Be my friend?

Collecting Iron Man #158-177 and Annual #5

Iron Man #158 is written by Denny O'Neil, with art by Carmine Infantino. Iron Man experiences a power outage above Cougar Mountain and has an encounter with a mother and son in the rural countryside.

Iron Man loses power because the old lady, Moms, has the ability to disable technology. She lives with her abusive middle-aged son, Sonny. Tony Stark is captured when he lands near their house to investigate the power outages. Sonny throws Tony in a pit, but Tony soon escapes and gives him a good beating. This issue wasn't a great start to Denny O'Neil's run on Iron Man. Hopefully things will pick up soon.

In my review of Green Lantern: The Silver Age Vol. 1, I said that I haven't seen much of Carmine Infantino's art before. Yet here we are with the very first issue in this trade having him on art duties. Sometimes Tony's face looks like it has been scrunched up. I don't know whether Infantino is to blame or if it is down to the inkers, Dan Green and Al Milgrom. I haven't seen enough of Infantino's other art to say whether he draws people with scrunched up faces or not.

Iron Man #159 is written by Roger McKenzie, with art by Paul Smith. Diablo has been working as a janitor at Stark International ever since his last battle with the Fantastic Four left him with amnesia. Now Diablo's memories are starting to return and he is eager to continue where he left off.

A fill-in after only one issue of Denny O'Neil as regular writer. D. (for Disparate) Hands on inks indicates that this issue was a rush job. Maybe O'Neil was behind schedule. Any way, the art doesn't suffer if this was indeed a rush job. I enjoyed Paul Smith's art on Uncanny X-Men, so I was happy to see more from him here.

I always thought Diablo was a pretty neat villain. It is always interested to see a magic-based villain like Diablo go up against science heroes like Iron Man or the Fantastic Four. we do get a recap of Diablo's last appearance, where the Fantastic Four stopped him with the help of Doctor Strange. Strange cast a spell that wiped Diablo's memories and he has been working as a janitor at Stark International ever since. His memories started to return when his references didn't check out and Tony Stark sent him to a company doctor.

Iron Man #160 is written by Denny O'Neil, with art by Steve Ditko and Marie Severin. Tony Stark attends an event at the Long Island Zoo, where the Serpent Squad decide to crash the party.

Denny O'Neil's first issue was a bit of a flop, but things are looking up with this issue. I have always liked the Serpent Squad, so I was more than happy to see them here. The idea of a group of snake-themed villains banding together should be very silly, but these villains make it work. Of course, Mark Gruenwald is the one responsible for turning the Serpent Squad in to the Serpent Society and making them more than a joke. I will go in to more detail about that when I get around to the necessary issues of Captain America.

Iron Man #161 is written by Denny O'Neil, with art by Luke McDonnell. Tony Stark visits an undersea power generating facility, only to find out that the forces of AIM have seized the facility. Fortunately, Moon Knight is there to lend a hand.

Moon Knight is also visiting the undersea facility in his Steven Grant identity. I don't know much about Moon Knight, but I believe his Steven Grant identity is a millionaire. Marc Spector is the mercenary and Jake Lockley is a cab driver. You would think that Iron Man and Moon Knight would make a weird combination, but when you think about it they are both rich men that fight crime on a whim. Iron Man definitely out-powers Moon Knight though, because Moon Knight doesn't have any powers and he mostly keeps to fighting non-powered threats instead of super-villains like Iron Man does. Or I could be completely wrong because I haven't read any Moon Knight comics before. I don't know if he has any super-powered enemies or not.

Iron Man Annual #5 is plotted by Peter Gillis and Ralph Macchio, scripted by Gillis, with art by Jerry Bingham. Iron Man must help out when Erik Killmonger returns, wanting to kill the Black Panther and take over Wakanda.

Another fill-in during Denny O-Neil's run. I don't know why somebody saw fit to bring Erik Killmonger back. It is revealed that Killmonger isn't acting of his own free will though. The Mandarin is working behind the scenes and has reanimated Killmonger's corpse. I don't know if this plotline is ever picked up again.

Killmonger's plan is all about turning all the vibranium in Wakanda into Savage Land vibranium, which would destroy all the metal in the world. I believe the way to tell the difference is that Wakandan vibranium is the stuff that absorbs sound. Savage Land vibranium is the stuff that melts other metal. Black panther doesn't let the rest of the world use the real stuff, so they have to make do with the knock-off stuff from the Savage Land.

