This is another comic I bought on impulse at Sodiler Bookstore in Brasília during my comic book explorations. With a cover by Jim Starlin, Iron Man #160 offers the pleasant surprise of pencil artwork by the legendary Steve Ditko, perfectly complemented by Dan Green’s inking. Interestingly, the opening page was not drawn by him but by Marie Severin, one of Marvel’s artistic giants. Ditko had a very strict vision of how heroes should behave and supposedly, didn’t agree to draw Tony Stark the way described in the script—even though the scene was just a dream. Whether true or not, Severin’s version is the one that was published, and it effectively conveys Stark’s fears in his struggle with alcoholism.

It wasn’t the first time Ditko had worked with the character. Around the same time he was bringing the Marvel Universe to life—creating or co-creating many of its most important characters—Ditko actually worked on Iron Man for a short while. More than that, he was the one who introduced the classic yellow-and-red armor that, despite many variations over time, remains the hero’s visual standard. It happened in issue #48 of Tales of Suspense, from December 1963, in three iconic pages showing Tony Stark donning the new armor for the first time.

Nineteen years later, Ditko returns—and how! His style is incredibly expressive and is reflected in the characters’ facial expressions and gestures. Details stand out beautifully, such as Tony’s expression as he looks with both atraction and fear at the drink, his annoyance with his companion, and the agony of one of the security guards as he realizes death is approaching.

He even revisits his 1963 sequence, with Stark donning the armor in just a single panel!

In the story, Iron Man faces off against the Serpent Squad, a rather bizarre team of supervillains that, at the time, would pop up here and there, causing trouble for other Marvel heroes. All the action takes place inside a zoo where Stark is hosting a party to celebrate some scientific breakthrough by his companies. Amid lightning bolts, punches, and lion attacks (!), writer Denny O’Neil finds time to set up some subplots that will become the main storylines in subsequent issues. As usual, someone is after Stark International’s technology, Tony’s alcoholism is still a major factor, and so on.

Ditko’s more caricature-style art isn’t for everyone, and it may not be what some readers expect from an Iron Man comic. I like and recommend it, for the expressiveness and clarity with which the story is told. Iron Man #160 is yet another example of good entertainment from Marvel’s ’80s era. It’s worth checking out!

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Here’s the thing: this comic basically boils down to the mighty Avengers facing off twice against the fifth-rate villain Gray Gargoyle, the one who turns everything he touches to stone. They’re humiliatingly defeated the first time, just because writer David Micheline wanted it so. In the second and final battle, they defeat him in a matter of seconds, as expected. Yes, it’s pretty entertaining and with a cover by George Pérez and Sal Buscema what more could you want? Intricate plots and rich characterizations? Pfft! John Byrne on pencils and Dan Green on inks get the job done, and if that’s not enough for more discerning tastes, we get a wonderful ad for the then newly launched ROM as a bonus! What comic book fan could resist this Marvel? It was the beginning of the ’80s, and it was only going to get better!

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I started reading Marvel and DC comics in the original English when I was about twelve years old. There was a bookstore in downtown Brasília called Sodiler that used to sell American comics, and mom started bringing me some. Over time, I started going there on my own and spend part of my allowance in comics if something caught my eye. It was during one of those trips that I bought “Super Boxers” solely because of Bill Sienkiewicz’s stunning movie-poster-style cover.

“Super Boxers” was part of Marvel’s newly launched line of graphic novels, which had already spawned several stories that are now considered classics—“The Death of Captain Marvel,” “Dreadstar,” “X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills,” among others. In addition to producing stories featuring the company’s own characters, the creators had freedom to explore their own original projects. It is in this context that “Super Boxers” emerged, conceived by artist Ron Wilson with the help of John Byrne on the script, Armando Gil on inks, and a constellation of Marvel’s staff colorists.

Ron Wilson was a talented superhero comic book artist in the 1980s, most notably as penciller of the character The Thing in the magazines “Marvel Two-In-One” and “The Thing”, with beautifully crafted pages that followed Jack Kirby’s style of depicting action scenes. I believe his version of The Thing to be second only to Kirby’s and, perhaps, Byrne’s. In “Super Boxers”, Wilson creates a near future that we are beginning to experience—a world controlled by megacorporations, where everything is within reach of those who follow the corporate order, while a marginalized class, excluded from all rights and privileges, struggles to survive in the filth of the underworld. Engaged in perpetual business wars, the corporations use super-charged boxing matches as a means of resolving major business deals and hostile takeovers.

