Invincible Iron Man #56: Review

Mar 1973

Steve Gerber, Jim Starlin

Story Name:

Rasputin's Revenge!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #56 Review by T Vernon (September 26, 2013)

Review: Goofy comical issue is a minor joy, thanks to Starlin’s cool art (Fangor really does look formidable) and Gerber’s funny script including the great gag cameo at the end. Plus, rocket-powered roller skates!

Comments: Sole appearance of Rasputin and Fangor. Rasputin’s spell is “Frabnoil otni, Bovine Tavi!!” The first two words are “Lionbarf into” spelled backwards but the last two don’t yield anything; I was hoping for a Zatanna-style joke.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #56 Synopsis by T Vernon

Iron Man returns to New York (going the last leg of the journey on rocket-powered roller skates) and heads to Avengers Mansion to warn the team of the threat of Thanos (last issue). Only Jarvis is there, however….
In Central Park, crackpot occultist Rasputin is protesting the unveiling of a new statue. Waving his useless magic staff the Tavistick, he smashes a TV camera and suddenly finds the staff has been powered. The statue—a twenty-foot granite demon called Fangor representing all of human evil—is unveiled and Rasputin brings it to life to rampage through the city. Tony Stark, who was attending the unveiling, dons his armor and Iron Man takes on the monster. In the chaos, the Tavistick is destroyed and Rasputin panics and runs into the path of a car. Iron Man uses the Unstable-Freon Mini-Bomb (last seen in ToS #82) to freeze and shatter the granite giant.
In an epilogue, Rasputin is at an Orange Julius stand complaining about his wasted life; a passing Dr Strange tells him to cheer up….