Iron Man #1

Writer: Christopher Cantwell Artist: Cafu Publisher: Marvel Comics Release Date: September 16, 2020 Cover Price: $4.99 Critic Reviews: 21 User Reviews: 62
7.8Critic Rating
8.2User Rating

BIG IRON!
Tony Stark is looking to restart his engine. He decides he's going back to basics, putting away his high-tech toys and high-profile image so he can get his hands dirty again. It's time to dig into the guts of real machines, put on some old-fashioned metal and fly.
But can he really lay that Stark-sized ego down? Life isn't that simple, something that old friends and frustrating foes are quick to point out. If you strip down a billionaire to his bolts, does he run solid or just overheat?
Tony's going to find out once a threat to the entire universe rears its head from the past. As he suits up again, Tony remains sure of more

  • 10
    But Why Tho? - CJ Sep 16, 2020

    Iron Man #1 features a "back to basics" approach for the Armored Avenger, as the creative team peels back the layers of Tony Stark. This truly feels like a relaunch, and given the ending of the issue, it feels like Cantwell, CAFU, and D'Armata intend to push this book-and Iron Man-to their limit. Read Full Review

  • 10
    ComicBook.com - Jenna Anderson Sep 16, 2020

    While there's no telling how the rest of this Iron Man run will take form, its debut indicates that Marvel has finally remembered what it's like for Tony Stark to be human. Read Full Review

  • 9.0
    Monkeys Fighting Robots - Gabriel Hernandez Sep 15, 2020

    IRON MAN #1 is a powerful departure from the esoteric "imagination armor" of the recent run, and puts Tony Stark on a path to rediscovery. The artwork is gorgeous and the writing hits a symphony of emotional notes. This first issue is highly recommended. Read Full Review

  • 9.0
    Nerdly - Dean Fuller Sep 17, 2020

    Will Tony succeed? as a wise man once said, it's not about the ending, it's the journey itself. Christopher Cantwell's take is all about the journey. It's going to be a fun one. Who needs to be a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist anyway? Read Full Review

  • 9.0
    Chuck's Comic Of The Day - Chuck Sep 21, 2020

    The waters are still a bit muddy, as Tony deals with some issues - but it feels like a really strong start, with a solid story and terrific art. (And I really like the new / old armor design.) Read Full Review

  • 9.0
    AIPT - David Brooke Sep 15, 2020

    Iron Man #1 sets the stage for a new and exciting direction for a character who has remained the same for quite some time. That's exciting. Iron Man is a stirring book about finding oneself and approaching your identity as a problem to solve, and we know Tony is good at those. Iron Man feels deeply personal and mature which makes it a riveting psychological drama. Read Full Review

  • 8.9
    Comic Watch - Jimmy Hayes Sep 15, 2020

    A really fantastic first issue. I have my concerns about the art being able to be done in a timely manner and consistent, but beyond that, the sky's the limit for this new series!!!! Read Full Review

  • 8.7
    Multiversity Comics - Quinn Tassin Sep 21, 2020

    "Iron Man #1" is an everything a comic lover can be looking for and a strong new beginning for Tony Stark Read Full Review

  • 8.5
    COMICON - Brendan M. Allen Sep 18, 2020

    There are a couple little hiccups in the book, which, whatever, the thing can't be perfect, but this is an incredibly strong relaunch. I have honestly never been more interested in getting my hands on the next chapter of any Iron Man series, ever. Read Full Review

  • 8.0
    Big Comic Page - Jonathan Mullen Sep 28, 2020

    If you want to start reading Iron Man again, start here. Read Full Review

  • 8.0
    Comic Book Revolution - Kevin Lainez Sep 20, 2020

    Christopher Cantwell and Cafu kick off their run with a strong first issue in Iron Man #1. Cantwell showed a strong understanding of who Tony Stark is as he gives Iron Man a chance at a true fresh start. That along with strong artwork from Cafu makes Iron Man #1 a comic book Marvel fans should check out. Read Full Review

  • 8.0
    Newsarama - Oscar Maltby Sep 16, 2020

    After Tony's past year spent battling artificial intelligence, Christopher Cantwell and Cafu's grounded take on Iron Man is very welcome indeed. Cantwell clearly enjoys flirting with Tony Stark as a thoroughly unlikeable character, using it to build the beginnings of a more human take on a character that has recently felt more machine than man. Read Full Review

  • 8.0
    Comics: The Gathering - Charles Martin Sep 16, 2020

    The latest volume of Iron Man kicks off with a lean, retro, back-to-basics approach from both Tony and the writer. They're skating close to aimlessness, but the problem is noted within the story and narratively corrected with a thrilling final act. Combine the promising initial plot points with some superb visuals, and you've got a comic that's already approaching must-read territory. Read Full Review

