Books
Ember's End, S.D. Smith
This is the final novel in the central Green Ember series, and like the other books Smith has penned in this universe (which I discuss here, here, and here), it features some outstanding storytelling, a number of sympathetic characters, and a real moral core. Some may find the ending a little too perfect, but since I understand the underlying Christian worldview in play, I personally thought it was quite appropriate. Indeed, I even cried at least once reading those final, climactic chapters.
Once again, if you have children - and if fairly open religiosity doesn't bother you - please give all of the books in the Green Ember series a try. For children's books, they are extraordinarily well-written, evoking comparisons to C.S. Lewis and other classic tales.
Comics
Iron Age, Various
This is more of a qualified recommendation. The idea behind the story is actually really, really good. In sum: A fading villain destroys the world by pulling the Dark Phoenix forward into the current era (circa 2011), and the resulting conflagration sends an injured and weakened Tony Stark back in time. Bouncing around in the early years of the Marvel Universe, Tony struggles to reassemble the time machine he needs to undo the damage. Along the way, he's forced to confront some of the less comfortable aspects of his own history.
I think people who aren't as obsessively well-versed in this character's canon as I am will find this an interesting, agreeable read. But fair warning: I chafed at some of the subtle rewriting of that aforementioned canon. The creators involved knew enough to joke about the short period of time that Iron Man had a stupid nose -- so why weren't they aware that early Tony Stark actually wasn't an outright asshole? Or that early Tony Stark eventually started drinking to excess because he was stressed and sad, not because he was simply a selfish party-boy? Yes, the Tony Stark of the Silver and Bronze Ages was a flawed hero who made mistakes, but do try to get his motivations surrounding those moments of weakness correct. Grr.
That being said, there's still much in here that even my Tony-Stark-mad butt could whole-heartedly get behind. I loved Tony's crying in the rain over the loss of all his friends (and I loved his repeated pining for said friends as the story continued). I loved the scene in which 2011-era Tony confronts "Deliverance"-era Tony and has that "why are you doing this to yourself/God, I wish I could punch you into sobriety/oh God, I need a drink" moment of angst. I loved Tony's struggle to convince the 1980's-era Avengers that no, he isn't wasted and yes, he actually is from the future. I loved how Tony oh-so-subtly attempts to encourage different characters (like, for example, Hank Pym) in their times of distress without actually messing with the timeline outright. If the writers had recognized that all of this love and capacity for self-criticism has been a feature of Tony Stark from the very beginning, this truly would've been a perfect trade.
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