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Invincible Iron Man #80

Jun 2004
John Jackson Miller, Philip Tan

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Story Name:

The Deep End Part Two: Magic Bullets


Synopsis

Invincible Iron Man #80 synopsis by T Vernon
Rating: 3.5 stars
At Baghdad International Airport, an incoming plane drops an advanced all-terrain vehicle onto the tarmac: this is how Tony Stark, Secretary of Defense, arrives in Iraq on an important mission. He meets General Krebs, the local commander and is ushered into a large room full of people trying to get his attention; he refers them to his hapless attaché Bob Ezzard and walks out the back door with Krebs. Tony leads a convoy in his ATV to the north where the men disappeared. On the way they run into an ambush of followers of Ishtar, firing paintball guns—but the guns fire acid, melting away the armor on the vehicles within seconds. Tony changes to Iron Man to take down the terrorists and rescue the wounded; a quick analysis of the acid reveals it a biological in nature. Tony calls the Defense Intelligence Agency and learns that the goo is a weaponized bacteria which eats metal and secretes acid, the work of one Vitriol, code name for one of Saddam Hussein’s weapons designers who broke with the dictator and formed his own gang, eventually dropping off the grid. In a town under siege by the terrorists, a young woman named Leyla volunteers to direct them to the ruined temple where the soldiers disappeared. Entering the Temple of Ishtar, Leyla steps into a pool filled with the bioweapon and emerges as Ishtar, glowing with fire….


 

Review / Commentaries


Invincible Iron Man #80 Review by (April 24, 2021)
Comments: There’s a mention of Julie the cruise director, a joking reference to the 1970s TV series THE LOVE BOAT, set on a luxurious cruise ship; SPEED BUGGY, a cartoon from 1973, is also referenced. And there’s an odd Politically Correct moment when Tony scolds a soldier for referring to the battlefield as “Indian Country,” then learns the man is Sgt. Walkingbear.

Review: Heavy military stuff in this installment of the story arc, so much that I wondered if writer John Jackson Miller had been in the service. Nope, he’s mainly been with the Comics Buyer’s Guide and has written a lot of STAR WARS and STAR TREK tie-in and spinoff novels; so, he’s a nerd like the rest of us. Just sayin’. Okay issue, still marred by the art that makes everyone’s face look dirty but it’s not so obvious when everyone is in military gear. Nice reveal for the new villainess, though her face seems dirtiest of all. And the action scenes are well done. Paintballs!



> Invincible Iron Man comic book info and issue index

Elektra
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Excelsioring your collection:
Marvel Iron Man MARK7 Statue ARTFX 1/6 Statue
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Philip Tan
Philip Tan
Chris García
Adi Granov (Cover Penciler)
Adi Granov (Cover Inker)
Adi Granov (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Randy Gentile.
Editor: Tom Brevoort. Editor-in-chief: Joe Quesada.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Iron Man
Iron Man

(Anthony Stark)