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Invincible Iron Man #73: Review

Dec 2003
John Jackson Miller, Jorge Lucas

Story Name:

Acquisition

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Invincible Iron Man #73 Review by (March 19, 2021)
Comments: First appearance of Sonny Burch, who inspired the character played by Walton Goggins in ANT-MAN AND THE WASP. There is a reference to the Apollo 1 fire which took place on January 27, 1967, killing three astronauts. At this point in time (2003) in real life, there was no vacancy in the office of US Secretary of Defense; Donald Rumsfeld served from 2001-2006. But there was a vacancy in the Marvel Universe as Defense Secretary Dell Rusk was forced out after being exposed as the Red Skull, who apparently likes anagrams, in the contemporary AVENGERS book. And then-President George W. Bush makes an appearance.

Review: Back in the old days, Iron Man beat up bad guys in costumes bearing bizarre weapons. In more recent years, he’s been fighting shady contractors, politicians, and big business types. And now we go to the extreme: Tony Stark finds the arcane rules surrounding national security and patents pushes him to a position where he can’t keep his inventions out of the government’s hands, forcing him to join the government. (And his secret identity as Iron Man plays a part in that fiasco; are such strictures specifically in the US Code?) And so, unlike the “Armor Wars” arc where Iron Man got to beat up bad guys in armor, Tony has to sit in an office in the Pentagon and keep an eye on what his subordinates are doing. It’s not your typical superhero story. So, will a dramatic climax be his refusal to sign an order because of a questionable rider? Here’s hoping Titanium Man or someone like that shows up.




 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #73 Synopsis by Julio Molina-Muscara
After several fatal accidents caused by using new advanced military technology, Conrad Stu, the U.S. President's Chief of Staff, proposes Tony Stark to work for the U.S. government, helping them in quality control that avoids further accidents. But Tony wants to put his weapons manufacturer past behind. Then as Iron Man and while rescuing soldiers from a U.S. submarine, Captain America tries to make Tony see that sometimes it is right to build weapons. Tony discovers that what made the sub sink was a device of his invention that was incorrectly installed. 

Iron Man enters the Pentagon to speak to Sonny Burch, the Under-Secretary for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, who used to work for Obadiah Stane. Burch has been disclosing patented Stark inventions to defense contractors. But, thanks to some quirks in laws and regulations, the government can actually do it. 

After such news, Tony Stark goes to speak with the U.S. President (George W. Bush) who wants to name him the next Secretary of Defense.

Preview Pages
Click sample interior pages to enlarge them:




Jorge Lucas
Jorge Lucas
Oscar Carreno
Joe Jusko (Cover Penciler)
Joe Jusko (Cover Inker)
Joe Jusko (Cover Colorist)
Letterer: Rus Wooton.
Editor: Tom Brevoort. Editor-in-chief: Joe Quesada.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Captain America
Captain America

(Steve Rogers)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Tony Stark)

Plus: Sonny Burch.

> Invincible Iron Man: Book info and issue index

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