Invincible Iron Man #154: Review

Jan 1982

David Michelinie, John Romita Jr.

Story Name:

The Other Side of Madness!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #154 Review by T Vernon (September 28, 2015)

Comments: Milos Masaryk, the original Unicorn, dies here. Nevertheless he is resurrected by the Beyonder in MARVEL AGE ANNUAL #1

Review: Adventure story showing the end of an increasingly demented and dangerous old enemy is quite thrilling. And the issue boasts some spectacular action sequences, including the ship toppling and the battle between the two antagonists. This is how a one-shot story should be told.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #154 Synopsis by T Vernon

Iron Man broods over Bethany Cabe while flying though the skies toward Yonkers Raceway. He is unaware a mysterious villain (okay, it’s Unicorn) is stalking him on a sky-sled; he fires a blast at Shellhead but it misses, destroying part of a skyscraper, sending deadly wreckage toward a penthouse party below. Iron Man zips into action, setting up a magnetic barrier that shields the partygoers from the falling debris as he blasts the boulders into dust. The villain takes off before the hero can see him….
At the racetrack, Tony Stark tries to enjoy the races but is so preoccupied with his troubles that he discards a winning ticket—to the delight of a nearby tout. His pager signals an emergency and as Iron Man he returns to Stark International to find the Unicorn hauling a net full of dock workers behind his sky-sled and threatening to drop them if Iron Man does not surrender to him. The insane Unicorn explains that he has been in the cryogenic chamber Tony put him in back in issue #113 until an explosion caused by Blacklash (issue #146-147) thawed him out and he escaped, hijacking the sky-cycle. He wants to kill Iron Man for his beloved leader, the Other, whom he does not know was a) Titanium Man and b) deported to Russia after issue #135. Shellhead cuts the net of hostages loose from the villain’s cycle and uses his deflector beam to ensure they fall harmlessly into the river. Seeing them dragged down by the net, he has to snatch them up anyway.
Unicorn uses his horn to blast the hero burying him under a pile of broken wood. As the villain threatens to kill the dockworkers, a trembling shakes the pier—and Iron Man jets triumphantly up through the concrete, bowling his enemy over. Then it’s a battle of rays as the two fire away at one another. Shellhead constructs a portable rampart out of a demolished building and flies at his foe—toppling the struts holding up a ship under construction. Quickly Iron Man is able to keep the ship from falling until the workers can get clear. Exhausted and injured the hero is at the mercy of his enemy so he informs Unicorn of the truth about the Other. When he is persuaded that Shellhead is telling the truth, Unicorn decides to go to his master, walking into the river toward Russia…and he drowns.