‘Invincible Iron Man’ #6 means the War Machines cometh!

Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Mike Deodato
Colors by Frank Martin
Letters by Clayton Cowles
Published by Marvel Comics

The flagship title of All-New, All-Different Marvel, Invincible Iron Man, switches gears for the second arc titled “The War Machines” and the wheels are turning in the Stark household…

With the Madame Masque fiasco behind him, Tony enlists Rhodey aka War Machine to investigate places she’s been to make sure everything is crystal clear…specifically at the Stark Tower in Osaka, Japan. Despite not having seen James thus far in the All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe, Bendis is right at home with the exchanges between Tony and Rhodey. It’s exactly the same and equally as funny as the tit for tats that took place during theIron Man trilogy and Avengers Age of Ultron. The issue is divided between “some crappy hole-in-the-wall diner that Tony has randomly decided has the best waffles in the world and thinks it’s cute to be this rich and eat there.” and Osaka respectively. Each half gives us more story and furthers the developments of several plots and character relationships.

Tony and his confidant Amara Perera’s relationship continues to blossom, and it’s refreshing for Tony to get away from it all and actually try to have normal conversation with someone whose not exactly accustomed to Tony Stark’s world of heroes and magic.This proves correct when the breakfast is interrupted by a familiar face to the dismay of Tony and hilarious remarks about the two’s history. During these dialogue heavy discussions, artist Mike Deodato expands on the panel grid to make the most out of the conversation evoking a “noir” style feel different from the usual loud and bombastic title. There’s a darkness creeping all along the panels and the facial closeups give the story a cinematic quality

Meanwhile, in the Rhodey Skyfall-style parts of the issue, he follows up on the Madame Masque Tech-Ninja attack. We discover Rhodey can both hold his own in the face of adversity and has a few things to learn about how the other side of the world works. Deodato and Frank Martin own the dark colors throughout the entire issue proper. The bodies and some expressions are more abstract in tone, but Deodato gives us just enough unique touches so we can get the defined picture of Osaka in all of its moody Sin-City flavored goodness.

The second arc of Invincible Iron Man kicks off, and Bendis has switched gears to deliver not a shiny, crystal clear, Dave Marquez drawn adventure of magic and exorcism, but a technology based gripping noir mystery that will only take Iron Man and company into a different genre’s territory with exciting results.