Iron Man volume 3 #7 discussion post (Live Kree or Die, part 1)

[elspethdixon]

Despite the comm's title, we've reached our first crossover event. So instead of the usual "one issue of each title" discussion post format, I'm going to go ahead and post all four parts three parts available via Marvel Digital of "Live Kree or Die" (AKA "The Carol Danvers alcoholism storyline") in order, which will involve doubling up on some titles. Think of it as making up for skipping the postings last week.

Iron Man #7 - Live Kree or Die: Bad Moon Rising



Writer: Kurt Busiek
Penciler: Sean Chen

From their secret base on Earth's moon, the Kree Lunatic Legion plans to carry out their vengeance on Earth, unaware that they are merely pawns in the Kree Supreme Intelligence's master plan.

Meanwhile, on Earth, Tony attempts to reach out to Carol, who is struggling with her damaged powers and growing alcoholism. It doesn't go well.

Comments

[marinarusalka]

Wow, I totally hadn't realized that this was where Tony revealed his secret identity to Carol. He was really bending over backwards to reach out to her, wasn't he?

Though I think it's kind of hilarious how whenever Tony tells people he's Iron Man, no one ever acts very surprised.

I liked the small glimpse into Carol's civilian life, with her mom and her childhood room filled with model airplanes. I just wish Carol wasn't such a mess. But I can definitely see how it would suck to go fly in space and be cosmically powerful and then have to come back and live with your parents.

I don't revmember if I've mentioned it before, I've always found interesting about the portrayals of Tony and Carol's alcoholism arcs is how they reversed the gender stereotypes usually associated with alcohol. Like, when Carol was drinking, she became aggressive and violent and had a tendency to lash out at everyone around her. When Tony was drinking, he had a tendency to pass out at parties and get groped by strangers, or to wake up in bed with people he might not have otherwise chosen to go to bed with.

I feel like I should say something intelligent about the Kree storyline, but I'm really more interested in everyone's angsty personal problems.

[eruiel]

After that recitation of Carol's history I'm inclined to think she is suffering from situational depression. Her escapism seems like a perfectly natural reaction to her world falling completely apart. I can't even begin to comprehend the disparity between being filled with enough power to fly through space and living with a human parent you can't even emotionally connect with due to memory tampering. Though I imagine having that kind of power would emotionally distance a person from the rest of humanity even witouth the added benefit of mindfucking. Maybe we can thank Xavier for the fact that Carol is still somewhat functional?

Wow. Tony Stark you old smoothie. You have such a way with women!

Tony must be extremely disappointed that no one appreciates him attempting to be a supportive friend.

[marinarusalka]

I suspect you're right about Carol's depression. I think it's another thing that she and Tony have in common, and another reason why Tony was the first to recognize Carol's problem and to reach out to her. Honestly, after everything Carol's been through, I'm surprised she hasn't had a massive breakdown before this.

I do feel for Tony. His control-freak tendencies make him always try and fix every problem he sees, including the personal problems of people he cares about. Unfortunately, you can't engineer away depression or alcoholism or failed marriages. And we've already seen that Tony blames himself for Pepper and Happy's troubles, even though he was "dead" when most of it happened. I expect he'll blame himself for Carol too.

[seanchai]

Yes! I've often thought that the gendering of Tony and Carol's respective drinking arcs was reversed in a really interesting way.

Actually, it strikes me that the way that Tony and Carol are gendered is often reversed in general, which isn't that unusual with female characters, but is pretty damn rare with male ones.

[marinarusalka]

I think Carol's characterization is kind of unusual, though. Just overall, it seems to me that femaie characters are often allowed to have male-coded virtues, but not male-coded flaws. A female hero can be brave, strong, noble, etc., but then her flaws will all boil down to "too emotional." So it's striking to me that Carol's flaws basically boil down to "too macho." I assume it has to do with her military background -- she spent pretty much all her adult life in a male-dominated, often highly sexist environment that values aggression and physical toughness, so she spends a lot of time trying to prove herself to be the most aggressive, toughest one ever. In the Avengers issue, her reaction to the court martial is to go "Watch me, I'll show you all!" and it's only when she can't do that she truly falls apart.

Tony doesn't have that drive to prove himself as the awesomest hero ever, mainly because he has already concluded that he isn't. And his stories tend to focus on his emotional vulnerability and messy personal relationships. Which, yeah, very much a gender reversal.