Iron Man #162 is written by Denny O'Neil, with art by Mike Vosburg. Stark International is attacked by World War II era airplanes and Tony Stark begins to suspect that somebody is plotting his downfall.

Somebody is making the staff at Stark International go crazy. The attack by the old war planes was just a ruse so the bad guys could place a mind control device on the grounds. Iron Man is able to stop the saboteur, who hints that the Mandarin is responsible. That will turn out to be a false lead.

Now Denny O'Neil's run begins properly. I have to say that things are looking promising so far. Mike Vosburg's art is fine and in the usual house style for Marvel's comics from this period. Luke McDonnell becomes the regular artist starting with the following issue. I enjoyed McDonnell's art on the Suicide Squad comics, so I look forward to seeing more from him here.

Iron Man #163 is written by Denny O'Neil, with art by Luke McDonnell. The problems at Stark International's Long Island facility continue when more property is damaged and another employee is injured. Tony Stark and James Rhodes travel to New Mexico to investigate.

Iron Man rescues a woman named Indries Moomji from the chaos at Stark International. He expresses an interest in her as Tony Stark, but things are cut short as he and Rhodey head to New Mexico. Tony will get plenty more chances to chat her up when he gets back though. He and Rhodey are attacked by an armoured knight on a flying mechanical horse. The Knight is directed by a mysterious mastermind who we don't get to see fully.

I find the idea of a mysterious mastermind with a chess habit rather corny. That being said, it does give Iron Man plenty of opportunities for fights with unusual looking opponents. I wish I could say that the mystery is intriguing, but I looked up information about these issues before I started reading an spoiled everything for myself. These issues are still an enjoyable read though.

Iron Man #164 is written by Denny O'Neil, with art by Luke McDonnell. With the Knight defeated, Tony and Rhodey travel to Scotland, where they encounter the Bishop.

The Bishop breaks the Knight out of prison and kills him for his failure. Meanwhile, Tony is on a date with Indries, but that is called short when Stark International's security chief calls with information about the Knight. Indries tags along with Tony and Rhodey travel to Scotland to find the Knight. Tony does some exploring as Iron Man, where he encounters the Bishop.

For all the hi-tech bit-and-pieces in the Iron Man armour, I did enjoy Tony's less sophisticated method of defeating the bishop. Tony throws a rock at the Bishop and knocks his hat off. The Bishop's hat had a device that affected Tony's motor functions, stopping Tony from hitting him. Knocking off the Bishop's hat was the only way to stop him.

Iron Man #165 is written by Denny O'Neil, with art by Luke McDonnell. With Rhodey's life hanging in the balance, Iron Man must run through a gauntlet of traps to save him.

Tony and his friends were staying with a friendly laird (Scottish lord) in Scotland, but the laird is revealed to not be so friendly in this issue. He is working with an accomplice called the Rook. The Rook has Rhodey and Indries prisoner. of course, Iron Man easily truns through all the traps to save his friends. Unfortunately, the Iron Man armour is partially melted by one of the traps and Rhodey is seriously injured after being tortured with poisonous spiders.

I love a death trap, and this issue has some great ones. I am really starting to like these Denny O'Neil issues. I have only ever known him for that Green Arrow/Green Lantern series with all the heavy-handed social issue stories. Thankfully, the themes of these issues aren't as heavy. It helps that the lead character isn't a self-righteous ass with a stupid beard. I would take Tony's beard over Green Arrow's any time.

Iron Man #166 is written by Denny O'Neil, with art by Luke McDonnell. Tony Stark discovers the identity of the mysterious chessmaster that has been plotting against him. First he has a rematch with the Melter to deal with.

Indries takes Tony to a pub to try and help him get over his recent troubles. A bad idea for a recovering alcoholic, and it only aggravates Tony more. The fight with the Melter is really more of an afterthought. Iron Man defeats him in a few panels before moving on to other matters. Tony does find out who has been manipulating recent events though. Rival industrialist Obadiah Stane is trying to destroy Stark International because Tony refused to join his conglomerate of weapons manufacturers. Tony can't do anything about it because there is no evidence that Stane has committed any crimes.

I ind it hard to take Stane seriously. He looks ridiculous in that sleeveless coat, open to show off his naked chest. Being a bald industrialist just reminds me of Lex Luthor and all his natty suits. Although, Luthor does also have a neat line in powered armour. Stane just looks a bit silly compared to him.

