Invincible Iron Man #194: Review

May 1985

Dennis O'Neil, Luke McDonnell

Story Name:

Otherwhere!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #194 Review by T Vernon (July 18, 2016)

Comments: Part two of four parts. First appearance of Alice Nugent who would go on to become the third Dr. Spectrum in NEW THUNDERBOLTS #15-16. This Enforcer was introduced in GHOST RIDER #22 and would be an enemy of his and Spider-Woman's; this, not surprisingly, is his final appearance. First appearance of the Scourge of the Underworld, who would have brief appearances in several Marvel titles until his main story is told in CAPTAIN AMERICA #318-320.

Review: Blue and white graph paper and Kirby dots—that's what an alternate dimension looks like; it's nice because understated: Luke McDonnell wisely resisted any temptation to out-Ditko Ditko. Anyway, a nice issue with the hitman adding some quirky diversion and some complications. And the nice art covers over a couple of plot problems, such as the implausibility of Tony's making his way back to the stranded Quinjet—and the dubious rationale for Shellhead and the gang making their way out of the other world. A very entertaining issue.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #194 Synopsis by T Vernon

Tony Stark, in the recreated gray Iron Man armor, is carrying Dr. Demonicus' giant monster out to sea to get rid of it when his boot jets sputter out and he plunges with his burden into the drink....
James Rhodes is in St. Louis seeing Hank Pym about diagnosing the cause of his recurring headaches. Hank shows Rhodey a portal he has created to another dimension which he thinks is where his body mass goes when he shrinks as Ant-Man. Suddenly a huge hitman enters the room and holds the two at gunpoint, demanding that Pym make him smaller so that he can escape the police....
As Hawkeye and Mockingbird search for Tony in the Quinjet, Tony is desperately trying to remove the armor which is dragging him down and in the nick of time he manages to get it all of and surface. The problem is, he's in the ocean with no land in sight with a storm brewing....
Rhodey beats up the bad guy, knocking him into the dimensional portal; Hank tries to grab him but he is sucked in too. Rhodey hastily dons his armor and, taking an electronic beacon given him by Hank's assistant Alice Nugent, plunges into...
...a totally disorienting new reality. Meanwhile, a blob of quivering gray matter appears behind Ms Nugent and starts growing—until it seizes her....
Interlude 1: Searching for Tony Stark, Bethany Cabe arrives in California and visits Circuits Maximus; the Erwins don't know where Tony is and Morley detects a note of jealousy in Clytemnestra's voice—but she denies having a crush on Tony....
Interlude 2: With the failure of the Termite to carry out his mission (issue #190), Obadiah Stane's female associate hires the Enforcer to eliminate him. But leaving his apartment he is accosted by a derelict bag lady—who shoots him through the heart, saying, “Justice is served”....
Over the ocean, Hawkeye and Mockingbird locate the damaged and stranded Quinjet and discover that Tony Stark, minus his armor, has made his way back to it and repaired the engines so they can make it to land....
In the mystery dimension, Iron Man locates Hank Pym and the hitman as they are attacked by a group of blue spheres. Shellhead fights them off and the three Earthmen head off in the direction the spheres came from. Rhodey's hunch pays off and they discover another portal. Moving though, they arrive back in Hank's lab drive off the gray gunk which was displaced from its home dimension by the entry. The hitman decides that the other dimension is better than this world where he is a wanted man and leaps back through the portal. Hank promises to keep an eye out should he want to return and they settle down to examine Rhodey's headaches....