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Invincible Iron Man #266

Mar 1991

John Byrne, John Romita Jr.

Story Name:

Retribution!; (Armor Wars II part 9)

Synopsis

Invincible Iron Man #266 synopsis by T Vernon

Rating:

The Mandarin appears as a giant before the rulers of China, demanding one week for them to turn over all power to him. Soldiers attack, Mandarin teleports them to the moon, returning their bodies to Earth for proper burial. Mandarin departs and the rulers decide they must call on the Mandarin's greatest foe for help: Iron Man....

Meanwhile, Iron Man is facing Kearson DeWitt in a massive purple armored suit who wants Iron Man to suffer before he dies. DeWitt hurls Shellhead through several walls and then stalks him through the rubble. Shellhead sees light overhead and realizes he is in a ventilation shaft; he takes off into the sky, with DeWitt in pursuit. They fight in the sky, crashing into the side of the Marrs Building; panicked employees evacuate the place as best they can. Realizing he is outclassed, Iron Man fires a repulsor directly into DeWitt's eyes then jets him high in the sky, ripping his jet pack off—but Tony's boot jets conk out at the same time and they plunge to the Marrs roof. There, Shellhead keeps hitting his foe, weakening his armor, until he tires; DeWitt seizes the opportunity to defeat Iron Man—and then James Rhodes (Rhodey) arrives also wearing a set of Iron Man armor. Tony plugs his gauntlet's main power relay into Rhodey's fresh fusion pack and blasts DeWitt into the building's main wall. Tony unmasks his foe but does not recognize him, for all his talk of retribution. The entire facade of the Marrs Building collapses, burying DeWitt. Tony departs, musing on his own mortality.

Review / Commentaries

Invincible Iron Man #266 Review by T Vernon (March 6, 2018)

Comments: Armor Wars II: Part IX of IX. Rhodey's first use of the Iron Man armor since he quit in issue #199 (1985). Rhodey says Mighty Mouse's catchphrase “Here I come to save the day!” Kearson DeWitt returns in IRON MAN ANNUAL #13, where we learn why he wants revenge against Tony Stark.

Review: And this was it? The original Armor Wars had Iron Man battling a different armored foe each issue. Now in Armor Wars II, he fights Living Laser while some baddies are trying to take over his body, climaxing with a slugging match against a bad guy in armor. The body control plot seemed to just be a speed bump for most of the series and the one armored enemy (not counting the ghostly Titanium Man who turned out to be Living Laser) makes for an anticlimax. Not sure how this was all supposed to hang together with the capture of Tony's nervous system and the Mandarin subplot in each issue. Enjoyable, just a bit of a comedown.

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Main/1st Story Full Credits

John Byrne

John Romita Jr.

Bob Wiacek

Paul Becton

John Romita Jr. (Cover Penciler)
Bob Wiacek (Cover Inker)

Additional Credits

Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos.
Editor: Howard Mackie.

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Plus: Iron Man (James Rhodes), Kearson DeWitt.

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