Iron Man #167 is written by Denny O'Neil, with art by Luke McDonnell. Obadiah Stane is revealed to be the one plotting Tony Stark's downfall, so it is up to Iron Man to travel to Switzerland and put an end to thinks. Unfortunately, things turn out to be far worse that Tony first thought.

It is revealed that Stane has hypnotised the other industrialists into joining him. He was responsible for the headphone devices that made the Stark Industrial staff run amok. Tony tries to tell the group that they are being used, but they just laugh him off. Defeated, Tony heads back to be comforted by Indries, but she is revealed to be yet another part of Stane's plot. She is the Queen in his grand chess game and breaks up with Tony. Tony had been wavering about returning to alcohol and Indries rejecting him was the final straw that made him return to drink.

As much as I enjoyed the Demon in the Bottle arc, I did feel that Tony's alcoholism was solved a bit too neatly. These issues make it clear that Tony wasn't quite as over it as he thought. I suppose rehashing Tony Stark falling into alcoholism could be seen as being cheap, but these issues are so enjoyable that I don't really care whether it is original or not.

Iron Man #168 is written by Denny O'Neil, with art by Luke McDonnell. His heart broken by the woman he thought he loved, Tony has turned to drink once more. In his addled state, this leads to a misunderstanding fight with a visiting Machine Man.

Machine Man shows up at Stark International mistakenly thinking that Iron Man is a robot as well. Tony is drunk and misinterprets Machine Man's visit as an attack. Machine Man soon realises that things aren't going the way he thought and he takes his leave. Tony on the other hand doesn't even remember what was going on.

I am more familiar with the version of Machine Man from Nextwave onwards, the alcoholic robot who keeps calling humans 'fleshy ones'. That version of machine Man is much more interesting than just some generic robot man. Then again, I have never actually read any of Machine Man's early appearances so I don't know much about his personality from that time.

Iron Man #169 is written by Denny O'Neil, with art by Luke McDonnell. With Stark International in turmoil, a villain by the name of Magma chooses the moment to attack. With Tony in no state to defend his company, it comes to James Rhodes to save the day.

The Magma character featured in this issue isn't the young lady from the New Mutants. This is some minor villain that I haven't heard of before. Previously, he had only appeared in an issue of Marvel Team-Up. The issue in question saw Spider-Man team-up with Iron Man. James Rhodes has taken over as Iron Man, so it is a different Iron Man that now faces Magma. A minor villain like Magma probably isn't a great way to show how good Rhodey is going to be as Iron Man. Then again, you can't expect to throw Rhodey in the deep end and fight a big name villain like the Mandarin straight away.

Iron Man #170 is written by Denny O'Neil, with art by Luke McDonnell. James Rhodes is now Iron Man and must fight back against Magma.

Rhodey has just found out that his employer Tony Stark is Iron Man. Rhodey has suspected for some time, but now he finds out for definite. A scientist by the name of Morley Irwin helps Rhodey learn the basics of the Iron Man armour and beat Magma. Obadiah Stane also sends one of his Knights to help Iron Man, because he wants the Stark International complex in one piece so he can take it himself.

Iron Man #171 is written by Denny O'Neil, with art by Luke McDonnell. If Rhodey thought he had a rough time fighting Magma, just wait until he travels to Niagara Falls and runs in to Thunderball of the Wrecking Crew.

No soner has Rhodey beaten the loser villain Magma, now he really does get thrown in to the deep end by fighting one of the Wrecking Crew. Thunderball isn't just dumb muscle like the rest of the Wrecking Crew, he was a physicist in his civilian life. Thunderball is at Niagra falls to track down his ex-girlfriend, who is on her honeymoon with her new husband.

Meanwhile, Tony Stark is on a date with Matt Murdock's ex-girlfriend Heather Glenn. Tony gets drunk and passes out, so Heather goes home with somebody else. Denny O'Neil was the Daredevil writer at this time, so I guess that was an attempt at creating some cross-title connectivity.

Iron Man #172 is written by Denny O'Neil, with art by Luke McDonnell. Obadiah Stane is poised to take over Stark International unless Rhodey can find Tony Stark before the company is signed away forever. Hopefully Captain America can help out.

