Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities IRON MAN

Great story! Makes me curious what other Marvel stories Hartley may have done that I never associated with him.

Well, people always do remember the one THOR episode he pencilled (and who know, maybe plotted as well), as the "low point" of the early run. But that IRON MAN (art by Don Heck) was a blast. It's the one with Tony's cousin, who owes money to Count Nefaria.

Nick Simon forwarded to me the link to this interview which contains, among other things, Don's REJECTED cover for AVENGERS #37 (the one replaced by an ugly-as-sin Gil Kane cover, which itself was replaced in the 70's reprint by a new one by Jack Kirby & Dan Adkins).


http://ohdannyboy.blogspot.com/2011/05/original-art-stories-don-heck-in-his.html

My response...


"For years the credit for the first Iron Man story had Heck pencilling from Kirby lay-outs, something which, as Heck states in the following, just wasn’t true. Kirby perpetuated this story, stating more than once that he plotted and laid out the story for Heck to pencil"


I've never seen the story credited that way, nor have I seen Jack Kirby claiming he did it. However, it should be noted, Jack Kirby did FULL PENCILS on 3 of the first 5 IRON MAN episodes, so it's possible that led to some confusion. Further, from multiple readings and intense study, I cannot shake the strong feeling that the first 3 episodes were NOT published in the order that they were created. The 3rd episode-- by Kirby & Ayers (often, the "go-to guys" to START a new series at the time) has so much information about the background of Tony Stark, and Iron Man, and features a character who (if you ignore the fact that he NEVER appeared again) appears to be intended as the series' recurring ARCH-ENEMY. Sounds like a "pilot" episode, doesn't it? (I also have the strongest feeling "Dr. Strange" was a re-working of THE YELLOW CLAW, who Kirby worked on in the late 50's. He had a daughter who kept trying to make him give up his dreams of conquest, too.)


There's been reports that IRON MAN was delayed quite a few months before it debuted, as if they were trying to work out the kinks and figure out how they wanted it to go. My belief is that Jack may have pencilled all 3 of his episodes back-to-back, but THEN, Don Heck got brought in to do the ORIGIN, which was published first. If this does happen to be the case (and again, I have no proof one way or the other), then Jack AND Don would both be correct about who did the "1st" story.


"While Kirby did pencil the cover, but there is no evidence, other than Kirby’s own statements (which have been disputed by Lieber, Heck and Stan Lee) to suggest that he had anything to do with the interior of the issue that introduced Iron Man."


Hell, all you have to do is LOOK at it to tell, it's DON HECK's storytelling, NOT Kirby's. Even if Jack provided stick-figures (as I suspect he did when he later worked with Bill Everett), the panel breakdowns and the pacing would be Jack's. The ORIGIN story ISN'T-- it's Don's.


"Drawn by Heck alone, the story was scripted by Larry Lieber, from a plot provided by Stan Lee."


There's a topic for lengthy heated dispute if I ever saw one. What exactly constitutes a Stan lee "PLOT"? 2 sentences spoken verbally? The name of that issue's villain? Or Stan passing on something JACK KIRBY said to him during a conversation??? It has been suggested that a LOT of stories where the "plot" was credited to Stan were actually JACK's ideas, and this very much includes the ones Jack had nothing to do with drawing. The same has been said about John Romita's run on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, that John Romita, NOT Stan Lee, was plotting the book virtually solo for the entire length of his run, EVEN on those issues when he had nothing to do with the art (John Buscema, Gil Kane, etc.).


"Leiber has always maintained that he provided a full script for Heck to draw from."

Very possible. I'd bet Don Heck WOULD illustrate a full script handed him by Larry Lieber. As opposed to Jack Kirby, would would make paper airplanes out of it, then do what HE wanted instead.

TALES OF SUSPENSE #39-50 restorations just re-posted at my blog!

http://professorhswaybackmachine.blogspot.com/2011/12/tales-of-suspense.html

Crisp as ever Prof.

Thanks!

Mind you, I feel I keep getting better, so these, done several years ago, I look at now and wish I'd done them a bit different. (Every since someone showed me how to use "Levels" it's much easier to remove "yellowing" from every color.)


TALES OF SUSPENSE #51-60 restorations just re-posted at my blog!

http://professorhswaybackmachine.blogspot.com/2011/12/suspense-part-2.html

TALES OF SUSPENSE #61-70 restorations just re-posted at my blog!

http://professorhswaybackmachine.blogspot.com/2011/12/suspense-part-3.html

TALES OF SUSPENSE #71-77 restorations just re-posted at my blog!

http://professorhswaybackmachine.blogspot.com/2011/12/suspense-part-4.html

So after a full year of reviews, in the Spring of 2011 I started to lose steam on reading the run of Iron Man. I just don’t have the enthusiasm of my pre-teen years to go from the Silver Age to the present in one sitting, I guess. Rather than risk reading them out of obligation than enjoyment, I took a hiatus from my Iron Man rereading project and did a few other things: I read the entire Chris Claremont run of Uncanny X-Men from start to finish for the second time (and it was better than I remembered—even the issues I used to think were bad). I didn’t review them because I didn’t want to get distracted or bogged down on details. I also read all five “Game of Thrones” books which were the most engrossing novels I’ve read in over a decade.

But just last week, I decided it was time to start mounting a comeback and to give the famous Michelinie / Layton era a thorough reading once and for all!

Iron Man #122 – unfortunately, my first issue back was a rather run of the mill re-telling of Iron Man’s origin. The problem is after reading several of these in recent times, including the best one of all—the original—I’m burnt out on Tony’s days in Viet Nam. Despite a boring story, however, I have to say the artwork was pretty beautiful to behold! Penciled by Carmen Infantino with inks by Bob Layton, it had a very interesting combination that I found appealing. Particularly the detail of the countryside and clothes everyone wore. Very sharp! Clearly, Layton is one of the best inkers ever in comics for the way he can add so much to a story.

