A High-Water Mark Thanks to The Sub-Mariner & A Hot Bald Villainess ! Who knew that a comic book could be a “gateway drug?” That’s exactly what Iron Man #54 was for me. Once I plunked down my two dimes for it back in late 1972, I unknowingly started down a path that became a bit more than a hobby for over four decades. It started simple enough. Later that month, I grabbed the latest Amazing Spider-Man off the rack. Another month, Fantastic Four joined the party. By that

Iron Man's "Lamest" Villain & Some Guy Named Jim Starlin “Good morning, Marvel. I’m the agent for the Black Lama and here to say that I think you really need to put him into one of your comic books. And let’s face it, you owe me after what you did to my client, Cyborg Sinister. That guy had potential and you know it.” “Alright, so what’s this Black Lama’s schtick? “He’s the leader of a mystic cult with followers around the world, trained to channel their emotions to gene

Was This Comic Worth A Busted Lip & Bloody Nose? I owe it all to my cousin Nick! Coming up from LA, he talked me into buying this comic. And why not? We were such great buds! At least until he beat the tar out of me after an argument. Absent my cousin’s coercions, I doubt Gil Kane’s cover would have sealed the deal. I needed more than a mean hippy melting Iron Man’s armor to sacrifice money that could buy me a few Three Musketeer bars. Fortunately, the actual comic pro

An Avenger, an Adaptoid and a Hot Blonde Walk into a Bar and... Can we all agree that Tony Stark doesn’t have the best of luck when it comes to romance? At least up to this point? Check it out. He falls for his staff assistant, Pepper Potts. Whether out of worry because of his bum ticker or wanting to avoid a harassment suit, Tony devotes most of his sixty plus issues in Tales of Suspense to hooking Pepper up with his chauffeur, Happy Hogan. Then there’s Janice Cord - a lo

“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.

My First Issue of Iron Man Has Tony Stark Popping the Question! They say that every issue is a first issue for someone. For me, it was tumbling into a rather complicated mess of a story where new writer Gary Friedrich, attempts to remove the wreckage left from the previous one. It's a task that will require one more issue to complete. In the meantime, the drama is amped up with protesting students, board room shenanigans, best buddy betrayals and ... Tony Stark proposing