This time Luke and film critic Dominic Griffin are here to talk about Iron Man Noir, a Scott Snyder comic that isn’t really noir and isn’t really much beyond the surface, but the discussion is good and there is some good stuff about story and plot development. Check it out!

Universes and Comics Covered:

• Earth-90214 – Iron Man Noir #1-4

You can find Dominic here on Twitter.

Check after the jump for the image gallery and notes!

Iron Man Noir #1-4

Earth-90214

Writer – Scott Snyder, Pencils – Manuel Garcia, Inks – Lorenzo Ruggiero, Color – Marta Martinez, Letters – Dave Sharpe

In 1938 in British Honduras and Tony Stark and his party, James Rhodes his partner, Dr Gialetta Nefaria his ex and fellow researcher, and Virgil Munsey his chronicler for Marvels: A Magazine of Men’s Adventure (and our narrator) have found what may be the fountain of youth. The four of them fall into a pit when Tony Stark activates the temple. Tony goes into the water, fights and kills a big snake and eventually they reach the temple of rebirth with a legendary jade mask. Tony tries it on but nothing happens and Nefaria meets him – Nefaria being the alt universe version of Madame Masque – a lady who is long lived and has a mask. She betrays Tony – but James has his back until the Nazis show up – Dr. Heinrich Zemo and Commander Baron Strucker – and Virgil is killed off, ending his narration…brutally. Nefaria puts the mask on but not before Tony ignites the temple which was coated with highly explosive fungus and he and Rhodey swing off, Tony sets the temple to cave in – opening a hole into a lake where he and Rhodey find two attractive women in a boat who rescue them.

They return to New York where there’s a brief press conference after Virgil’s memorial and Rhodey introduces Tony to Pepper Potts who Tony thinks is supposed to be his assistant but she’s actually the new chronicler who has previously written as Frank Finlay which is a weird choice for a name since that was the name of a British actor. He accepts her offer and then Rhodey and Tony go to Stark lab where they are greeted by Jarvis in the Iron Man suit. He’s guilts Tony for the cost of his adventures because he’s so reckless and he helps to recharge Tony’s heart, and talks about how even though Tony and “‘the people” want adventure, it may not be what they need.

At home Tony is drinking and stumbles across a hidden file in Gia’s desk and calls Rhodey because she was hiding notes to go to Atlantis.

They set out from Spain with Pepper narrating as they sail on the Lady Dorma, the pirate ship owned by Captain Namor, the Blood Mariner, a character whose legend is more impressive than the boat. She asks for Tony to tell her where they are going because Virgil liked the surprise but she notes even Virgil thought he was being too reckless.

They get called in by Namor that they are reaching their location but it will be in international waters and he also doesn’t like Pepper.

They’ve been tracking Atlantis which had a legendary level of technology including electricity because of Orichalcum which amplified power and was in a trident held by a statue of Poseidon and it eventually caused the whirlpool that sunk Atlantis.

Pepper asks why he isn’t scared and he related how his father and Jarvis with POWs. His dad had PTSD and would have fits where he’d design robot suits and he’d tell his son to go on adventures.

The next day they head down in the submarine, the Happy Hogan, but when they get too deep it starts to short out and Namor wants to return but the find the ruins and go inside to the temple where they find the statue. Tony runs to test it and it works and they take the trident and ride back to the top only to find Zemo and Strucker and a horde of Nazis waiting there along with Nefaria who still has the mask stuck to her face. She set up the trap to get him to get the trident for them. Tony prepares something on the boat and smoke begins to rise. He prepares to attack but is knocked down and the Nazis escape with Pepper before torpedoing the Lady Dorma.

Luckily Tony, Namor, Rhodey and the crew got into the escape sub and Tony falls unconscious.

He flashes back to playing with his toys including the Mandarin when he saw his father ranting to him about something being done to his brain by the germans and them wanting to take him back. His father began bleeding from the nose as he showed Tony schematics and as he calmed down he told Tony to go on an adventure.

Tony wakes up in a double zeppelin next to Rhodey and Jarvis. Tony has come to the realization that he’s been selfish, endangering people for his own needs for a cure for his heart. Rhodey reveals he asked for a transfer because he wanted to get out while he could, before it got worse. But now they want a new approach. Tony wants to take the suit to take the trident back from the Nazis at their base in Norway with Rhodey coming in a secondary suit.

Meanwhile Nefaria is torturing Pepper for no real reason other than to be evil while Zemo and Strucker prepare to move the trident. He reveals that they killed the previous owner who may have been Thor in this universe. Note: Thor Noir would be pretty solid.

Rhodey and Tony bust in, breaking down walls and Nazis but soon find the Arsenal – the same model of robot suit Tony’s father was designing because Baron Zemo – is his father!

It turns out there is no real Baron Zemo, they just use a drug with that acronym to brainwash and burn parts of the brain making a Baron Zemo. They did this and then faked his death. Meanwhile the repulsor in Tony is running out of energy. Tony saves Pepper but when Nefaria axes him in the back, Pepper punches her out. They burst out with Tony turning into a bike for her and Rhodey and make it out onto the blimp only for an armada to come out. Tony heads back out and punches Strucker in the face as his power is fading and works to take out more Nazis – but Zemo reveals he has more of the Arsenal forms – so Tony works to get over to the trident, activates it and destroys the armada. As he sinks into the ocean with the power out, Namor saves him in the Lady Dorma.

A week later Tony announces he’s planning to slow down on exploring and instead he wants to make the world a better place not looking for glory but doing good – and the new issue of Marvels has Pepper Potts credited as the writer.