Iron Man #123 – 127 – the big Justin Hammer subplot erupts with #123 into a massive five part story that takes a run by a creative team that was showing potential for greatness and really brings them there. Though not perfect, the saga is a genuine pleasure to read. My man Johnny Romita Jr. would take a temporary absence from the title to dabble elsewhere in the MU (including his first work on Spider-Man, which I consider to be utterly fantastic), but before he does, his pencils get matched up for Layton’s inks for a non-stop array of great panels and pages. Each issue is a story within itself that is able to build tension while also piggybacking off of the high stakes from the prior issues.

I have to admit, the scene where Iron Man kills the UN Ambassador was shocking to me! I did not see that coming and I’m surprised it happened in a comic book! I guess the 80’s have arrived—and it feels very exciting! Mich / Layt send Tony on a journey that is all action in the beginning, the aforementioned shocker in the middle, a mini sequence with Ant-Man that is fantastic, and then Tony suiting up at the end to take down his enemies. All in all, pretty epic!

Speaking of Ant-Man, Mich / Layt wrote him better than anyone ever did after. He’s really terrific here and works great as a supporting member of Tony’s cast. Even better is Mrs. Abrogast who is just fantastic. Her early appearances were a little sparse which made them pack some added punch; I love that she is such a ball-breaker to everyone else but totally takes care of Tony. It’s a role that feels like it should always have existed in the series. Of course, Rhodey is one of the two really big additions to the cast and he really shines in this Hammer Saga. He really feels like Tony’s partner and friend who is loyal, capable and also is a bit of a thrill-seeker like his boss. *I* want to be friends with Rhodey. (The other big one, Bethany, I’ll get to shortly).

My major complaint of the whole thing is the way Tony took down so many villains all at once. I don’t like when that is done, even when its done really beautifully here. I like each of the longtime Iron Man villains to maintain their level of seriousness and when this happens, it lessens that (the thread “Law of Diminishing Villains” is a great topic for this). What Michelinie does really well though is differentiate them all: for example, Blizzard is too smart for his own good, which is a nice touch. The Water Wizard smartly took off mid-fight rather than get caught (BTW, how obscure is he?). The one handling of a villain I did not like was Whiplash, who was kind of a putz and pushover, whereas in his original appearance he was nothing short of awesome.

Justin Hammer himself was a very good change of pace enemy for Tony and I know he’ll be back down the road. Funny enough, as I was reading I was thinking “Wow, he really looks like Peter Cushing!” And then when I checked this thread this morning, I saw that oh yeah, we already discussed that.

Iron Man #128 – “Demon in a Bottle” – this may perhaps be the single most iconic Iron Man story of them all. I read it once when I was younger but I really could not appreciate it then; so in effect, this was the first time I’d really ever read the story. And you know what—I have to say, I thought it was actually quite impressive and really moving.

The build-up of Tony becoming an alcoholic since the new creative team took over was awful to watch. Each scene was cringe-worthy and then increasingly uncomfortable. And here it all comes crashing to a head. I have to admit I was expecting it to be handled a bit crudely or immaturely; to my pleasant surprise, I thought it was handled actually quite realistically and adult. Every step of the way, with Tony coming to grips with his problem and then finally making the decision to do something about it felt like a journey within a journey. I thought Michelinie also did something really difficult and imply that Tony knew he had a problem even though he would not admit it to himself—thus, when he did admit his problem, it was more along the lines of “I have to face what I’ve known all along”. That isn’t easy to convey! I have to say I thought this story was really moving.

When I was a kid in the 80’s, Comics Buyers Guide was a big comic book periodical where fans and creators wrote letters to discuss and debate certain issues in the comics industry. For a time, “Demon in a Bottle” was a hot topic. Many fans thought it had destroyed Iron Man’s character; others wrote in to say it gave Tony something to overcome that was truly heroic. But the letters that were most important to the discussion, to me, where the numerous ones that said clearly that the issue actually helped them in their personal lives. That the story served to help them overcome their own addictions and sense of powerlessness. I think that’s a pretty telling and complimentary thing. My Dad wasn’t thrilled with his second favorite superhero being an alcoholic but he did come to realize over the years that it was a pretty beautiful and important story. Like so many other people, there is a history of tragic alcoholism in my family: my Dad’s dad was an abusive and awful alcoholic that died before I was born and my Uncle, (Dad’s brother) who helped get me into comics in the first place is now a full blown alcoholic in the worst way to the point where I haven’t seen him in many years. It’s an ugly, real issue and I think it took some real courage to incorporate it into Iron Man. And even more, the ending clearly shows that this is step 1 down a long, long road—and that takes courage to show too.

This issue also clearly marks a turning point for the series that had been building for some time: Iron Man, the series, is about Tony Stark, who incidentally is Iron Man. Until now, that was not the case (rather the other way around). And it’s actually quite a refreshing change of pace, giving the series a major jolt in the arm. The next several issues will further highlight this, as the emphasis is on Tony Stark’s life with Iron Man coming into play when he’s a tool Tony can use.

“Demon in a Bottle” is also an important comic for someone else: Bethany Cabe. From her arrival in the series, Bethany was clearly a fantastic character. Intelligent, capable, witty, beautiful, and pushy if needed, she’s the epitome of sexiness in terms of both looks and personality. In this story we also see her take the next step into being a fully realized character. It’s her strength throughout the issue that lets Tony overcome this sickness and there is no doubt about that throughout. She’s there for him and actively makes the decision to make herself vulnerable to being around an alcoholic Tony Stark to help him. From here on, it looks like the writers dump the somewhat silly Bethany / Iron Man grudge and continue to show Bethany as the very serious and adult character she is. IMO, she’s by far the best love interest for Tony ever so far and one of the best in comics.

