RINGS OF THE MANDARIN COMES TO A STARTLING CONCLUSION!!!
• The MANDARINS rampage reaches its climax. Who can TONY STARK count as an ally?
• The TRUTH behind the Mandarins.
• Can Tony's Fellowship manage to defeat the Lords of the Rings?
In short, while Gillen's run has raised a lot of interesting issue for Tony Stark, and differentiated itself from all that has gone before, wrapping it all up with a big bow here makes the issue feel rushed, and leaves a lot of threads hanging, which I hope the next creative team will be willing to pick up. I like bits and pieces of the issue, but felt the conversation with the Rigellian (in which the creator of the Recorder tells Tony that he's gonna be fine, feeling a bit too much like the voice of the writer intruding) and the final question of what will happen with TWO Stark-piloted Iron Men in play is up in the air. Iron Man #28 has some strong narrative pieces, but tries to juggle too much at once, and ends up dropping a ball here and there, but leaves us with a more than respectable 3 out of 5 stars overall. The writer of the next big era of Iron Man has some shoes to fill here, even if the landing was a bit wobbly… Read Full Review