*NOTE: This is a review of the entire trade of this particular SI tie-in. So hopefully no confusion on that*

My quest to read ALL Secret Invasion books is almost complete. Today we got an Iron Man tie-in…..that is a War Machine tie-in….even if this is called ‘Iron Man: Director of SHIELD’….this is confusing! (This title would turn into War Machine while Fraction’s Iron Man title would start on it’s own) But what isnt confusing, is how much fun this tie-in is.

It’s amazing how a second tier Iron Man character could have a fun story to follow. Now before I get with the good, I must get this out of the way. What the hell happen to Jim Rhodes and why does he look like DC’s Cyborg? I know I could’ve looked this up on wikipedia or something; but considering there is no full explanation on his look in this title…it bugged me to no end! But with that aside; this was a great read. Christos Cage writes a very good Rhodes and gives a quick little backstory to explain why he’s such a hot-headed warrior. The technology is used perfect in this; when it comes to anything Stark built or Skrull spaceships. Fighting in this is also fun to look at as well; it flows nicely and the team up from the Russian heroes is fun as well. It’s a quick 3 issue read, so it doesnt go too much in depth with the characters. But overall it was fun to read.

Sean Chen’s pencils are absolutely perfect for this. He sort of has a Doug Mahnke quality to it when it comes to the character models and faces. Like it has a sketchy side to it somethings; but the coloring makes it look really fine and detailed. His layouts for the fights and overall progession to the story is great. It’s probably one of the best looking tie-in’s I’ve read during this little test of mine.

I understand that neither the writer or artist is used for the real War Machine series. Which is a shame; this is a perfect combo to use on such a B-level character. If anything, this little mini made me want to go out and pick up the back issues of the current War Machine title. This was a surprise for me, I didnt think this would be such a great tie-in.