Iron Man #129 – following “Demon in a Bottle” almost any story might be a disappointment and this one did not, er, disappoint. It clearly feels like a fill-in story and based on what a later letter column reveals, it must have been one of those rushed ones. Sal Buscema pitched in to provide pencils and no less than six (6!) inkers embellished. The plot is totally run of the mill featuring the Dreadnought. However, one really great thing about it is it ties up the whole SHIELD taking over Stark Industries plotline which felt more than a little ridiculous throughout. Tony gets his company back and in a way that has him sticking to his guns and taking a stand, complete with his employees backing his play. In that way, it works.

Michelinie clearly tries to make Fury a little sympathetic but IMO doesn’t accomplish it. Fury comes off as Gestapo-esque here to the extreme. With the series now in 1980, I’m worried for all the corporate plots to come…

Iron Man #130 – Another fill-in story arrives with #130 with Tony in Hong Kong amidst some boring plot about a dragon and magic, etc. I could barely get through it. The artwork, however, was totally by Bob Layton so we can see what he can really do and its pretty kind of nice its own way. Layton’s got some funny qualities that perhaps I would have to get used to, like his over the top facial expressions, especially when people are sad or embarrassed. But of course, not many people could look at a single Walt Simonson issue and love it immediately, and he’s one of my favorites. Maybe if Layton did a run of pencils & inks I could warm up to it more.

Iron Man #131 – 133 – a three-parter with the Hulk kicks off in #131 and at first feels totally run of the mill, but actually as it develops turns into a really well done little story! Several things really end up setting it apart: Tony’s proactive nature has him deciding its time he stepped in to do something about the Hulk (more on that later) and the supporting cast being as awesome as ever here between Rhodey, Bethany, Scott Lang and a few other walk-ons. In fact, Ant-Man has a sequence in #133 that is one of the best Ant-Man sequences ever, and is reminiscent of Ant-Man (Hank Pym) famously entering the Vision during the Kree-Skrull War. Again, he works really well as part of the cast.

Tony’s entire demeanor, and his interactions with Bruce Banner, are great here. I was delighted (and surprised) to see Tony and Bruce officially meeting for the first time here, almost 20 years after they were both created. With the ‘monkey off his back’, Tony is becoming much more proactive in the series and doing things he hasn’t done since the Silver Age: he’s more proactive in business; he’s refining and fixing his armor; he’s actively looking to grow his relationship with Beth; he’s doing things. And it feels good. He hasn’t been this proactive since probably the Don Heck days (first run).

I also really liked the artwork here again. Penciler Jerry Bingham comes on board and Layton makes his work look fantastic. I don’t recognize Jerry Bingham’s name at all, so I have no idea how much is him and how much is Layton.

Iron Man #134 – 135 – Jerry Bingham stays on for another story where Mich / Layt finally get around to wrapping up the dangling Bill Mantlo plot of “the Other”. There is no doubt whatsoever that they did not want to do this—could they be anymore obvious?! Yet, they do get it done and it actually turns into a pretty decent story. It’s by no means the epic Mantlo was promising, but it addresses the plot and adds a human element to “the Other”. Clearly from the get-go this was the Titanium Man and he shows back up in NYC raising hell and getting into another knock down drag out fight with Iron Man. This is tied in nicely with Tony and Bethany being on a date at the beginning and the plotline of Iron Man regaining his reputation in the eyes of the world after his suit was co-opted to kill the Ambassador ten issues prior.

Apparently the days of epic battles with the Titanium Man are forever left in the Silver Age, though this one wasn’t too bad. It was still pretty dramatic, even though it didn’t have the same tension and immediacy. While I’d prefer Titanium Man be restored to “A-List” villain, I do like that we at least see him, and I also like the idea of him regretting losing his family because of his obsession with being the Titanium Man, which Michelinie implies. But I have to admit, that throughout the entire issue, all I could think about is how much IT KILLS ME that never once has Tony gotten revenge for Titanium Man killing Janice Cord! And he doesn’t even mention it in this issue! That happened 10 years ago in real time and because of crazy editorial chaos, Iron Man never got to have his showdown with Titanium Man. Here is a prime opportunity but apparently too much time had passed and Mich / Layt were already wrapping up one subplot they weren’t thrilled with—they certainly didn’t want to wrap up another (which I can’t help but feel was Mantlo’s original intention since he wrapped up so many of them already).

Other Things
As Iron Man entered the 1980’s and several of Marvel’s series were experiencing new life, such as Daredevil by Frank Miller and the X-Men by Byrne & Claremont, the entire company was changing under the direction of Jim Shooter. It’s actually highlighted by a few things:

*The ever present Bullpen Bulletins page begins to change for the first time since the mid-60’s. The Mighty Marvel Checklist is back at long last but instead of its own page, it now takes up most of the Bulletins page. By now the Bulletins page was reserved for plugging series and talking about internal Marvel matters that probably shouldn’t be made public so it’s a welcome change of pace to see it back. A few bulletins remain each month and Stan’s Soapbox is there (though it almost always is him plugging something instead of the old wisdom he’d spout). But clearly this is a shift.

*The Letter’s Page undergoes a noticeable transition as David Michelinie starts answering letters and makes it known that it is him. Usually, only the editors would do that and they would never actually say who it was, so this is a noteworthy. Michelinie is perhaps not thick-skinned enough at first (I might be reading into it but he almost seems hostile at times!) but I wonder if perhaps this was him adding a level of intimacy with the readers, which ironically occurs at the same time the Bullpen Bulletins page was taking a step back from its normal intimacy?

