So, Black Widow is the first hottie on MU, at least as far the CCA allowed!

Last issue Stan asked why readers were liking much more the recent Iron Man stories than the olden ones, as he couldn't tell any diff on them. For me Iron Man has been clearly better for some issues now, not great, but never as bad as the old ones.

Iron Man is definitely improving. As for Captain America, he'll never be my favourite character, but I do think that these stories from his past are a big improvement on the previous few solo stories, which all seemed to involve little more than a massive brawl, with CA beating the crap out of everyone in sight.

Captain America's story was a little dull, but better than his first couple solos. At least there's more going on now.

On the other hand, I'm loving the new Black Widow and Hawkeye. There really has been a change in Iron Man. For one thing, he's not just fighting endless "duhrr.. must kill Iron Man.. freedom sucks" type enemies, and instead there is a greater plot spanning more than just a single issue. There are more complicated relationships between Tony, Pepper, and Happy, and also between Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Tony. The action is better, and the artwork has improved quite a bit in my opinion.

I hate Stan's devotion to love triangles, and the Tony/Pepper/Happy triangle has to be the worst one.

I like Black Widow's new look. Her and Hawkeye make great villains, and it's always great seeing them battle Iron Man.

Sando and Omar were fun minor villains for Cap. I don't understand why they're trying to do the whole secret identity thing with him. It seems like they're forcing that convention on a character where it absolutely, 100% doesn't work AT ALL.

@specialque The whole secret identity schtick comes from the original comics. It didn't work then either, but it was standard for the genre. It becomes a total non-issue pretty much as soon as they start setting the stories in the present, and drop it entirely not long after.

yep, the iron man story was improved. it just goes to show that the stories featuring interesting characters that have longevity such as the mandarin, hawkeye and the black widow are miles better than those stories which feature less than average villains. i'm liking happy and pepper- still find the love triangle stuff a bit annoying though.

the cap story was a bit naff but at least we get to meet agent 13 for the first time.

I think that Cap storyline is better with every ish.
Unfortunately still it is not great till now.
IronMan as IronMan is good, in Avengers even better, but some villians are...
Well, not complicated :)

OK, this Iron Man story was not that great.
I am curious to see how Hawkeye and Iron Man get along where they're both Avengers, seeing as how Hawkeye's always trying to kill him.
Cap story was...well...just another basic Cap story. Although I wonder...Agent 13...Shield Agent..?!? Naw, probably not.

1. Page 2...really nice intro to Black Widow's technique. I know she seems like a Spiderman or Catwoman clone but it is a much better introduction to her than previously
2. Bizarre proposal by Happy
3. Good fight but uggghhhhh...the burrowing device

Ugh... We've taken such a step back with the Iron Man stories. This one spent the first few pages showing us Black Widow's new powers, and then the next few pages after that RE-telling us about her new powers. And what's the point of showing up as Tony Stark if you're just going to turn into Iron Man 5 minutes later?

The Cap story was alright... A bit of nostalgic propaganda for WWII, but you can tell Kirby loves drawing Cap. These stories have some of the best art in the Order yet.

I was wondering when Black Widow would get a costume. So cool! And it kinda matches Hawkeye's.

They gave some depth to the Black Widow character and I love it. She's not the cold-blooded agent as they made it appear in her first appearances, but rather a decent person who no longer wishes to serve the evil purpose of her government. We first saw a glimpse of her potential for good when she declared she did not want any harm done to Tony Stark in a previous issue. And now she only acts to protect her parents.

On a side note, I wonder why the Russians would put the letter B on the button of her cape and not a Cyrillic letter.

Wow! That may not have been a proposal per se, more like a casual discussion, but it's close enough. And Happy sure does not like to waste time! Interesting that Pepper would reply she likes him, considering that not too long ago, she was a total bitch towards the poor lad. I like that change in her attitude, but she still has to work on a few things here and there, hasn't she?

If that acid can eat through metal, how come it does not affect the skin?

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