Review: Iron Man #52
- Rick Moore
- Apr 24
- 7 min read
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 proved quite enjoyable to my eleven-year-old self. Solar powered armor made a lot of sense in 1972. Added to that, a trip to California had my favorite superhero not all that far away from my home in Oregon! Of course it was continued. But hey, that’s the price for following a Marvel comic, I told myself.
On that note, let’s meet “Raga: Son of Fire!”
Credits
Writer: Mike Friedrich
Pencils: George Tuska
Inks: Vince Coletta
Letterer: John Costanza
Editor: Roy Thomas
Cover Art: Gil Kane & Frank Giacoia
Release Date: August 1, 1972
Synopsis
We start with kudos to both George Tuska and Vince Coletta for another sharp splash page. They even make his goofy roller skates actually look…not cool, but at least workable as Iron Man’s putting his brand spanking new armor through its paces. Holding back the urge to say, “about flipping time!”, it’s reassuring that an inventor of Tony Stark’s caliber is going to go into his next battle with armor that actually works.
But all that will have to wait. For the first time since I started this review in #30, we actually see Tony Stark indulging his playboy side. Having given Marianne Rodgers her walking papers last issue, he wastes no time letting every woman within a 20-mile radius know that he’s officially “footloose and fancy free!”
Have to say that even as a kid, I found his rebounding a bit harsh. Just that past spring, I’d read him utter the sappiest marriage proposal ever to Marianne - how they’d make only a second last an eternity! Now he’s calling that engagement “reckless” and sharing thought balloons to all of us about how she tied him down? And to show us that’s he’s serious, Tony has George and Vince devote an entire page to showing off his new social life - complete with shots of a different woman for every date!
Damn. Not letting you meet my cute older cousin!
We go from Tony’s indulging his Lothario side to finding that mean hippy from the cover eavesdropping on some woman named Cynthia who’s kissing a forest ranger. Not content at being a Peeping Tom, the long-haired guy accosts both of them. Sticking up for his sweetie, the Forest Ranger finds out that not only does the angry hippie have red-hot skin but is also able to send streams of fire from his blue fingers - igniting the dry grass to spark a forest fire!
From there, the guy who we now know as Raga tells Cynthia that he’s planning to cleanse the world by fire!
If only there were a superhero nearby!
Oh wait! Tony Stark is just over the hill, enjoying quality time with another unnamed cutie. But seeing those flames and realizing that we’re over half way through this issue, it’s time for Iron Man to make his presence known.
The Golden Avenger quickly rescues that Forest Ranger from the flames and then sets up a backfire to put out the main blaze - a strategy that will earn him a tip of the hat from Smokey Bear. As he’s doing all this, we learn the Raga’s taken Cynthia back to a commune or cult of his followers - a group that Cynthia abandoned to make out with that ranger. Apparently, this group is just like the Hotel California, you can check out, but you can never leave. For her betrayal, they decide to kill her.
Our story pauses at that point so that we can learn that while Tony's tearing up the town, his ex is having a huge breakdown, leaving her in psychiatric care.
As we wipe away a tear for poor Marianne, we see Iron Man show up to save Cynthia. A few panels are wasted with several cultists trying to take down a guy in a metal suit. Although it is a bit of fun to see a burly guy named Dion tossed aside with a flick of the wrist, Raga reminds us that he’s the villain on the cover, wrapping his superheated arms about Iron Man.
Not sure that armor would actually melt into steam - despite whatever this guy’s body temp, but I suppose it makes a nice visual. Iron Man doesn’t mess around, breaking Raga’s grip and flying off to grab a very conveniently placed tank of water.
Dousing said mean hippy with all that water only pissed him off that much more. We learn that Raga’s emotions can be channeled into forms of heat. In this case, becoming like a volcano - unleashing molten lava! This causes his supporters to literally head for the hills. Worse, Iron Man’s boots are also stuck in that magma! Perfect place for a cliffhanger ending!
We’re also told that the next issue will show us the “Curse” of someone called The Black Lama. Without dropping any spoilers, I will simply say that over the next couple years, this incoming character did indeed launch a number of curses on this title.