Captain America tracks tony to a rundown flop house and tries to get him to accept some help, but he isn't having any of it. Cap also saves Tony some other drunks when a villain called Firebrand tries to torch the building they are staying in. Cap doesn't have to deal with Firebrand on his own, because Rhodey turns up in the Iron Man armour. Cap knows Tony's secret identity, but we don't get to see much of his reaction to the new Iron Man.

Iron Man #173 is written by Denny O'Neil, with art by Luke McDonnell. Obadiah Stane's conquest of Stark International is now complete. Most of the employees still loyal to Tony resign, but Stane has a task for Rhodey before he can do the same.

Stane's men are able to track down Tony Stark to bring him to the new Stane Internional so Obadiah can gloat. While most of the names staff members quit in protest, security chief Vic Martinelli feels he has no choice but to stick around because his criminal record will ake it difficult to find employment elsewhere.

Everybody believes that Iron Man is just another Stark employee, so Stane suggests that Indries Moomji was the one who induced Tony to fall back in to drinking. The idea is that if Iron Man can find Indries, then he can bring her back and she might get Tony to stop drinking. Of course, it isn't quite as simple as that.

Iron Man #174 is written by Denny O'Neil, with art by Luke McDonnell. Rhodey has to secure all of Tony's old Iron Man suits before he can quit. Rhodey will have a fight on his hands because Obadiah Stane wants the armour as well.

Stane demands the Iron Man armour, but Rhodey tells him to shove it. The other spare Iron Man suits are too dangerous to fall in the wrong hands, so Rhodey sets about disposing of them as well. Stane wants the spare suits of well, so Rhodey has to contend with one of the Knights.

One of the things that I found most interesting about these Iron Man issues while looking up information about them was all the corporate intrigue. Obadiah Stane might look silly, but I am enjoying his plan to ruin Tony Stark and take over his company. Of course, we all know that Tony will eventually recover and take back his company, but it will be interesting to see how he does it.

Iron Man #175 is written by Denny O'Neil, with art by Luke McDonnell. The race is on to the ocean floor to find the missing Iron Man suits. Things get more complicated as Nick Fury and Warlord Krang are thrown in to the mix.

Iron Man is able to defeat the Knight, but there is still the matter of Nick Fury and Warlord Krang. Rhodey doesn't trust Fury or want SHIELD to get its hand on the Iron Man suits, but they team-up against Warlord Krang's forces. SHIELD getting its hands on the spare suits is bad enough, but it would have been even worse if Krang got them. Fury might insist that he would only used the technology from the Iron Man suits for the greater good, but Krang would undoubtedly try to use them to take over the surface world or somesuch.

Iron Man #176 is written by Denny O'Neil from a plot by Ann Nocenti, with art by Luke McDonnell. Iron Man flies back to the American Southwest to investigate the Sisterhood of Ishtar, but is drawn in to a bizarre inter-dimensional journey alongside a giant alien.

During the search for Indries Moomji, there was some business with a vortex to another world. I didn't really understand it myself, but I guess Denny O'Neil saw fit to revisit it. Any way, Rhodey discovers an ancient alien guarding a portal to another dimension from invasion.

I wasn't all that interested about the alien portal. I was much more interested in seeing more of all the corporate shenanigans. I guess that Obadiah Stane is taking some time off, satisfied that he has ruined Tony Stark. Hopefully it won't be long until we see him again.

Iron Man #177 is written by Denny O'Neil, with art by Luke McDonnell. Rhodey and the Morley siblings decide to start a new company, but need money to do so. Rhodey is forced to take a job south of the border and gets in to a spot of bother with the Flying Tiger.

Rhodey goes to the Heroes for Hire for a job. They get him a job protecting Regis Fuskey in South America. Fuskey is there to investigate whether rebels have any outside contacts. Flying Tiger is working for General Coy, uncle of the New Mutant Karma. That is enough evidence to suggest tht the rebels do actually have outside support, so Rhodey gets enough money to go in to business with the Erwins.

I believe this is only Flying Tiger's second ever appearance. He first appeared in an issue of Spider-Woman. He will go on to appear several more times, but will always remain relatively minor. He is one of the loser villains that are manipulated into attacking he Fantastic Four during Acts of Vengeance.

I really liked these Iron Man issues. It took a while for the story to get going, but it eventually sucked me in. As cool as it is to see James Rhodes as iron Man (it is always nice to see some diversity in comics), but I look forward to seeing how Tony Stark comes back from being a ruined alcoholic.

My rating: