Graphic Novel: The Prince and the Dressmaker

TITLE: The Prince and the Dressmaker
AUTHOR: Jen Wang
CATEGORY: Graphic Novel
PUBLISHED: February 13th, 2018
GENRE: Historical Fiction, Drama, Romanceish
PREMISE: A prince hires a dressmaker to make dresses...for them.
MY REVIEW: If there is one thing that first comes to mind about this graphic novel it is that the art is beautiful. The whole book is beautiful, actually. It's hardback, that cover really pops in it, and the art is gorgeous throughout.
Along with the gorgeous art, is a just plain adorable story. Sure, it wraps up neatly and a little too tidy. But sometimes, you just want a feel good story about people supporting one another. This book gives you that. Sure, Sebastian goes through crap in this to get their acceptance. But they get it eventually and it is beautiful when they do.
In short, I adored this one. It is a single story, so the entire story is in it. It's a really good one to read if you are new to this graphic novel thing. If you want a story that will just make you happy, I highly recommend this graphic novel.
WHO SHOULD READ: Historical fiction fans, Lumberjanes fans, A Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five graphic novels that just make you happy

Graphic Novel series Review: Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat

TITLE: Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat
AUTHOR: Kate Leth
ARTIST: Brittney L. Williams
Volumes: 1: Hooked on a Feline
2: Don't Stop Me-Ow
3: Careless Whiskers
PUBLISHED: between 2015 and 2017
GENRE: Superhero
PREMISE: Patsy Walker, fresh from returning from hell itself, tries to adjust to life again.
MY REVIEW: I started this series about a year or so ago after falling in love with the Jessica Jones TV show. Trish was my favorite, and this does involve her in...a slight way. Be warned, this Hellcat is very very different from TV Trish Walker (and yes, I have...feelings about what season 2 did with her. Lots of feelings. Not all of them positive). Honestly, if you're going to delve into the comics for any of the Defenders shows, just know they're all pretty different. Accept for Daredevil. He is as much of a disaster in the comics as he is on the show.
This series is a very light and fluffy series and honestly, I kind of love it for that. You don't need to have much comics knowledge going into it. It's pretty separate from the Marvel comics. You might want to know who some of the side characters such as She-Hulk or America Chavez are, but it is not necessary to understand the story.
This was a sadly short-lived series. Though really these days, a year and a half is a pretty good run for solo titles that are not A-listers like Captain America and such. If you're looking for a cute all-ages type of comic to dive into that doesn't require much vast knowledge of the Marvel universe, this is a good one to start with.
WHO SHOULD READ: Jessica Jones TV show fans, Marvel fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five cute series that I miss

Graphic Novel Review: Are You My Mother?

TITLE: Are You My Mother?
AUTHOR: Alison Bechdel
CATEGORY: Graphic Novel
PUBLISHED: 2012
GENRE: Memoir
PREMISE: The author/artist of the graphic novel Fun Home returns with more stories, this time going into her relationship with her mother.
MY REVIEW: A few years ago I read Fun Home. It was my first foray into graphic novel memoirs and honestly my first time, in awhile, reading graphic novels because I had stopped reading them all together at one point.
This one is honestly more of the same of Fun Home. It goes into Bechdel's family issues, this time centering on her mother. Well, partly on her mother. There is also some stuff thrown in about her own personal issues in therapy, with her writing/art, and in her own personal relationship. All of it ties back to her mother in some way though. So the mother/daughter relationship is important here.
I was fine with it. It's very typical graphic novel memoir stuff. There was interesting looks into psychology and how parents can shape you and how you deal with the world and whatnot. It wasn't as engrossing as Fun Home, but it was still a nice read.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Fun Home, memoir fans,
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five shrugs

Graphic Novel Review: Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman-Trinity

