Longtime fans (like yours truly) may remember a character called Mopee.In an early episode of The Flash, the character appeared to announce that he had given super-speed powers to the hero, not the accident that had long been accepted as the origin for The Flash.
The story was so hated by fans that readers generally ignored it completely, and it was the butt of jokes forever after.
Which brings us to this issue of Iron Man, as we learn the "Secret Origin of Tony Stark." It's too soon to say we're in Mopee territory here, but it's looking very similar.
The story focuses on the discovery by Tony of a film with his father telling a dark secret about Tony's past. We flash back to see his parents discovering the unsettling news that their unborn child has a serious medical problem and will not survive birth.
That sends Howard Stark on a mission to "fix" the problem, one that takes him into strange, "Oceans 11" territory and the promise of an extraterrestrial solution.
So is Tony only exceptional because of his alien assistance? Can we buy him as a genius if his mind is attributed to an almost-supernatural intervention?
It all treads very close to the kind of story readers will reject outright, as it takes the character away from his "self-made billionaire" origin and into science fiction territory.
There's still plenty of story to be revealed, so perhaps the story will end up being terrific - but right now, I'm smelling Mopee.
I hope I'm wrong.
Grade: B
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1 comment:
I agree that the idea that Tony Stark is a result of Alien intelligence is very dumb. I guess one of the problems with characters decades old is that eventually they think they have to try out stupid ideas to keep things fresh.
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