Invincible Iron Man #180: Review

Mar 1984

Dennis O'Neil, Luke McDonnell

Story Name:

This Ancient Enemy!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #180 Review by T Vernon (April 4, 2016)

Comments: Part two of three parts.

Review: On the cover, Iron Man is facing an enemy with ten rings! It must be Ringo Starr, having turned to using the power of drumming for evil and not for good. Or it's just the Mandarin again. Though he hasn't appeared since issue #100 in 1977 (aside from a bit in ANNUAL #5 where he doesn't really cross paths with Shellhead) I really didn't miss him since stereotypical Chinese villains are looking more and more a relic of the past with each passing year. And to make matters worse, he sports an incredibly ridiculous outfit this time around, looking like a male stripper adopting a skimpy costume combining Japanese, Egyptian, and Aztec bits which do not work well together. Plus a cape, of course. Yuck. Anyway, the art is pretty cool and Iron Man's concern to avoid setting off nuclear warheads if he can help it adds a bit of texture to the tale. Not a bad story but half a star off for that goofy Mandarin costume.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #180 Synopsis by T Vernon

The Mandarin is outraged at the failure of Radioactive Man to protect the shipment of his sinister devices (last issue) and tortures his minion with the power of his rings. He decides the time is ripe for revenge....
In New York, Tony Stark finds that he has been evicted from all of the swanky hotels he hasn't kept up the rent on. His pregnant gal-pal Gretl, having nowhere to go, pegs Tony as just another man lying to her and runs off....
In Hong Kong, James Rhodes has a course of acupuncture to clear up the mysterious headache (last issue) and decides to see the sights. A gigantic hologram image of Iron Man appears in the sky so Rhodey dons his armor to investigate. He pursues the image across the border into China, where he is met by three Red Chinese missiles speeding toward him. He leads them on a chase so that no one will be harmed if they turn out to be nukes (they're not) and finds the hologram has waited for him to catch up. Meanwhile, as the Mandarin gloats over his trap, Radioactive Man plots to clobber his master but Mandy is aware of him and compels him by the powers of his rings to punch himself in the face and to break his own thumb. Meanwhile, as the giant image fades, Iron Man is pulled to a mountain by a magnetic force. Shellhead locates and destroys it and makes his own entrance into the bad guy's lair. The antagonists confront one another and there is a battle of weaponry with Rhodey at a disadvantage because he still doesn't know how to fully utilize the armor. Mandarin knocks him down, drags him back, forces him to unmask (he's surprised that Iron Man is a black man) and explains his scheme. Mandarin plans to destroy the entire rice crop of China, creating famine and forcing China to go to war for food. Mandy will then take over the country and use it as his base for world conquest. He then orders the mind-controlled Rhodey to cut his own throat with a knife....