While I’m not the biggest fan of writer Matt Fraction’s work on Uncanny X-Men (I get such a been-there-done-that feeling when reading his stories about Marvel’s merry mutants), I absolutely love what he’s doing on The Invincible Iron Man.

And, yes, I recognize how hard it is to create cool Iron Man comic stories.  I mean, how many writers penned really excellent runs on the book over the years? Doug Moench? John Byrne? Warren Ellis? And … yeah that’s my point.

Fraction succeeds where others have failed by building an interesting world around Tony Stark — one that’s filled with halfway-believable super science, political machinations, big business wheeling and dealing, and nods to our world’s ever-evolving media. Then, on top of that, he slathers heaping helpings of non-stop action, great characterization and clever dialogue. Moreover, let’s remember how much readers hated Stark not so long ago (Civil War anyone?). Fraction made us care about the hero again. Put all that together, along with the best art I’ve ever seen from Salvador Larroca and … voila! Marvel’s got a top-notch title on its hands.

All that said, from the way the story is progressing, it looks like the best stuff is yet to come. I say jump on now and enjoy the ride.

Carlton Hargro is the Editor-In-Chief of Charlotte’s Creative Loafing free weekly newspaper. You can read more of his reviews on their Comic Proportions blog.