All in all, it took me a few issues to find my groove with Iron Man again but I’m glad to be reading! I plan to update here and there for awhile going forward. I may choose to call it quits after the first Mich / Layt run as I cant’ bring myself to sit through the depressing part of Iron Man’s 80’s run, but we’ll see.

PS - Prof, the covers look fantastic! #73 makes it feel like Iron Man is going to fall off the page and right off my computer screen!

I love the way Colan draws the cops on #75. With both Iron Man and Pepper looking so helpless, there is a sense that they are going to try their best but don't have a shot in hell of succeeding without Iron Man.

#76 has one of those incredible Kirby 'off balance' layouts that so many artists have found difficult to replicate.

Would you believe, it actually pains me to look at some of these restorations NOW, because I've gotten more in the habit of using "levels" in Photoshop to remove excess darkness & "yellowing" across entire images, and these were all done BEFORE that. So if you look at the ULTIMO cover, for example, the pale blue in the main figure is really "off".

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4roXayLl51I/TvIg2VPwhOI/AAAAAAAAAhM/4hm_CjYAgsk/s1600/TOS+077_cd_HK.jpg

Unfortunately, if there's no "white" areas remaining that haven't been cleaned, it's virtually impossible to go back and use "levels" NOW. (I WAS able to do it with the Giant-Man/Black Knight ASTONISH cover, however, as when I zoomed in REAL close, I was able to click on a SINGLE pixel that was still "yellowed".)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7Ddo-Q5dQaQ/TwDlPU7GEwI/AAAAAAAAA4E/EMQTkNMipvc/s1600/TTA+052_ch_HK.jpg

Also, a few of those later SUSPENSE covers are seriously off-rotation, which you can tell by the logos. My choices are usually to "add-in" art on several edges, or, crop and lose art. But when I did these, I probably left the rotation the way the actual books were cropped when they were printed. (I was in a hurry.)

Another option, which I've used on some of the 70's "GIANT-SIZE" comics, it to rotate ONLY the logos!! But that usually only works if the backgrounds behind the logos are a single flat color, and, when the logos themselves contain several lines of text, EACH on a different rotation, because the production department got SLOPPY and threw them together too fast. This kind of thing probably never happens when something is put together in a computer... unless someone deliberately wants something to be rotated for a specific purpose.


Nice to see you back reviewing. A couple weeks back I was beginning to wonder what happened to you.

Okay, I made the quintessential review plunder and read waaaaay ahead, almost 20 issues so, before coming back here to review the stories. So even though I read most of these issues in the last few weeks, some of the more minor details have probably begun to slip my mind. I have to admit that I was also a little worried on feeling obligated to review issues instead of just enjoying them.

Overall, I’m finding this era more and more incredible! It continues to get better and better, and now that the creative team have effectively set up the new status quo, it’s awesome to see them hit their stride and just play in it. It’s so good in fact, that every time there is a fill-in issue, it stinks to high heaven in comparison!

Iron Man #136 – “Fill in issue stinking to high heaven” case in point! Wow, this is pretty bad! Alan Lee Weiss and Bob Wiacek fill in on the art though the story itself is really unlike Michelinie’s usual efforts. Basically Tony is in England which causes a non-stop assault of awful British clichés. On top of that, Tony is basically being a 70’s swinger and even apparently hooks up with another woman? I’m almost entirely sure this was written at a far earlier date as a ‘just in case’ story, which Marvel had been doing a few years earlier. It makes no sense continuity-wise and actually makes Tony seem like a huge jerk (in regards to Bethany).

Iron Man #137 - 139 – Bob Layton takes another shot at doing full art (pencils & inks), which probably explains last month’s fill-in for a really fantastic three-parter in which Madame Masque returns. Her return is actually a big surprise and done quite effectively as the most of the storyline has a mystery type feel and then slowly turns into an awesome action story in its conclusion. The early sabotage plot could easily have been boring but was in fact quite good.

The heart of the story is really all about Madame Masque v. Bethany Cabe and its actually fantastic to see! Bethany continues to emerge as one of the great love interest’s of all time in comics, while Whitney is done pretty true to her original character IMO. I think she works much better as a being a little crazy and off-kilter given her long history, rather than being just Tony’s girl. Here, the atmosphere of menace and danger follows her from panel to panel and that is exactly as it should be. Meanwhile, Bethany not only holds her own against MM, but we also learn in this story that Beth obviously knows that Tony is Iron Man, though she hasn’t done the overly dramatic cliché of screaming the revelation to him and the masses. It’s yet another example of how Iron Man the series has continued to mature, as Tony & Bethany have a truly loving relationship and it makes total sense that she could pick up on the subtleties that reveal they are one and the same, such as body language, habits, etc. It's a real powerful moment where Whitney realizes Beth and Tony are truly in love, perhaps more powerfully than she and Tony were.

The story is jam-packed with other things too; one of my favorite Iron Man villains, the Spymaster plays an awesome part as he continues to be depicted as one of the most competent and dangerous of all Iron Man’s foes. I knew immediately Calloway was him, and I love that Mich/Layt are using him so much. At the close of the story, he and Rhodey have an awesome helicopter battle that gives Rhodey a chance to shine as well.

One of the toughest things to happen in the series happens in this story as Ling McPhearson, Bethany’s partner, is ambushed and beaten pretty severely by a group of thugs. It was a brutal, awful scene to read and I actually was taken aback by it. I realize I should have been; the subsequent issues alleviated any fears I had about the scene in the way all the characters, including Ling reacted. If that happened nowadays there would surely be rape involved but thankfully this was not so, as I feel very strongly about there should not be rape in superhero comics.