  • 7.7
    Sequential Planet - Ethan Maddux Sep 20, 2020

    Iron Man #1 is a success of a focused character piece. The plot is somewhat disjointed so far, but it finds a strong center in its characterizations of Tony Stark and Hellcat, accompanied by the wonderful art team of Cafu and Frank D'Armata. I left the issue excited about Iron Man, which is something that I've never experienced before. Perhaps excluding Demon in a Bottle, this book has the potential to become the defining Iron Man run. Read Full Review

  • 7.5
    Bleeding Cool - Hannibal Tabu Sep 18, 2020

    Tony Stark, Disassembled? The billionaire futurist approximates a mid-life crisis while never stepping away from the heavy metal smackdown he's perfected. Read Full Review

  • 7.3
    Major Spoilers - Matthew Peterson Sep 19, 2020

    A new armor, a new attitude and a new car make for an interesting fresh start. but that breakup was brutal. Read Full Review

  • 7.0
    Henchman-4-Hire - Sean Ian Mills Sep 19, 2020

    There's a lot to enjoy about the new Iron Man relaunch as the new creative team casts off the craziness and tries to take the Golden Avenger back to basics. Read Full Review

  • 6.0
    Geek'd Out - Nico Sprezzatura Sep 16, 2020

    As for the art, its good, but not necessarily the best Ive seen of Cafus. Ive been a fan of his work since Vixen: Return of the Lion, but Iron Man isnt especially visually interesting like that series was, which does him a disservice. Its mostly cityscapes and crowd shots, but the plentiful opportunities hes given to draw the classic armor are enough to admire. Im also not usually a fan of Frank DArmatas colors, and this issue is no exception to that. His coloring tends to come off as a bit blotchy and overly brown-toned to me, which hinders my enjoyment of Cafus linework, but not to a debilitating degree. Read Full Review

  • 6.0
    Weird Science Marvel Comics - clayhinojosa10 Sep 16, 2020

    I've been told Cantwell has written a great Dr. Doom. I have confidence that Cantwell can turn Iron Man into a title that is worth picking up every month, but it definitely needs to be better than this issue. Read Full Review

  • 6.0
    Comic Crusaders - Lucas Fashina Sep 18, 2020

    I liked to take some time and mention just how eye popping good the art by Cafu is. Of course the background shots and skyline shot are amazing, but the true art here was the emotional expression that Cafu was able to add to Tony Stark's face. It really did add another dimension to the character. Read Full Review

  • 2.0
    Bleeding Cool - Theo Dwyer Oct 3, 2020

    Iron Man #1 (2020) follows Tony Stark as he enters into a midlife crisis. A compelling idea, but does this Marvel comic explain why? Read Full Review

  • 10
    Flexstyle Oct 10, 2020

    Great start. There's a lot of "back to basics" approach in Marvel comics, but this Tony going back to his classic suit and fighting as Iron Man is the best example of it

  • 10
    axdn Sep 24, 2020

    Now this was interisting!

  • 10
    Bigpoppa393 Sep 21, 2020

    DAAAAAMN I LOVED THIS ONE.

    Back to basics baby!

  • 9.5
    huz Sep 16, 2020

    First time in recent memory that I'm excited for an Iron man comic.

  • 9.5
    Kinney A.I Sep 16, 2020

    Cantwell delivers everything he has promised, and in a very satisfactory way.the art of cafu is impeccable, and constant from beginning to end. very much matches the proposed tone.
    Iron Man # 1 redefines the Tony Stark's status quo, but at the same time brings back the central essence the character, something we haven't seen in a while. A fantastic and very promising start for what may turn out to be one the character's best runs.

  • 9.0
    CrazyforRAMU Feb 25, 2021

    Tony goes through a tech-and-money shunning midlife crisis. It's beautifully illustrated throughout, but the script doesn't really gel until Patsy Walker shows up and starts needling the hell out of Tony's cliched soul-searching. With that little burst of self-aware criticism, the writing goes from competent to terrific. This initial issue fills me with optimism. (And that quasi-Silver-Age armor design is outstanding!)

  • 9.0
    Amazing Psycamorean Sep 18, 2020

    This is such a breath of fresh air after Iron Man 2020. You have no idea. I like when Tony tries to go back to basics (which is what he does with every relaunch, oddly enough), but I think that this time the writer wasn't lying, and that's very exciting. Cantwell has a good voice for all the characters, as far as I could tell. I'm so in for Korvac, and if we could get more of Iron Man's ridiculous rogues gallery, that's great. The art is great as well. This is just a really solid start to what is hopefully a good run. Iron Man is incredibly hard to get right, apparently. I don't think Kieron Gillen got it right, I don't think Bendis got it right, and Slott had it at some point but then lost it. Maybe we can end up with a run to rival Superi more

  • 9.0
    sebastianorellana95 Sep 16, 2020

    Very good, finally a good comic of Iron Man.

