I want to make a Tekwar joke but I don’t know how many people read or watched it.
Iron Man volume 3 #58
Marvel Comics (October, 2002)
“Sympathy For The Devil” part 3
WRITER: Mike Grell
PENCILER: Michael Ryan
INKER: Sean Parsons
COLORIST: Arsia Rozegar
LETTERER: Chris Eliopoulos
ASSISTANT EDITORS: Marc Sumerak & Andy Schmidt
EDITOR: Tom Brevoort
Iron Man manages to save Rumiko and sends her off on a mission. While she completes that he goes back inside, confronting Dreamvision again and forcing Ty to see himself as he really is just as Rumiko gets the power cut, trapping Ty’s mind in the powerless computer mind of Dreamvision.
What they got right: Whatever else I may say about Mike Grell’s run, please understand that he is a good writer, if not a great one. From a character perspective this is a darn good finale. Tony forces Ty to confront that his obsession with being better than Tony has trapped him just as much as Dreamvision has. The writing itself is fine and he’s been paired with a fantastic art team. Ryan, Parsons, and Rozegar work well together. and Eliopoulos is as always a good letter, doing a good job with the sound effects.
What they got wrong: However, while this story works as science fiction it is lacking on the superhero aspect. Last issue gave us Iron Man fighting a robot but that’s it for this arc. I still disagree with his decision to reveal Tony’s identity to the world as nothing in this story at least benefits. Ty already knew Stark was Iron Man and planned to use it for his benefit by keeping it private. Any announcement that was bigger news would have forced Ty’s hand. About the only benefit was bringing Tony and Rumiko back together and that could have been handled in ways that didn’t kill the secret identity completely. Based on current writers this feels like the start of modern comic writers’ war on secret identities, especially in the Marvel universe.
Recommendation: Despite some personal objections this is a really good story so I do recommend checking it out.
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