Teenage Boy's Worst Nightmare Comes True! Iron Man takes on a character who has tendrils with giant pinchers emerge from huge zits on his forehead! Which is surely the worst fear of any adolescent boy who's suffered from acne! The issue starts with a rather frantic cover, showing our determined hero trying to save some poor woman falling to her death but unable to do so because some hideous-looking creature with funky pinchers springing out of his forehead is in the process

Just How Bad? No sense beating around the bush.  Iron Man #39 is bad.  I’m not just talking about a comic book that’s not very good.  No.  I’m talking about one so hideous that in an alternate universe, Reed Richards used it instead of the Ultimate Nullifier to scare away Galactus.   We’re talking about a story that makes less than zero sense visualized by perhaps the worst art job ever printed in an Iron Man comic.  While I’m not a fan of Herb Trimpe, this is without a doubt

“When Calls Jonah..!” Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Stan Lee talking with a group of creators in 1971… “No! No! No! You’ve got it all wrong! This is not a character of science fiction! This is a someone born of the streets! Someone to brave the dangers of the night! Someone willing to tackle hoodlums of the Hood! Someone who’s true calling is to battle gangsters, mobsters and other organized baddies! “And I am envisioning such a wicked recidivist now! A master crimin

Cover Art: Marie Severin The North Pole - Day After Christmas! “Sir? Sir? I hate to wake you up, but we have a call from a certain national capital to the south of us.” St. Nick rubbed his tired eyes, stifling a yawn. “They’re all to the south of us. What’s serious enough to interrupt me after going to every home around the world?” The elf gritted his tiny teeth. “This particular individual says they either speak to you or we’re slapped with 100% tariffs.” “Oh my sweet c

Cover Art: Marie Severin Introduction Welcome to Part II of what I’ve dubbed one of the ... "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Me? "Yes. You. The guy at the computer keyboard. What do you think you're doing?" What do you mean? "I mean what do you think you're doing reviewing an issue of my comic? It's bad enough with your trite writing on my colleague Iron Man. I do not intent to let you subject me to that inane word salad that you call writing!" But, Mr. Daredevil

“Crisis .. and the Calamity” Introduction   Dah-dah, dah-DAH-DAH, dah-dah, dah-DAH-DAH, Bah-bah-bah-BAH, bah-bah-bah-BAH, Duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh... Yes. That’s the "Mission Impossible" theme. An earworm that's nearly impossible to remove. But I can't help it. Researching this issue for this review inevitably plants that theme smack into the center of my brain. And you know what? It's really the best part of having to dive back into the Spymaster's first tussle

Cover Art: Sal Buscema Introduction “Good morning, Spymaster. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to infiltrate and destroy Stark Industries' NY facility, as well as capture CEO Tony Stark. In addition, part of your mission is to increase the sales on Iron Man. Assisting you will be an artist whose talents do not lend themselves well to stories of this style. As always, should you or any of your Espionage Elite be caught or killed, the Publisher will disavow

Cover Art:  Marie Severin & Mike Esposito Introduction Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the star-shaped starship. Its one-issue mission: to find new financial partners; to negotiate stellar trade agreements; to secure as much money as possible, to boldly go where no profit margin has gone before! My first inclination was to do a take off from David Bowie’s “Starman,” but since that song doesn’t come up for another year, you’re stuck with my mauling William

Cover Art: Sal Buscema Introduction Join me, my friends, as we journey back to a magical time when our nation was poised to pass - not revoke - environmental laws. That's right. We're going back to 1970! Within the next few years, Congress would approve legislation protecting our water, air, endangered species and so on. But it was hardly smooth sailing for the passage of those laws. Concerns were continually expressed regarding their potential impact on the economy and

Starting November 14, I will publish weekly reviews of Iron Man, commencing with #30 from way back in 1970. While I acknowledge these are not exactly classics, it's my intent to have some fun with each review. What I mean by that is demonstrated with this post where I'll share excerpts from upcoming reviews. The intent is to offer a preview that also serves as an invitation for you to sign up to receive my reviews . Enjoy ! Introduction (from the upcoming review of Iron M