When your Rogues Gallery is as dreadful as Iron Man’s (we’re looking at you, Mr. Doll!), it’s perhaps understandable that our hero would unintentionally elevate the competency of any decent villain that makes an appearance in his series. And let’s face it. Over the years, Iron Man’s found multiple and even downright embarrassing ways to make several of his villains seem far more daunting than any reasonable comic book collector should have to accept. With that in mind, it’s

Was This Issue Created to Drive Readers Away? Ow! Cramp! Cramp! Oh my! It’s been too many issues since I had to go that deep into the well for a criticism. I’m out of shape. Let’s try a few stretches. Ahh.. That’s better. Where was I? Oh yeah. I was just getting started my review of Iron Man #61. It’s part two of the Masked Marauder’s battle with our hero. I didn’t like either part of this story when I read it as a 12-year-old and it hasn’t aged any better. Not the

Are They Deliberately Trying to Tank this Book? Dreadfully atrocious? Or should I go with atrociously dreadful? Oops. Excuse me. I didn’t know we were live. I’m still working on adjectives that best describe how pitiful the Masked Marauder is as a villain. I mean if Daredevil - who at this time is dealing with the likes of The Black Messiah and Angar the Screamer - hasn’t wanted this guy back in years, what in God’s name is he doing in Iron Man? Did Mike Friedrich lose a

Iron Man's Most Overrated Villain? Does anyone remember looking really forward to meeting someone only to have them truly disappoint you? That was me with Firebrand in the early spring of 1973. I mean, when I rejoined this book, it seemed that his name came up every other panel. “Firebrand knocked out the FM reception in my armor” or “I now only eat my steaks well-done after facing the intense heat from Firebrand.” Our guy seemed to be going through PTSD because of this dud

“Mandarin and the Unicorn: Double-Death!” I Dare You to Say "The Unicorn" Three Times Without Laughing! Before I start this review, let’s get all the laughing and snickers out of our system. Yeah, I know one of our villains is called The Unicorn. But I’ve got an entire issue to cover. So, I’m going to say “The Unicorn” several times and wait until we’re all done laughing before moving on. Done? Hold it! I see you, Greg. You’re still chucking over your coffee in Pewaukee,

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

A New Low! For his 50th Anniversary Issue, Iron Man Fights a ...Snake! We’re all friends here, right? If so, it’s okay to say that Princess Python is hot. I don’t mean to go overboard with objectifying someone, but those scaly green leggings and that wavey brunette hair combined with that whole “wrap yourself in reptilian coils” thing is sexy. Why in the world am I bringing this up? Because I’m guessing that either writer Mike Friedrich or penciller George Tuska also thoug

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.