{"id":30474,"date":"2024-09-05T08:00:51","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T08:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=30474"},"modified":"2024-09-04T16:28:35","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T16:28:35","slug":"invincible-iron-man-marvel-masterworks-volume-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2024\/09\/05\/invincible-iron-man-marvel-masterworks-volume-13\/","title":{"rendered":"Invincible Iron Man Marvel Masterworks volume 13"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Bill Mantlo<\/strong>, David Michelinie<\/strong>, Bob Layton<\/strong>, Jim Shooter<\/strong>, John Romita Jr.<\/strong>, Herb Trimpe<\/strong>, Keith Pollard<\/strong>, Keith Giffen<\/strong>, John Byrne<\/strong>, Carmine Infantino<\/strong>, Josef Rubinstein<\/strong>, Bruce Patterson<\/strong>, Dan Green<\/strong> & various (Marvel)
\nISBN: 978-1-3029-2232-0 (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 debuting in Tales of Suspense<\/strong> #39 (March 1963) when, as a VIP visitor to Vietnam assessing the efficacy of munitions he had designed, the inventor was critically wounded and captured by sinister, savage Communists. Put to work building weapons with the dubious promise of medical assistance upon completion, Stark instead created the first of innumerable technologically-augmented protective 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 after the Cuban Missile Crisis at a time when Western economies were booming and \u201cCommie-bashing\u201d was America\u2019s obsession, a dashing new 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, benevolent, rich, technocratic and an all-conquering hero when clad in super-scientific armour – 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 myriad big business abuses 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

Stark is a millionaire inventor who moonlights as a superhero. The supreme technologist hates to lose and constantly upgrades his gear, making Iron Man<\/strong> one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe. However, at the time of these tales (re-presenting Iron Man<\/strong> #113-128, spanning cover-dates 1978 to November 1979), the unrelenting pressure of running a multinational corporation and saving the world daily has started to show itself in the subtle increase in Stark\u2019s life: particularly an emphasis on his partying… and drinking.<\/p>\n

With glamour, money and fancy gadgetry not quite so cool anymore the questing voices of a new generation of writers started posing uncomfortable questions in the pages of a series that was once a bulwark and bastion of militarised America. This captivating chronological compendium completes that transitional period leading to new perspectives as the 1980s dawned and opens here with an informative, insightful measure of historical context courtesy of scripter David Michelinie in his Introduction \u2018Iron Man? What\u2019s an Iron Man?\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

With Bill Mantlo scripting, Keith Pollard layout pages and Herb Trimpe\u2019s pencilling for inker Josef Rubinstein, Iron Man<\/strong> #113 trumpeted a fresh beginning for Stark International after defeating the bloody takeover bid of Mr Midas<\/em>. However, as the new complex opened for business, an old enemy was already infiltrating the company whilst a more brazen assault came after a dying foe was manipulated into attacking the complex using \u2018The Horn of the Unicorn!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Seeking help for the beaten-and-at-death\u2019s door Unicorn, the Metal Marvel consults The Avengers<\/strong> and inadvertently triggers a second assault by the villain who also activates a long-interred robotic threat that seems agonisingly familiar in \u2018The Menace of… Arsenal!\u2019<\/em> (Mantlo, Keith Giffen & Bruce D. Patterson) which leads to a turning point moment in \u2018Betrayal!\u2019<\/em> Here, future second generation superstar John Romita Jr. takes over as illustrator joining Mantlo & inker Dan Green in detailing how Stark\u2019s current romantic flame Madame Masque<\/em> chooses her dying father (Count Nefaria<\/em>) over him, allowing the savage Ani-Men<\/em> to invade the secure facility just as the Unicorn\u2019s hidden controller also attacks…<\/p>\n

