Invincible Iron Man #246: Review

Sep 1989

David Michelinie, Bob Layton

Story Name:

Heavy Mettle!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #246 Review by T Vernon (September 13, 2017)

Comments: Part two of three parts. Title is a pun on heavy metal; mettle being a synonym for courage or fortitude. Issue follows IRON MAN ANNUAL #10, which involved Shellhead in the “Atlantis Attacks” event.

Review: Exciting little tale leaves the epic battle of machine against machine for the big finish but there are a few other bright spots along the way: Shellhead's battle with the hoods on the beach but also little bits like Hindel's dirty dealing or the sweet scene between Tony and Rae Lacoste. She's not one of Tony's flashier love interests but may be the most stable and faithful of them all. Still...that battle scene... Whooo!

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #246 Synopsis by T Vernon

Tony Stark reviews film footage of Iron Man's adventure in Panama (ANNUAL #10) but he still can't figure out why the Maggia is fighting Hydra; he is also bitter over the death of Madame Masque/Whitney Frost. Downcast, he is pushing more of his work off onto Marcy Pearson and brooding over his paralysis from being shot by Kathy Dare. In the parking lot he meets Felix Alvarez who has some legal papers to sign—and they are surprised by Kathy Dare who has been brought over by her lawyer Bert Hindel, seeking revenge against Tony for firing him. Tony finds solace with the faithful Rae Lacoste...

At Whitney's funeral, Tony spots the suspicious FBI Agent Mallard but after the ceremony, Tony is snatched by a gang of Maggia hoods masquerading as a news crew. They drive him away in a van, deliver a warning, and deposit him in a street. James Rhodes catches up with Tony, who dons the Iron Man armor and sets out after the hoods. He runs their van off the road and wraps them up in a neat package for the FBI—except we see they are working with Agent Mallard....

Tony contacts Abe Zimmer with an unethical request: insert a virus into the internet that would copy info searched on topics concerning spinal damage....

Agent Mallard comes to see Tony Stark with a request: they have found that a meeting of Maggia bigwigs is set for that night at the factory where they assemble their Dreadnaughts and they would like Iron Man to crash the scene to save FBI lives....

That night, Iron Man breaks into the Maggia plant only to find the place deserted—and suddenly under attack by A.I.M. Dreadbusters. Iron Man takes them all on, smashing them one by one with various devices until they try to overload his systems. Shellhead simply flies up and they overload the building's power systems instead, causing an explosion that wrecks all of the A.I.M machines. Surveying the damage, Tony vows to find out what is going on among the Maggia, Hydra, and A.I.M.--and how the FBI fits into it all....