Comics 101: Braun's 'Iron Man' Mandarin Beats Mainstream's

LOS ANGELES—A recent article by comic fan site Comics101.com posits that Axel Braun's new VividXXXSuperheroes release Iron Man XXX: An Axel Braun Parody does a more accurate job bringing villain The Madarin to life than does theatrical blockbuster Iron Man 3. In the article, titled "Speaking Mandarin," Comics 101 editor Scott Tipton wrote, "After being ever so lightly hinted at in the first Iron Man film (with the cleverly named 'Ten Rings' terrorist organization, a reference to the comic-book Mandarin's 'magic rings,' the source of his powers), nearly everyone had expected the Mandarin to be the Big Bad in an Iron Man film sooner or later, and with the casting of Oscar winner Sir Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin in Iron Man 3, it looked as though that's what we were getting. But although everyone expected the Mandarin ... the Mandarin wasn't really the Mandarin, instead just being a puppet for the world media." Tipton continued, "Ironically, for the closest adaptation of the comic-book Mandarin, you'd have to go to porn director Axel Braun, whose willingness to recreate comics costumes and storylines in his line of best-selling 'porn parodies' is firmly established. However you may feel about porn, there's no denying Braun's geek cred. Take a look at Derrick Pierce as the Mandarin in Braun's newest release from Vivid, Iron Man XXX." Commented Braun himself, "As a die-hard comic geek since childhood, I always strive to bring characters that I parody to life the way I envisioned them as a kid. The Mandarin is such an iconic, over-the-top, anachronistic villain that I simply could not imagine him without his scaled helmet and his rings. Don't get me wrong, Ben Kingsley is a tremendous actor, and I understand the need for mainstream to have a different, modernized approach to superheroes in order to appeal to a broader audience. But I don't need to have a $100 million opening weekend, and I am just thrilled that my adult parody has won accolades among fans like Scott Tipton." Iron Man XXX: An Axel Braun Parody is available now. Read Scott Tipton's full article here.