A review by stealingyoursunbeams
Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle by David Michelinie

2.0

Demon in a Bottle is a piece of comic canon that depicts a significant event in Tony Stark's life: his battle with alcoholism.

Alcoholism, really? There was barely any of it in here. Instead, it is issue after issue of Tony dealing with other problems (Namor the Sub-Mariner, Justin Hammer tampering with the Iron Man suit to cause the death of an international delegate, SHIELD having a controlling interest in Stark International) after which he'll get cozy with the said demon in a bottle. In fact, his alcoholism doesn't carry much weight in the plot until near the end of the arc, where it was acknowledged, struggled with, and then resolved within a few pages.

I also have issue with the descriptive dialogue the characters say, something along the lines of "My heightened refractory coating is a match for your cold beam!" Then again, perhaps comics were really written that way in the 70's.

Not to mention all the cheesy second-rate villains he has to face. I mean, Man-Killer? Seriously?

Still, I can't say this didn't help shape Tony Stark's character. His battle with alcoholism, no matter how briefly it was dealt with, created a lasting impact on the way Iron Man was written.