Invincible Iron Man #133: Review

Apr 1980

David Michelinie, Jerry Bingham

Story Name:

The Hero Within!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #133 Review by T Vernon (May 4, 2015)

Comments: Part three of three parts. The issue features a very clear (and very rare) look at the soles of Iron Man’s boots while dormant. Ant-Man makes a record number of pop culture references including Betamax (early videocassette format), Charlie the Tuna (spokesfish for StarKist Tuna), Scrubbing Bubbles (a cleaning solution), Alexander Mundy (protagonist of 60s TV series IT TAKES A THIEF), political pundits William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal, Errol Flynn and film composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The two dumb police officers are named Stan and Ollie after Laurel and Hardy.

Review: An impressive issue which is a homage to the sci-fi film FANTASTIC VOYAGE; true, it isn’t on the level of the classic treatment of this scenario, with Hank Pym’s Ant-Man entering the Vision in AVENGERS #93 but hardly anything is. The wise-guy Scott Lang brings it to life with his comic patter while facing all the internal threats a high-tech suit can muster. True, the Hulk recedes into the background and almost out of the book, marking a somewhat disappointing conclusion to his part of the story. But the Hulk we have always with us; showcases for the second Ant-Man are rare.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #133 Synopsis by T Vernon

In the aftermath of the huge battle between Iron Man and Hulk, the police are demanding the unconscious Hulk while James Rhodes believes Iron Man may be dead or dying. Hooking up a sound amplifier borrowed from the police bomb squad, Rhodey can hear what Shellhead is telling him. Iron Man explains that the final blow in the fight with the Hulk overloaded his circuits and fused his mobility network, paralyzing the armor. He instructs that Hulk be taken to the lab so that Dr Erica Sondheim can operate to remove the malfunctioning regulator. The next problem is freeing the hero from his armor….
Scott Lang dons his costume and shrinks down to offer his services to Iron Man and Rhodey as Ant-Man. Able to communicate with Iron Man via his cybernetic helmet, Scott enters via a boot jet and is guided through the intricate machinery, making wisecracks all the way. Ant-Man is doused in flame-retardant foam and finds a way though melted slag, evading overloaded induction coils; he reaches his destination and crosses two wires and Iron Man is suddenly freed from his armored prison….
Tony removes his armor and heads to the lab where he learns that the surgery to remove the regulator from Bruce Banner has been successful. The only problem now is that the police are waiting outside to arrest Bruce. Tony has Bruce put on the janitor’s uniform and Rhodey calmly walks him out of the building to the airfield where Bruce asks to be flown west. Back inside, Tony muses on how his problems are nothing compared to those of Bruce Banner, and he is grateful to have Bethany Cabe to share them with….