Invincible Iron Man #184: Review

Jul 1984

Dennis O'Neil, Luke McDonnell

Story Name:

On the Road...

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #184 Review by T Vernon (May 3, 2016)

Comments: Part two of three parts.

Review: Another nice issue wherein characterization is interwoven with some cool adventure. For the former: Clytemnestra explains her ambitions to prove herself apart from the male-dominated science fields; Morley wants to try his hand at working independently of a major corporation; Tony is looking for redemption. Rhodey? He trying to establish his Iron Man identity apart from Tony Stark. And for action we have Iron Man walking through fire and trying to catch a falling truck. Cool all around.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #184 Synopsis by T Vernon

Cornelius van Lunt a/k/a Taurus of Zodiac, despite having been rescued by Iron Man from death at the hands of a Taurus LMD (last issue), is determined to destroy the hero to cover the fact that Zodiac is making a comeback. Since his lab was destroyed, he will be forced to use cruder methods of eliminating his foe—dynamite—but his partners-in-crime are not impressed.…
James Rhodes with Clytemnestra and Morley Erwin are packing up for their move to start a new business in California. Tony Stark drops by and, in need of a major change in his life, asks if he can join them; they are delighted. Meanwhile, Van Lunt has deduced that Rhodey is Iron Man and planted dynamite under the hood of the moving van taking them west. As the good guys are loading the truck they see some local punks ripping off their distributor cap—and that's when Rhodey spots the bomb....
Van Lunt, not knowing how his bomb plot failed, asks his pal Aries to intercept the travelers. On the road, Rhodey dons the Iron Man armor and flies out to reconnoiter the way ahead. He spots Aries laying down magnesium strips in the road. As he confronts the bad guy, the strips are ignited but Shellhead just walks through the flames and Aries knocks his own brains out headbutting the hero. Next, Aquarius and his henchmen show up. Shooting a hole in one of their tires, they lure our heroes into a gas station/diner where they fill their tire with a volatile gas sure to explode when they pass over a sabotaged bridge. Sure enough, all twelve tires burst while crossing the collapsing bridge. Shellhead catches the car with the Erwins but the truck driven by Tony crashes into the river below. A sudden headache causes Rhodey to miss Tony, who has managed to rescue himself. As he tries to salvage the truck, he knows their troubles are not over....