Invincible Iron Man #185: Review

Aug 1984

Dennis O'Neil, Luke McDonnell

Story Name:

Terror In Tulaluma!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #185 Review by T Vernon (May 9, 2016)

Comments: Part three of three parts.

Review: Another nice issue features some exciting sequences and adds to Rhodey's characterization: he questions his qualifications to be a hero when he is trapped in the stasis field, and resents Tony having to direct his escape. And in the end, Rhodey absolutely hates seeing Tony in the helmet. Jealousy, in a superhero? Why not? As Rhodey's identity is now mainly based on his being Iron Man, any move toward taking back the armor on Tony's part would be a threat. We'll see what pans out between here and issue #200 when Tony becomes Iron Man once again. Oh, and Aquarius makes for a cool villain of the neurotic variety, bristling under Clytemnestra's mockery. And he almost defeated the heroes. Whoa.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #185 Synopsis by T Vernon

A car bearing Tony Stark and the Erwins on their way to California is approaching Tulaluma when they spy a young woman being chased by an angry mob; Tony pulls her into the car—and then the engine dies. They seek shelter in a barn where they are confronted by men with guns....
Elsewhere Iron Man (James Rhodes) examines the damaged truck and discovers that all their goods are ruined—and the truck may be shot as well. Shellhead returns to the gas station where the truck was sabotaged to find two henchmen of the villain Aquarius are still there. He disarms them and flies them to the local sheriff's office where he makes the acquaintance of the local police and warns them that Zodiac may be on their trail....
The armed men force Tony, the Erwins, and the young woman to accompany them but Iron Man arrives on the scene and stops them (by lifting the truck high into the sky). The young woman, it turns out, is accused of killing a local lawman. She asks to be taken to her home to show them proof; Shellhead carries her and his companions to a remote farmhouse—where a trapdoor opens in the floor and they are captured by Aquarius and his gang. Iron Man is trapped in a stasis field while the others are chained to a wall. The villain (being the water-bearer) starts the room quickly filling with water while he and the gang depart. Tony has Rhodey broadcast a high frequency note to overload the device creating the stasis field (causing severe pain in Rhodey's head) and it shorts out. He rescues his friends and captures Aquarius, turning him and his gang over to the police....
At a motel, Morley Erwin worries that more villains from Zodiac will come after them. To fix that problem, Tony dons the Iron Man helmet and puts in a call to Nick Fury, informing him that Zodiac is again active. And Rhodey hates seeing Tony in the helmet....