Invincible Iron Man (1998 series) #68

Comments: The last time Tony Stark was in hiding with a disguise and a fake name was issues #42-45. Tony refers to John Ashcroft who was US Attorney General at the time. The phrase “What’s the frequency Kenneth?” appears as a graffito; it’s a reference to a 1990s song by R.E.M., inspired by a bizarre incident involving an assault on TV news anchor Dan Rather. Look it up if you don’t believe me.

Review: So, Iron Man is a fugitive again and there’s some weepy-weepy stuff with Pepper and Happy. This time, however, it’s Pepper who has betrayed Tony by giving the fail-safe device to Agent Streich and Tony misinterprets her motive as one of revenge for revealing her secret miscarriage to Happy. Blond and beardless Tony had better stay away from meeting with Steve Rogers and Clint Barton out of costume or they will be indistinguishable to all but the nerdiest readers. But Tony is actually being a clever secret agent when he questions Mr. Yu but, as he recognizes, he is a dumb superhero in wanting to confront Temugin right away—but that makes for exciting comic books!