Invincible Iron Man #327: Review

Apr 1996

Terry Kavanagh, Jim Cheung

Story Name:

Frost Bite

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #327 Review by T Vernon (June 4, 2019)

Comments: Part one of two parts. First appearance of Frostbite (Sloan Alden). First appearance of Yu Kirin. Tony Stark's attorney is Foggy Nelson?

Review: A bit character heavy with the reading of Tony's will and all but things soon settle down and we have some sad young Tony stuff. And on the face of it, Frostbite would seem to be a retread of villains past, as we've had Jack Frost a/k/a Blizzard causing trouble for Shellhead for multiple decades. But there's something a bit different about this guy. Blizzard was just a crook with a superpower but Frostbite is a new non-human calling himself a force of nature with overwhelming power that outclasses our neophyte superhero. The confrontation is very cool though I don't really care for the 90s pseudo-manga style where everything looks scratchy and the faces are all the same.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #327 Synopsis by T Vernon

There's trouble brewing at the Alden Institute for the terminally ill: the cryogenics chamber is sealed shut by fast moving ice and resisting all attempts to break in....

Teen Tony Stark is still feeling out of place in his new decade but even moreso at the reading of (older) Tony's will. Tony's attorney Franklin “Foggy” Nelson plays the recording Tony left for this occasion. Tony expresses his appreciation for all of his friends and colleagues then gets down to his bequests: for Jarvis, a generous annual stipend to care for his elderly mother. A joint grant to Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, that he can continue his research and she can fund the Avengers. Abe Zimmer and Mrs. Arbogast are appointed to the Board of Directors and named trustees of his corporate assets, to be managed by Happy Hogan and Bethany Cabe. Pepper Potts and James Rhodes are named executors of the will. And with no heir he instructs Foggy to establish a foundation for his money to go to charities for the disabled and physically challenged. And he ends by calling the group the best parts of his life and his greatest legacy. But an unseen villain observes from an underground lair (having hacked into Tony's VCR apparently) and laughs [he is revealed in issue #330 to be Morgan Stark, Tony's evil cousin]....

Teen Tony visits his parents' graves and agonizes about his confused timeline....

At the Alden Institute, staff is finally able to enter the cryogenic chamber and learn that all of the frozen subjects are now dead—except one. That would be founder Dr Sloan Alden who leached the life out of his fellow frozen to make himself an icy individual called Frostbite....

At Columbia U, Tony hacks into the database to check up on his first love, Meredith McCall, now Professor Alden at the college, and learn her address....

Frostbite moves through and out of his Institute, leaving a succession of frozen bodies in his wake....

Tony goes to visit Meredith and finds the doorbell frozen solid; inside he finds a snowstorm filling the house. Donning his Iron Man gauntlets he dashes through the house....

In California, Japanese industrialist Yu Kirin is buzzing Stark Enterprises HQ in a copter, his aides taking pictures....

Upstairs at Meredith's place, Tony finds her frozen in an embrace with her husband, now Frostbite. The villain attacks Tony but his defenses are limited against Frostbite who calls himself a force of nature. He freezes one of Tony's gauntlets, causing it to shatter and starting a reaction that quickly encases the boy hero in ice....