The opening part of the story did a great job at including the huge supporting cast of Stark International characters. A lot of the prior ‘walk ons’ that I thought were one time characters return and in subsequent issues they will continue to return. Pithkins, the PR man, is an annoying but necessary part of the company; Martinelli, the security chief, seems to be a likable everyday man. Dr. Erica Sondheim, the laser surgeon was a character I liked and I was glad to see her return. Even Hal, the janitor who switched clothes with Bruce Banner returns, still wearing the Hulk’s pants like a trophy for a funny scene. I think we also get the first glimpse at the competent and lovely Yvette Avril, head of SI’s French Division, here as well. And of course, Bethany, Rhodey and Scott Lang are always present.

I have to say I really enjoyed the heck out of Layton’s artwork on this story. He seems to have grown from his last effort and his unique style is very exciting. I can’t help but feel that both Steve Lightle and Greg Laroque have styles similar to his, and perhaps were influenced by him?

I also got a kick out of the ‘abandoned publishing house in Derby’—surely that refers to Charlton Comics, where Layton got his start? (Mich too?)

Times they are a changing
A few notable items:

- The Issue # box on the covers have begun to change again as the new Marvel of the early 80’s begins to differentiate itself from what has come before. There will be a few further tweaks not long after.

- Inside, some very big changes are being made as after almost 15 years, Marvel begin experimenting with the Bullpen Bulletins page. For awhile now, Marvel will remove it completely which is kind of a shocker after reading so many issues with it. Instead, they restored the Mighty Marvel Checklist which had been missing for years; at first this is at the bottom of the letter’s page. Soon, it will get its own page, and Stan’s Soapbox will return every so often on it. Soon after that, Jim Shooter will quasi-restore the Bullpen Bulletins, although that, the Soapbox and the Checklist will all be on the same page. By the mid-80’s, it clearly has its own “look” to it that distinguishes it as part of this era.

Iron Man #140 – 141 – Another fantastic two-parter follows the Madame Masque / Spymaster story that actually took me by surprise in its revelation: it starts as a ‘on vacation, get in trouble with pirates story’ (which should be its own vacation in comic books, honestly) and then surprisingly turns into the return of Justin Hammer! I was totally delighted by this upgrade in storyline, as Hammer is clearly the favorite villain of Michenlinie and Layton, as they write him to damn well. He has a fantastic entrance in the story and has quickly attained the level of A-list nemesis villain, which only the Mandarin really holds for Iron Man anymore at this time. I found it funny that another huge livable craft was revealed as the new Hammer HQ which kind of mimics the first story in a way (albeit this one a submarine). Is this a recurring gag?

Another ‘upgrade’ that occurred for me was that while Bob Layton did a fantastic job on the artwork for the first half, the second half saw the return of my favorite, Johnny Romita Jr. on pencils. As you all know, he is my freaking boy. I feel that Romita Jr. / Layton really bring out the best in each other as well—I know JR Jr.’s art has changed dramatically over 30 years but I’d love to see Layton ink him again!

There were some great supporting cast scenes as well, including Tony & Rhodey fishing together which is just one of a hundred example of how their friendship has really emerged as one of the two great aspects of this run. The other aspect, the wonderful Bethany Cabe, is in a bikini all issue and all I can say is, sometimes I can’t find the weirdness and fall in love with comic book characters. I mean, WOW.

Random Thoughts

- A noticeable change in this storyline is that the paper quality for Marvel Comics changes for the better. This is one of those few times where an upgrade in paper quality is actually immediately noticeable.

- There is a house ad for the Roger Stern / Frank Miller Dr. Strange ongoing series that never actually materializes. I just read about this a few weeks ago—they only ever got as far as the house ad.

- Around this time the X-Men were also hanging out in the Caribbean for issues on end, though I think that’s about a year later for them (post-Byrne, pre-Brood Saga). It would make for a great crossover if not for the fact that I’m pretty sure Claremont and Michelinie had huge animosity throughout the 80’s (per Jim Shooter).

Iron Man #142-144 – I think it’s around this time where I’d say the series progresses from ‘creative team establishing self and then hitting stride’ to full on just slamming home one of the best runs ever in comics every single storyline. These issues include a fantastic three-parter that takes place in orbit involving Sunturion, Roxxon and some socio-political questions about the future of the Earth (in terms of feeding it and preserving power) and what sacrifices need to be made to do it. I would consider this an A+ story that IMO should be handed to comic book creators as part of a syllabus on how to tell a good story. It’s fantastic science-fiction with the right amount of action, intrigue, character moments and suspense. I can’t rave about it enough.

The artwork is nothing short of incredible with scenes in space having satellites, the Earth and other things in the background. I was blown away.

Sunturion is one of the best new characters I’ve seen in forever! I immediately want to know more about him and I hope he isn’t truly dead at the end and returns. I honestly can’t remember if he does.

We also get to see the previously hinted at space-armor which was very cool. It’s clearly a mash-up of the original armor and the modern armor with tweaks to make it space-y. It works really well and it establishes once and for all that all those suits of armor Tony keeps (gradually hinted at over the last few years) have a purpose; Mich / Layt will make use of this going forward very well. It’s amazing that this is such a part of Iron Man lore now when it really didn’t get fully established until 1980.

I believe its these issues too where Yvette Avril, the head of the French branch of SI, takes a more central role in the supporting cast, effectively coming on as Tony’s #2 at SI. She’s called ‘Vice President’, though a company like SI would have literally hundreds of VP’s; its clear though that she outranks everyone but Tony. From here on, she’s used to really great effect and emerges as another fantastic, competent character. She’s smart, she’s beautiful and she has a unique voice in the series which I like.

