Invincible Iron Man #274: Review

Nov 1991

John Byrne, M. D. Bright

Story Name:

Dragon Lord

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #274 Review by T Vernon (May 1, 2018)

Comments: “The Dragon Seed Saga.” Part three of four.

Review: Another spectacular battle issue with a brief interruption for Tony's soap opera antics. His naked lust for Su Yin is a real joke. But then we have the Mandarin fighting dragons with the full power of the Rings—even though we don't know who to root for! That final page resolves the dilemma by heralding the return of Iron Man! Yayyy! Seriously, this issue is a lot of fun, despite a major error: ten dragons gather but we saw one of them killed in the flashback from issue #272 and six more are said to have died over the years in this issue. Did the dead ones get better? [My wife once pointed out that only in comic books and video games does the question “Is he still dead?” represent a serious inquiry. And she was right.] So... where did they all come from? Resurrected by dragon magic? Cloned? Fell into a 3-D photocopier? It doesn't hurt the issue but things feel a little bit off if you think too hard about it.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #274 Synopsis by T Vernon

The dragon crew summoned by Chen Hsu has arrived at the battle site; Fin Fang Foom joins his old comrades. Chen Hsu assumes his own dragon form to greet his crew. The Gathering fills onlookers with terror at the majesty and terrible roars of the dragons. The injured Iron Man (James Rhodes) asks Mandarin how he got “mixed up with this crowd.” Mandy tells the tale of his origin, wherein he came across the alien ship in the Valley of Dragons and took the control elements which became the ten Rings of Power; the villain reveals that he has been using only a fraction of the Rings' power. Chen Hsu and the dragons resume human form and he relates the history of his people: they are from the utopia planet Kakaranathara. They were bored so they set out on a voyage of exploration; they crash-landed on Earth and learned to assimilate by taking on human forms and soon occupied positions of power. Now that they have Gathered, they plan to conquer the world....

After it had jetted away from the battle, the remote-controlled Iron Man armor swooped into Tony Stark's hotel room. As Tony is preparing to don the armor and enter the fight himself, he is interrupted by Dr. Su Yin. She tells Tony that after studying his reports, there may be something that can be done to reverse his paralysis. Tony is overjoyed and asks if she shares the feelings he has expressed for her. They kiss but she hurries out, confessing that she loves him...but she also loves her husband....

The dragons demand the return of the Ten Rings; Mandarin refuses to be a traitor to his species: he will retain the Rings and rule alone. Chen Hsu then summons the Rings; partly sentient, they wish to return to their original owners even if they have to tear Mandy's fingers off. As Rhodey debates how to help, Mandarin's suffering turns into an unbreakable resolve—and he blasts his Gathered foes, finally achieving the full power of the Rings. The dragons respond and the fight is a stalemate, they are too evenly matched—and then Iron Man, the real Iron Man, arrives....