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Invincible Iron Man #17

Jun 1999
Roger Stern, Sean Chen

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Story Name:

Your Young Men Shall Slay Dragons


Synopsis

Invincible Iron Man #17 synopsis by T Vernon
Rating: 4 stars
Iron Man is engaged in battle with Fin Fang Foom who has just materialized on the Seattle waterfront, having taken over the body of Billy Yuan. Shellhead tries sonics but FFF knocks him through a building with his tail. Seizing the hero in his claws, FFF gets a surprise when Iron Man jets him into a backflip. As IM and FFF fight, the giant monster suddenly stops: Billy Yuan’s consciousness has come to the surface and he begs to know what the dragon wants of him: just his body….

Happy Hogan and Hannah Donleavy arrive at the scene and help the first responders evacuate the area; Happy promises that the Stark Foundation will pay for housing for the displaced citizens….

Iron Man tries flying into the dragon’s mouth but is spit out; he uses his image inducer to create a multitude of Iron Men but FFF just dives into the river. It turns out Fin has shrunk and burrowed under the riverbed while he tries to force Billy’s mind out of his. Shellhead helps with the search and rescue operation. After all missing are accounted for, Tony returns to the restaurant to face Ramona…but Pepper Potts comes to his rescue, taking him away for a phony emergency. He dons the armor again and goes out to find his foe….

Meanwhile, FFF has risen from the river and heads to the hospital where Billy’s sister lies in a coma. The monster threatens her, forcing Billy to fight his host. Iron Man arrives and blasts FFF with pulse bolts but it’s too much of an energy drain to use again. He appeals to the captain of a nearby Navy craft to fire its missiles at Fin; Billy seizes control of the dragon’s body, forcing him to stand still while being bombarded—and a last pulse bolt from Iron Man lays the dragon low. And Billy dies as the fearsome monster loses consciousness, a curse on his lips for the lone mortal who sacrificed himself…a reference that Tony doesn’t understand and never will….


 

Review / Commentaries


Invincible Iron Man #17 Review by (December 30, 2019)
Comments: Part two of two parts. Fin Fang Foom, a frequent visitor to these pages, was apparently killed in IRON MAN #275. Title comes from the phrase “Your young men shall see visions,” found twice in the Bible: Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17. Kurt Busiek and Roger Stern co-plotted this issue. Lary Stucker and Eric Cannon co-inked.

Review: A change of artist and a change of monster: Fin Fang Foom sports a greener hide and a more expressive face lending him a comical edge. Really, he was scary in last issue’s final reveal but now he looks kinda like Jim Varney (Google him, kids). This episode mixes comedy with the tragedy of Billy in a rather impressive fashion and there’s even an uncomfortable moment between Tony and Pepper when the subject of romance comes up. Pretty cool.



> Invincible Iron Man comic book info and issue index

Elektra
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Excelsioring your collection:
Marvel Iron Man MARK7 Statue ARTFX 1/6 Statue
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Sean Chen
Lary Stucker
Steve Oliff
Sean Chen (Cover Penciler)
Additional Credits
Plot: . Letterer: Richard Starkings.
Editor: Bobbie Chase. Editor-in-chief: Bob Harras.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Iron Man
Iron Man

(Anthony Stark)
Pepper Potts
Pepper Potts

(Pepper Hogan)