Iron Man: Legacy Of Doom #2 of 4 REVIEW

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One of Iron Man's greatest stories, The Armor Wars, was written by David Michelinie & Bob Layton who have returned to pen this flashback story. Previously, Tony Stark was demantling old suits of armor when he ran across a video memory file of an encounter with Dr. Doom that he cannot remember. As the memories began to unlock, Stark recalled that Doom had tricked him into becoming a captive of Mephisto in Hell.

As this issue begins, we see that Doom has betrayed Stark in order to get Mephisto's help in capturing Morgana LeFay, the mystical half-sister of King Arthur(yes, that King Arthur). In exchange, Mephisto hopes to keep Iron Man in Hell as his trophy. Of course Stark wants none of this and while he tangles with Mephisto's slime minions, Mephisto whips up a demon from Tony's past in an effort to not only physically defeat him but break him mentally as well. Back in the real world, Dr. Doom forces Morgana LeFay to help him magically fuse a shard of Excalibur to his armor, making him nearly invincible. Stark escapes from Hell only to find the upgraded Doom waiting for him and Doom doesn't like Iron Man in the slightest...

It's a fun story that harkens back to the fantastic stories of Shell-head's past. The story may sound like an episode of a Saturday morning cartoon, and in all honesty is feels like it, and that's part of the charm. It's simply fun. The art from Ron Lim and Bob Layton works amazingly well, since it's very clean, crisp, and allows for lots of color. Ron Lim was a prolific artist in a the 80's, and his style provokes a memory of those days to us older readers who can remember it.

The only real problem with this series is that none of it matters. Obviously, a battle with Dr. Doom that involves Iron Man going to Hell should seem like a big deal. It should've made an impact on Stark's life. For whatever reason (which I'm sure we'll find out about in the final issue) this encounter has been completely forgotten and apparently has had no ramifications. However, it's such a fun and enjoyable story that it's easily worth your $2.99.

Review by Doug Turner