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Iron Man by Peter David
01/05/2008 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
pub: Titan Books. 309 page paperback. Price: £ 6.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-84576-917-8. Buy Iron Man in the USA - or Buy Iron Man in the UK  check out website: www.titanbooks.com and www.ironmanmovie.com
Of all the Marvel characters' origins, bringing that of Anthony Stark and his alter-ego Iron Man up-to-date is probably the easiest to do. A skirmish with a foreign enemy resulting in shrapnel moving towards his heart can be set in any decade. Stan Lee wrote the original in 1963 and twenty years later, David Michelinie and Bob Layton added a few more details. Reading the novelisation of the new film 'Iron Man', there is an obvious synthesis between the details and characters from these two eras. Stan Lee's Stark Industries staff of Virginia 'Pepper' Potts and Happy Hogan are still there and Layton's Jim Rhodes (with a higher military rank) and the more dubious Obadiah Stane are added, together with a certain machination twist to show things don't happen as accidents. In some respects, Tony Stark has some similarities to another Marvel character, Dr. Stephen Strange, master of the mystic arts. Prior to a life-changing situation, both are self-serving to their own needs. Stark, as a weapons specialist, only learns much later that his advanced weaponry is being used by both sides to kill people. Oddly enough, this isn't what changed him.
Kidnapped by insurgents when wanting to look around a war zone, Tony Stark gets some shrapnel in his chest for his trouble. Much of it is removed by another prisoner, Yensen, and an electro-magnet used to some the shrapnel moving any closer to his heart, Stark is coerced into creating new weaponry or risk having the battery charging the magnet removed. Given no option, he decides to make a weapon but its purpose is to free Yensen and himself. A consequence of all of this is Stark's first Iron Man armour. If you're familiar with the Iron Man origin, all of this should sound very familiar.
Unlike the comicbook origin, more people are aware of the refined device in his chest that keeps Stark going, neatly getting around the problem of explaining of the original series where he had the chest plate on continually. The only thing I find puzzling is why didn't Stark make more than one of these devices in case of emergencies.
The second half of the story pretty much matches up to Michelinie/Layton's plot relating to Obahiah Stane and his desire to keep Stark Industries in the munitions trade after the billionaire publicly says he's leaving it behind. Saying any more about that is likely to give away too many spoilers but for Iron Man fans, you should be on familiar territory.
Novelisations are invariably a reflection of a film usually taken before the final cut and probably from an earlier script. The back of the book also says there is more detail here than in the film. How much, you'll have to compare the two to know the difference and I'm definitely reading the book before the film so have no way of knowing just yet. I suspect most of you will be reading the book after the film.
Some odd things I noticed from the book though seems to becoming any annoying tradition in super-hero films. Far too many people are being let in on the secret and there are at least a couple scenes where the hero fights without a mask. This is far too clichéd and I hope in future films with other Marvel characters that its possible to move away from this. The whole point of having a secret identity is that it is secret.
If this film is successful, then one can only hope that in future films we have encounters with Titanium Man, the Melter, Unicorn and the Mandarin. Having Iron Man released as a film has been long over-due and based on the novelisation fans of ol' Shellhead shouldn't be that disappointed with this origin story.
GF Willmetts
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