TITLE: Trinity
AUTHOR: Matt Wagner
ARTIST: Matt Wagner
PUBLISHED: 2003
CATEGORY: Comics
GENRE: Superhero
PREMISE: Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman all team up for the first time as Ra's al Ghul plans an attack that will destroy the planet..
MY REVIEW: So I have still been reading comics here and there. I just have been reading ones that are part of a series, so I haven't reviewed them here. My rule now is to only review series comics if I am either completely up to date on it, or finished with it, or am five volumes in. With things like DC and Marvel...that takes awhile. Hence, no reviews.
But this graphic novel is a single story arc, so I feel comfortable reviewing it by itself. First thing I'll go over is the art: um...yeah sorry, Wagner, it's bad. Anatomy for characters is inconsistent, and in the case of Diana, outright bizarre sometimes. The faces are awkward and...I'm sorry, I just don't like it. Normally, I don't make a big deal out of art style in comics. Especially for DC and Marvel. Because the way the business works, the style is usually constantly switching around anyway. Seriously, if you read superhero comics, don't get attached to the art style. Especially if it's a long series. My only requirement for art in superhero comics is that it at least be consistent, doesn't do weird things with anatomy, and doesn't do gross sexual poses with its female characters. Wagner was not consistent, had weird anatomy things going on all over the place, and there were lots of strategically placed sexual poses of Diana. So yeah, I hated the art in this.
Story wise...I liked it. It's a fun look at how Bruce, Clark, and Diana all came together for the first time. There's some fun scenes with Bruce not playing well with others. Aquaman makes a surprise cameo. There's good character insight and the plot moved along fairly well. I recommend picking this one up if you're new to DC. It's a self-contained story, that doesn't require loads of knowledge of other comics. If you know the basic back story of these three heroes, you should be able to read this just fine. So I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand: ugly art. On the other hand: decent story.
GOOD FOR NEW DC READERS?: Yes.
WHO SHOULD READ: DC fans, those that have seen the Justice League movie
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five good stories with bad art

Graphic Novel Review: The Giant Days series Vols. 1-5

TITLE OF SERIES: Giant Days
AUTHOR: John Allison
ARTIST: various
STARTED: 2015-still ongoing
Vols. 1-5 collect issues 1-20
PUBLISHER: Boom! Box
GENRE: Contemporary, Humor
PREMISE: Three girls navigate college together.
MY REVIEW: This series you guys. I picked this up expecting not much. I figured it'd be cute and that's about it. But I wound up loving the hell out of this series. Between this, Lumberjanes and Goldie Vance I think Boom! Box is well on its way to becoming a favorite comic publisher of mine.
This series is just plain delightful. It's a bit of a slice of life type of series where you follow Esther, Susan, and Daisy as they have romances, deal with things like finals, and have various campus dramas. There's an hilarious issue where they go to a world music festival. It sounds boring, but the humor and lovable characters really make it worth it.
If you are still new to this comic book thing and aren't sure where to start, this is a great starter series. Especially if you're a contemporary fiction fan.
WHO SHOULD READ: Lumberjanes fans, contemporary fiction fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five comics that just make you happy

The Big Giant End of the Year Review Wrap-Up PART 1

Okay, it's time to face facts: I'm behind. If I don't catch up now, I won't ever catch up. So Here is one big random wrap up of what I read in the last half of November.:

TITLE: The Hearts We Sold
AUTHOR: Emily Lloyd-Jones
PUBLISHED: August 8th, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Liked it a lot. Unusual ending and lots of good themes.
MY RATING: Four out of Five

TITLE: In Other Lands
AUTHOR: Sarah Rees Brennan
PUBLISHED: August 15th, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Utterly hilarious fantasy parody. One of my favorite reads of the year.
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five

TITLE: A Study in Scarlet Women
Book 1 in the Lady Sherlock series
AUTHOR: Sherry Thomas
PUBLISHED: 2016
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Historical Fiction, Mystery
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Wanted to like it, but for something that was supposed to be a female Sherlock doing sleuthing, the female Sherlock didn't do much of the actual sleuthing.
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five

TITLE: The Collapsing Empire
Book 1 in the Interdependency series
AUTHOR: John Scalzi
PUBLISHED:March 21rst, 2017
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Science-Fiction
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Good start to a new series. Don't have much to say about it. It was good sci-fi, that's about it.
MY RATING: Four out of Five

TITLE: Forest of a Thousand Lanterns
Book 1 in the Rise of the Empress series
AUTHOR: Julie C. Dao
PUBLISHED: October 10th, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy, Retelling
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Wanted to like it because the idea is great and the writing is good, but there was just too much girl hate going on in this. There is some major internal misogyny going on here.
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five

