In 2016, Marvel Comics released Iron Man: Industrial Revolution, it is written by Fred Van Lente with art by Steve Kurth and Philip Briones. It was a collection from the series Iron Man Legacy issues 6-11.

After Obadiah Stane engages in a hostile takeover of Stark Enterprises, Tony Stark finds himself destitute, homeless, and wandering the streets of Los Angeles, California. His allies in the Illuminati are refusing to help him, wanting to see him succeed on his own. Though he tries to save a homeless man from a supervillain, he finds his Iron Man suit unable to recharge but stumbles onto an old factory in downtown LA. Vowing to come back, he allies with the local community to build a new company but runs afoul of Pride, a cult that controls the crime in the neighbor.

Steve Kurth and Philip Briones both do an excellent job with the artwork. Their illustrations capture the emotion of Stark as he tries to restart from having virtually nothing. I also thought they did a good job of capturing the city of Los Angeles. It is a corrupt city and they do a good job of showing that through the illustrations of both the protagonists and antagonists.

As for the story itself, I found it interesting. Fred Van Lente provides a rare look into the life of Tony Stark. Now, this story is before he had revealed himself as Iron Man to the world, so while he is destitute, James Rhodes is taking his place. Now, it does lack a lot of typical supporting characters that you see in his titles, but I felt like the new characters are interesting and have a good dialogue with him. However, I felt the Pride was underwhelming as antagonists. In my humble opinion, it would have made more sense for Iron Man to do battle with local gangs with his underpowered suit instead of a random cult. That is just my opinion, but that does not mean the story is bad, just I think the villains should not have been so “extra.”

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Tell me if there is a comic book, movie, or novel you would like me to review. While you are at it, check out my reviews of Alterna Comics’ Exilium and DC Comics Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Vol. 2. Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more posts like this one.

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