Synopsis
Invincible Iron Man #72 synopsis by
T Vernon
Rating:
Iron Man is infected with the alien nanoplasm. Saige Kaufman arrives and Mo Stanton, fully overwhelmed by the nanoplasm, asks to be killed to prevent a worse catastrophe. Tony refuses, hoping to get him cured. But first they must deal with Marc Vicus who is planning to infect all of Las Vegas with the alien stuff. Tony is becoming increasingly sicker from the alien presence, which can also tell that Tony would be a better host than Vicus for spreading its influence, namely, in New York….
Iron Man heads to Vicus’ hotel headquarters, realizing that the alien effect on him is similar to being drunk, and smashes through the skylight. As he lies there helplessly, the stuff tries to take over his mind, telling him how easy life will be when he gives in to it. When approached by Vicus’ henchmen, the stuff returns Tony’s motor control and he beats them all up and heads for a confrontation with the big boss. He finds Vicus sick in bed as a result of the nanoplasm and Vicus relates to Tony how Howard Hughes was infected like this when he found the UFO but resisted its influence, managing to contain the stuff by remaining a hermit in his Vegas penthouse. The nanoplasm starts to leave Vicus for Tony and the hero flies to the roof where a replica of Hughes’ famous plane is found to be full of the nanoplasm, ready to be sprayed over the city. Vicus, still infected fights with Iron Man in the air, taking them to the UFO crash site. Vicus absorbs all of the stuff and it makes him dry up and blow away. Tony uses his ablative tiles to neutralize the remaining nanoplasm and Saige helps him back to his feet. Tony convinces Mo Stanton to try for a cure rather than death and the writer agrees….
Four days later, Tony is fully recovered and declines a romantic interlude with Saige before heading home while talking himself out of going back and taking over Vicus’ casino and becoming another Howard Hughes….
Epilogue: A driver picks up a hitchhiker in the desert: Marc Vicus….