TITLE: Warcross
Book 1 in the Warcross series
AUTHOR: Marie Lu
PUBLISHED: September 12th, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Dystopianish, Sci-fi
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Lu has done it again and delivered another awesome series start. One of my favorite new series of the year.
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five



Graphic Novels:
Spinning by Tillie Walden
Giant Days Vols. 2 and 3
Princess Jellyfish Vol. 2

Graphic Novel Review: Wires and Nerves, Vol. 1

TITLE: Wires and Nerves
Wires and Nerves series, vol. 1
AUTHOR: Marissa Meyer
ARTIST: Douglas Holgate
PUBLISHED: January 31rst, 2017
GENRE: Science-Fiction/Retelling
PREMISE: Marissa Meyer continues the world of Lunar Chronicles in a new graphic novel series
MY REVIEW: Okay, full disclosure: despite loving comics and loving books...I tend to avoid these graphic novels based on book things. First off: they're usually just adaptations of the book and I don't find it necessary to read books in graphic novel form. Secondly: the art is usually pretty ugly.
But lets face it: I'm Lunar Chronicles trash. If it's Lunar Chronicles, I'm there. It helps that this series actually picks up where the books left off so it's actually new material. I'm still not much of a fan of the art style....but it is what it is, I've made my peace with it.
All in all, as far as these graphic novels based on books thing goes...this one is not bad. Iko is delightful and we get to see all the favorite characters again and catch up with what's going on in their lives. We also get a nice look into what the results of the end of the last book were and I'm pleased that the author makes it clear that just because you overthrow a villain, doesn't magically mean every world problem is solved.
So I liked it. I wish the art was better. But what can you do? If you're looking for more Lunar Chronicles goodness, this should do the trick for you. For those wondering, Vol. 2 comes out in January.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those who have read the entire Lunar Chronicles series, Lunar Chronicles fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five sassy androids

Graphic Novel Review: Saga Vol. 7

TITLE: Saga
Vol. 7 in the Saga series
AUTHOR: Brian K. Vaughan
ARTIST: Fiona Staples
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
STARTED: 2012
ISSUES COLLECTED: 37-42
GENRE: Science-Fiction
PREMISE: Hazel and her parents rest in a place that has never-ending war...
MY REVIEW: Okay, for those new to comics, or who by some chances are into comics but not have picked Saga up yet, I'll summarize it for you: Romeo and Juliet in space, if Romeo and Juliet were soldiers, who were smarter and got together to have children and deal with the war. Saga has been around a few years now and probably doesn't need my help giving it press, but what the hell, I feel the need to talk about it.
Because as always, major things went down in this volume. I'll refrain from spoilers, but if you know the series, you probably already have an idea of what to expect. And you know why I have feelings right now. There was a character death (of...sorts...) that I'm sad about. We get to see Hazel and her family get to be a family for awhile which was nice to see. There's just...so much going on in this volume as there always is. I definitely advise starting at the first volume. This is an ongoing story arc, unlike Marvel or DC, you do have to read this one from the beginning or you'll be lost.
This series is space opera at its best. I will warn, it's a very adult series as most Image comics tend to be. But if you don't mind sometimes very random gore/sex (and I do mean random...), it's a great series to dive into. As a bonus, the art is gorgeous and it is one of the few long-running series out there that doesn't constantly change artists so you're not suddenly getting a different art style every other issue.
WHO SHOULD READ: Star Wars fans, space opera fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five

Graphic Novel Review: Gwenpool Vols. 1 and 2

SERIES TITLE: The Unbelievable Gwenpool
Vol 1: Believe It (issues 0-4)
Vol. 2: Head of M.O.D.O.K. (issues 5-10)
AUTHOR: Christopher Hastings
PUBLISHING HOUSE: Marvel
STARTED: April 2016
GENRE: Superheroes, humor
PREMISE: A girl from our world gets dropped into the Marvel comics universe...
MY REVIEW: If you've looked around at fanfiction, you probably took one look at the above premise and went NOOOPE. Before you do, hear me out, because...it actually works. Somehow Hastings found a way to take a popular fanfic trope and do it in a great way.
Part of it is, the comic does not take itself seriously at all. It's very much a humor type of comic like Squirrel-Girl and that goes a long way for me (I adore Squarrel-Girl, in fact, a review of vol. 4 is coming soon). Gwen is also just charming and it really helps that she doesn't get superpowers or anything. She's just a normal person who got dropped into this wacky universe and being a huge comic book nerd, knows all the heroes secrets. A lot of time this hinders her, more then it helps her (superheros do not like it when you know their identities).
Marvel, more books like this. Less events like Civil War II please.
WHO SHOULD READ: Marvel fans, Squirrel-Girl fans
MY RATING (for first two vols.): Four out of Five fangirls living the dream

