Iron Man flies with comics fans

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It’s possible you haven’t heard that Iron Man is opening this weekend -- maybe.

The first superhero movie of the season has been advertised and promoted everywhere. Although based on a comic book character, the film aspires to a certain level of seriousness: All four leads -- Robert Downey Jr, Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow -- have been nominated for Academy Awards. (Paltrow, of course, has one.)

Yet it is also a superhero movie -- a CGI-filled extravaganza in which a louche but brilliant billionaire, when held in miserable circumstances, builds a really cool suit, blows stuff up and then battles bad guys. Spectacularly.

The comic book character was created by the master, Stan Lee, and first appeared in 1963. One of the Marvel Avengers crew, Iron Man has gone through many trials and tribulations in the last 35 years. But will a reworking of his history -- updating it from Vietnam to Afghanistan, for starters -- be accepted by comic fans? How would a Hollywood version of Iron Man play with people who’ve been following him faithfully for years?

At the comic website Newsarama, it seems Iron Man really does fly. It’s run not one but three glowing reviews (1 - 2 - 3). There’s a behind the scenes look and a poll in which 43% of readers predict the movie will make $50 million to $100 million this weekend and 31% think it’ll take even more, $100-$125 million. Readers are logging in with such comments as ‘pure awesome,’ ‘effing awesome,’ ‘best superhero movie ever.’

I haven’t read the Iron Man comics, but I found the movie to be pretty awesome, too.

Carolyn Kellogg