[...] that they chose Gwen as girlfriend when the movies and Marvel comics aimed at the young audience (Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane) both used Mary Jane. Here’s a trailer for the season [...]

[...] to me, and I want to know more about all of them. So anyway… regular artist Craig Rousseau (Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane) draws the first one, about what sasquatch-man Big does on his week off. He’s accompanied [...]

Given we are talking about Tony’s romantic exploits, the first thing I thought of was him dating Jan, who did not know he was also Iron Man. That would be him dating a long-time friend and teammate who is also recently divorced from another friend AND you are keeping a large secret from them.

Admittedly, it was only a one-issue story from my youth, but it’s one I remember resonating vividly.

James, I’ve never liked the Archie heroes, and I really don’t see the point of bringing them into the DC, where they’re going to seem like pale imitations.

I’m waiting for a trade on The 12, it sounds good though. I’ll be curious to see if JMS can do similar things with the Archie heroes when he introduces them to DC?

Hee, boy, are you not wrong! He’s the Wonder Woman of Marvel Comics. There are some really strong core elements to the character, but the surface stuff? Not just all over the map, but all over the atlas. Read too many old issues in a row and you’ll break something.

It’s kind of amazing the movie turned out as great as it did.

Thanks for bringing me more up-to-date on Invincible Iron Man. I haven’t read the new Iron Man stories in some time (nor did I read all of Civil War), so I have very little first hand knowledge of how Tony’s being treated these days. My earlier comments about him getting back with Pepper were based (in large part) on information I’d heard from others. I know their relationship years ago was mainly flirting (as I’ve said) but people have been known to give relationships another try. Finally, having not kept up with the current stories, I had no way of knowing how long Happy has been gone.

There have been times when Tony has been rude just because the writers wanted him to (in his own title, Avengers, and guest appearances), so his personality has never been the most stable. But this is not a subject I care to debate (number of instances, issue numbers, etc.)

As I mentioned above, I was planning on waiting for the trade on this storyline because I don’t currently follow the title. However, I do appreciate you (and others) clarifying what’s going on in Invincible Iron Man, so I’ll probably skip this story altogether.

Johanna- yeah, I remember you saying that, and I had a really different experience (obviously *g*). The only random plotlines I tripped over were the two issues wasted on World War Hulk (feh), and everything else seemed to flow rather smoothly. And I loved the Knaufs’ take on the characters- their work and Brubaker’s take over in Captain America are just about the only versions of Tony I recognize these days. But maybe it’s a difference of background? I seem to remember that you didn’t have much prior exposure to the character (though correct me if I’m wrong), and he’s been one of my favorites for… maybe 25 years? I’m not sure, but since I was a kid, anyway. So maybe their work works better with a really big backlog of the right geek-hours.

Or maybe it’s just a matter of what hits your character kinks, and what doesn’t. These things are tough to predict. I loved it madly, but I know you’re not the only person who didn’t (even leaving aside the sizable crowd who would still hate Tony if he rescued a bus full of kittens and nuns while discovering a clean energy source and making healthy doughnuts).

Thanks for letting me know what happened to Happy.

I understand about Tony moving in on her perhaps a bit too soon, but there is precident for Tony to be rude and callous to his friends in the past. Therefore, this storyline is not out of character for Tony Stark

So, although I’m not keen on the Tony/Pepper romantic idea, I do like Fraction and will keep reading the book likely as long as he’s writing it.

* Although, as an old school IM fan, I did get the new Micheline/Layton Iron Man/Doom Camelot series.

This is of course true of all trades that were originally collections. But in this case – like Watchmen – I think it is being done intentionally. Issue #1 will be a very different beast by the time issue #12 comes out.

Good question about Happy. I wonder that too.

Dave, I have a whole stack of older good Iron Man stories waiting for me to find the time!

Pepper got the “tony heart” after the bad guy (Stane’s kid) blew up the building they were in last issue or the issue before. I’m glad Pepper isn’t drawn to resemble Gweynth. When will Happy Hogan show up? Are they still married in Marvel continuity?

My thoughts on MJ v2 were about the same as MJ v1: cute book, but I’m not likely the target audience for it.

Including your comments here, I’ve heard a lot of good buzz on The Twelve, so I may pick up this series.

I’m going to play the “wait for the trade” game with this current Invincible Iron Man story. If for some reason Marvel doesn’t collect this story, I can live without it – I already have plenty of good Iron man stories. I have to trim the budget somewhere. :)

Regarding Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, I have the previous issue in this series. It’s had it’s fun moments, but I feel it’s time to jump ship – darn that nasty old budget.