#black lama

Invincible Iron Man #81 (Friedrich/Stone, Dec 1975). Well, that’s over.

Iron Man vol 1, #72 (1975)

Invincible Iron Man #72 (Friedrich/Tuska, Jan 1975). Tony attends San Diego Comic Con, where the Black Lama pits some old foes against the Armored Avenger. In case you missed it, I beseech you to look up the Black Lama, a villain with an unimaginably demented backstory. Utterly bonkers.

Invincible Iron Man #53 (Friedrich/Tuska & Starlin, Dec 1972). I figured this ethereal Black Lama character must turn out to be someone important. So I looked him up… and nothing can prepare you for what is about to happen.

Invincible Iron Man #75 (Friedrich/Jones, June 1975). Tony is a pawn in the villains’ free-for-all orchestrated by the Black Lama. Is that his old flame Marianne telepathically linking the players?

Invincible Iron Man #74 (Friedrich/Jones, May 1975). MODOK leverages his AIM henchmen to learn more about the mysterious Black Lama. The reports suggest that Doctor Doom, the Red Skull, and Fu Manchu each rejected the Black Lama’s offer of world domination. Which is hilarious, because it makes those villains seem wiser and any villain who accepts seem like small fry.

Invincible Iron Man #77 (Friedrich/Jones, Aug 1975). Issue #76 was a reprint so we skip ahead a month… After MODOK, the Mad Thinker, and Yellow Claw are done whacking each other, Firebrand sneaks in to take another potshot at Shellhead. The Black Lama proclaims Firebrand the winner of his dumb contest, and now everyone’s heading to an alternate universe.

Invincible Iron Man #80 (Friedrich/Stone, Nov 1975). The supervillain war arc resumes — Shellhead chases Firebrand to the Black Lama’s dimension. Reaching for some ambitious and mindbending, but it’s not quite coming together yet.