Comics / Comic Reviews / Marvel Comics

Captain America and Iron Man #633 Review

By Andy Frisk
July 9, 2012 - 11:51

Cullen Bunn moves away from the monster of the week theme (he had horror-like themes going on simultaneously in both Wolverine and Captain America and Hawkeye over the last few months), and takes on the dynamic between Captain Steve Rogers and Tony Stark, AKA Captain America and Iron Man, as they work in tandem to get to the bottom of some shady dealings in super weapons at a Madripoor weapons convention (Madripoor being the prime Marvel U locale for all things swanky and dangerously illegal in Southeast Asia). Steve’s cover is blown and Tony must spring into action though when Batroc and his brigade crash the party in search of a certain highly dangerous super weapon.

Without a mutating dinosaur or B-movie Leatherface-like mad scientist and his creepy family in sight, Cullen Bunn begins a pretty standard superhero fare arc in the newly (once again) christened Captain America and Iron Man #633. While the story is pretty much nothing new or groundbreaking, it is enjoyable nonetheless because of Bunn’s sharp and wittily written banter between an undercover Steve Rogers and a showboating Tony Stark who are both attending the Madripoor weapons convention/show. Only a few years ago these two were at each other’s throats in Marvel Comics’ Civil War storyline and now they’re behaving like real life old friends who share different political ideologies and occasionally butt heads over them, but still admire each other for their convictions and honor.

Most all of the issue is taken up with Tony and Steve carousing the convention while perusing the weapons, and women, on display, so there isn’t much by way of action, but artist Barry Kitson does an excellent job of bringing the convention to life and packing each panel with tons of detail and eye candy (of the sequential art type-not just the con chicks).

Worth the read alone for the snarky opening technological display at the con by Tony Stark of a device that could be a devastating weapon, but that he won’t sell to anyone desiring to use it as so, Captain America and Iron Man is Marvel Comics’ superhero storytelling at its simplest best. A solid, self-contained arc of a read, I’m really looking forward to the rest of “One Night in Madripoor.”    

Rating: 7.5 /10

Andy Frisk is a music and comics journalist living in South Carolina.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12