Invincible Iron Man #72: Review

Jan 1975

Mike Friedrich, George Tuska

Story Name:

Convention of Fear!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #72 Review by T Vernon (January 14, 2014)

Review: A fun little interlude giving the writers a chance to honor (and parody) their faithful fans, while still keeping it attached to the surrounding storylines. And it’s good to know that Tony hasn’t forgotten about Roxie, he was delayed by business. A cute and amusing issue.

Comments: San Diego Comic-Con was held July 31-Aug 5, 1974; the list of guest speakers mentioned in the story is accurate. Page 14 features cameo appearances by Roy Thomas and Mike Friedrich (drawn by Neal Adams), Tom Orzechowski (by Alan Kupperberg), Frank and Jan Brunner (by Frank Brunner)—thanks to the Grand Comics Database for this info. A blast from the past: in 1975, STAR TREK was only a cancelled TV show which had attracted a fan base in syndication—leading to the petition drive to get it back on the air mentioned here; the feature films and TNG weren’t on anybody’s radar as yet—much less that it would become a major entertainment franchise. The attackers on the first page are later revealed to be Melter, Whiplash, and Man-Bull, impatient over the Black Lama’s plan.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #72 Synopsis by T Vernon

Iron Man is streaking through the sky in downtown San Diego when he is fired upon by a large energy weapon. It misses and he investigates but the bad guys have gotten away….
Flashback: Tony Stark flies to San Diego to take care of an urgent business matter, delaying his return to Vietnam to search for Roxie Gilbert. When he arrives he finds it was a false alarm and the next flight to Saigon is not until the next day. While inspecting his plant he is attacked by a pair of workers who appear to be under a hypnotic spell; he fights them off. Later, bored while waiting for his flight, he decides to attend the San Diego Comic-Con in Iron Man armor. [On his way, he is attacked as per the opening scene.] At the convention, he encounters crazy fans, greedy dealers (who won’t take his credit card), egotistical creators, and attendees who tell him they hate the nose on his helmet. He spies the Melter, Whiplash, and Man-Bull and assumes they are fans in costume—until they hold everyone hostage until Iron Man appears. Shellhead engages them in battle, as the Black Lama appears and joins the scuffle, hypnotizing several fans to attack just as he had the plant workers. In the fray, the Melter turns on the Black Lama and sets his robes on fire with a blast from his gun. The mysterious villain teleports away, Iron Man wraps up the other baddies to turn over to the police, and is hailed as a hero by the conventioneers. Then a clueless guard asks him to leave because he doesn’t have a badge (destroyed in the fight). Oh well….