The taut plot threads are all tied up by incoming co-plotters David Michelinie & Bob Layton – also the new inker-in-residence – who shake things up in tragic conclusion \u2018Anguish, Once Removed!\u2019<\/em> as the thrashed technocrat strikes back hard, defeating his obvious enemies but losing his latest love; and faith in humanity in the process…
\n\"\"
\nIron Man<\/strong> #117 exposes \u2018The Spy Who Killed Me!\u2019<\/em> as sinister saboteur-for-hire Spymaster<\/em> makes his long-deferred move, assassinating (the wrong) Tony Stark and instigating a covert intrusion whilst Stark is attending a swish embassy soiree. As he drinks too much and charms soon-to-be cast regular Bethany Cabe<\/em>, the factory assault results in super-brawl and the shocking exposure of who is paying Spymaster to undermine SI…<\/p>\n

With layouts in #118 by John Byrne and the debut of Stark\u2019s personal pilot James \u201cRhodey\u201d Rhodes<\/em>, \u2018At the Mercy of My Foes!<\/span> Friends!\u2019<\/em> sees Stark confront his secret tormentors and learn exactly why a rogue S.H.I.E.L.D.<\/strong> group have been seeking to take control of his company.<\/p>\n

After they also take Nick Fury<\/em> hostage and attempt to murder Stark, the Helicarrier flies into Soviet airspace and with \u2018No S.H.I.E.L.D. to Protect Me!\u2019<\/em> (Michelinie, Romita Jr. & Layton) the metal gloves come off and it\u2019s all over bar the shooting and cleaning up wreckage…<\/p>\n

A long, carefully considered storyline moved into second gear with #120\u2019s \u2018The Old Man and the Sea Prince!\u2019<\/em> as the Armoured Avenger clashed with amphibian superman\/sometime ally Sub-Mariner<\/strong> before uniting against officious military martinets intent on dislodging aged hermit Hiram Cross<\/em> from the strategically useful island he lived on.<\/p>\n

Unsuspected in the background, financial predator Justin Hammer<\/em> continued his anonymous preparations to destroy Iron Man and break Stark\u2019s financial empire. His first strike was to briefly override Stark\u2019s armour in the middle of an underwater duel in \u2018A Ruse by Any Other Name…\u2019 <\/em>but even with that momentary upset, he and allies Bethany and Rhodey manage to expose unscrupulous conglomerate Roxxon as the cause of all Hiram\u2019s woes… not that it does them any good…<\/p>\n

Carmine Infantino pencils a refitted recap of Iron Man\u2019s origins in \u2018Journey\u2019<\/em> before Hammer steps up his campaign in #123\u2019s \u2018Casino Fatale!\u2019<\/em> (Michelinie, Romita Jr. & Layton) as an army of hired minor villains attack our hero in Atlantic City just when the Iron Man gear is at its most gremlin-afflicted…<\/p>\n

The assault escalates in \u2018Pieces of Hate!\u2019<\/em> (with \u201cLayton & Friend\u201d sharing inking duties) but even after scoring an incredible, improbable victory Stark is left reeling when Hammer plays his ace. Taking full control of the armour, the evil plutocrat makes Stark an unwilling accomplice and murder weapon in a monstrous crime, pushing the hero over the edge and into a spiral of despair…<\/p>\n

After his super-sophisticated suit \u201cmalfunctions\u201d again, killing a foreign ambassador at a major diplomatic function, disgraced and grieving Stark surrenders the armour to the authorities. However, undaunted and finally aware of what\u2019s been going on, he enlists new Ant-Man<\/strong> Scott Lang<\/em> to his band of allies, going undercover to find his hidden enemy in #125\u2019s \u2018The Monaco Prelude\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the villain seems triumphant when \u2018The Hammer Strikes!\u2019<\/em>, abducting his opponents and gloatingly revealing his dastardly scheme. However, the smirking monster has grievously underestimated his rival\u2019s capabilities and the power of Iron Man, leading to a spectacular final clash \u2018…A Man\u2019s Home is His Battlefield!\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

