{"id":30415,"date":"2024-08-26T08:00:37","date_gmt":"2024-08-26T08:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=30415"},"modified":"2024-08-23T17:09:33","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T17:09:33","slug":"invincible-iron-man-marvel-masterworks-volume-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2024\/08\/26\/invincible-iron-man-marvel-masterworks-volume-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Invincible Iron Man Marvel Masterworks volume 12"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Bill Mantlo<\/strong>, Gerry Conway<\/strong>, George Tuska<\/strong>, Keith Pollard<\/strong>, Carmine Infantino<\/strong>, Don Perlin<\/strong>, Jack Abel<\/strong>, Mike Esposito<\/strong>, Fred Kida<\/strong>, Pablo Marcos<\/strong>, Bob Wiacek<\/strong>, Alfredo Alcala<\/strong> & various (MARVEL)
\nISBN: 978-1-3029-1716-6 (HB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

Arch-technocrat and supreme survivor Tony Stark<\/em> has changed profile many times since his debut in Tales of Suspense<\/strong> #39 (March 1963) when, whilst a VIP visitor in Vietnam observing the efficacy of the munitions he had designed, the inventor was critically wounded and captured by sinister, savage Communists.<\/p>\n

Put to work building weapons with the dubious promise of medical assistance on completion, Stark instead created the first of many technologically augmented suits to keep himself alive and deliver him from his oppressors. From there it was a simple – transistor-powered – jump to full time superheroics as a modern Knight in Shining Armour…<\/p>\n

Conceived in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis at a time when Western economies were booming and \u201cCommie-bashing\u201d was an American obsession, the emergence of a new young Thomas Edison, employing Yankee ingenuity, wealth and invention to safeguard the Land of the Free and better the World, seemed an obvious development. Combining then-sacrosanct faith that technology and business in unison could solve any problem, with the universal imagery of noble knights battling evil, Stark – the Invincible Iron Man<\/strong> – seemed an infallibly successful proposition.<\/p>\n

Of course, whilst he was the acceptable face of 1960s Capitalism – a glamorous millionaire industrialist\/scientist and a benevolent all-conquering hero when clad in the super-scientific armour of his alter-ego – the turbulent tone of the 1970s soon relegated his suave, \u201ccan-do\u201d image to the dustbin of history. With ecological disaster and social catastrophe from the myriad abuses of big business the new zeitgeists of the young, the Golden Avenger and Stark International were soon confronting some tricky questions from an increasingly politically savvy readership.<\/p>\n

With glamour, money and fancy gadgetry not quite so cool anymore the questing voices of a new generation of writers began posing uncomfortable questions in the pages of a series that was once the bastion of militarised America. This twelfth chronological compendium completes that transitional period, reprinting Iron Man<\/strong> #95 – 112 (February 1977 to July 1978) as Bill Mantlo\u2019s passionate writing triggers a minor renaissance in the Steel Sentinel\u2019s chrome-plated chronicles that will result in some of the best stories of the Eighties era and return Iron Ma to the top-rank of Marvel stars. If you\u2019re a fan thanks to the movie interpretation, that iteration starts right here, right now…<\/p>\n

Aided and abetted by Kurt Busiek\u2019s informative, insightful Introduction<\/em> offering historical overview and behind-the-scenes revelations, the climb to reclaimed pole position resumes with veteran Iron Man artist George Tuska joining plotter Gerry Conway, scripter Mantlo and inker Don Perlin in unleashing giant android \u2018Ultimo!\u2019<\/em> (IM<\/strong> #95, cover-dated February 1977) against Washington DC.<\/p>\n

Clad in newly-updated armour and in the Capitol to answer congressional questions about his company, Stark is targeted by a vengeful hidden nemesis who activates the mountainous monster for a classic B-Movie sci fi rampage in the streets, with the Golden Avenger supplementing hard pressed Army and National Guard units… before falling in ignominious defeat due to sabotage…<\/p>\n

Mantlo, Tuska & Jack Abel prove you can\u2019t keep a good Iron Man down as the embattled hero rallies and retaliates in \u2018Only a Friend Can Save Him\u2019<\/em> when former close ally and dutiful S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper Sitwell<\/em> joins the counterattack. Meanwhile a long-simmering plotline advanced as NYPD detective Michael O\u2019Brien<\/em> – who holds Stark responsible and accountable for the death of his brother Kevin<\/em> (see Iron Man Masterworks volume 11<\/a><\/strong>) – finally allows his obsession with a cover-up to pull him across the legal line and into collusion with shady PI Harry Key<\/em>, whose latest client also has nasty plans for the playboy inventor…<\/p>\n