The storyline is actually 2 and ½ issues, with the third issue containing a back-up story. It’s set in Viet Nam immediately after Tony gets his first armor; my initial reaction was a prolonged groan as this was yet another origin / Viet Nam story. However, I was completely delighted to learn that was not the case—this was the story of how Tony met Rhodey, the two became friends and Rhodey eventually came to work for Tony. In effect, it’s Rhodey’s origin (or at least his origin as relates to Tony Stark). Just like all Rhodey stories thus far, it was great.

Iron Man #145 – it looks like JR Jr. is back for the long haul and that’s great for me; after a few multi-parters, the creative team gives us a nice one-off story that features Tony and Scott Lang at a science / mechanics convention. It involves a complex (but not overly complex) plot featuring Roxxon, SHIELD, and Cord Industries, though I don’t think it’s the same Cord industries of Janice Cord fame (at least she’s never mentioned though I wish she would be). The focus is really on Tony Stark the industrialist and the genius, which I love, and also on Scott Lang who gets to shine in full all issue. Everything about this issue was great. Michelinie and Layton have a strong understanding of business, which really shows—they use Roxxon to much better effect than most of their peers ever have.

Iron Man #146 – 147 – the focus on Stark International and its employees continues with this two-parter, which is another fantastic effort by Mich / JR Jr. / Layton; it involves Whiplash, now upgraded and known as Blacklash, a villain I’ve always liked since his introduction in the Silver Age. After being misused by Mich / Layt twice already, he is actually done very well here and is shown to be the competent and terrifying menace he truly is; his upgrade in powers and weaponry also help make him more acceptable as a foe for Iron Man.

But though Blacklash is the antagonist the real focus of the story is on the supporting cast; specifically, the usually briefly scene Vic Martinelli, SI’s Security Chief, takes center stage as we learn that previously he was testified against the Philadelphia mafia and went into witness protection. He is used to great effect here, first being scared, then wanting revenge and then ultimately doing the right thing. Tony is also used well as being someone who is there to support Vic rather than get angry at the consequences of the attack, which are severe. I didn’t like the dog being killed though.

Mrs. Abrogast also shines big time in this issue with her stubborn refusal to leave SI as its burning to the ground. She is really a truly great character and her scenes with Tony are so good (and usually so brief) that I’m left wanting more.

Stark International’s main HQ in Long Island take quite a beating here, almost being totally destroyed. That will be a background plot for several issues going forward. It’s happened before in the comics but it actually is done quite well here: terrifying to watch it happen and then being invested in seeing it restored.

It probably began earlier but in this storyline Bethany Cabe’s disappearance begins to take precedence as a major subplot. Things were going so well with Beth and Tony that Tony even was contemplating proposing which is a big no-no in comcs, usually leading to a bad break-up somehow. She goes off on a secret mission to Europe and basically disappears; leaving Tony totally out of the loop and with no real knowledge of what she’s doing, which obviously hurts his feelings. We, the readers, are aware that it has to do with her deceased husband, who is either clearly explained to still be alive, or enough clues are given to lead us to think that. IMO, this subplot runs a few issues too long but I understand the need to add a new level of drama to the romance. Sometimes it’s hard when the writers have built up a character to be so great that they need to do something to keep him/her interesting if they are to remain a major part of the series.

Also, I’ve always loved these two covers by Bob Layton featuring Blacklash. The first has a real groovy feel to it, in an early 70’s way, and the second is all out action with Iron Man basically exploding off the page.

IMO, this is one of the best runs on Iron Man. Sunturion was indeed very cool. Roxxon as the 'evil company' was neat, and I liked how they accidentally created the occasional heroic figure, in the process of trying to cyborg up or create agents like Anaconda, Death Adder, Black Mamba, etc.

I very much miss the idea that Tony has multiple armors for specific roles. His black stealth armor was my favorite, and I'd love to see it return, worn by someone else, and his space armor was also neat.

These days, it's just assumed that his normal armor can do *anything,* and, IMO, that's a missed opportunity.

Having Tony run and grab his space armor for a 'Galactic Storm' storyline or underwater armor for an 'Atlantis Attacks' crossover or some stealth armor for a covert jaunt into somewhere he isn't authorized to be (or welcome) like Latveria or Wakanda, would be way cooler, I think, than having him wear the same tux to every prom.

It might also allow a creative team to monkey with his power levels, for different situations. In his stealth suit, he might not be nearly as heavy a hitter, because he had to skimp on firepower to cut down his energy signature, allowing him to have to bust out the cleverness and act more like a 'covert ops' character than a flying tank. In his space armor, for big cosmic team events, he might wear a suit that has all sorts of issues that would prevent it from being used on earth (generates dangerous radiation, for instance, or uses a ridiculously toxic fuel for space-flight that he wouldn't use in earth's atmosphere, or use a gravity-lensing propulsion system that just flat out doesn't work within the gravity well of a planet), allowing him to hang with the 'cosmic heroes,' at least a little better, in that sort of environment.

My favorite Mrs A. appearance was in a storyline involving the Mandarin (IIRC) where some goon attempts to manhandle her and she busts out the umbrella and pummels him into a hasty retreat, explaining after the fact that her and 'Mr. A' keep fit with aikido classes.

Is this around the same time that Tony begins dating a young celebutante who, if he had bothered to do his research, he would have noted had burned down her last boyfriends condo after they broke up, and ends up with a bullet in his spine for his efforts?

Iron Man #148 – while the Bethany Cabe subplot lingers, we get a one-off issue “Siege” which features Iron Man rushing into Central America to rescue his employees at the SI Central American division after a military coup has led to the factories being nationalized. It’s a very political story that I can’t help but feel is inspired by the Iranian hostage situation and frustrations many Americans felt towards the US Government for not getting in there and rescuing them; here, Tony decides if the Government won’t do it, he will. The story comes with a big twist—SPOILERS—in that the actual military coup is done by the military but is actually the brain-child of Stark International’s head of Central American operations. So, while Tony rescues the others, he is horrified to find out the one person he continues to stay behind enemy lines for is actually the main enemy. In ironic fashion, the story ends with Tony back in Long Island, reading in the paper a few days later that his former employee is eventually executed by the military dictatorship (now that he’s out lived his usefulness).

