by Donavin Sulser
Gaming Editor
Iron Muslim is the brain-child of writer Rich Johnston, satirizing Marvel’s mainstay property The Invincible Iron Man. Iraqi born, former engineering student, Al Stark, is now a washed up actor that was on the Shopping Channel in Kuwait turns to Al Qaeda to attack America.
The costume, which is Iron Man with a beard, has its kinks, the public address system continuously malfunctions with phrases such as “Death to America” transitioning to “Please step away from the closing doors,” the humor is dark, but as the panel to the right, makes a specific statement.
Stark professes, “Americans are a superstitious and cowardly lot. I shall become a Muslim,” all the while the US troops assuming he is Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian physician turned Al Qaeda leader.
The coming attacks are fueled by revenge his parents’ murder forcing Stark to join the terrorist organization. The subject matter is in poor taste as race relations and religious tensions are still high in the U.S. Although, it is not an anti-Islamic book, it can be misinterpreted for the less politically insightful.
Stark’s “Avengeful” Iron Muslim flies off to America because of his disdain for its pornographic foreign policy, claiming the Statue of Liberty was immodest for showing far too much shoulder and blowing her up. However, Stark was “responsible” enough not to killed more than six people as it was before tourist hours and saving a security guard.
Strangely, after Stark has avenged his parents for their death at the hands of American soldiers, he confesses his love for Starbucks, Apple Stores and The Big Bang Theory. Again, this is all in poor taste and there isn’t even a joke worth reading. The writing is bad enough to close the book but curiosity forces us to drudge on finding out that he regrets his actions only because he will not be able to find out if Sheldon finally understands human interaction.
Stark calls his agent, Benjamin Brisket trying to put a positive spin on the situation asking the question, “Did anyone root for Luke against Darth?” A deal is struck turning Iron Muslim into a film staring Robert Downey Jr. This M. Night Shyamalan twist makes no sense even for Shyamalan. How would people not care that the Statue of Liberty is destroyed by this guy? Destroying America’s symbol of freedom for no reason is not funny, adding to the distasteful nature of this book.
What makes the ending confusing is that it says it will continue with the Captain American Idol. They show Thor’s hammer but go to Captain American, how does this work? This book is all over the place and Bryan Turner’s art work is sub-par missing fun and whimsical but loses the reader with questions like, “How many fingers does that character have?” This is a book and series that really doesn’t need to be made and not worth more than a buck per issue. At best it can only give be a 1/5 stars.
