The Good
I've been away from Invincible Iron Man since Fear Itself, but I LOVE where this book is at right now: the Mandarin has Tony captive and forcing him to build a weapon for him and James Rhodes is now wearing the Iron Man suit. Major companies now seem to have the ability to make ridiculous pieces of technology which all seem to run on Stark's technology. This is an awesome change to the world Iron Man fans have known for years.
Matt Fraction's Iron Man, minus the Fear Itself run, which I didn't care for, has been one phenomenal ride. The stories he's been coming up with are incredibly cool and feel so much different than other comic's arcs. There's a level of realism mixed with science-fiction in the series, and this book feels like it should be in its own universe.
The art on this book is top notch awesomeness. Salvador Larroca (art) and Frank D'Armata (colors) can make a guy giving a speech on technology exciting. That's how attractive their art is. The art during a fight in the "prison" is great. There's lots of motion and the line work is incredibly crisp. Larroca is great with action scenes, even though there's only two small ones within this issue.
There's tons a really solid set up for future issues here. Lots of well-defined, interesting plots going on which gives this issue an incredible amount of depth. It's more than just a comic about Tony Stark in the Mandarin's prison. We get to see the world through the eyes of all the characters here, good or bad.
The Bad
I've been away from Iron Man since Fear Itself started, so I found out that a lot has changed here, as mentioned above. It's not a good place for new readers to jump in.
The Verdict
I loved this issue. Everything about it screams "amazing." Fraction has done a great job with this world and its characters and I can't wait to continue reading. I love where this book is and where it's heading to. Salvador Larroca and FrankD'Armata do an amazing job on art, and this book is full of depth and is so well-defined.
Overall, I highly recommend this issue. It was awesome.