Invincible Iron Man #75: Review

Jun 1975

Mike Friedrich, Arvell Jones

Story Name:

Slave To the Power Imperious!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #75 Review by T Vernon (February 4, 2014)

Review: MODOK proves that being a hothead is a major liability when you’re nearly all head; seriously, what a moron. When you can be outsmarted by the Mad Thinker (whose modus operandi tends to be bragging about his superior intellect while overlooking one obvious factor), you’re really low on the supervillain IQ list. Again Arvell Jones’ plethora of panels and awkward postures drag the story down a bit but the last page is pretty cool.

Comments: Part two of a three part story; part 3 will appear in issue #77. Last appearance of Marianne Rodgers until issue #103. And MODOK returns, none the worse for wear, in MS MARVEL #5 two years later.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #75 Synopsis by T Vernon

MODOK crashes into the lair of the Mad Thinker and challenges his opponent to battle; the Thinker calls forth a giant android to take on the mutated MODOK….
Elsewhere, the Black Lama has another insane vision and the mind-link affects Iron Man with madness as well. [Here we learn that the Super-Villain War is a means for the Lama to find a ruthless champion to free him of this problem.]
Elsewhere, Firebrand is mind-linked to the Black Lama’s madness by the mystery woman (Spoiler: Marianne Rodgers).
Back at the lab, MODOK has defeated the huge android and he squishes the Mad Thinker like a grape in his metal grip. He then proceeds to repair Iron Man’s armor and gain remote control of it. The desperate Black Lama teleports the hero and the villain to the fortress of the Yellow Claw. MODOK sends Iron Man in and the hero battles a flame-throwing robot and a mutated blob which feeds on metal. The Armored Avenger defeats them both then takes off after the Claw; meanwhile MODOK charges the Asian mastermind from the other side. Yellow Claw vanishes causing MODOK and Iron Man to collide, knocking each other out. The Claw presses a button and the giant villain is dropped through a (very large) trapdoor to be smashed to pieces on the rocks below. The Claw then turns on Iron Man with a destructor ray and leans that the Avenger is an android double. Back at the lair of the Mad Thinker we discover that Thinky had replaced himself and Iron Man with android doubles to allow his opponents to destroy each other. The spirit of Marianne Rodgers appears to the captive Iron Man who gains the strength to burst his bonds and confront his captor…..