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Invincible Iron Man #42: Review

Jul 2001
Frank Tieri, Keron Grant

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Story Name:

The Big Bang Theory


Synopsis

Invincible Iron Man #42 Synopsis by T Vernon
Prologue: Three workers at a tech firm kibitz as they wait for a strange file called “You Da Man” to download. When it is complete, the building explodes….

Tony Stark, having abandoned his previous life, is working at Askew Electronics under the name Hogan Potts. On the subway to work, the train is derailed by the Shocker, demanding people’s valuables. Tony dons his rough armor with limited capabilities and finds even a loser like Shocker is a match for him; Iron Man manages to vanquish him by grabbing Shocker in one hand and the third rail in the other and letting electricity take its course….

Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan are trying desperately to handle Tony’s affairs now that he’s gone—mainly fielding phone calls all day, asking where Tony is, including one from Captain America…and they don’t know what to say….

“Hogan Potts” is late for work again and his boss, Mr. DePalma is pretty angry. His pal Johnny Morley tries to cheer him up but he’s no help. Later, Jocasta contacts Tony to tell him that Trevor Donahue has died—and he’s caught talking to his watch by the company CEO Callista Hancock, who is suspicious that “Hogan Potts” can fix her computer to where it is better than the best on the market….

Even later, Iron Man is at Askew’s labs being tested with SKIN, a liquid metal coating that hardens into Adamantium-grade strength. Shellhead is then contacted by a mystery man who tells him that there is a bomb inside Askew. Iron Man orders the building evacuated and the villain hints that it is much closer to Iron Man than he thinks. Tony then realizes the bomb is in his armor….


 

Review / Commentaries

Rating:
2.5 stars

Invincible Iron Man #42 Review by (August 21, 2020)
Comments: First appearance of Iron Man’s armor 19/the S.K.I.N. armor. First appearance of Callista Hancock. Trevor Donahue revealed his terminal illness to Tony in issue #39. Inked by Rob Stull, Karl Story, and Rich Perotta; colors by Edgar Tadeo and Avalon.

Review: So, Tony Stark is off in the working world and no one recognizes the world-famous industrialist minus his mustache but with a pair of glasses—does he have the same optometrist as Clark Kent? In fact, that's who Tony looks like through the issue: Clark Kent. The mad bomber plot isn’t very original and the previous issue led us to expect something more than “Tony takes an office job.” Having to fight a third-rate villain like Shocker while wearing third-rate armor was a clever move, probably the last one in this story arc. And like last issue the oddball cartoonish art drags the whole thing down. A big disappointment.



> Invincible Iron Man comic book info and issue index

Elektra
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Excelsioring your collection:
DIAMOND SELECT TOYS Marvel Premier Collection: Avengers Endgame Captain America Statue, Multicolor
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Keron Grant
Rob Stull
Edgar Tadeo
Keron Grant (Cover Penciler)
Rob Stull (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Dave Sharpe.
Editor: Bobbie Chase. Editor-in-chief: Joe Quesada.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Captain America
Captain America

(Steven Rogers)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Anthony Stark)
Jocasta
Jocasta

(Jocasta Pym)
Pepper Potts
Pepper Potts

(Pepper Hogan)
Shocker
Shocker

(Herman Schultz)