Wanna know what happened in-between the Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 2 movies? Writers Joe Casey and Iron Man writer Justin Theroux teamed up with artists Barry Kitson and Ron Lim. So is this Iron Man 1.5 three-issue limited series worth it or not?

The Good

• Unlike your typical schlock comic book movie adaptations, Iron Man 2: Public Identity contains all new material and ties in completely with the two movies. I felt this was Marvel’s way of being like IDW, who does awesome things like this all the time. I’m pretty sure this will be Marvel’s standard operating procedure from  now on.
• Iron Man movie continuity: we learn more about Iron Man’s earth. For example, Jarvis- the human butler- worked for Howard Stark and pretty much raised Anthony Stark a la Alfred Pennyworth and Bruce Wayne. Tony Stark created the J.A.R.V.I.S. computer system in his memory.
• We also see that Howard Stark physically abused Anthony when he lost his temper- not as bad as it sounds, but it was still happened. And, as revealed in the movie- Howard Stark = Tony Stark in every way.
• So what happened in-between Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 2? Iron Man destroyed all of the Somalian pirates of Aden, and had more Middle-East missions. The U.S. military wanted more control over his missions. Tony Stark/Iron Man quickly became a pop celebrity. Thunderbolt Ross hates Iron Man and wanted control over the use of the armor. Justin Hammer gets in good with the military. Iron Man had parties with tons of women in bikinis.
• There is a great flashback scene with the villain from Iron Man 1, Obadiah Stane, who gives Howard Stark advice after Anton Vanko is deported.

The Bad

• Believe it or not the artwork is slightly uneven even with Ron Lim and Barry Kitson, two professionals. I guess that’s what happens when artists team up sometimes- it looks unfinished.
• Due to licensing contracts, the actors couldn’t be drawn as is.

Anyway, I liked Iron Man 2: Public Identity a lot…This  is NOT your daddy’s movie adaptation. I wish Marvel would consider an ongoing movie-based universe comic book series for their projects.

READ IRON MAN 2 PUBLIC IDENTITY

Tags: Aden, alfred pennyworth, Anthony Stark, Anton Vanko, barry kitson, Bruce Wayne, comic book movie, Comic Book Reviews, flashback scene, Howard Stark, IDW, iron man movie, J.A.R.V.I.S, Jarvis, joe casey, Justin Hammer, justin theroux, movie adaptations, movie continuity, Obadiah Stane, public identity, Review, ron lim, somalian pirates, thunderbolt ross, U.S., vanko