Is the latest IRONMAN worth to collect ???

is it worthy to collect the latest IronMan ???

What has the golden avenger been doing these days ???

I'd say no. Ol' Shellhead's direction changes every six issues with the writer/artist team, and there have been some truly awful stories from folks like Mike Grell, where Tony Stark invents a time machine, because apparently that's what anybody in the marvel universe does with their spare time.

Ugh. Ptooey. If Marvel could decide what Iron Man ought to be as a book, whether it should be the Michelinie/Layton super-opera or the Kaminski cyberpunk, it'd be worth reading again. As it is, I'm getting dizzy from all the sudden creative right turns.

Well, it shifts again in #73 when John Jackson Miller takes over as writer. Article at http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=& threadid=4375 gives the overview of his first arc, which sounds interesting (well, given it's one of two directions I've thought about sending Tony in myself, I can hardly disagree with it. Although Miller's going a bit further than I'd considered). High level spoiler after the space...

Tony Stark is nominated to be Secretary of Defense.

Considering who is the current Secretary of Defense (Marvel universe), Tony replacing Dell Rusk is funny.

It should be noted that Miller is very specific in *not* saying whether Stark is confirmed and becomes SecDef...in fact, he brings up several good reasons why Tony would have a hard time being confirmed given certain similarities to John Tower, who was nominated and not confirmed for the post. We just know from the article that he's nominated, not that he gets it.

The current stories by Robin Laws are okay, but nothing that'll knock your socks off. If you like the character, they're worth checking out.

Other than that, I'd recommend you get #73 in a few months and see if you like it, because that's the first issue of the new writer.

Deja vu all over again (for the umpteenth time!!!) *Yawn*

I was a big fan of Kaminski's run. I would highly recommend it for readers that would like to see how Iron Man should be written. I believe the run started around 276 and finished around 310. The early issues are particulary good with the Masters of Silence and the War Machine

I liked how Robin Laws salvaged the Grell storyline. I am really looking forward to his current storyline. rec.arts.comics.* groups. without my consent.]