Ah, the conundrum of #1 issues. They have to do this, they have to do that - everyone has their own ideas of what constitutes the “right” way of starting a series, but I think the quality we can all agree on is that a first issue has to make the reader want to pick up the next issue. And the next, and so on. Iron Patriot #1 doesn’t do this.
That said it’s not a bad comic per se - we meet JIm Rhodes, there’s a mystery antagonist, he’s in trouble, we find out about his home life like his distant father whom he wants to become closer to and his techy niece. It’s fine, it is. It just reads very formulaically like 1) hook the reader with an arresting image and an enticing scene, 2) make Rhodey appear human by giving the character “heart”, and 3) have the character explain why he’s changing from War Machine to Iron Patriot (literally via a press conference for the reader’s benefit!).
After Ales Kot crosses off each point, he has Rhodey fight some mud monsters in the sea and then his suit fails and he crashes. You can read the entire issue and not be bored but also not be gripped in the least. I read it thinking, uh huh, I get it, that’s logical - but so what? It’s so bland! I don’t care about Rhodey or his series at all! There’s nothing new here, nothing that makes me want to keep reading like I do with Moon Knight or Ms Marvel or Silver Surfer - I don’t see a character here, I see the outline of one which Ales Kot failed to take and turn into someone who lives on the page.
Iron Patriot #1 is not a bad comic but it is a dull one. It doesn’t make you want to pick up the next issue or even want to wait for the trade - you just wonder why Marvel bothered in the first place if they were going to half-ass it like this.
Ho hum, so this one joins the All-New Marvel NOW! titles that failed to pop. Hey, they can’t all be Ms Marvels, right?
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