  • 9.0
    maelstron Sep 16, 2020

    A very engaging first issue, the best iron Man relaunch in years.

    Art is so good too

  • 8.5
    Kalaoui Sep 22, 2020

    Great start. Intriguing set up, great sidekick/partner and awesome art from Cafu. I hope Cantwell can keep me plugged in where Bendis and Slott lost me.

  • 8.5
    Toonstrack Sep 16, 2020

    This was a strong start. Ive been on and off reading IM books for the last couple of years but to say hes been through a lot is putting it lightly. This new story gives us a much more Street level approach than what we are used to seeing and it works well.

    Iron Mans got a new suit and a new outlook on life, wanting to distance himself from the tech mogul persona he's built. It's a nice change of pace and while the action scenes are short and sweet, there is a lot of promise here In how its portrayed. Alongside him is Hellcat, a character who's never been able to break out of of the B list but is used wonderfully here. She should be a great tour guide for Tony as he ventures into a new venue.

    The art is phenomenal. more

  • 8.5
    allenquanobi Sep 16, 2020

    A pleasant surprise. I don't have a lot of expectations whenever I see an iron man comic since there's never really been any good runs besides Fraction and Busiek, both of which were just fine. This was surprisingly very fun and interesting. I haven't read Doctor Doom yet but the thing that stood out to me early on in this issue was just how well written Tony is. He's not the standard MCU version which every writer writes him in modern Marvel. He's grown up and is confident in his actions and words, which was a nice change of pace. The art is awesome, Cafu really reminds me of David Marquez, and the colors and inks really make the art pop with a realistic feel. I highly recommend if you are wanting a good iron man series, this is a fa more

  • 8.0
    Hislight Oct 29, 2020

    I really liked this one minus that awful break up with the Wasp..that was so heartfelt wasn't it? The art is good and I'm getting Immortal Hulk Vibes and it's not just the quotes in the intro.

  • 8.0
    Spacey Medicine Sep 27, 2020

    I’m here for the twitter sassing tbh.

  • 8.0
    DDJamesB Sep 24, 2020

    Had some big pulls back to back weeks so im a little behind. I was really pumped about this book because slotts run has been pretty subpar. I also dont think this was a mind blowing issue and it was rather boring in a certain way but it set up the quo nicely, had insanely amazing art that fits iron man wonderfully and also had some really good ideas and im really excited for this book for the first time in a long time.

  • 8.0
    GammaBurst Sep 16, 2020

    It was a good start.

  • 7.5
    Señor Smokey Sep 17, 2020

    Solid start where we see iron man in search of his own identity as everyone around him already has an image built up of who Stark is. Art is smooth; the contrast of colors is probably my favorite aspect of it.

  • 7.5
    Liem Duong Sep 17, 2020

    Gotta say, the Alex Ross covers are to die for, and I really love how he draws Iron Man. Anyways, this was a good debut. Many writers for the past decade of so say that they were going to " get back to basics " with Iron Man. Well Cantwell is the only writer who actually stook by that promise with this debut.

    Iron Man was just not an interesting hero for the past decade and no writers managed to make him appeal to me, even though Iron Man is one of the hottest heroes in media rn. But Cantwell has taken a very grounded yet unique approach for this series. A youtuber said it best, it focuses on the " man " in Iron-man. Stark is stepping away from technology to focus on himself, and I think that is a great direction that Iron Man more

  • 7.0
    Nickweiser Sep 16, 2020

    I was intirigued by the direction till Patsy got offended by the word Man. I laughed and stopped reading.

    A shame since Cantwell seems to have a good voice for Tony but if characters care more about being pc than focusing on the story then ill pass.

    + LikeComments (15)
  • 6.5
    Lucas Jun 19, 2023

    Nothing particularly interesting happened. A lot of wasted pages, i feel.

    Great art tho

  • 6.5
    EDiakota Sep 21, 2020

    " Then a man has a company. A mission. A vision. A brand. And soon a man has a réputation. Those things begin to crowd the picture and soon it's hard for the man to see the man."
    - TONY STARK

  • 4.0
    Foxter Nov 28, 2020

    Excerpt from the comic:

    Tony: Those things begin to crowd the picture and soon it´s hard for the see the man

    Patsy: Hearing a lot of Man talk

    Tony: Sorry person :(

    ....

    Wtf!!

    This is just terrible writing and this pc bullshit is getting tiresome.
    Sorry Tony I like you better when you dont have to apologise for say the word man. Hard pass on this one.

  • 10
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  • 10
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  • 10
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  • 10
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  • 10
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  • 10
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  • 10
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  • 10
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  • 10
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  • 10
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  • 10
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