Thanks to ingenuity and sheer guts, Stillwell and Iron Man seemingly destroy Ultimo deep below DC, but their triumph is short lived as a return to Stark\u2019s Long Island factory provokes a \u2018Showdown with the Guardsman!\u2019<\/em> (Conway, Mantlo, Tuska & Perlin). When Mike takes PA Krissy Longfellow<\/em> hostage, steals the armour suit that drove his brother insane and ambushes the Golden Avenger wearing it, the clash is swift and brutal, but thankfully this time, blockbusting battle ends before another good man dies…<\/p>\n

Whilst subsequently treating O\u2019Brian, another distraction comes when an old frenemy attacks the facility and American interventionist economic practises. \u2018Sunfire Strikes Again!\u2019<\/em> sees the Japanese ultra-nationalist mutant warrior again seek to derail progress, unaware that he is a pawn of the lurking presence gunning for Stark, but the harried hero\u2019s problems start with the fact his greatest weapon is offline and he\u2019s fighting in borrowed Guardsman armour. When the conflict frees imprisoned Michael O\u2019Brian, the cop seeks to make amends by joining the battle in an obsolete Iron Man outfit, but – even with Mike Esposito inking – the new allies rapidly find themselves \u2018At the Mercy of the Mandarin!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

During the melee, Key tries his luck in the Stark vaults once too often and encounters an unexpected problem thanks to another insidious infiltrator planted by a different plotting mastermind. However, having freed himself, Tony is too now busy rushing to a far-distant, potentially world-ending final battle in anniversary issue #100. Invading China, Iron Man faces horrors, homunculi Death Squads<\/em>, nuclear armageddon and his most obsessive enemy whose \u2018Ten Rings to Rule the World!\u2019<\/em> ultimately prove insufficient to the task…<\/p>\n

With the tyrant\u2019s countless plots to discredit Stark all exposed, our hero starts a long journey home even as in Long Island, Harry Key, Jasper Sitwell and one of the traitors in Stark\u2019s midst begin a cautious espionage dance…<\/p>\n

Iron Man\u2019s trip stalls when he is shot down over Yugoslavia (just google it) and wakens in a creepy old castle filled with freaks and outcasts safeguarded by a familiar – to dedicated Marvelites at least – huge and daunting figure. Recovering in \u2018Then Came the Monster!\u2019<\/em> our weary voyager views Castle Frankenstein and panics: clashing with the gentle \u201cModern Prometheus\u201d before the real menace emerges. Inked by Esposito & Pablo Marcos, \u2018Dreadknight and the Daughter of Creation!\u2019<\/em> channels old Marvel horror tales as a brutal and brutalised escaped experiment of Doctor Doom<\/strong>\u2019s laboratories seeks to compel the great granddaughter of Victor Frankenstein<\/em> to share with him the secrets of creating life…<\/p>\n

This ruthless high-tech paladin\u2019s sadistic efforts are eventually thwarted by Iron Man and the original good Monster, after which the Steel Shod Sentinel at last arrives home in #103\u2019s \u2018Run for the Money!\u2019<\/em> by Mantlo, Tuska & Esposito. Sadly, it\u2019s just in time for the next domestic crisis as Sitwell exposes the traitor only to be captured by revolting corporate villain Midas<\/em>, who – patience exhausted – launches a hostile takeover using tanks, mercenaries, lawyers and the Stock Market…<\/p>\n

He is temporarily checked by itinerant junior hero\/innocent bystander Jack of Hearts<\/strong> who – as per standard Marvel protocol – is attacked by the weary, late arriving Iron Man who has misconstrued events and attacked the well-meaning stranger. Shock follows shock as Midas\u2019 legal chicanery forces Iron Man\u2019s surrender, ceding control of Stark International to his enemy, even as the villain\u2019s agent Madame Masque<\/em> quits to ally herself with the defeated hero and his ousted, outmanoeuvred alter ego Tony Stark. In the aftermath, repercussions of the takeover ripple outwards. With Stark no longer paying her bill, deeply disturbed super-telepath (and former Stark inamorata) Marianne Rodgers<\/em> is kicked out of the sanatorium that has been keeping her psionic deadly tendencies in check…<\/p>\n

The fightback begins in \u2018Triad!\u2019<\/em> (Mantlo, Tuska & Esposito) after Stark initially refuses the help of Masque. Thus she instead allies with former lover\/patsy Sitwell whilst elsewhere, interested parties Michael O\u2019Brian and Jack of Hearts also seek to stop Midas converting Stark\u2019s purloined resources into a world-conquering armed force. Also heading slowly towards a showdown, Marianne graduates towards Long Island, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake…<\/p>\n

With \u2018Every Hand Against Him!\u2019<\/em> and despite the stakes being so high, Tony has quit forever, preferring to hide in his father\u2019s old house with Madame Masque. Less sanguine over the crisis and threat to National Security, many of Iron Man\u2019s allies join a volunteer force recruited by psychic superhero The Wraith<\/em> and eventually consisting of Police Captain Jean de Wolf<\/em>, former Iron Man Eddie March<\/em>, The Guardsman and Jack of Hearts, covertly backed up by Sitwell and (the first) Nick Fury<\/strong>…<\/p>\n

