War Machine Versus Ninjas

In Invincible Iron Man 6, Brian Michael Bendis depicts Tony Stark's friend James Rhodes in his War Machine armor, investigating the Stark facility infiltrated by Madame Masque. There he is attacked by two beautiful, but deadly, ninjas. This time, they're ladies.

This photo of Mike Deodato and Frank Martin's artwork suffers a little from light reflection on the right hand side. But you can still compare how differently Dave Marquez and Justin Ponsor treated a similar scene in my earlier Ninja post. Take a look at the ladies' legs, for example. There's no detail in their musculature. You can barely see their feet.

There's much less depth and vibrancy than in the Ninja scenes by Marquez and Ponsor. The skin tones seem particularly flat by comparison. And there's so much black. Ordinarily, I would wonder if that was due to the Inker. But no one is listed as Inker for the issue, so it must be down to artist Mike Deodato or colorist Frank Martin.

I battled with light reflection while taking all my photos of Issue 6. Either that's got something to do with the change in art style, or I suddenly forgot how to use my camera.

Dragon Dave

Dr Amara Perera: Tony Stark's New Love Interest

Tony Stark's holographic Girl Friday, and Whitney Frost, or Madame Masque, make big entrances in Invincible Iron Man Issue 1. But Amara Perera, a brilliant biophysicist from Sri Lanka, really captures your heart. Right away, you can tell how hard Tony Stark is working to impress her, when he buys out the entire rooftop restaurant for their first date.

Yet she's not impressed by his extravagance, as this profile shot readily demonstrates.

While guarded, she's clearly intrigued by his interest. As the evening winds on, she softens toward him.

After dinner, she even confesses that she has conceived of a cure for the mutant gene. This is something she's never told anyone else, or even written down, for fear that the government might requisition her invention, develop it, and force all mutants to take it.

Later, they repair to the top of Tony Stark's headquarters. Atop the high-rise, as she enjoys the catered dessert, she pretends not to see Lady Thor arrive for a coincidental visit. 

Instead, she warns him that should he have engineered such a chance meeting, she would leave immediately. She doesn't want him to impress her with his powerful resources and friends. She wants to see the real him.

I like how penciler Dave Marquez drew Dr. Amara Perera, and how the panels show the progress of her gradual softening toward Tony Stark. I also like how Justin Ponsor colored her, such as her luminous entrance, her shadowed face when she's pushing him back, and the highlights in her hair when she's confiding in him. I look forward to seeing how Tony Stark's relationship with Dr. Amara Perera develops in successive issues. I'm also interested in discovering how writer Brian Michael Bendis may make her conceptual cure into a reality all of Marvel's marvelous mutants must confront.

Most significant of all, perhaps, is how Bendis surrounds Tony Stark with three completely different women whose personalities pop off the pages of Invincible Iron Man Issue 1. They're all smart, beautiful, and powerful in their own way. Way to celebrate Girl Power, Brian Michael Bendis!

Dragon Dave

Whitney Frost: Tony Stark's Masked Villainess

In Invincible Iron Man Issue 1, we meet a woman engaged in industrial espionage. At least, that's what she appears to be doing, as a man hands her a suitcase. In doing so, he's betraying his employer, A.I.M. (or Advanced Idea Mechanics), in the hopes of substantially supplementing his income. But we never see what's in the suitcase, or why the woman wants it.

As it turns out, this mysterious woman is acquiring several things. We can only assume they are technological inventions she plans to put to some important use. The second item she collects is from a business division Tony Stark owns in Osaka, Japan.

In this panel, she's just leapt out the plate glass window of a skyscraper, and is pursued by several of Tony Stark's employees. Presumably, after she shoots them, she has a way of landing.

She's not just snatching inventions from A.I.M. and Stark Enterprises. Later, she emerges from Doctor Doom's castle in Latveria. She shoots off with her rocket pack, another briefcase clutched to her chest. 

Penciler Dave Marquez does some fine work, capturing the female form, the technology, the frantic action, and the intricate mask that covers her face. But the way the contents of the suitcase glow, the way her mask blends in with her skin, the flare of her burning rockets, the way the artificial day of the high-rise contrasts with the natural darkness of night in the second picture, and the way the castle and surrounding landscape fade into the distance in the early morning are all due to Justin's coloring.

I look forward to reading more issues of Invincible Iron Man, and seeing where Brian Michael Bendis takes the series. I'm also interested in learning about Whitney Frost, also known as Madame Masque. I gather she's a classic foil for Tony Stark, having appeared in stories shortly after Stan Lee created Iron Man. One thing's for sure. As Whitney Frost collects the items she needs, and assembles and uses them for her intended purposes, I know she'll look terrific doing so, thanks to the penciling efforts of Dave Marquez, and the coloring of Justin Ponsor.

Dragon Dave