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Invincible Iron Man #272

Sep 1991

John Byrne, Paul Ryan

Story Name:

Dragon Seed

Synopsis

Invincible Iron Man #272 synopsis by T Vernon

Rating:

Centuries ago a dragon-shaped spacecraft crash-landed in a remote section of China, destroying a village and cutting a tunnel into the side of a mountain. The captain and crew divested themselves of the powerful rings which controlled the ship and exited the cavern. A warrior immediately arrived and killed one of the crew and the captain ordered the rest to flee into the place that would soon be called the Valley of Dragons....

The Mandarin's mystical associate, Chen Hsu, calls out to Fin Fang Foom, who is about to kill Iron Man (James Rhodes)....

Meanwhile, Tony Stark has completed his examination by neurosurgeon Su Yin; she tells him she will have a diagnosis later and Tony takes the time to make romantic overtures to her. She tries to fend him off but agrees to meet him for dinner later; as she goes she ponders her assignment by the leaders to do everything possible to keep him and Iron Man in China. Returning home, she is greeted by her disabled husband....

In New York, Black Widow, Natasha Romanova, confronts the Russian Ambassador with a warning about the sleeper agent Oktober; he brushes her off and she leaves angry....

Back in China, Tony meets with Chinese leaders and there he learns for the first time of Iron Rhodey's losing battle with Fin Fang Foom. Shaken, Tony scolds them for not telling them why they wanted Iron Man and that he will be calling in one of the other Iron Men. Back in his room, Tony dons the encephalo-link and uses it to summon one of the armors back in California. The armor takes hold of a rocket booster and uses it to fly through the stratosphere to China. As the Mandarin gloats over the fallen Iron Man, he hears a sound and turns to see the real Iron Man flying into battle with Fin Fang Foom....

Review / Commentaries

Invincible Iron Man #272 Review by T Vernon (April 17, 2018)

Comments: “The Dragon Seed Saga.” Part one of four. Origin of sorts for Chen Hsu and Fin Fang Foom; the account of how the Mandarin discovered the rings was in TALES OF SUSPENSE #62 and will be repeated in issue #274.

Review: The dragons' origin is a nice section and the two-and-a-half wordless pages for the flight of the remote-controlled armor is breathtaking but the part that stands out the most? Tony being an absolute horndog. He's been drooling over Su Yin since they met and now he comes on strong, confusing her. How long has he been without female companionship that he acts like a dog seeing a steak after years of kibble? His come-ons were ham-handed and indecent. She on the other hand is under orders to keep him in the country so she has to pretend she didn't want to punch him in the face. Plus, she's married which we will learn a lot more about in issue #275. But Tony is still an embarrassment to America.

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Main/1st Story Full Credits

John Byrne

Paul Ryan

Bob Wiacek

Paul Becton

Paul Ryan (Cover Penciler)
Bob Wiacek (Cover Inker)

Additional Credits

Letterer: Michael Heisler.
Editor: Nel Yomtov. Editor-in-chief: Tom DeFalco.

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Black Widow
(Natasha Romanoff)

Fin Fang Foom

Iron Man
(Anthony Stark)

Mandarin

Plus: Chen Hsu, Iron Man (James Rhodes), Su Yin.

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