Iron Man

I bought this book because: a) Peter David wrote it; b) I LOVE Iron Man; c) I like to read movie books. This one was helpful and eyeopening. Fans of the film will see the stark differences between what the actors came up with during shooting and what Peter David had to work with when making a screenplay into a novel. I love David's work and have done for years. I actually have his original work, Knight Life, and still count it as one of my favorites. Why isn't THAT a movie?? Anyway, a few points in the book explained things I was puzzled about in the movie. The actors got it right, however. David did an excellent job, as usual, with the material he had at hand but the actors humanized and humorized the story. Kudos to everybody!

Peter David can do no wrong with these novelization projects, I think he does a great service to the film makers & the fans. Iron Man is his sixth one so far, following the Spider-Man trilogy, Hulk & Fantastic Four. His next will be the upcoming Incredible Hulk. I love the way Mr. David inserts "easter eggs" for us die hard Marvel fans such as; naming one of the Stark security guards "Layton" after longtime writer/artist Bob Layton, & his use of italics giving the reader greater insight to the characters inner thoughts, which add more depth to what we see in the films. In the classic comics these would have been shown as thought bubbles. This book only makes me more excited to see the movie. Only a few days left!! Can't wait for the Incredible Hulk Movie & novelization!!

I didn't expect much from this book. I bought it on a whim, and expected it to be just like every other movie tie in novel. But it isn't. Iron man is a fast, interesting read that is a great stand alone novel. Outside of a few editing errors (or lack there of) which make the book look a tad rushed (on one page Stark is spelled Shark, and early on in the book there are more than a few cases of extra words that should have been edited out), the book is top notch.

Like the previous reviewer, I find all of Peter David's adaptations to be fun reads. This book crackled with excitement and great quips. If the movie is as good as the book, this will be start of an exciting run of summer blockbusters!!!

It will be interesting to see how well the new Iron Man movie plays with the public. I remember when I purchased "Origins of Marvel Comics" in hardcover back in 1974. The origin places Tony Stark in a country fighting the Korean War back in 1962. He somehow stepped on a mine field which shrapnel almost pierced his heart. To remove the shrapnel would spell the instant demise of our favorite character. Back in the sixties before CAT scans and laser surgery this was a plausible story. The modern version has changed quite a bit. There is the family dynamic with Tony's father owning his Stark International company and the whole shrapnel aspect of the story was discarded. In the novel he constructs weapons of mass destruction for the military. I have to wonder if he voted for George W. Bush too? I'll have to pass judgment when I see the film. It looks like the producers could have a good series of films if they don't turn Iron Man into a Transformers clone. It's ironic because prior to the 1980s, Iron Man didn't have hundreds of armor suits to choose from. It borrowed heavily from the Batman and James Bond theme of a gadget to fit every environment and possible enemy. It took away a lot clever story lines where our man of Iron had to rely on his wits instead of his technology. Reading the novel a few months prior to the release of the film, will give me a glimpse of what will appear on screen. Author, Peter David usually doesn't write for a film that he believes will fail at the box office. The same is true with many of the comic writers that adapt the movies. He is known for combining the myth from comics and Hollywood film with ease. A lot of the Marvel films had a high rate of failure in the late seventies thru the 1990s. The last poor adaptation I remember is with Captain America. It looked like a potentially great film lost in the editing process. It's too bad because it looked like it might have caught the public's imagination. Had the producers took more care in choosing the right story; the Captain could have been as successful as Spidey. For all intents and purposes this book is worth it. David is one of the few authors where I'll purchase the novel even if the film turns out to be a turkey.