Graphic Novel Review: Spider-man-Miles Morales Vol. 1 and 2

TITLE: Miles Morales
Spider-man-Miles Morales Vols. 1 and 2
AUTHOR: Brian Michael Bendis
Series Start: 2016
PUBLISHER: Marvel
COLLECTS: vol. 1 collects issues 1-5, vol. 2 collects issues 6-11
PREMISE: Miles Morales deals with his growing complicated life as Spider-man.
MY REVIEW: It's really funny, when it comes to Spider-man I've always been sort of a shrugger. But Miles? I love Miles. I discovered him sometime last year and it's taken me awhile to get caught up but it's been so worth it.
I will say, I have a bit of a issue sometimes with Bendis as a writer. Like some stuff he does, I love (he writes some of the best dialogue ever), but then there are scenes where...I just want to bang my head against the wall. Like that scene in one of the early issues that is clearly taking potshots at girls online who dare to care about things like representation. Writers, don't insult people that read your stuff, okay? We tend to notice you're making fun of us and sorry, it's not going to stop us from criticizing you. It might make us stop buying your books/comics though.
Second volume unfortunately got bogged down with Civil War II stuff. As I've been getting caught up on the Marvel comics from last year, I've been getting bits of info here and there about Civil War II and I have to say...it looks like it was just as much of a mess as Civil War was. On the bright side though, we got to see Luke Cage and Jessica Jones meet Miles and that was the best.
So...this series is ultimately good, but has some issues as usually happens when Bendis is involved. It is still a great start to read if you're curious about Miles Morales.
WHO SHOULD READ: Spider-Man fans, Miles Morales fans
GOOD FOR NEWBIES: Er...sort of. If you have some idea of who Miles Morales is, you should be okay. Would probably help to read his older books first though.
MY RATING: Four out of Five web-slingers

Graphic Novel Review: Power Man and Iron Fist Vol. 1

TITLE: The Boys Are Back in Town
Vol. 1 in the new 2016 Power Man and Iron Fist series
AUTHOR: David F. Walker
ARTISTS: Sanford Greene, Flaviano
SERIES START: October 2016
COLLECTS: Issues 1-5
PREMISE: Luke Cage and Danny Rand have been on a very long break from Heroes for Hire and are fine with that. Really. Unfortunately, they have one hang out session and one incident and everyone's convinced the team is back together. But they aren't...really.
MY REVIEW: I adored this series with every fiber of my being. It's everything I've come to expect with Marvel: lots of action, utter silliness, some amusing fun at its own expense (I love that Marvel makes fun itself), and just lots of fun. The plot...is a bit here and there. This is mostly the first arc so not much happens but there are a lot of utterly hilarious moments in it.
Full disclosure: I'm pretty new to both these characters. I've seen their shows on Netflix (loved Luke Cage, am lukewarm towards Iron Fist). I've seen them in a handful of appearances in other comics. I'm aware of their history and the whole Heroes for Hire thing, even if I maybe don't know the full details. So I can't tell you all the easter eggs or how this series compares to older series and whatnot.
I can tell you, if you've just seen the Netflix shows, then you should be able to grasp what's going on. I mean, probably the only thing you may be confused about is the fact that in the comics Luke and Jessica have a kid together.
WHO SHOULD READ: Iron Fist and Luke Cage fans, Marvel fans
GOOD FOR NEWBIES?: Sort of. If you've seen Luke Cage and Iron Fist and know they hung out a lot in the past, you should be good.
MY RATING: Four out of Five brotps

