Iron Man X Captain America

Iron Man X Captain America is a fun and energetic book that delivers all the action you’d hope for from a team-up book between two legacy characters. The story is a bit slow at times and the art could be better, but overall this is a fun issue of a great title.

It all starts with a shirtless, totally shredded Tony Stark. He’s had some pretty rough times: he was shot in the chest; he was forced to wear his suit even when it caused him pain (and almost killed him); and he’s had bits of his armor fused to his body. But he’s still alive and ready to fight.

The issue gets off to a quick start as Iron Man and Cap battle the army of Overseer’s Myrmidon robots aboard the Helicarrier. The fighting is fun and frantic, but it’s a little too frantic for me as I feel like we’re skipping over some important scenes.

But the real highlight of this issue is Veronica Eden’s character development. Her transformation is subtle and well-written, never feeling forced or a gimmick to sell a new title. Her interactions with Cap are powerful, and I loved seeing her come to terms with her misconceptions about super heroes.

As the issue progresses, Veronica’s anger at Overseer’s control of her powers is growing. She feels like she could have been one of the greats, but she was too concerned with her own insecurities. As Iron Man lands his boot on Vox’s face and his shield on Prima Donna’s head, she says that she wished she would have been more confident.

Once Overseer is defeated, the Paladins are arrested and tossed in jail, but Veronica realizes that she needs to get to know the other members of the team. She takes a few moments to admire Pioneer’s chiseled physique and thinks that he has potential as a leader.

In a short sequence, Veronica is thrown into the middle of a battle with some Hydra Brutes. She’s able to defeat them, but the other super heroes are surprised by her power level. They think that she’s more of a threat than they expect, and it’s this moment that really makes me appreciate the depth of Veronica’s character. This is a good book, and I’ll definitely be keeping it on my pull list.