Infamous Iron Man #1 Review - A Rocky Launch

The sins of the past are what in many ways make us who we are, and for Doctor Doom, well, suffice it to say he's got enough sins to form a small country.

That makes his current quest a little puzzling, though it is intriguing to see this longtime villain take on a mantle known by many as the antithesis of what Doom has been his entire life. Ironically the best parts of the book are when Doom is allowed to just be Doom, like early on when he interacts with Osborn's cabinet. There's some wonderful comedic gold between Doom and The Hood here, and it's sort of sad that we won't see that further explored. At least, it appears that way right now.

Doom should have his hands full though just trying to prove that this time he's on the up and up, attempting this new heroic endeavor in front of heroes he's fought for countless years. That said, there isn't much of that here (a hologram Tony Stark doesn't count), and this new Doom struggles to remain interesting when not interacting with other heroes or villains.

It's a stark contrast to what was done with Doctor Octopus in Superior Spider-Man, where Ock had to be a hero to make his new identity work and found ways to bend it to his will. So far Doom isn't really doing that, not yet anyway, and it just makes for a rather boring read. Hopefully, the team will find their groove over the next few books, and can energize the character with some personality.

Maleev delivers some nice visuals, which is to be expected, but there are some parts that are a just too dark and muddy, making it difficult to figure out what's going on. His rendering of Ben Grimm should be commended, though, and the good news is we will see more of him in issue #2.

Infamous Iron Man #1 leads off strong and ends on a nice hook, but the middle struggles to retain your attention. As it stands, it's currently unknown how many of those flashback sequences we'll get in future issues, and if the narrative in the present doesn't become more compelling, the might struggle to retain readers.

It's an interesting premise, but right now Doom just isn't as engaging a hero as he is a villain

Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

Written By: Brian Michael Bendis

Art By: Alex Maleev

Colored By: Matt Hollingsworth

Lettered By: VC's Clayton Cowles