For a comic that, on the surface, seems to merely show boxers battling each other in gloves, boots, and cybernetic armors, “Super Boxers” dares to suggest some socio-political commentary between the lines. There is the age-old class struggle represented by the clash between Max, a humble fighter forged on the streets of the underworld, and Roman, a star boxer backed by major corporations—both gladiators in a power game in which they are merely pawns. There is a warning against artificial forms of human enhancement and the allusions to eugenics, as the corporate fighters are genetically engineered from conception to be the perfect fighters—violent and devoid of critical thinking. There is a critique of money’s total domination of sports and—in a frighteningly prescient way—the seductive power of bets. The entire story revolves around a massive gamble, with ownership of a big corporate being decided based on the outcome of an arena fight. Finally, misogyny still reigns supreme in this dystopian future (or is it the present?). It is no coincidence that, in this still deeply patriarchal society, it falls to a woman—CEO Marylin Hart—to embody subversion, revolution, and hope. As the only woman on corporate boards composed entirely of men, she is the opponent to be defeated, and—though the story does not make this explicit—being a woman may be one of the reasons, or the reason, why they are trying to bring her down.

Wilson’s art blends futuristic elements with a 1930s aesthetic. For my taste, the fight scenes don’t quite have the same impact as his work on The Thing. An amateur boxer himself, Wilson seems to strive for a more realistic and raw depiction of the fights, but in some panels, the artist behind The Thing reveals himself, and, as a reader, that’s when I feel the pain of the blows more keenly. Drawing on the same imaginative world of films like “Rocky” and “Rollerball”, but without replicating them, writer John Byrne also seems to venture into techniques outside his comfort zone, choosing to narrate the story in the third person, sometimes speaking directly to the reader.

Even though it was modeled after the conventions of an ’80s action movie, “Super Boxers” wasn’t as successful as Marvel’s other graphic novels, and today it’s largely forgotten. Still, in our current world—where big tech companies wield real political power over our lives—its tale of a working-class hero resisting corporate oppression deserves a chance. Place your bets!

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There was a time when, every now and then, I’d come across an American comic book at the newsstands and bookstores I frequented. Unlike today, the comics weren’t sealed in plastic bags, so you could politely flip through them and check out the content. If I liked the art, I’d usually buy it on a whim, since the prices weren’t as outrageous as they are today. That’s probably how I got Iron Man #258, the first issue of the “Armor Wars II” story arc, written by John Byrne and illustrated by John Romita Jr. (pencils) and Bob Wiacek (inks).

The story was likely produced using the Marvel method, in which, based on a rough script outline, the artist draws the story in pencil, defining the pacing and page layout, and the writer adds the dialogue later. John Romita Jr. is an excellent comic book artist, greatly admired by John Byrne. Note that, unlike most comics, in the opening credits Romita Jr.’s and Wiacek’s names appear before Byrne’s. And Romita Jr. really can draw! Byrne gives him free rein to choreograph the sequences, and he doesn’t disappoint! Iron Man’s fight scenes are a masterclass in action, with the hero displaying his full power in striking poses. The art conveys impact and dynamism in a style that gives the heroes (and villains) visual grandeur and overwhelming physical power, only to counterbalance that strength moments later by showing them as tiny figures standing before some gigantic machine or robot! The script masterfully complements the art; the story moves at a fast pace and the creative team seems to be having a lot of fun! Wiacek, colorist Paul Becton, and letterer Michael Heisler do their part in creating a highly appealing visual experience.

In this first chapter of “Armor Wars II,” after a combat training session in some sort of “war room,” Iron Man investigates a series of strange events that threaten to destroy Stark Industries in a nuclear disaster. In the end, he comes face-to-face with the person responsible for the incident and… to be continued! An enjoyable super-hero comic that leaves you wanting for more — as good first episodes of a serialized story should! Bravo!

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I’ve never read Akira, I must admit. I saw the movie, loved it, but I never actually finished reading Katsuhiro Otomo’s comic book. My bad. However, I was lucky enough to come across an imported edition of Domu, by the same author, in a bookstore in São Paulo. The edition that caught my eye was the English translation published by Dark Horse in 1996, with a cover price of $17.95. At the time, the exchange rate was favorable for us Brazilians, and “Domu” was quite reasonably priced in reais. I bought it to no regrets—what a story!

In “Domu” Katsuhiro Otomo explores the theme of psychic battles involving people with supernatural powers, an experiment that would reach its peak in the acclaimed “Akira,” made a few years later. The story takes place entirely in a middle-class apartment complex where strange, supposed suicides have been occurring for several years. The apartment complex is the standout feature of the artwork, a character in its own right. Otomo masterfully portrays the oppressive and decaying architecture of the place, and how this reflects on the lives of its residents. Another theme is the supposed innocence of the children who live there. Innocent? You have to look closer, Otomo is trying to tell us. In the end, it is the children who are the protagonists of the brilliant final sequence of “Domu.”

“Domu” wasn’t just a stepping stone to “Akira”; it’s a science fiction work in its own right. “Domu” and “Akira” have certainly influenced other works of fiction that deal with psychic powers. For example, the excellent Norwegian horror film “The Innocents” was heavily inspired by “Domu,” as its director Eskil Vogt has stated. The climax of “The Innocents” is practically a recreation of the final sequence of “Domu”.

I don’t think “Domu” was ever published in Brazil or reprinted in English. That Dark Horse comic with cover price of $17.95 in 1996? Today it goes for no less than $100 on Amazon!

Lucky me!

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