Invincible Iron Man #65: Review

Dec 1973

Mike Friedrich, George Tuska

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Story Name:

The Cutting Edge of Death!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #65 Review by T Vernon (November 26, 2013)

Review: How long does it take a magic scimitar to fall? Five pages! A really cool issue even if the Power Prism is such an egomaniac as to stop at a critical point to relate its origin! There’s a pointless cameo by Luke Cage but an epic surprise appearance by the Mighty Thor to close out a cool issue!

Comments: Part three of four parts. Pepper finally learns that Tony is Iron Man in this story. The odd interlude with Luke Cage really does serve two purposes: a) it shows why the Black Nationalist Obatu didn’t just hire Cage as the obvious candidate for bodyguard (assuming any readers put some thought into it) and b) it teases Iron Man’s guest appearance in POWER MAN #17 to get more readers for the faltering series. You can guess which was more important to Marvel.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #65 Synopsis by T Vernon

A nearly powerless Iron Man is at the mercy of Dr Spectrum who has conjured up a giant scimitar ready to slice the hero in half. But the villain is at odds with the Power Prism which possesses him, the two struggling for ultimate control of his mind. Roxie Gilbert leaps into the fray but is unable to distract the villain; she runs off and bumps into Eddie March who rushes to the rescue…
Interlude 1: Pepper and Happy argue about the rift in their marriage and Happy reveals to her that Tony Stark is Iron Man; she refuses to believe it until Happy shows her Tony’s briefcase with slots for his armor….
Interlude 2: Luke Cage receives a telegram from Dr Obatu wishing to hire him as bodyguard; Cage has no way to get to Detroit though so goes back to brooding about his business….
Iron Man leaps out of the way of the falling scimitar and shoots ultra-violet rays at his foe. Spectrum conjures up a drill and makes a hole in the ground and leaps in. Iron Man follows and they battle underground. The Prism reveals its origin to the hero: he was a Skrull, Krimonn, who rebelled against the Emperor and was sentenced to be transformed into a magic crystal and launched into space. Found by the Gamesmaster, the Prism was diverted to Earth where it came into the possession of African dictator Obatu. The Gamesmaster enlisted the newly-created villain in an adventure against the Avengers (AVENGERS #69-71) where Spectrum was defeated by Iron Man and has been hungering for revenge ever since. Now the hero exploits the quarrel between man and device long enough to escape back to the surface. Spectrum follows and comes face-to-face with the armored hero. The Power Prism leaves Obatu and possesses Iron Man and Krimonn takes his powered body on an orgy of destruction. The maddened hero is halted by a blow from a mighty hammer—and turns to face Thor, intent on stopping his rampage, no matter what….

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