Tragically, when the dust settles and the bad guys are all disposed of, Stark has time to brood. Obsessing over the lives lost, he turns to the booze that has increasingly been his only solace in the past months…<\/p>\n

The fall and rise of a hero is a classic plot, and it\u2019s seldom been better used in the graphic narrative medium and still never bettered in the super-hero field than in \u2018Demon in a Bottle.\u2019<\/em> As the traumatised hero plumbs depths of grief and guilt, buries himself in pity and alienates all his friends and allies, only an unlikely intervention forces him to take a long, hard look at his life and actions. The results of the soul-searching and his future actions will reshape the Marvel Universe.<\/p>\n

To Be Continued…<\/p>\n

As an added extra also included here is the one-shot try-out of Stark\u2019s former apprentice, as originally seen in Marvel Premiere<\/strong> #44 (October 1978 by Mantlo, Giffen & Rudy Nebres). \u2018The Jack of Hearts!\u2019<\/em> reexamines the origin of trust fund brat Jack Hart<\/em>, who was inundated in the experimental \u201czero fluid\u201d invented by his murdered father. Seemingly resurrected and imbued with incredible energy and computational powers, Jack hunts The Corporation<\/em> who ordered the hit and here – thanks to his new connection in S.H.I.E.L.D. – inconclusively clashes with their chief hitman Hemlock<\/em>…<\/p>\n

Added attractions include a selection of Marvel Bullpen Bulletins<\/strong> which in turn announced and introduced Michelinie, Romita Jr., the new Iron Man team and Jack of Hearts (complete with Dave Cockrum model sheets), as well as house ads, 16 pages of original art and covers by Romita Jr., Green, Layton, Infantino and Byrne, including some pre editorial modification.<\/p>\n

Further candid treats involve the secret behind Edwin Jarvis<\/em>\u2019 in-story \u201cresignation letter\u201d; an unused Layton cover for #128, Stan Lee\u2019s Introduction for first GN Compilation The Power of Iron Man<\/strong> (1984), that book\u2019s painted cover by Bill Sienkiewicz and a sequence of Marvel Super-Heroes Megazine <\/strong>covers (#1-3, October-December 1994) by Darick Robertson, Mark Farmer, Frank Miller, Michael Golden & Jung Choi. Wrapping up the bonuses are Michelinie\u2019s Introduction (\u2018Heart of Iron, Feet of Clay\u2019<\/em>) to 2008\u2019s Demon in a Bottle<\/strong> collection beside that volume\u2019s cover from Romita Jr., Layton, & Ian Hannin, as well as Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton &<\/strong> Layton, & Romita Jr. vol. 1<\/strong>\u2019s cover, as drafted by the mature artist in 2013, with inks by Mark Morales and coloured by Frank D\u2019Amata.<\/p>\n

This contains some of the best mainstream super-hero sagas of the 1980s but is also regarded as one of the most remarkable, transformative and powerfully redemptive tales of the period. Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle<\/strong> is a complex, extremely mature tale for kids of all ages, and an unforgettable instance of Triumph and Tragedy perfectly told. Seen in conjunction with the year of ever-improving yarns that preceded it grants the reader privileged access to a renaissance in quality signalling the return to glory of one of Comics\u2019 most scintillating stars.<\/p>\n

If you have let these tales of suspense pass you by, you are the poorer for it and should amend the situation as soon as possible.
\n\u00a9 2021 MARVEL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bill Mantlo, David Michelinie, Bob Layton, Jim Shooter, John Romita Jr., Herb Trimpe, Keith Pollard, Keith Giffen, John Byrne, Carmine Infantino, Josef Rubinstein, Bruce Patterson, Dan Green & various (Marvel) ISBN: 978-1-3029-2232-0 (HB\/Digital edition) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. Arch-technocrat and supreme survivor Tony Stark has changed profile many … <\/p>\n

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