Invincible Iron Man #59: Review

Jun 1973

Mike Friedrich, George Tuska

Story Name:

A Madness In Motown!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #59 Review by T Vernon (October 16, 2013)

Review: What is the best way to effect social change, peacefully or by violence? This burning issue was a couple of years too late when this story was published so the debate between Gary and Roxy just overshadows the potentially more interesting story of their family dynamic; as it is, the characters just represent positions. Roxanne will be around as romantic interest for a few years and Firebrand ends up reduced to just another fire-themed baddie. In the meantime, enjoy a fight in a cemetery, with Iron Man tunneling under a rather empty ground.

Comments: First appearance of Roxanne Gilbert. Marianne Rodgers is seen only in flashback. Reader Garnet Barcelo is thanked on page 7 for his suggestion on how Firebrand escaped but his letter does not appear on the letters page as promised.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #59 Synopsis by T Vernon

Tony Stark receives a telephone call from a psychiatrist telling him that Marianne Rodgers had been committed to an asylum and that it is unlikely she will overcome her psychoses. Tony blames himself for her condition and smashes his desk out of frustration and guilt. Outside Pepper and Happy Hogan are arguing over her upcoming business trip to Detroit (he doesn’t want her to leave him for so long).
Elsewhere (a few days earlier), Roxanne Gilbert discovers that her radical brother Gary is the supervillain Firebrand. Gary explains how Iron Man was responsible for their father’s death (issue #48) and he escaped from the police and is now seeking revenge. The pacifist Roxanne expresses disapproval as he upgrades his high-tech costume to prepare for a return bout with Iron Man….
Thus Tony and Pepper arrive in Detroit, called by Roxanne Gilbert to oversee a stock purchase. It’s a trap set by Firebrand who holds Pepper hostage while Tony goes to summon Iron Man. Firebrand meets the hero in a cemetery and orders him into an open grave then blasts it closed, burying Iron Man alive. But Shellhead tunnels under the ground and comes up behind the villain and the battle is joined. Firebrand’s upgraded weaponry is matched by the cryogenic freezing unit Tony has installed in his armor and Iron Man get the upper hand. His exo-skeleton destroyed Firebrand turns the force of his blasters on Iron Man but Roxanne, trying to stop her fanatical brother, hurls herself in the way and is critically injured. Iron Man punches out the villain and, as the police arrive, rushes Roxanne to the hospital