Still short of power, they co-opt through blackmail, Masque\u2019s lethal skills and Tony\u2019s last remaining armour suit to take down Midas. \u2018Then There Came a War!\u2019<\/em> (#106) sees the desperate squad invade SI and face a legion of automated Iron Men. At the height of battle Marianne Rodgers – in a fugue state – finally reaches her destination. As Keith Pollard & Fred Kida step in to illustrate the catastrophic conclusion, \u2018And, in the End…\u2019<\/em> sees her power tip the scales, uncovering even more treachery in Tony\u2019s inner circle and inspiring the despondent hero to take back his heritage, his company and his honour…<\/p>\n

With most of his allies apparently dead, Iron Man calls in Avenging ally Yellowjacket <\/strong>(AKA original Ant-Man<\/strong> Henry Pym<\/em>) to help whip up a miracle cure in #108 (Mantlo, Carmine Infantino & Bob Wiacek). This incurs some \u2018Growing Pains!\u2019<\/em> and a palate-cleansing action-filled monster-bash as the clear-up somehow reactivates Kang the Conqueror<\/strong>\u2019s devastating Growing Man<\/em> android to add to the wreckage and rubble…<\/p>\n

Once the fighting is finished, the rebuilding of Stark International begins, with Mantlo, Infantino & Kida dictating the pace prior to another crisis after Jack of Hearts traces the Growing Man\u2019s programming orders as emanating from Luna. Thus Iron Man and his superhero apprentice board a Quinjet and experiences a very painful \u2018Moonrise!\u2019<\/em> when their mission intersects a secret sortie by Soviet Super-soldiers Darkstar<\/em>, Vanguard<\/em> and Crimson Dynamo<\/em>. The Communist cosmonauts are only investigating a bizarre alien artefact, but entrenched political and personal animosities spark a savage fight. Both sides are preoccupied when the silver egg activates, transporting those closest to it – the Americans – to somewhere far, far away…
\n\"\"
\nMantlo, Pollard & Kida stretch their fantasy muscles for an astral epic as the heroes materialise aboard a vast ship bearing Colonizers of Rigel<\/em> to their next conquest. Sadly, these \u2018Sojourners Through Space!\u2019<\/em> have targeted Wundagore II – used by animal-enhancing manmade deity the High Evolutionary<\/strong> to store former experiments – and are soon caught up in a battle against formidable space Knights of Wundagore<\/em> and two devastating late-arriving, quickly escaping human captives within their colossal Commandship…<\/p>\n

When an alliance of humans and hyper-evolved Earth beasts proves too costly, the Rigellian venture is called off in \u2018The Man, the Metal, and the Mayhem!\u2019 <\/em>but in turn leads to renegade Colonizer subcommander Arcturus<\/em> spitefully targeting Earth with a robot stolen from Galactus<\/strong> (the original Punisher<\/em> from Fantastic Four<\/strong> #48-50). Upon its despatch, closing inclusion \u2018Moon Wars!\u2019<\/em> (Iron Man<\/strong> #112,\u00a0 July 1978 by Mantlo, Pollard & Alfredo Alcala) sees a swift, unauthorised Colonizer strike lead to a desperate dash back to Luna and shattering descent to Detroit, Earth, for Iron Man, resulting in blistering battle with the cosmic weapon of chastisement and a whole new definition of the word \u201cinvincible\u201d for the triumphant Golden Avenger…<\/p>\n

To Be Continued…<\/p>\n

With covers throughout by Jack Kirby, Al Milgrom, Abel, Ron Wilson, Dan Adkins, Gil Kane, Dave Cockrum, Sal Buscema, Jim Starlin, Val Mayerik, George P\u00e9rez, Terry Austin, Frank Giacoia, Joe Sinnott, Joe Rubinstein, John Byrne, Wiacek & Pollard, the extras include cartoon fan letter \u2018Printed Circuits\u2019<\/em> (by Fred Hembeck from #112) and original art consisting of covers, plus splash and story pages by Milgrom, Abel, Starlin, Mayerik, Cockrum, Tuska & Esposito.<\/p>\n

These epic yarns are the bread & butter of superhero comic storytelling, combining action, spectacle, intrigue, drama and even soap opera elements to keep readers coming back issue after issue. These as much as every cosmic landmark and style breakthrough are what keep comics companies alive and deserve your full attention. Suit up and read on…
\n\u00a9 2019 MARVEL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bill Mantlo, Gerry Conway, George Tuska, Keith Pollard, Carmine Infantino, Don Perlin, Jack Abel, Mike Esposito, Fred Kida, Pablo Marcos, Bob Wiacek, Alfredo Alcala & various (MARVEL) ISBN: 978-1-3029-1716-6 (HB\/Digital edition) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. Arch-technocrat and supreme survivor Tony Stark has changed profile many times since his … <\/p>\n

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