Invincible Iron Man #311: Review

Dec 1994

Len Kaminski, Tom Morgan

Story Name:

The Conqueror

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #311 Review by T Vernon (March 5, 2019)

Comments: “Hands of the Mandarin Part 3 of 6.”--Cover. This issue marks the first appearance, origin, and final appearance of Turmoil; looks like the Mandarin was just proving a point. MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS #172 has short tie-in stories to this issue featuring the crash of the Pegasus from the viewpoints of both Scarlet Witch and US Agent.

Review: A nearly issue-long torture scene is hard to sit through especially with only an alien freaking out and a spacecraft crash to provide distraction. For those interested in the details of the characters and the interplay among them, this gives a few insights into the Mandarin's long simmering hatred for Tony Stark and all things Iron; for those who want to see violence and explosions it might be a great issue but for different reasons.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #311 Synopsis by T Vernon

Story continues from WAR MACHINE #9.

Iron Man is a prisoner of the Mandarin who is torturing the hero and glorying in his new dragon hands. IM tries to warn him about the alien dragons but Mandarin just blasts him again, having rejected science in favor of magic as provided by the Heart of Darkness. As a demonstration he uses the Heart to transform an elderly servant into a new Avatar, Turmoil, living incarnation of the Storm. Mandarin unleashes both of his heat and cold rays on the hero, then chases all of his Avatars out of the room while he removes the helmet from his enemy. He is not terribly surprised to see the face of Tony Stark and he flings his foe across the room....

While he and War Machine are fighting the forces of local warlord Chu Lo Yan, Century is attacked by a strange spell of dementia, speaking in voices from his past. WM rescues him and they call a truce with the army's leader. They decide to join forces against the Mandarin, their common enemy....

Tony Stark is suffering with the villain's anti-technology field interfering with his artificial neurosystem; he must find a way to remove his armor or die. He cons the Mandarin into shooting off his armor so that they can face each other man to man. Sadly, Mandarin is also an expert hand-to-hand combatant and brutally beats Tony who refuses to beg for mercy....

Pegasus, the ship carrying Force Works (Scarlet Witch, Spider-Woman, U.S. Agent, Recorder RE-404) to the castle, has lost all power due to the anti-technology field and US Agent aims it directly at the building. After the crash he leaps out of the craft to face a band of soldiers—but his teammates do not respond to his calls so he sets himself to face the enemy alone....

Hearing the noise of the crash, the Mandarin must cut short his revenge and so reaches for Tony Stark to deal the death blow....

Story continues in FORCE WORKS #7.