Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin #3: Review

Jan 2008

Joe Casey, Eric Canete

Story Name:

(no title given)

Review & Comments

Rating:

Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin #3 Review by Rob Johnson (April 10, 2013)

This issue finishes ToS#51 (Scarecrow) and covers #52 (Black Widow and Crimson Dynamo). Tony Stark's injuries and damaged armour explain why he can't defeat Scarecrow. There's no such excuse in ToS#51. In that comic Scarecrow isn't working for Mandarin. He tries to sell the weapon plans he stole back to Stark, but takes the money and keeps the plans. But Stark has bugged the money, and Iron Man follows Scarecrow to a Cuban boat. Iron Man does throw the villain overboard. He retrieves the plans and sinks the boat. The woman in black seen by Temugin is Black Widow (her 1st published appearance). In ToS#52 she and Boris Turgenov are sent to deal with Anton Vanko who defected from Soviet Russia in #46. Vanko tests his laser gun against his old Crimson Dynamo armour, and his armour can't take it. The Widow distracts Tony while Boris dons the Dynamo armour, and the scene evolves pretty much as it does here. Turgenov also dies in ToS#52, and this series skips over #53 where Black Widow tries again. But in order to fit it in (because Stark will lose his current Iron Man armour at the beginning of next issue) ToS#53 must happen near the end of this issue, before Temugin's assassination attempt. Mandarin's son Temugin is brought into this story from left field. He was/will be seen in some issues of Iron Man (1998) starting with #53 (along with Po). Before those tales we knew nothing about him. Temugin is of course the real name of Mandarin's supposed ancestor Genghis Khan.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin #3 Synopsis by Rob Johnson

Injured Tony Stark in the still-damaged Iron Man armour (from fighting Mandarin in #1-2) battles Scarecrow and his crows with help from Happy Hogan. Scarecrow escapes with the data he stole from the Stark Industries database.

Scarecrow is working for Mandarin, through an intermediary Mr Miyagi. Meanwhile Mandarin also has lots of other minions at work across the globe, like hijacking a CIA weapon convoy in Sin-Cong. Scarecrow takes the stolen data to Miyagi on a ship. But when they try to read the data, it triggers a homing signal.

While waiting for the signal, Stark discusses with Anton Vanko the idea of Vanko using his Crimson Dynamo armour to test his new laser weapon against. But they detect the signal, and Iron Man follows it to the ship. He throws Scarecrow overboard, and tries to get Miyagi to say who he's working for. But Miyagi commits suicide.

Mandarin goes to a Himalayan monastery where his son Temugin is living as a monk. He uses a ring to bring Temugin under his control. Temugin goes to America and joins SI as a gardener, awaiting his moment.

He thinks his time has come when there is an explosion. Temugin follows Iron Man and finds him fighting someone in the Crimson Dynamo suit. It's not Anton Vanko because Vanko is using his laser array against the villain. Dynamo is defeated, but Vanko is caught in the blast and dies. Temugin sees a woman in black through the smoke.

Later Temugin is trying to sleep as he recovers from minor injuries. He never saw Stark during the battle, so he had no chance to carry out his orders and kill him.

Later still, after Vanko's funeral, Temugin (somehow) makes his way to Stark's private office where Tony is recharging his chestplate. And he shoots a gun at him.