On sale 01/23/08.

Another month, another depressing issue of Iron Man. In this month’s episode, Tony Stark figures out the whole shebang through a lot of tired expositional conversations. The missing persons mystery is solved by completely unfathomable “logical” conclusions. I don’t want to be a spoilsport, but I wish I could explain the ridiculous discovery process to show just how poorly it was conceived. The only good thing about this book is the interesting Iron Man armor commentary by Bob Layton included as an anniversary bonus. It’s both insightful and intelligent.

The two villains are exposed in this extra-sized Iron Man #25. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again – the editors at Marvel should be ashamed of their inclusion of an African-American character named Kooning in this book. They should be apologizing to fans for missing the foul insinuation of the character’s name. If you don’t know what the name means, substitute the “K” in Kooning for a “C” and then Google it – many of you will be just as appalled as I was. Anyway, Tony and Doc Samson bring out Senator Kooning’s bad decisions in this issue. Maybe now editorial can put the character to rest for good.

The other discovery is the big cheese, the one that’s been building up for issues now. Again, I’ll stay mum for those who would like a bit of ambiguity. Let’s just say that Tony Stark figures out what’s going on through the mere insinuation of Mongolian ethnicity (which, to be accurate, Stark says “Mongolian” and then Kooning says “Chinese” and then Stark says “Mongolian” again without any confirmation, after completely ignoring the fact that he was corrected by the senator – talk about jumping to a conclusion). So Stark, after establishing the fact that the Extremis project director is Asian, decides that it MUST be his arch nemesis in disguise. Yeah, that makes sense considering there are no Chinese or Mongolian people heading up scientific research anywhere in America. Right, clever move Knaufs. You really found a neat way to tip off Stark to this conspiracy.

If it’s not plainly obvious now, you can see that I find myself dissatisfied with the writing of this comic book. My sarcasm above is an expression of my cynicism that has been aroused by the continued low quality of this comic series. Iron Man is about to star in what could be the most popular film of 2008, and his comic book series is in the toilet. I know there are devoted readers out there and I respectfully disagree with you. I think this book suffers from bad – if not insulting – writing and mismatched art. To make matters worse, the only armor Tony has worn for this entire storyarc has been the old late 60s / early 70s model. It’s ridiculous.

Roberto De La Torre does a decent job as artist. He’s talented, especially evident in dramatic scenes. But his work is reminiscent of the street level art of Steve Epting and Michael Lark. Frankly, it’s possibly the last style of illustration I would match up with superhero publishing’s premier technological character, Iron Man. Dean White is another very talented artist, but I wouldn’t have him color this series considering he specializes in watercolor textures. Joe Caramagna is tasked with the unfortunate job of lettering the book, and he does it well. The art team would be perfect for a New Avengers adventure. Instead, they have Iron Man in ancient armor and motel rooms. This book is a mess.