My God Has A Hammer

In this issue, in order to get Odin’s attention, Tony got smashed and pissed on Odin’s lawn. At least, that’s how it seems with how poorly some readers are summarizing what Fraction wrote, because that’s what is going to get you to pay attention. What really happened? Tony gave up his sobriety as an offering to a god in order to receive his aid. Regressive storytelling, say some. I, on the other hand, maintain that it’s quite the opposite. Matt Fraction understands alcoholism. Read Invincible Iron Man #505.1. Read the back-matter of the Casanova reprints. It’s something he’s experienced firsthand, and he’s experienced it hard. Do you really think it’s something that he’d use as a cheap trick for drama? Of course not. A lesser writer would have Tony lapse just because things have gotten too “heavy,” but this is something completely different. Here, we have a character who has been sober for decades, giving up the one thing that he prides most for the sake of the world in a symbolic gesture. It’s moving, it’s human, and it’s goddamn heroic. Ever since Civil War it has been easy for the casual reader to call Tony things like “fascist” or “betrayer,” but through his work on Stark’s character in past years Fraction has been proving them wrong. Beating the odds and crushing wave after wave of enemies? That doesn’t make you a hero. Sacrificing the things you cherish for the good of others? That does. And if you think sobriety is a shallow thing for an alcoholic to cherish… I’m sorry, but you’re about as wrong as wrong can be.