Doug: Below you'll find the two latest variant covers by Alex Ross as part of Marvel's 75th Anniversary celebration. I have always had a fondness for the "nose mask" ol' Shellhead wore in the 1970s, as that's the look he had when I started Avengering. I think the Iron Man effort is Ross's best to date. What a great homage to not only the '70s, but to artists like Don Heck, George Tuska, and George Perez. The Falcon image doesn't mean as much to me -- I have no investment in what's currently playing out in the pages of Captain America. I'd have preferred a more historical representation of the character, featuring his original look and then of course the red/white costume he's best known by.
Love the Iron Man, don't care much for Captain Ameri-Falcon. What's up with that?
ReplyDeleteYou know what strikes me as funny when looking at that artwork? Iron Man is pictured in his classic "out of date" armor, but when you think about it, that suit was light years ahead in technology when compared to his more recent armors.
Iron Man's so-called "modern" armors are bigger, bulkier and heavier looking, than his classic suit, and they have visible bolts, wires, seams, and metal plating, etc.
However, his "old" armor is completely smooth and streamlined. It must have been made with some insanely sophisticated nano-technology, and a futuristic, super-strong, pliable metal of some sort, because there are no visible rivets or seams where his joints bend or anything like that. And there are no wires, or bolts, or random pieces of tech stuck all over it. That "old-fashioned" armor was formfitting, light and maneuverable, while still being extremely powerful at the same time.
Wow, it really seems like Tony took a huge leap backwards in technology when he redesigned his armor for the "modern age". Maybe he got dumber or something.
Hmm, personally, I was never a very big fan of Iron Nose...
ReplyDeleteThe red and gold Iron Man suit looked its sleekest when rendered by Gene Colan
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with William.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff by (the other) William re Iron Man's armor.
ReplyDeleteThe shininess in Ross's version . . . I get that it's mean to be more realistic, but it makes him look like the bad guy from Terminator II, all molten and shimmery.
Who's the guy with the cane in the Falcon poster?
I generally like the shininess Ross injects into his paintings of Iron Man, the Silver Surfer (see the cover of Marvels #3).
ReplyDeletePerez did a great Iron Man cover in this vein in his Avengers, volume 3 series.
Doug
Ditto's on comments, especially the nod to Colan for doing the best IM armor, bar none.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't much into 'the nose'; it was quite unfortunate that Mego had to pick that style when the figure was made.
As for the Falcon one..? Bleech.., too revisionistic for me. Give me the green/gold and/or classic red/white any day.
My first vision of Sam Wilson was his burstin' into a werewolf in ish 164, just a fantastic off-beat issue all around.
Ohh, and please forget the stoooopid '90s armor variation as well.
In answer to William Preston - the old guy with the cane is Steve Rogers, the old (literally) Captain America. The Falcon is Captain America, Thor is a woman, the Watcher gets murdered - good grief, whatever next ?!
ReplyDeleteA famous man once said, 'I got nuthin'.' Who said that? What does that even mean? Doesn't matter. I said it 'cause he said it. So now, he was famous and that basically getting said by two well-known guys.
ReplyDeleteThe Prowler (you know....).
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