Iron Man

Onward & Upward to...Mediocrity? Does anyone remember that scene from “Dirty Dancing” where the dorky grandson of the resort owner tells Patrick Swayze that he wants to change things for the big dance during the final evening?  Remember how Patrick Swayze’s character is bursting forth with a multitude of ideas only to have this schmuck swat them all down, instead wanting only the most insignificant of revisions to their musical number? I bring that up because in my mind, I en

“Bless Me, Father, For I Have Sinned.” Painful as this is to admit, I didn’t buy this issue off the rack because I did not like Barry Smith’s art.  More specifically, I didn’t like how Marianne Rodgers looked in one panel.  That was enough for me to decide to see what Archie and his gang were up to that month.   Because of that one panel, I didn’t pick up another issue until a cousin talked me into buying #52 several months later.   This issue was one of the last holes I fill

I think we can all agree that when it comes to villains, Iron Man’s Rogues Gallery leaves "a lot a lot" to be desired. The Seventies in particular presented the Golden Avenger with a true cast of pathetic losers and laughable buffoons. Having delved into nearly all of his 70's run with my blog (see below ), I'm allowing my biased opinion to rank worst of them in ascending order. And if you don't recognize some of them, then consider yourself lucky! 10. Princess Python.

Since the Book's Not Called "The Invincible Guardsman", We Can Guess Who Bought the Farm At the offices of Marvel Comics in late 1971, a conversation between incoming Editor-In-Chief Roy Thomas and writer Gary Friedrich… “Hey Gary, I need to talk with you about your script for Iron Man #46.” ”Sure Roy, what’s up?” ”It’s that Kevin O’Brien/Guardsman character.  You end this issue by having Tony Stark promise to cure him of the insanity brought on by that armor.  And you show t

Please Tell Me That We've Hit Rock Bottom! Are you happy now, Marvel?  After several years of treating this series as an afterthought, assigning inexperienced writers with little editorial oversight, Iron Man has been reduced to bi-monthly status with rumors of impending cancellation rampant. As it is, our hero's story is a scant thirteen pages - an abbreviated length due to the previous plan to pair his adventures with Daredevil.  The remainder of the book consists of a sill

It’s sometime in the mid-1970’s with our hero Iron Man patrolling a middle school when his sensors detect… “Oh no! Middle school bully Timmy is about to rob Myron’s lunch money! I’ve got to stop him!” Swooping down, the Golden Avenger lands between the larger child and his victim. “That’s enough, Timmy. You need to head to class now or you’ll be tardy.” “Sez you!” Timmy sneers. “You’ve given me no choice but to…” Suddenly, Iron Man is seized by incredible pain in his che