Invincible Iron Man #66: Review

May 2003

Mike Grell, Michael Ryan

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Story Name:

Manhunt: Part Two

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #66 Review by T Vernon (February 12, 2021)

Comments: Mandarin apparently died in IRON MAN (1998) #9-10; his son Temugin took over in issues #53-55. There’s a parody of the famous “Point/Counterpoint” segments of the news program 60 MINUTES.

Review: Tony Stark is dying! Again! And this time Mike Grell manages to put a new spin on it by having him trapped in his armor with no obvious way to get in. Tony’s self-protection (psychological) has actually transferred into the tech world as his armor has a lock that needs to be opened to save his life. Well, Grell doesn’t drag it out but has Pepper show up with the proper password to open it up and his life is saved…eventually (gotta have some suspense). So as the world cracks up: North Korea? Clinton administration? Dirty dealings by Stark? The personal gets grim. Pepper and Rumiko hate each other, Pepper goes to church to pray for Happy (a rare moment of religiosity from a major character), Rumiko is mad at Tony, Pepper is now mad at Tony. Soap opera has long been a part of this title but Mike Grell keeps it hopping rather than rehashing old scores. Well, yes he is but these are scores that have never been settled. And then there’s another hit on Tony, by Mabel the comic nurse from the beginning of the issue turned killer. And there are hints of the Mandarin’s involvement.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #66 Synopsis by Julio Molina-Muscara

The two assassins are able to hit Tony Stark before he brings his badly wounded friend, Happy Hogan into an alley. Cornered, Tony is able to get into his Iron Man armor just before the second attack, and defeats the hitters. But he's wounded. As the assassins are poisoned by an unknown individual, Iron Man rushes Happy into a hospital.

While doctors try saving Hogan's life, Iron Man plummets to the floor unconscious from his own wounds. When Tony wakes up, Nick Fury and F.B.I. agent Neil Streich inform him that the assassins might be related to North Korea. But Tony suspects that the one behind it all is Mandarin's son, Temugin.

At night, Mabel the nurse poisons the two officials in custody of Tony Stark, and does similarly to Tony Stark who reacts in great pain.

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