Graphic Novel Review: This One Summer

TITLE: This One Summer
AUTHOR: Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
PUBLISHED: 2014
CATEGORY: Graphic Novels
GENRE: Contemporary/Realistic Fiction
PREMISE: Two girls have a memorable/drama-filled summer at their annual family vacation spot.
MY REVIEW: Every family has that one vacation spot they probably went to frequently, at least when they were kids. My family always went to a lake in West Virginia where my grandmother had a house. To this day, I'm still not sure how that house came in our family's possession (it's since been sold) but I have very fond memories of spending Forth of July there. This graphic novel reminds me a lot of those summers.
In that way, it's a perfect summer read. The art style is very interesting. At first I didn't like it much, but as the story progressed, I realized it actually suits the story very well. There are lot of topics covered in this as Rose and Windy spend their summer lazing about. Some of it was dealt with kind of vaguely, but for the most part...this was a pretty well-done one-shot story.
If you're looking for some graphic novels to take on a trip, I highly recommend this one.
WHO SHOULD READ: YA contemporary fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five summer lakes

Graphic Novel Review: Archie Vol. 2

TITLE: Archie
Vol. 2 in the Archie series
AUTHOR: Mark Waid
ARTIST: Veronica Fish
MIGHT NEED READ BEFORE: Archie Vol. 1
PUBLISHED: 2016
GENRE: Romance/Contemporary
PREMISE: Archie and the gang's romantic misadventures in Riverdale continue...
MY REVIEW: I know what you're thinking: Archie? Really? Yes, really. This new series that Mark Waid came out with is just a delight. THIS is how you reboot Archie. The CW Riverdale show is okay and all, but I don't actually consider it an adaptation of Archie. I consider it someone's weird fanfic AU. This Archie, is much more my speed.
The characters are still delightful, in their over-the-top ways. This story continues where the first volume let off, so if you want to read, I recommend starting with the first volume. I love this version of Veronica. It's a much more nuanced version of the Veronica who was just your basic mean girl in the original series.
If you have a fondness for the Archie comics (come on, admit it: you read at least one), I highly recommend giving this new series a shot. There's also a new Jughead series (the first volume I'm reading now), a new Betty and Veronica series and if you're into horror, check out the creepy chilling adventures of Sabrina which crosses over with the weird tales of Archie. And for those who like Riverdale, there's a new comic series about the show starting.
WHO SHOULD READ: Riverdale fans, Archie fans, YA contemporary fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five Team Veronicas (though I think she can do better then Archie)

Comics Review: Superman-Lois and Clark

Series: Superman
Arc: Lois and Clark (Road to Rebirth)
Writers: Dan Jurgens
Artists: Lee Weeks and Neil Edwards
PUBLISHED: 2016
COMIC HOUSE: DC
GENRE: Superhero
PREMISE: Alternate versions of Lois and Clark hang out in the New52 verse hiding their identity and raising a kid.
MY REVIEW: So, I've been continuing my toe-dipping into Rebirth. I thought I'd start with some of the Road to Rebirth releases. This one...was actually a pleasant surprise because I'll be honest, I haven't been thrilled with the Superman comics as of late, particularly where they screwed over the character of Lois Lane because...honestly it mostly felt like they just did it so they could have an excuse to have Clark date Diana. As a Lois Lane fan AND a Wonder Woman fan who thinks it's nonsense that these two need to compete for whatever reason...it was irritating and I honestly haven't picked up a Superman comic in quite awhile as a result.
This new start to Superman...has me cautiously excited. Lois is back to the Lois I know and adore. Father Superman is quite frankly a delight. There are some easter eggs in here I probably missed due to not being completely into the Superman mythology, but I managed to make sense of most of it. If you know the Superman movies/Supergirl TV show, you should be able to get the gist of this.
The art...was all right. I've seen worse. I've also seen better. All in all, this is a good introduction to the start of Superman in Rebirth. Highly recommend reading this before you start Son of Superman.
WHO SHOULD READ: Superman fans, DC fans, those who have read Rebirth Omnibus
MY RATING: Four out of Five

