International Iron Man #6 Review - Marvel Mondays

Hey Jude, Don't Make It Bad

Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Art by: Alex Maleev, Paul Mounts and Clayton Cowles
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 24, 2016
Review by: Josh Vermillion 

After leaving the last issue on the cliffhanger of Tony meeting his biological mother, I was expecting to jump right into that conversation and see what she could tell Tony about his past. To my surprise, that’s not what we got at all. So, was this a good or bad thing? Maybe a little of both? Read on to find out what I thought of it.
Instead of picking up where the last issue left off, Brian Michael Bendis decides to start this one off at a concert “many years ago.” If you didn’t pay close attention or don’t remember how the last issue ended, you probably wouldn’t even notice the name of the singer. Her name is Amanda Strong, which she later reveals is short for Armstrong. If that name is ringing a bell, it’s because at the end of the last issue it was revealed that Amanda Armstrong is Tony Stark’s mother.

Really, not a whole lot happens in this book. Amanda Strong gets recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D. (by the way, I hate typing all of those periods because I am a lazy guy, so I’ll just call it SHIELD from now on). A year later she’s touring the world and must be pretty popular because she gets to play a show at the Indra Club in Germany. The Beatles played there so it must be a big deal. A SHIELD agent named Jude gives her a “harmonica” to transport and deliver during the show.

While setting up before her performance, Amanda gets cornered by an assassin. She fights back but one of his shots finds her leg. As he’s about to shoot her in the head, Jude comes up and saves her life before taking her to a hotel to lay low. When she eventually wakes up, he gets the chance to ask her out. She doesn’t have time to answer though, because a building blows up outside and it’s time for them to go to work.

Over the last few pages of Amanda and Jude talking, the words “This is the story of how Tony Stark’s biological parents met” are interspersed throughout the panels. I was one of those people that didn’t really remember that Amanda was Tony’s mother, so this was a cool surprise to me. Up to that point I was a little annoyed that this was all taking place in the past with some random girl and no Iron Man, and I was even considering giving it the old F-You Five. But once I read that I instantly liked the book more. Sure, it wasn’t what I expected, but there’s nothing wrong with changing it up for an issue.

Alex Maleev and Paul Mounts killed it on art, even though there wasn’t a whole lot of action going on. I’m really liking Bendis and Maleev together on this book and I want to see where the story goes. With only one issue left to go, I’m hoping we see an awesome resolution to the story they’ve built up thus far.

Bits and Pieces:

Even though not a lot happened in this issue, I found it enjoyable to read. It was a real quick read that provided a lot of information going forward with the story. This is one title I didn’t really expect to like, but I seem to come away from every issue feeling satisfied with what I read.

7.8/10