Luke Ross takes over art duties for this arc. While his depiction of the Iron Man armor is a little stiff and clunky, Ross delivers excellent figure work and blends the mystical trappings with the real world characters and scenes well. The fusion of those elements is already allowing Ross to stretch his muscles in ways we haven't seen on books like Secret Avengers. Read Full Review

Gillen and Ross had a tightrope to walk for this jump on issue of Iron Man, and I believe they did it well. A strong foundation is built for the arc going forward and the relevant parts of the past issues are touched upon to bring new readers up to speed. This creative team has the potential to do some special things with Iron Man and I recommend any lapsed or on-the-fence fans give this one a shot. I highly doubt you'll be disappointed. Read Full Review

Tony Stark has always been a man of science, but now he's facing an foe that transcends mere human technology and is unlike anything he's faced before, finally giving this new volume of Iron Man an interesting, fresh new direction. Read Full Review

It's safe to say I'm now official a convert, and will be picking up the next few to see where the story takes us, and I urge you all to do the same. You won't regret it! Read Full Review

"Iron Man" #23 takes the mystical and technological aspects of the Marvel Universe and mashes them together, with the result being surprisingly cohesive. Kieron Gillen wrote a acclaimed run on the Thor-themed "Journey Into Mystery", so another adventure through the Nine Realms plays right into his strengths. He was wise to keep Stark's cynicism and general weariness with the magical elements of the world front and centre, as he essentially becomes the voice of the audience who were not expecting Elves to show up in their "Iron Man" book. Artist Luke Ross deserve a lot of credit for combining the two worlds successfully, as he kept both realms grounded in his realistic style. Read Full Review

Overall, Iron Man #23 is a decent read and worth picking up because of the bargain that you get with it a digital copy of Volume 1 for the same pricetag as this title. And on top of that, you get the start of a decent story that could develop into something better its just a shame that Kieron Gillen is a far cry here from his high-quality Young Avengers series. Read Full Review

This is a decent start to a new arc. Malekith definitely seems like he'll be an interesting villain for Tony since they're such polar opposites. Dark Angel is a welcome addition to the Iron Man cast and she serves the vital task of bridging technology and magic in this story. While the issue was full of substance it was lacking that classic Iron Man style. I realize that the book can't be full of explosions all the time but I feel like this issue could have used a few more to break up the denser sections of dialogue. Read Full Review

Magic vs. technology. It's an interesting storyline that has worked wonders for Iron Man in the past. So I applaud Kieron Gillen for treading these waters. If Malekith's presence is explained a bit more, especially his motives, I could see this becoming a compelling read. It's a bit too early to tell but if this issue is our only indication, this story arc is not going to live up to its potential. Read Full Review

The rationale Tony Stark provides for not involving Thor doesn't hold water for me, making the predicament seem even more precarious with Iron Man meddling in what should be determined between the denizens of the other Nine Realms. Clearly, Gillen wants to give Iron Man a fair fight against the Mandarin ring-enhanced Malekith, but "Iron Man" #23.NOW seems to be going out of its way to deliver a story torn from the pages of 1989's "Acts of Vengeance." The two characters have a brief encounter in this issue, but there's a reason this installment is labeled "Part One." Read Full Review

Overall, I'm still not convinced with this issue. The writing and the art just don't work for me as I expected them to. Which is a shame really. But, least I can say is that I'm indeed motivated to read the next issue, so we'll see how things go. Read Full Review