Iron Man #1 cover Tony Stark may finally have his company back —sort of— but in Iron Man #1, the return of several old foes means it’s not quite so.

Iron Man #1 picks up sometime after the end of the Krakoan Age, in which Tony Stark emerged as a major player in the fight against Orchis and even married —then subsequently divorced— Emma Frost as part of his arrangement with the X-Men. Upon reclaiming his company from the nefarious Orchis agent Feilong, however, Tony quickly realizes that regaining control of the family business won’t be as easy as he’d hoped when old enemies re-emerge at the worst possible moment.

A lot of Iron Man stories break Tony down to the bare essentials and force him to rebuild; it seems “The Stark-Roxxon War” will very much follow this route. With his company back in his grasp but still so far away from his control, he’s forced to do what he does best: make a new fancy armor from scraps. Also, it seems magic will be involved somehow.

It’s not the most original setup, but writer Spencer Ackerman at least seems to have an interesting perspective with it. A reporter who tackles big topics like the military industrial complex and international affairs like him approaches the material differently than someone who, say, perhaps only really has comic writing experience, and that comes through here. It’s not as dry as you might expect based on that; there’s some unexpected moments of humor throughout, which makes for an entertaining read. I will say I’m not so compelled to immediately keep following, but I’d be interested to check back in a few months time.

Artis Julis Ohta gets a lot of material to work with here. From Hulk-adjacents, to repulsor beams, to various Iron Man suits, it’s a good showcase for him. A character like Iron Man never usually lends himself to having the most fantastic or surrealistic art, and his books usually trend more towards realism, but Ohta’s handle is in incredibly solid, which fits in with the broader whole of the package presented here — Iron Man #1 is perfectly solid.