All in all, it’s a pretty political story that fits in the tradition of the Silver Age IM v. Commies stories. I would say it’s pretty good, though its one of my least favorites of the recent string of issues. It looked great and read pretty well, but the tone was a little offbeat; perhaps if I wasn’t reading them all in a row, it would stand better on its own. Plus, I want them to get to the Bethany storyline already.

One good thing this story does is take the concept of Stark Industries divisions all over the world and really start getting into them. This had been explored by Tony’s time in Japan and London, plus Yvette coming over to the states, but from here on, we really get to see the full global scope of SI. It’s also established that each SI corporate park has secret entrances for Iron Man to arrive, which is a cool (albeit unlikely) idea. We see that here in South America and soon after in Germany as well.

Iron Man #149 – 150 – It’s actually quite incredible that until 1981, there had never been an Iron Man v. Dr. Doom story in Iron Man’s series before! He must be the last holdout from the Silver Age, right? Dr. Doom is kind of like the Hulk in that you can expect him to visit every series at least once every 10 years. So I guess in the letter’s pages this concept starting picking up momentum for several months, possibly years, and Mich / Layt knew it was a story that had to be told. And boy did they ever tell it—it’s totally not what I expected and far better than I would have imagined!

#149, briefly: Story opens with Doom traveling through time to learn mystical secrets so he might one day free his mother from hell. Iron Man learns one of his VP’s was selling materials to Latveria illegally for Dr. Doom and cancels the shipment; Doom goes and gets it anyway; Tony journeys to Latveria to find the government there is very keen on helping him take care of Doom once and for all. Iron Man assaults Doom’s castle, they battle but then Doom is betrayed by the scientist who works for him all the way since Fantastic Four #85 in the 60’s when Doom killed his brother and scared him into serving him; he teleports Doom & Tony back through time to Camelot.

#150, briefly: Iron Man & Doom arrive in Camelot and make a truce; they are confronted by Camelot knights, battle and then agree to go with them; they are guests at King Arthur’s court; Doom betrays them and journeys to Morgan Le Fey as this was his original plans for this era anyway in his longterm goal to save his mother; Morgan Le Fey promises to help him if he leads an army of the undead against Camelot and he agrees; they attack and a huge war begins with Dr. Doom on one side and King Arthur & Iron Man on the other; Iron Man realizes there is more to the story and leaves the war to confront Morgan Le Fey, tricks her and beats her and she disappears, and the army is destroyed so Camelot is saved; Doom & Iron Man prepare to battle but realize they need to make a truce to work together to return home; they do and in some very tense scenes work together to travel forward in time using their armor so they are home with an additional 24 hours truce after they get there.

Whoa.

I mean, really. WHOA.

This is one of the best stories I think I’ve ever read. The artwork by JR Jr. and Layton was nothing short of superb. The dialogue by Michelinie was spot-on without a single word wasted. The story was concise, epic and jam-packed with every possible element you need in any good story. There were twists, complexities but they never lost sight of the overall plot. Dr. Doom has never been written better. Iron Man has never been written better. And this is probably the single best usage of Camelot in a time-traveling superhero story I’ve ever seen.

This was utterly fantastic and a major highpoint for Iron Man and Doom’s history. I can’t believe I’ve never read this before!!!

I’m kind of at a loss for words beyond the above. I believe there is something of a sequel down the road…I can’t wait!

Iron Man #151 – after the masterpiece of the last issue, we get a kind of fill-in with Luke McDonnell subbing in for JR Jr. As they do every 12 or 18 issues, Mich / Layt give us another Ant-Man spotlight issue and its always good to see Scott Lang flexing his muscles. I actually don’t mind the spotlight they continually give him. But I do have to say this was a bit of a downer after the last two-parter—but of course, who could it not be?

While Ant-Man battles some robotic type menace, we get some good moments with the supporting cast: Mrs. Abrogast being great and indications that the restoration of SI is starting to take shape; Tony takes Ling McPhearson out shopping in what is clearly an attempt to get some more information on Bethany, which shows his determination to find out what’s happened to her. All of these are nice moments, as well as cameos by the rest of SI.

Iron Man #152 – 153 – at long last, the Bethany Cabe subplot is concluded! After all these months of build-up, it’s not quite as dramatic as they indicated it would be, so I wonder if scheduling and such came into play? Regardless, I’m just glad to see us get there, as we learn the truth about Bethany’s believed-deceased-but-really-alive husband, who was kidnapped by the KGB. Iron Man travels to East Germany to save her, but we learn she allowed herself to be captured after hiring some mercenaries to help her free her husband—once again showing she is no damsel in distress. But its shown that Iron Man being there is a good thing, as the KGB is assisted by…none other than the Living Laser!

The Cold War was refreezing in the early 80’s as Regan took office and so that matches up here pretty strongly. I am surprised at how casually Bethany states she ‘hired some mercs to assist’. Wow, I guess some people *know* people, huh?

The Living Laser was a surprise because I always think of him as a enemy of the entire Avengers, given his origins and power. But he’s used to great effect here and Mich / Layt refer to his original appearance and origin as a brilliant scientist in his own right, whose just trying to stay alive even if it means betraying his country. This is all counterweighed by the end of the story where Tony basically lets him die in order to stop the Commies from attacking the US. It’s actually a pretty cold and calculating finish that is more reminiscent of the early Silver Age than anything.

