Review: Iron Man #46
- Rick Moore
- 4 minutes ago
- 6 min read
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 that he didn’t actually kill those students in the last issue- which is good since we have a lot of college students who read our comics.”
”Is that s problem? I have big plans for Kevin O’Brien and the Guardsman. They’ll come to fruition in less than a year.”
”About that, Gary. This is your last issue on the book. I’m writing the next issue. I’m going to need to have you kill this guy off.”
”But why?”
”Take a good look at that stunning Gil Kane-Ralph Reese cover! It says, ‘One Must Die.’ And you know that here at Marvel, we do exactly what our covers tell us to do.”
”Wow. That is a sharp cover. Guess I gotta do what I gotta do. But if I’m not writing Iron Man any longer, what will I be writing.”
”I’ve got a new assignment for you. It’s a book about a biker who makes a deal with the devil and ends up with a flaming skull. We’re looking to call it Ghost Rider.”
”'Ghost Rider'? Aw man. You’re killing me. No way will I ever want my name associated with that character!”
Okay, so it probably didn’t all go down quite like that. But Iron Man #46 is a rather dismal comic. Not because the writing or art was terrible. It wasn’t. It’s more than Kevin’s impending death was essentially baked into that striking cover as it seemed the easiest way out of the corner that Marvel has painted themselves into with the character.
He was created by short-term Iron Man writer Allyn Brodsky in #31, quickly rising to prominence two issue as later. New writer Gerry Conway upped the stakes with Tony revealing his secret identity to him and finally with him donning the Guardsman armor in Issue #43. I can’t imagine Conway went to all the trouble of putting him in that rather striking armor to just have him killed off three issues later. But I also suspect that Kevin’s improbable obsession over Tony's new fiancé, Marianne Rodgers, was one step towards removing him from the series. And when it seemed he’d killed those student protesters, then Kevin’s goose was basically baked and sliced for dinner.
This is indeed writer Gary Friedrich’s last issue. Having drawn the short straw, it’s up to he and George Tuska to deal with the “Menace At Large.”
Credits
Writer: Gary Friedrich
Pencils: George Tuska
Inks: John Verpoorten
Letterer: Sam Rosen
Editor: Stan Lee
Cover Art: Gil Kane & Ralph Reese
Release Date: February 8, 1972
Synopsis
My compliments to whoever decided to open this issue with a copy of the Daily Bugle. Not only is having the credits buried in the copy a clever idea, it also serves to jumpstart the ire of Simon Gilbert - nefarious Board President of Stark Industries and man who sours milk with a single glance - as well as bring us up to speed on what’s going on.
As Gilbert spews out marching orders to the sycophants making up the remainder of that spineless board, Tony Stark and Marianne Rodgers devote a few panels to worrying about Kevin. However, this being a comic book with a cast member to kill off, introspections can wait as Tony’s informed that the students and police are rioting.
With he and Marianne both on their way to SI, Kevin - still wearing that Guardsman armor- arrives at that same board meeting. But to everyone’s surprise, he turns on Simon Gilbert and the other board members. After delivering what has to be some painful bruises and abrasions, he’s surprised to see both Tony and Marianne, who now compliment him for seeing the light.
That goes over about as well offering a diversity seminar at a MAGA rally, with Kevin ranting about his “best friend who steals me girl behind me back” Huh? He clearly didn’t read the same comics I read! Guy never offered a kind word to say to Marianne. Anyway, that’s enough for Kevin to decide again to deal harshly with the student protesters.
Tony does have time to deck Simon Gilbert before changing into his Iron Man armor. Arriving just in time to prevent Kevin from attacking more students, it's more or less a tap dance to the inevitable.
Our hero's still going at it with one arm tied behind his back, hoping against hope that his bestie will back down. But after seeing an attempt to engulf Iron Man in Naples fails, Kevin takes things to a new level by attempting to destroy him with an experimental tank.
With this putting the students into greater danger, Iron Man has no choice but to aim for what were “weak spots” in the untested device. Unfortunately, and to absolutely no one’s surprise, this instead causes the tank to explode.
With a gasped, “Just tell…Marianne…I loved her,” Kevin departs from this plane of existence. As a weak cliffhanger, we see a triumphant Simon Gilbert saying that Stark Industries is now his. Yeah, right.
Story
I would be interested in knowing Gary Friedrich’s role in all of this. Was it his call to kill off Kevin O’Brien? Or did that some from somewhere else? This would be Friedrich’s final issue before Roy Thomas stepped aboard next month for a single issue. Let me add that without giving too much away, Thomas doesn’t do much of anything to advance the story.
Purely guesswork, but I’m wondering if incoming Editor-In-Chief Roy Thomas hadn’t taken a bit stronger role behind the scenes with Iron Man. I say that because the series avoided both being relegated to a split book as well as cancellation. He would also bring the talented Barry Smith along for the next issue. Clearly this was a bid to goose sales into a more favorable direction.
All that aside, this story isn’t a bad one. Sure, both Tony and Marianne are too dramatic. But so was every other comic book couple written in 1972. I could nitpick a bit about the “aero tank” and wondering if Kevin’s final words about Marianne were really necessary. But at the end of the day, the writing and story did what they were supposed to do. 5/10
Art
I’m going to call the art on this issue “Classic Tuska.” Meaning not incredible, eye-catching work, but definitely more than competent. Every expression on every character fits right within the George Tuska wheelhouse. Which isn’t necessarily bad. Kudos certainly go out for some nicely rendered fight scenes. And, as always, you can count on Tuska to deliver a nice shot of Iron Man flying into action.
My compliments as well to long-time Marvel Production Chief John Verpoorten for his inks. While not as “clean” as what we typically see from Vince Coletta, there’s also none of the “bland” art indicative of Coletta’s minimizing his workload to boost his page count. 5/10
Wimp Factor
After embarrassing himself for far too many issues, our hero comes across in a more respectable manner in this one. On only one occasion does he reference his damned heart. If Iron Man seems less engaged, it’s simply because he is trying to reason with a friend who’s taken an anchor in arms for a dive off the deep end. 3/10
Villain Rating
No question about it - the Guardsman is in way over his head. The outcome in this battle is an inevitable as snow in Canada. But at least the Guardsman found ways to keep Iron Man at bay longer than he had any right in doing. Consider that a reason to bump up the rating a point or two. 5/10
Overall Rating
Start with a gorgeous cover, toss in a clever splash page and move into a story that brings closure to one of Iron Man’s weakest eras for a score of 5/10.
Additional Nuts & Bolts
Kevin O’Brien may have offered his farewells with this issue, but that’s not the end of either the O’Brien name or the Guardsman for this series. Several years later, his brother, Michael O’Brien, shows up to punch Tony Stark in the nose and create some chaos.
The Guardsman armor also figures into the fun and games later with Brother Michael and more importantly, eventually becomes standard issue for guards at The Vault - a supervillain prison. Not the worst legacy for Kevin O’Brien.
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