Invincible Iron Man #141: Review

Dec 1980

David Michelinie, John Romita Jr.

Story Name:

The Caribbean Connection

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #141 Review by T Vernon (June 30, 2015)

Comments: Part two of two parts. The title is a play on THE FRENCH CONNECTION, another drug-related adventure. Another cover to feature only the back of Iron Man’s head.

Review: Pure James Bond, with supervillain Hammer and superhenchman Force aboard a shark-shaped submarine. Michelinie and Layton clearly had a lot of fun with this one, never letting it get too dark (aside from the Allantown plot, setting up the next arc). My favorite exchange comes from three guards facing Iron Man: “Open fire!” “Why? Guns won’t hurt him!” “You got any better suggestions?” And Bethany Cabe still struts her stuff as an action hero—in a bikini because Bond girls gotta be sexy.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #141 Synopsis by T Vernon

Iron Man searches under the sea but can find no trace of the pirate craft that hijacked his yacht with Bethany Cabe aboard. Retunring to the raft where he left the unconscious James Rhodes, he puts his armor back in the briefcase in time to be rescued by a Bahamian police launch. Back on Tony’s island, Rhodey is put under the care of Dr. Ehrmann while he heads into his lab to take steps against his unknown enemies….
The captive Beth is brought before the head villain who turns out to be Justin Hammer. He reveals that they are aboard his shark-shaped sub where he is using his fleet of hijacked pleasure craft to smuggle opium into the United States. Hammer confesses that Beth, along with the other captive boaters will be held for ransom….
Tony finishes modifying his suit's sensors to pick up heat traces from humans underwater and as Iron Man he heads out over the sea. He easily finds Hammer’s sub and fights off a fleet of mini-subs. Then Iron Man finds himself facing the deadly Force….
Interlude: The small town of Allantown, Iowa, is under quarantine, with Nick Fury and SHIELD investigating what causes all of the inhabitants to die suddenly….
Iron Man and Force battle under water; Shellhead has the advantage in weaponry but Force is much faster by means of his built-in force fields. Force gets the hero in an intense bear hug and marshals all of his power into crushing him; Iron Man waits until his foe starts to slow down then punches him in the head, taking him down. The Golden Avenger then boards the enemy ship and wrecks the main power generator, recharging himself at the same time. Iron Man faces Justin Hammer. Hammer simply sets the sub to self-destruct, forcing the hero to rescue the captives and let the villain go. Shellhead discovers that Bethany has organized all of the captives and they have escaped in their boats.
Epilogue: Everyone rests back at Tony’s island and Dr Ehrmann suggests they all need a vacation from their vacation….