Invincible Iron Man #145: Review

Apr 1981

David Michelinie, John Romita Jr.

Story Name:

Raider's Rampage!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #145 Review by T Vernon (July 27, 2015)

Edwin Cord first appeared in DAREDEVIL #167. Augustine Cross was seen in MARVEL PREMIERE #47-48. Jonas Hale was in IRON MAN #120-121 and 143. The film Scott Lang is watching is THE FIGHTING O’FLYNN (1949) starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. The drunk at the bar gives a major spoiler for CITIZEN KANE. The two men at the boxing match are boxing legend Muhammad Ali and sportscaster Howard Cosell. The Raiders return during the classic “Armor Wars” in issue #225. The letters page includes an advertisement for SHE-HULK #1.

Review: An okay, action-packed story is saddled with a mystery that isn’t very mysterious. It’s clear by midpoint that Edwin Cord is the bad guy and there really isn’t enough to interest the reader in the outcome of the whodunit with a trio of suspects who we’ve barely seen before—and not necessarily in an Iron Man comic. The tongue-in-cheek attitude carries it along—but not all the way. Rhodey and Scott Lang bring in a bit of humor so the issue is still an entertaining read, just not very significant.

Invincible Iron Man #145 Review by Rob Johnson (July 27, 2015)

Marvel Wikia says Edwin Cord is an unspecified relative of Drexel Cord who founded Cord Industries and was the father of Janice Cord, Tony Stark's girlfriend in the early issues of this series. Edwin Cord is head of CordCo which is probably a continuation of Cord Industries. Augustine Cross is head of Cross Technological Enterprises, which was involved in the origin of the Scott Lang Ant-Man and has hired Hawkeye as Head of Security. Augustine himself has just resurfaced in the 2015 Ant-Man series.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #145 Synopsis by T Vernon

Tony Stark arrives in Dallas, Texas for a convention of electronics inventors and innovators. Rhodey takes off for the football stadium to meet the Cowgirls while Tony makes connections. First Tony meets Edwin Cord, who is being tailed by SHIELD Agent Burke who questions Tony about Cord. Tony then meets Augustine Cross who is interested in Tony’s latest work but he is dragged away by Jonas Hale of Roxxon. Later when Tony is at his company’s exhibit with Scott Lang, the convention is invaded by three armored villains: Raider-1 who shoots bullets, fire, and acid from his wrist-guns, Raider-2 with a force shield and net, and Raider-3 wielding sonic weapons. The Raiders attack the Stark exhibit; Scott takes on the baddies and is quickly subdued while Tony dashes off to don his armor. Seconds later, Iron Man is ready to face his foes. Shellhead holds his own but the baddies set fire to the basement and while he is extinguishing the blaze the Raiders escape….
Tony calls Bethany Cabe back in New York but she is weighed down by her own cares. Elsewhere in Dallas, the mysterious villain behind the Raiders is gloating over his plan to defeat Iron Man (oh, come on, it’s clearly Edwin Cord)….
The next day is Tony’s big Iron Man demonstration and while suited up, Shellhead is again attacked by the Raiders. The hero confuses them with holographic images then draws them outside, away from the hotel. As they battle in the sky, Iron Man is trapped by Raider-2’s energy net and he plunges into the civic center, crashing down into the middle of the boxing ring during a match. Iron Man extricates himself from the net and recharges with the television cables so he is at full power when the Raiders arrive and he easily subdues the villains (while Howard Cosell announces the action for the TV audience)….
Epilogue: Back at the convention center, Edwin Cord is showing Agent Burke the film of his Raiders besting Iron Man as a sales pitch for his new armor designs; the demonstration involved several illegal actions so Burke places Cord under arrest. ….