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Iron Man #100

Jul 1977

Bill Mantlo, George Tuska

Story Name:

Ten Rings To Rule the World!

Synopsis

Iron Man #100 synopsis by T Vernon

Rating:

Having rescued Michael O’Brien from the Mandarin’s trap, the real Iron Man makes junk out of the baddie’s robot warriors by maneuvering them into self-destructing. Witnessing this, Michael now realizes that Tony Stark is a hero and not a villain and takes the Quinjet home. Entering his enemy’s lair, Iron Man is tricked into walking into a force field by the appearance of images of the Mandarin. Then the real one arrives to clobber the hero with his deadly martial arts and then releases poison gas mixed with black light to blind Shellhead, then freeze him with another ring blast. The Mandarin then gloats over his plan to start a nuclear war between the USA and Soviet Union while he waits to pick up the pieces. He then moves on to explain his mysterious return: after his death at the hands of the Yellow Claw, that villain’s henchman Loc Do stole the power rings for himself; soon, the Mandarin’s consciousness took control of the servant’s body and he was reborn. While he was shooting off his yap, Iron Man had turned on the heat in his armor and is now able to break out of the icy coating and counterattack…
Michael O’Brien returns to Stark Industries to explain the situation to Jasper Sitwell and Krissy Longfellow, which leaves her in an enigmatic bind (more on this later)….
The fight continues with trap-doors and an acid bath from the villain, and expert flying and tunneling from the hero, with karate and sound amplification—yes folks, it’s a battle of doohickeys we’re watching. Shellhead finally uses an electromagnet to strip the rings from his enemy’s hands, followed by punching his face out….
In Washington, Senator Hawk’s aide Jonathan Rich opens Tony Stark’s briefcase in front of the entire committee to prove Stark is a traitor; instead it releases tear gas and the contents are destroyed. It was all a set-up by Hawk and Tony Stark to unmask the traitorous Rich. For his failure Rich is electrocuted by the Mandarin miles away…
…raging as Iron Man destroys his control panel, his missiles, and his fortress, leaving the villain alone to ponder his fate….

Review / Commentaries

Iron Man #100 Review by T Vernon (August 12, 2014)

Review: A satisfying wrap-up to a long epic from when comics didn’t take themselves so seriously. We don’t often see a duel in which two high-tech combatants trade attacks other than with punches, so relish this, it’s a lot better than the flippant synopsis indicates. Plus, Mike Esposito’s inking makes George Tuska’s pencils look less cartoony than usual and it’s really nice.

Comments: Part six of six parts. Title is (probably) an allusion to LORD OF THE RINGS and “One ring to rule them all!” The Mandarin’s robot guards are still dressed like Japanese warriors and now Tony calls them Kamikaze.

> Iron Man comic book info and issue index

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Holy smokes, Batman!
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Main/1st Story Full Credits

Bill Mantlo

George Tuska

Mickey Demeo

Janice Cohen

Jim Starlin (Cover Penciler)
Jim Starlin (Cover Inker)

Additional Credits

Letterer: Ray Holloway.
Editor: Archie Goodwin.

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Iron Man
(Anthony Stark)

Jasper Sitwell

Mandarin

Plus: Madame Masque (Krissy Longfellow), Michael O'Brien, Senator Byrd, Senator Hawk, Yellow Claw.

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