Invincible Iron Man #177: Review

Dec 1983

Dennis O'Neil, Luke McDonnell

Story Name:

Have Armor Will Travel

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #177 Review by T Vernon (March 7, 2016)

Comments: Flying Tiger first appeared in SPIDER-WOMAN #40; this is his third appearance. Regis' surname is spelled variously Fuskey and Fusskey, so I've followed suit above. Title is a play on the title of a Western TV series, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL. IRON MAN ANNUAL #6 takes place immediately after this issue.

Review: He's a tiger! And he can fly! Who else but the Flying Tiger? Well, it's a comic book, isn't it, back from before they took themselves so seriously. [Oh, and bad news for the baddie: the cover looks like his ankles are tied together, not the most intimidating of images.] That's all right, he fits into this goofy issue which has the hero desperate for money and ready to take on a demeaning bodyguard job for an obnoxious boss. And there's some sort of revolution going on and it's all a fairly lighthearted romp anchored with a couple of pages of pathetic Tony Stark to keep it from floating away.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #177 Synopsis by T Vernon

The story opens with Iron Man being run over by a bulldozer. A construction-themed villain? No, he's merely testing out some gizmos for the visiting Clytemnestra Erwin. Morley raises the idea of the the three of them forming their own company but none of them have any capital to invest. Liking the idea of being his own boss, Iron Man (Rhodey) tries to come up with a way to bring in some cash....
Brief interlude: A drunken Tony Stark is brought into a hospital where the doctor thinks he looks familiar....
Iron Man visits Luke Cage and Iron Fist to ask how he can be a hero for hire; they recommend him for a job they are too busy to handle. Rich dude Regis Fuskey wants a bodyguard for a business trip to South America; Iron Man arrives but Fusskey insists on a more discreet look to his bodyguard, so Rhodey is forced to don a fake beard and keep the armor in a briefcase. The plane is boarded in flight by the Flying Tiger, hired to kidnap Fuskey and deliver him to a location in the South American jungle. Rhodey tries to stop him but is knocked down by the villain. Rhodey goes for his briefcase but the Tiger spots this and takes the case along with him. Rhodey follows by parachute and lands near a rebel base where revolutionaries are trying to persuade Fusskey to come over to their side of the conflict. Rhodey sees Flying Tiger offer the case to a young woman as a gift but she throws it into the woods; our hero recovers it but is interrupted by the Tiger before he can don the armor. He is knocked down and the Tiger recognizes the armor and is about to shoot Rhodey when loyalist planes begin dropping bombs which knock out the Tiger long enough to allow Rhodey to change into Iron Man. The Golden Avenger saves Fuskey from a falling bomb and then from execution by the rebel leader. Fusskey reveals that his plan was to learn whether the rebels had support from overseas and has confirmed that the Vietnamese are supporting them. Shellhead knocks Flying Tiger out of the sky then negotiates with Fuskey for a raise in his salary....
Back in New York, Rhodey presents Fusskey's check to the Erwins—and is suddenly stricken by a severe headache....
Epilogue: The doctor gives Tony a lecture on giving up booze or else he will die. Tony just wanders back out into the world....