OneMetal.com book REVIEW:
The Iron Saint Vol. 1

After reading that Jason Rubin, co-founder of Naughty Dog and the creator of Crash Bandicoot and other successful platforming series, had dipped his creative pen in Top Cow’s ink, my heart was won. Rubin originally produced Iron and the Maiden for Aspen Comics before turning the characters over to the capable publisher Top Cow. Renamed The Iron Saint (an apparently acceptable substitute for the sue-happy Iron Maiden band), the comic’s first volume hit stands today. So does Rubin work his magic for creating iconic, cartoon mascots onto a hundred-plus colored pages illustrated by Joel Gomez and Francis Manapul? You can bet your furry whiskers on it.

Michael Iron is a big guy. ROid level 4.0, to be exact. Years spent on the Syndicate’s payroll amount to breaking jaws and cracking teeth for Big Daddy, the group’s leader. Lately, a religious scam and enemy organization known as the Order has been taking its anti-gambling agenda city-wide, bent on upending Big Daddy’s brute reign. When Big Daddy tasks Iron and a few other top hitters with collecting overdue interest, Sweet Joey Petunia turns the tables for the Chase family and Iron, Big Daddy’s unstoppable favorite. Soon a mechanically altered Iron joins Angel Chase and the weapons specialist engineer Dr. Lubicus as they enact their revenge against the Syndicate, a mission that pits Iron and Angel up against quirky goons like the Irish-proud Deadpan Louie and Drop Dead Mike.

Putting a futuristic spin on mobs and gangsters, writer Jason Rubin crunches the overused super soldier premise into a surprisingly digestible story with more kick than even one church door-throwing, tank-manning lone wolf can deliver. Rubin carefully designs each character, infusing them with their own trademark personality. Even the often belittled Angel smacks around a thug or two. The sometimes cutesy, smoothed over artwork quickly assumes a more mature and violent nature, but Manapul (The Flash, Adventure Comics) and Gomez (Witchblade) always remember to sprinkle in a little smug humor here and there, giving the alternate 1930s metropolis class to match its crime.

The paperback collects the sold-out first four Iron and the Maiden issues, along with the rare #0 issue and extras like an cover gallery, which features the talent of Jim Lee, Joe Madureira, Michael Turner, and Chris Bachalo.

Bottom Line

Refreshing and enjoyable to read, The Iron Saint comes loaded with more than just bullets and broads. It packs in the rough-edged action with a fist full of fun.