Graphic Novel Review: DC Universe: Rebirth

TITLE: DC Universe-Rebirth, Deluxe Edition
AUTHOR: Geoff Johns
ART: Gary Frank, Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis
STARTED: May 2016
COLLECTING: Rebirth arc
PREMISE: The DC universe gets another reboot with the return of Wally West who has been lost in the speedforce and needs someone to remember him to get out.
MY REVIEW: This collection is...a bit tricky to review. It's not the entire launch of Rebirth for one. It's just the main issues explaining why the new universe is happening. Spoiler alert: it's Flash's fault. If you watch CW's The Flash, you are probably not at all surprised by this.
As far as explanations go...I guess it makes sense. The explanation of Wally's past was appreciated as I'm...not terribly familiar with the Flash family to be honest. Most of my info about it comes from my time reading the Impulse comic book back in the day (who I mostly became a fan of through the Young Justice comic run), animated Justice League, and CWs The Flash.
Now the big question I've been hearing: Can you read this as new fans? Eh...maybe? If you've been watching The Flash TV show and have minor comic book knowledge...you should be good to go. The Watchman reference at the end might go over your head though.
Now is Rebirth good? Hard to say. Honestly, I think judging how successful Rebirth is will be hard to judge until the story has been going on at least a year or so. The thing with Marvel/DC arcs is a lot of their stories tend to unfold slowly and over 12 issues or so depending on the arc/writer's run. All I can judge is this bit here and this bit here is...a decent beginning. It's far more accessible then New52 was, so that's something.
WHO SHOULD READ: DC fans, CW Flash fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five new beginnings

Graphic Novel Review: Goldie Vance

TITLE: Goldie Vance
NUMBER IN SERIES: Vol. 1, issues 1-4
AUTHOR: Hope Larson
ART: Brittney Williams
PUBLISHER: Boom!Box
SERIES START: April 2016
GENRE: Historical Mystery
PREMISE: Got a problem at the Cross Palms Resort? Goldie Vance and her friends can solve the mystery for you!
MY REVIEW: Welcome to the first of hopefully many comic book/manga reviews. I have always read comic books and manga, I've just never really reviewed them on here before. I decided that it was high time I started doing that. So along with a wide variety of books, you're going to get the occasional graphic novel or manga as well.
Goldie Vance is a new all ages comic that started last year and I've been hearing lots of great things about it. Basically Goldie is a kid living in a fancy resort that her father runs and she gets up to all kinds of mischief and adventure. It's sort of a cross between Nancy Drew and Suite Life of Zack and Cody with more diversity then both of those things had. Along with the cuteness is beautiful art that fits the series perfectly.
This particular volume only has issues one through four. So it cuts off a bit and goes into another story arc. If you want to leave it at four issues, you probably can with no problem. But I for one am looking forward to seeing what new adventures Goldie gets up too.
WHO SHOULD READ: Nancy Drew fans, Lumberjanes fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five (for this volume anyway)

Thematic Sunday: Iron Man for Beginners

So here's a guide to comics to read if you're new to Iron Man. If you've seen the three Iron Man movies, you've honestly got a pretty good handle on his origin so you could skip right ahead to the newer stuff if you wanted too.

Invincible Iron Man Omnibus series

If you are one who wants to start at the very beginning, then this series is the way to go. It collects all of Iron Man's early appearances from Tales of Suspense to Avengers.

Iron Man Vol. 1: Demon in a Bottle

If you're interested in starting the Iron Man solo books, this is where to start. Tony didn't start getting his own adventures until the seventies or or so.

Iron Man: Iron Monger

This might be a story line of interest to fans of the movies. It has Stane (the villain from the first Iron Man film) and Rhodey starting his superhero career.

Iron Man: The Dragon Seed Saga

If you're interested in the Mandarin, the villain from Iron Man 3, then this is a good place to look. Just be warned...it's different from the movie and racist.

Iron Man Omnibus by Kurt Busiek and Sean Chen

Yes, there are two omnibus. The first series is the original by Stan Lee. The second is this one, that brought Iron Man into the early 2000s by Kurt Busiek and Sean Chen. If you're more interested in modern Iron Man, this is a good place to start.

Iron Man: Extremis

Another story arc that might be of interest to movie fans is the Extremis story line.

Civil War: Front Line

Iron Man was a big player in the Civil War story line. This focuses more on Tony and Captain America during this time.

Iron Man: Director of S.H.E.I.L.D

Story arc that takes place after the results of Civil War. This is basically where Tony in the MCU is now. So if you have seen all the movies and want to just jump into the comics without going backwards story line wise, this might be a good place to start.

Iron Man Vol. 1: The Five Nightmares by Matt Fraction

Another possible good place to start while waiting for more Iron Man in the MCU movies.

Iron Man Vol. 1: Believe

If you just want to jump straight into the more recent story lines, this is a good place to start.