Story
Maybe it’s just me, but this issue seems like the one where Mike Friedrich finally has the series where he wanted it. Stark Industries is out of the munitions business. Conniving Board President Simon Gilbert has departed this mortal plane. Iron Man’s armor is upgraded - and without a mention of that accursed chest plate. Tony Stark’s single again. Added to that, the series gets to spend a couple issues in California - where Friedrich lived when he wrote this story.
I’ve always thought that Iron Man “traveled well” as a comic book. Given that SI an international company, it makes sense for Tony Stark to visit other locations. Sunny CA is familiar turf for the writer, but after having had to “fix” everything these past four issues, the guy deserves a chance to show off his home state.
Although I could grumble about another “heat-based” villain with Raga, that his power stems from his emotions presents enough mystery to bring me back to see how it all ends. And hey, at least he’s not another robot/android/cyborg!
My only actual complaint about the writing in this issue - aside from that dreadful “Far from the maddened crowd” bit and “steams of melting armor”- is what happens to Marianne Rodgers. Much as I liked her, I understand the reasons to break off her engagement to Tony Stark. What I don’t get is why she had to have that mental breakdown. Couldn’t she just have been moved into temporary housing in Comic Book limbo - close to Whitney Frost and Jasper Sitwell. At least this story wasn’t written after 1990 or she’d have likely been “fridged.” I’ll have more to say on Ms. Rodgers later.
Aside from those quibbles, this is a fast-moving, entertaining story. 6/10
Art
I will not apologize for liking the team of George Tuska and Vince Coletta. They’re not John Buscema, Gene Colan or Neal Adams paired with Tom Palmer. But no way in God’s Green World would Marvel have assigned any of them to Iron Man in 1972. I’ll add that as much as Vince Coletta has been vilified over the years for his tactics, I still believe it provides an “sharpness” to the pencils that benefits this book. It’s a look that Bob Layton will take to stratospheric heights some years later.
The only real wart were the incredibly silly looking creatures that poor Marianne envisioned menacing her. Tuska clearly needs to update his stock of scary monsters.
Still, another solid effort from this nicely consistent team. 6/10
Wimp Factor
Let’s see. Iron Man starts the issue with a shiny new solar-powered armor that is clearly an improvement over the last. He emits nary a whisper about his heart or chest plate. The guy puts out a forest fire in just a couple panels. He did underestimate the power of that mean hippy. But y’know, I think Squirrel Girl would’ve done the same. I’m happy to rate this at 1/10.
Villain Rating
Consider me a member of that very miniscule affiliation that liked some of the oddball Iron Man villains from this era. Along with Cyborg Sinister and Mikas, I saw potential in our angry little “Son of Fire.” We don’t know much about him yet. But that mean hippy has enough going for him to coax me out of twenty cents in four weeks. 6/10
Overall Rating
Taking a ‘big picture” view of Issue #52 has my favorite superhero in a nifty new suit of armor, hanging out just one state away and facing a long-haired guy who turns into a volcano. That works for me! 6/10
Additional Nuts & Bolts
We really need to talk about Marianne Rodgers. Although I’m sure there are other examples, I cannot think of another character so badly victimized by the whims of various writers and who better exemplifies that everyone was flying by the seat of their pants in creating comic books in the early 70’s. How else do you explain how she goes from absolute bubblehead blonde in issues #36-37 to a woman having “dreams” about Tony Stark in her next appearance three issues later. From there, Marianne accompanies Tony to Washington DC where she suddenly has mental powers that then become ESP vision. Along the way, she and Tony suddenly find themselves madly in love, culminating in a marriage proposal. Throughout all of this, we’re given absolutely no background as to who she is or what she does. All we know is that both Don Heck and George Tuska make her very easy on the eyes. Mike Friedrich sort of keeps her lingering in the background throughout his run for reasons I could never quite decipher. From there, she’s popped up at odd intervals in Iron Man as someone with formidable mental powers and a mad-on for Tony Stark. You know, if she’d ever offered just one positive vision for her sweetheart, I think this could have all worked out.
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