Christos Gage is a funny thing in Marvel.  If you've read some of his stuff, you can see the talent there.  His Annual of this very book last year was perhaps my favorite single issue of that year, an unapologetically fun spy romp with Tony Stark and three SHIELD agents/Bond girl dopplegangers through the streets of Madripoor.  His Union Jack mini was a great and wonderful look at the great super-battles on the other side of the pond.  I didn't read it, but I've heard his "House of M: Avengers" book was actually better than the eponymous event itself was.  Nevertheless, Gage continues to be a bridesmaid, never a bride of sorts.  While clearly a very gifted writer, poor Christos seems to be thrown little more than table scraps at a time.  A mini here, a one-shot there, a tie-in over that way is all I ever see Marvel handing the guy.  And typically, it's being directed by somebody else's story, namely the event of the time.  I'd really like to see Gage grab a floundering book, perhaps Ms. Marvel or one of the lesser received X-titles and see what he can work with it.

Nevertheless, when Gage puts superhero pen to comic book paper, often the result is fun, fun, fun.  A bit like Kirkman on Invincible (barring issues where Dad turns out to be more Zod than Superman and brother Oliver more Marvel Boy than Superboy), Gage doesn't outright lapoon heroes or turn them into bad jokes, but injects just enough light-heartedness into the fray to where the book becomes immensely enjoyable.  Like a lot of the time, Gage takes what little he's got and just runs with it, this time no different.  It isn't exactly Demon in a Bottle, but it doesn't exactly try to be either.

The gist of the story is that the Skrull virus affecting all Starktech back in Secret Invasion 1 (you know, the isse where stuff actually happened) has knocked out a good deal of Earth's defense.  The glaring exception is War Machine.  Being the futurist Tony is, the latest War Machine armor was built from independant cyberware and discontinued Obadiah Stane designs, making Rhodey free from the Starktech virus.  The moment where Pym more or less outs himself as a Skrull ("Hey, how are you still up and running when all the Starktech is being infected... not that I would know the exact nature of the virus at this particular moment...") would usually be a point for me to groan, but given the light nature of this book, I just laughed and moved on. The following battle with the Annihilation Skrull is fun and decently done one.  The reemergence of Suzi Endo, a character I haven't seen since Hands of the Mandarin, was a really cool touch in my opinion.  It's clear Gage is a true fan of the Iron Man mythos and I love that he clearly knows this side of the Marvelverse inside and out.  The ending, with the satelite he and Suzi occupy turning into a big Transformers-esque mecha, was entirely silly yet entirely enjoyable to see.  If nothing else, it does makes me want to grab the next issue for sure. 

I'd also be amiss if I didn't acknowledge the absolute awesomeness of looking down on the splash page at the beginning and seeing "Sean Chen" grace this book once again.  For those who don't know, Sean Chen has a very significant and wonderful place in the pantheon of Iron Man creators.  Back in 1998, Marvel decided to rid the horrid taste of Heroes Reborn out of their mouths by rebooting all the titles affected under Heroes Return.  Contrasting with the faux-dark and angsty posturing of Heroes Reborn, Heroes Return was unabashedly superhero fun, with Busiek and Chen taking over the Iron Man book.  Chen's Iron Man was clean, dynamic, and fun to see, much as this story was.  To see him bringing the fun back to his old stomping grounds should give every fan of Iron Man a reason to cheer.

Iron Man books these days, and comic books in general, can often be dark, introspective, psychological, or intense.  Out and about fun is a lesser commodity these days.  This book was exactly that: out and about fun.  It took a character not seen a lot these days in Iron Man books, Jim Rhodes, and took a character not seen in years, Suzi Endo and dropped them into an adventure with Skrulls and mechas and improbably well-armed armors (where did all those cannons come from?!).  While some other tales with these many points of ridiculousness would have probably soured me, it's Gage's talent for enjoyment and fun out of his tie-ins that always make them shine like this one.