Aero #10 // Review
Shanghai architect Lei Ling meets people from Stark International, but she isn't expecting a meeting with Tony Stark himself. Perhaps he's in China merely overseeing business. Lei Ling has reason to suspect there may be other reasons as she is also Shanghai's protector, Aero, who glides into her tenth issue with a meeting with one of Marvel's most famous heroes. Writer Zhou Liefen fits in some interesting history in an issue drawn by Keng. Amy Chu handles the adaptation. Once again, Liefen and Keng give Lei Ling a slow, steady pacing that provides the reader with plenty of time to connect-up with their main character prior to the big conflict that will be arriving next issue.
Lei Ling didn't even consider that Stark might be in Shanghai on business as Iron Man until someone in the office suggested that he might want to meet Ling's alter-ego Aero. She was too busy being stressed out about the fact that one of the most powerful people in the business world was meeting with her. She loses all track of the stress as more danger encroaches from one of the mysterious towers that have been surfacing all over Shanghai. Meanwhile, the villainous Madame Wong reflects on a shadowy portion of ancient history on Marvel's earth.
Liefen gives the history behind Aero's ongoing conflict an appealing grounding in the story's background as Lei Ling's professional life is given the center of the panel this issue. The dynamic between Ling/Aero and Stark/Iron Man is handled in broad strokes that are vivid even if they aren't rendered with a great deal of dialogue. The backstory on Madame Wong carves its way through the heart of the issue. In a way that gives the reader an understanding of the overall scope of matters in Shanghai. Liefen gives the issue an even balance between the Stark/Ling scenes and Madame Wong's time on the page.
Wong's origin story might have been a bit dull had it not been for Keng's impressively moody art. The flashback to ancient times is handled in wispy black and white shadows that slice across the page, accompanied by the glowing red of ancient eyes. As always, the more kinetic end of the story has a very bracing impact from the sudden emergence of monsters to the breakneck response by Iron Man and Aero to the cliffhanger splash at the end of the issue. Keng's sense of panel composition gives a rarely-achieved feel of vertiginous perspective on one of the world's largest cities.
The opening of Aero's first major crossover continues to show the unique mix of superhero tropes that make Aero its unique voice. The blending of golden-aged heroism with silver-aged plot construction and a slow and steady pacing contrast boldly against the quick clustering of action that typically shoots through a standard superhero comic. With the tenth issue's connection to the main Marvel Universe, Aero begins to feel a bit more like a part of a larger tapestry.
