Invincible Iron Man #66: Review

Feb 1974

Mike Friedrich, George Tuska

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Story Name:

Battle Royal!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #66 Review by Peter Silvestro (March 13, 2020)

Review: Slam-bang action issue with Thor beating the tin out of a substitute Iron Man followed quickly by the real McCoy fighting Dr Spectrum with a full-page picture of IM crashing through a giant robot’s head! And in a terrific case of misdirection, we’re led to believe that the doomed Shellhead is Happy Hogan—but it isn’t! It’s Eddie March (who, for some reason, carries around a suit of Iron Man armor as a memento of his stint as the hero in issues #21-22; does Tony know about this? Will he be targeted during the Armor Wars?); the drama of that earlier appearance made those issues one of my favorite Iron Man stories. Yeah, he’s in pretty much the same predicament again—and the next issue will put him in another familiar predicament, but this story is 100% cool!

Comments: Part four of four parts. Final appearance of the original Dr Spectrum; when next he appears in DEFENDERS #13-14, there is a different person under the control of the Power Prism.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #66 Synopsis by T Vernon

Iron Man, possessed by the Power Prism is on a violent rampage; the Mighty Thor arrives on the scene to stop his maniacal friend. Thor realizes that there is something more wrong about this Iron Man—so the armored hero attacks. Shellhead proves no match for the God of Thunder and soon goes down. Thor unmasks the fallen hero and receives a shock….
Flashback one hour: The quarrelling Pepper and Happy Hogan hear on the radio that Iron Man is battling Dr Spectrum; Happy quickly dons a spare Iron Man armor and dashes to the rescue, as Pepper pleads with him to come back….
Back at the scene of the superhero battle, the police have Dr Spectrum in custody but once he gets near the Power Prism attached to Iron Man’s chestplate he regains his power and conjures up a giant hammer to smash Thor. Another Iron Man arrives to destroy the magic hammer; he thanks Thor for his help and the Thunder God departs, leaving everything in the real Iron Man’s hands. Shellhead then quickly defeats a magic hand, electric net, and giant robot created by the villain. A gigantic projector (that’s what it looks like) explodes engulfing Iron Man in flames; he absorbs the heat and converts it into power for his suit and destroys Spectrum’s getaway craft. The hero then smashes the Power Prism to bits. The now-powerless Dr Obatu vows revenge as he is taken away by the police. Suddenly Happy and Pepper arrive as Dr Don Blake ministers to the fallen hero. Pepper had managed to persuade Happy not to endanger himself; the critically injured Iron Man is Eddie March who had been brought to the battle by Roxie Gilbert. (Tony had flown away to recover immediately after leaving the hole in the ground; it was Tony who summoned Thor to the scene.) As Eddie is rushed to the hospital, the fragments of the Power Prism begin to regather….

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