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Invincible Iron Man #38: Review

Mar 2001
Frank Tieri, Alitha Martinez

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Story Name:

Remote Control [Part 2]


Synopsis

Invincible Iron Man #38 Synopsis by T Vernon
Tony Stark is still pinned down on a city street by gunslinging assailants when a stray bullet hits his gas tank and the car explodes; Tony ducks into a nearby building and again ponders what led him to his pass….

Tony had gone to Rumiko Fujikawa’s apartment to apologize and found her in bed with his old friend Tiberius Stone. Ty claim he didn’t know they were together and Rumiko insists they have split up so Ty assumes they are still going ahead with their business deal. For Ty, Tony is speaking to the shady (and creepy) businessman Trevor Donahue about purchasing his company. Tony keeps insulting Donahue, who is annoyed but shows him the battle armor purchased by the US government—and it’s the design of the two villains who attacked him in the woods last issue. Angered, Tony unloads a lot of accusations on Donahue, accusing the man of working for Hydra and A.I.M. and walks out….

Back at the office Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan show him the news: Tony and Iron Man are being linked to the murder of Whiplash (in issue #28) and both Tony and Shellhead have to see the police. Angry, Tony calls Ty but Ty mollifies him, insisting it’s real news, and his media manager Milo Stevens is the one who okayed it; Ty says he will be coming out to support Tony. The matter becomes a media circus and yes, Ty is there to support him but Tony has to sit everything out while his attorney Matt Murdock speaks for him. It’s when a longtime client cancels his contract with Stark that sets Tony off, tempted to have a drink. But Pepper arrives, telling him that Radioactive Man (whom Tony recognizes as Ty’s bodyguard from last issue) has taken Ty hostage at his office. Iron Man speeds to the scene and discovers Radioactive Man’s powers have increased, even to the point of melting Tony’s armor. Their fight is streamed live to all media. Shellhead picks up his foe and teleports to the middle of Central Park with Milo Stevens and a news crew in pursuit. Iron Man finds himself incapable of harming his foe but R-Man can detonate…and first Stevens finds his van won’t withstand the blast as he had been told…and then Iron Man’s teleportation system fails…. Kabooom!


 

Review / Commentaries

Rating:
4 stars

Invincible Iron Man #38 Review by (July 25, 2020)
Comments: Tony hopes that his impulsive attack on his enemies goes better than the one in BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID; the title characters [SPOILER] lost that battle. Go see the movie anyway. Trevor Donahue was previously seen only in issue #29. Various scandals of the day are alluded to including O.J. Simpson and Marv Albert. Inked by Mark Pennington and Rodney Ramos.

Review: More gunplay starts this issue off and they are going to make us wait to find out why Tony Stark is shooting at people. Meanwhile, this issue is a mature advance over the older comics: instead of a bomb, our hero has to fight media perceptions of him, and he learns how modern news companies work. It’s certainly something one wouldn’t imagine Stan Lee producing in the 1960s (even if he did know how a huge corporation worked). Looks like anger is Tony’s real enemy in this one, especially since he doesn’t take the drink he pours. Kabooom!



> Invincible Iron Man comic book info and issue index

Elektra
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Excelsioring your collection:
Marvel Legends in 3D Comic Daredevil 1:2 Scale Bust
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Alitha Martinez
Mark Pennington
Steve Oliff
Kaare Andrews (Cover Penciler)
Kaare Andrews (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Richard Starkings.
Editor: Bobbie Chase. Editor-in-chief: Joe Quesada.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Daredevil
Daredevil

(Matt Murdock)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Anthony Stark)
Pepper Potts
Pepper Potts

(Pepper Hogan)

Plus: Radioactive Man (Chen Lu), Rumiko Fujikawa, Tiberius Stone, Trevor Donahue, Trish Tilby.