Invincible Iron Man #140: Review

Nov 1980

David Michelinie, Alan Weiss

Story Name:

The Use of Deadly Force!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #140 Review by T Vernon (June 22, 2015)

Comments: Part one of two parts. Force was previously seen in SUBMARINER #68; he returns in #223-224, trying to reform. Tony’s luxury yacht is named Throatwarbler Mangrove, a nod to Monty Python. Beth’s cap says USS Nostromo, a reference to ALIEN? Or Joseph Conrad?

Review: Modern-day pirates usually make for a dull story what with the writer having seen CAPTAIN BLOOD the night before deadline. This time it’s different, with the baddies being high-tech and eschewing the traditional pirate tropes (like the ridiculous Commander Kraken in issues #93-94). Here we get an aerial battle with flying jet skis and some nice underwater scenery. The sequence of Tony donning his armor underwater is quite impressive. And Rhodey and Beth have a lot to do, the writer rounding out their characters nicely too. Then there’s that grim epilogue, to remind us that comic books aren’t pretty….

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #140 Synopsis by T Vernon

Tony Stark is on a fishing trip with James Rhodes. Tony hooks a huge swordfish and struggles to capture it but once the fish is defeated, he lets it go again. They head back to Tony’s private resort island where he has more guests waiting, Bethany Cabe, Ling McPherson, recovering from injuries sustained in the previous issues and her physician Dr Ehrmann. Tony and Beth have a private moment, with him being unaware that she knows he is Iron Man….
Left alone that evening, Tony dons the Iron Man armor for some flight maneuvers and a reverie. Not far away, a pleasure yacht is hijacked by a band of pirates led by an armored villain called Force….
The next day, Tony and Rhodey go scuba diving while Beth suns herself aboard the boat. She is surprised when Force and a handful of men board the boat to capture it. Beth fights them off long enough to hurl Tony’s briefcase into the drink. Force, suspecting she has friends underwater, tosses a couple of concussion grenades down. Rhodey pushes Tony out of the path of the grenades and is knocked unconscious by the detonation. Tony puts on his armor underwater, leaves the stunned Rhodey on a raft and heads off after his yacht. He spies it being towed behind a huge sub; Force sees him coming and dispatches henchmen on flying jet-skis to destroy the hero. Iron Man defeats his foes in an aerial dogfight but when it is over, the yacht is nowhere to be seen….
Epilogue: In the small town of Allantown, Iowa, suddenly all the inhabitants keel over dead….