Iron Man

The last thing I thought that I would be doing with this Blog was writing a movie review. So this is, kind of, but it means so much more than that to me. Last night I went to see the new Iron Man film starring Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow. First let me say that the movie exceeded my expectations by far. Robert Downey Jr. was amazing as Tony Stark / Iron Man, perhaps in no small part, due to his real life past experience with substance abuse. The writers and directors produced a fantastic movie than anybody could enjoy, even if you were unfamiliar with the Iron Man character. They also stayed very true to the comic book origin and story of Iron Man, with only a few changes to modernize the story. I bet you guessed it by now, I am a big Iron Man comic fan. In the late 1970's like most kids, I collected comics and baseball cards with great enthusiasm, and Iron Man was undoubtedly my favorite. It began when my best friend and next door neighbor, introduced me to Iron Man comics. It was his favorite super hero and with him being a year older than me, I would copy him often (perhaps a little more than my Mother liked). As my buddy and I got older, for years we would go to the newsstand every month and pick up the latest issue of Iron Man. In my teens into adulthood, I would search comic stores and flea markets every where I went to find the older back issues to complete my collection. Once while on vacation with my family in Florida, I begged my parents to set aside some time from Disney, and take me to some places where I might find Iron Man comics. They did, and I found some rare old ones. Today my Iron Man comic collection stands at about 300 issues. Now with a family of my own, the occasional purchase on Ebay are the only additions to my collection. After seeing the Iron Man movie, I pulled out a few of the old comics and thought about this 30 year love affair with this character. I think what I liked most, was that Tony Stark / Iron Man was different from other super hero's. He was not perfect or flawless. In fact to begin with, Tony Stark was not even a good man, certainly not a hero. Stark was an alcoholic and struggled with many personal demons. He did not always succeed or save the day. He tried, and wanted to be better than he was. That's what his Iron Man armor meant to him. A chance to be a better man and his shot at redemption. While he fell many a time, he never gave up. It's that very theme that made Iron Man real to me, because he was an everyman like you and I.