Invincible Iron Man #277: Review

Feb 1992

John Byrne, Paul Ryan

Story Name:

War Games

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #277 Review by T Vernon (May 22, 2018)

Comments: Part two of two parts. Tony Stark quotes I LOVE LUCY. The letters page includes a farewell to writer John Byrne and a checklist for the OPERATION: GALACTIC STORM event.

Review: Intellectual exercise: Try to imagine what the President of the United States (pick your favorite) would say to the world if it were discovered that America's nuclear arsenal was launched toward Russia. And that the only thing preventing nuclear war was Iron Man. Now try to imagine what he would say if it were discovered that Iron Man was the reason that America's nuclear arsenal was launched toward Russia. We likely would have gotten the Superhuman Registration Act a dozen years early, for one. Well, the story moves at a fast clip (odd since it was last issue that had the time element attached), and is a bit more entertaining, even though much of the plot is still Iron Man versus missiles. Still pretty good, if no classic.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #277 Synopsis by T Vernon

US missiles have been launched toward the USSR, thanks to the Black Widow who turned out to be Soviet sleeper agent Oktober. Iron Man now awakens from the neural zap Natasha gave him and finds himself surrounded by military security types, who demand an explanation. He points out that Code Joshua has been activated which sends the officers into a panic and necessitates informing President George (H.W.) Bush. The guards do not believe Shellhead's account of the Black Widow so he releases sleep gas and escapes, crashing though the ceiling. Catching up to the missiles, Iron Man uses a scanner to jam their guidance systems, bringing them under his power. Shellhead then steers the nukes out into space where they will orbit for the next twenty years, giving the nation some time to figure out what to do with them....

Meanwhile, Black Widow has hijacked a military jet; IM catches up to her and she again asks for his help in stopping a villain. In New York, they confront the Russian diplomat who ridiculed Natasha's fears back in issue #272, and is now revealed to have engineered the whole plot in a bid to avenge himself against the Russia that has rejected communism and incidentally seize power himself over the devastated country. Iron Man makes him confess to his crimes on a recording device by threatening to turn him over to the Black Widow....