Rhodey is given a chance to shine here, after a few issues in the backgrounds, and has a great moment with Beth when he learns she’s married. The characters are all clearly uncomfortable by her husband Alex being alive and thus, so are the readers. The end of the story in which Bethany chooses him over Tony, since she feels obligated to help him (especially since he’s hooked on drugs) was tough. I can see Marvel needed to keep the drama ongoing between them for soap opera reasons but it didn’t make it enjoyable to read.

And so wraps up the Beth Cabe subplot, which will now roll into its next phase. This is where I left off, as the rest of the collection is at my parent’s house. I was considering leaving off here and taking a big break but I’m pretty sure there are only a handful of Mich / Layt stories left for this run, including a Unicorn one (a character whose history I’ve been following with enthusiasm). If I do keep going, I may skip all the way to their next run, though I may hold off entirely. I’ve been reading the entire Iron Man run since July 2010 (18 months!) and I think maybe I’m getting a little burnt out. When I was 12 I could go all the way through.

Set, awesome to get your thoughts on this era!

The celebutante spin-shooting I think occurs a few years later at the end of the 80's, so I've got a bit of a ways to go still. (Thankfully).

You're totally right about the different armors and the current missed opportunities. What you mention actually comes into play; for instance, his cosmic armor is actually more powerful than usual and he's not used to that much power. On the other hand, it's bulkier and not as agile, so his range of motion is much more limited. It makes for a nice handicap for Tony in the storyline.

The Dr. Doom / Iron Man team-up / fight was awesome. It introduced a rivalry that *should* have happened before then, and fun bits of characterization, like Tony deciding that he sarcastically 'hated' magic, because it didn't follow any rules that he could grok.

Morgana le Fey was introduced, memorably, and has gone on to an assortment of less iconic appearances, IMO. Less mastermind who can threaten foes (or an entire 'world') without ever showing her hand, to cackling giant super-villain. Boring.

I love the interplay between the two of them when they begin to work together, with Tony being a bit intimidated at how smart Doom is, and Doom (unaware that Tony *is* Iron Man) thinking, "If the man's lackeys are this clever, Stark himself must be a genius!"

Heh. I haven't seen that comic for years and years. Possibly decades. But that scene still sticks with me.

The later Dr. Doom / Iron Man journey to the future thing didn't really work as well for me, as it felt like they were (unsuccessfully, IMO) trying to recapture the lightning-in-a-bottle of the previous tales success, rather than come up with something new and fresh.

Sounds like Marvel really needs to get off their asses and do an omnibus collection or two of that Michelinie/Layton era. Probably the only way that me or any other fans who missed the boat will ever be able to experience and enjoy it. Far as I know, "Demon in a Bottle" collections are as far as they ever went.

You actually remembered it word for word! Well done, sir!

That's a shocker that this hasn't been collected yet. It's on par with the other great Marvel runs of its era, Miller's DD and Byrne / Claremont X-Men. It even exceeds Perez Avengers, IMO.

Just posted at Masterworks:


It's unfortunate that, due to the late 60's-early 70's stuff NEVER being reprinted for decades (until relatively recently), prices on a lot of SUB-PAR issues were thru the roof, making it difficult, if not impossble, to read them, without going broke. As a result, there's only a small percentage of Archie Goodwin's run I've ever read. I keep hearing good things about it, but of all the comics he ever wrote, I still rank them at the BOTTOM, based on the ones I have read.

And I've read that after he left, the bottom fell out. If I'm not mistaken, Gerry Conway actually wrote an intro to a Masterworks edition in which he apologized for his work in it. That says a LOT.

I was rather pleasantly shocked to find that Johnny Craig turned out to be one of the BEST inkers George Tuska ever had (considering Craig over Gene Colan was a TERRIBLE mis-match). Sadly, after Craig, Tuska would mostly get Mike Esposito-- or Vince Colletta. Only the few issues with Jack Abel impressed me at all, then Don Perlin came along and it was just "okay" at best.

As for writing... BRIEFLY, it looked like Jim Starlin was taking over the book, but he only wound up writing 1 issue and drawing 2. (But that 1st issue was where he introduced Drax The Destroyer, the world of Titan, and THANOS!!!) Moondragon would have shown up before long, but when he moved over to CAPTAIN MARVEL (no doubt, a better fit for the story he wanted to tell), her origin, already drawn, wound up in an issue of DAREDEVIL. (Go figure.)

Steve Gerber showed some promise; he's the one who had Tony Stark find out his heart operation had taken, and he no longer needed to wear his chestplate! But soon Mike Friedrich took over, and he did a long, rambling run that went not so much from strength to strength as from "EHH" to "UGH". He had this idea for a company-wide crossover (back in 1973!!!), "The War Of The Super-Villains", but without coherent editorial control, it got whittled down to just IRON MAN. And Arvell Jones really did sub-par work on much of that. By the time Friedrich left, I was looking forward to better days.

Len Wein & Herb Trimpe started out with a bang, but as Len did so often back then, fizzled out within only a few issues! Then it was CHAOS, between Archie Goodwin (where'd he come from?), Gerry Conway (who used his day job as EIC to barge in and take over as many books as he could handle). Eventually, perennial fill-in guy Bill Mantlo was given a shot, and after a slow start, wound up doing SURPRISINGLY damn good work on the book, most of it with the returning George Tuska, on his 3rd and final run on the title.

It looked to me like Mantlo was right on the verge of REALLY taking off, when David Michelinie & Bob Layton, fresh from DC, barged in and had him KICKED off the book he'd worked so damn hard at, just so THEY could do it instead. Now, I've always felt they did wind up doing better-- but it's ALWAYS bugged me how they got on the book in the first place. Within a year, success went to Layton's head. In the words of my comics-shop guy at the time, shortly after Layton made a store appearance, "I don't know what happened to Bob. He USED to be such a NICE guy!"