on my shelves for years to come. Currently there isn't a Heroclix version of the character, but as soon as one isn't a silly price on the secondary market, I'll be sure to be grabbing one for my collection of Dooms. Also certainly a consideration for my "AvengerZ" articles down the track, if I ever get back to them.