Iron Man #1: The Gauntlets Are On

Joshua Williamson is an author I’ve followed closely since his work on The Flash, where his unapologetic love for the superhero genre proved downright infectious. Never derivative and always deeply knowledgeable, Williamson has a knack for revitalizing characters, reintroducing them in ways that feel fresh while still tapping into the emotional core that made readers fall in love with them in the first place. While Gerry Duggan and Spencer Ackerman have each delivered strong, character-driven runs in recent years, Iron Man has suffered from a kind of creative codependency on the X-Office, one that’s sapped the character’s momentum now that Krakoa is no more.

The solution, at least in the eyes of Joshua Williamson and artist Carmen Carnero, is to hit the ground running with a breakneck love letter to Tony Stark that feels as fresh as it does familiar. Iron Man #1 leans hard into a rock star persona, embracing the unapologetic hubris that shields Tony even more than his armor ever could. The issue drops Stark headfirst into a conspiracy born of his own past, as A.I.M. resurfaces to twist one of his Civil War–era contingencies into a weapon, one with consequences that once again turn his closest friends into enemies. It’s a notably new-reader-friendly approach, avoiding direct reliance on past storylines and instead leaning on familiar character tropes alongside slick, efficient explanations of Tony’s origins and history dating back to the ’60s. The result is a first issue that grabs you and rarely lets go.

Carnero reinforces this energy with an aesthetic that rolls together Tony’s modern rock star persona and the kind of classic Marvel razzle-dazzle that defined the publisher’s house style for decades. Her paneling is highly kinetic, effortlessly carrying the weight of Williamson’s electric scripting. At times, her sketchier approach can leave certain action sequences feeling muddy due to a lack of hard inks, but Nolan Woodard’s coloring does a tremendous amount of deciphering as it works to clarify motion and mood whilst giving each scene its own distinct atmospheric identity.

Where this first issue does stumble is in establishing something more uniquely its own—particularly for readers coming off the back of more experimental takes on the character. Williamson remains an excellent purveyor of the superhero spirit, and to the book’s credit, this run feels like it could slot comfortably into nearly any major era of Iron Man and still feel “right.” However, that versatility may not bode well for readers hoping for a Marvel book that’s allowed to grow and evolve beyond a ten-issue lifespan. There’s a noticeable lack of thematic gravitas here, with the story often assuming readers will fill in emotional and narrative gaps through their existing familiarity with the character rather than doing the legwork itself. It’s a minor criticism, and one that could easily be invalidated by the very next issue. However, i’s worth noting for those expecting the same kind of bold, era-defining approach Williamson previously brought to Superman.