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Invincible Iron Man #300: Review

Jan 1994

Len Kaminski, ?

Story Name:

Appetite for destruction

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #300 Review by T Vernon (November 19, 2018)

Comments: Double-sized special issue. Part three of three parts. Bethany Cabe was a major part of the series from issues #117-211, as Tony's girlfriend/security chief; former boxer Eddie March was hired to wear the armor in issues #21-22 and he had appeared intermittently up to issue #109 in 1978; Michael O'Brien became the Guardsman in issue #96 and appeared until #109, impersonating Shellhead in #98-99, after that joined the Avengers' support staff; Carl Walker was Force, henchman to Justin Hammer, until he reformed and became an ally of Iron Man's in #223-224 and donned the armor in #244. Happy Hogan has had to fill in as Iron Man too many times to count. And Ultimo returns in IRON MAN Vol 3: 23-25.

Review: Well, this milestone issue pulls out all stops: a formidable villain in Ultimo, scarier than ever before. There's a hero in severe straits, Tony Stark, in a coma and offering a writer and artist the opportunity to show what's in his mind, an army of monsters that all sum up in his father's disapproving voice. In Rhodey we have an unwilling replacement hero, shamed into taking on the villain and having a hard time. The Iron Legion, a team of former series characters wearing earlier suits of armor, combining to form a sort of historical survey of the series. And they fail! For all of Rhodey's planning, the heroes fail to defeat the villain! So here comes Tony to the rescue, waltzing in at the last minute to save the day and getting punched in the face. So, some interpersonal drama, some maudlin memories from Veronica who talks herself into going to bed with Tony, another notch on his bedpost, and half an issue of pyrotechnics that solve nothing in the end. And yet it all works! Great issue, even the unintentionally goofy parts!

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #300 Synopsis by T Vernon

“Appetite for Destruction: Chapter 1”

Pencils: Kevin Hopgood.

The resurrected Ultimo is on a rampage and heading toward Futura, California. The National Guard's air and ground units are unable to affect the monster. While Tony Stark lies paralyzed, James Rhodes—War Machine—has been called in to help. And Rhodey has gathered a team of people who have worn the Iron Man armor: Happy Hogan, Eddie March, Michael O'Brien, and Carl Walker, plus Bethany Cabe. He explains the mission then has them suit up in some of Tony's obsolete armors, though Abe Zimmer can't guarantee their quality. Nevertheless, the Iron Legion suits up and heads out....

“Chapter 2: The Soft Machine”

Pencils: Tom Morgan.

Veronica Benning comes to visit Tony Stark, comatose from the neural feedback of Ultimo destroying his remote control armor (last issue). Dr Erica Sondheim allows Veronica to be alone with Tony. She talks to him about the danger of memories, how her husband was killed and she was critically injured in a car accident; when she recovered after many grueling months, she determined to become a physical therapist and the she would let no one get close to her again—but now Tony has distracted her from that decision. Meanwhile, Tony, locked deep inside his own mind is doing battle with multitudes of bad memories that gather and form themselves into a giant machine with the face of Howard Stark, berating his son for not measuring up; Tony musters his will and strikes back against his father, and emerges from his coma. After a brief kiss with Veronica, Tony gets up from his bed, determined to destroy Ultimo....

“Chapter 3: The Iron Legion”

Pencils: Tom Morgan.

War Machine and the five members of the Iron Legion unleash their weapons against the rampaging Ultimo. The monster grabs Eddie March and slams him to the ground; Carl Walker goes to his rescue but Ultimo's eye-beams melt Carl's armor, critically injuring him. As Rhodey and Mike O'Brien attack the monster, Bethany Cabe and Happy Hogan rescue their two fallen comrades and whisk them to safety. The four remaining armored heroes again pour out their power on their gigantic foe but it seems to have no effect. When Happy is smashed to the ground, Rhodey call for a tactical retreat. Out of sight, they are forgotten by Ultimo who continues his path to the city. Rhodey has Happy take Eddie and Carl to the hospital, sends Mike ahead to evacuate Futura, and he and Bethany take on Ultimo one more time....

“Finale: Armored and Dangerous”

Pencils: Kevin Hopgood.

Tony Stark arrives in his armor lab to see what his AI H.O.M.E.R. has for him: it's a brand new armor, modular not a single system. He forces himself out of his wheelchair and with difficulty dons the new armor. Then the new, improved Iron Man heads out for his date with Ultimo. Arriving at the town of Futura, Ultimo seizes Bethany Cabe and Rhodey is distracted rescuing people who are trapped in their homes so that he doesn't see Tony's arrival. The new, improved Iron Man covers the monster's head with a polymer compound which drinks up his energy; Tony then launches a probe which allows him to see the creature's weakness, followed by his placing an EM field generator on its back. The generator pulls millions of volts of electricity from the sky, wiping Ultimo's operating system, knocking it flat. Tony muses on Ultimo's origin then turns to try to patch things up with Rhodey, who, bitterly angry at Tony Stark's letting other people hurt themselves then walking in to claim the victory one more time, punches him in his armored face. Rhodey threatens to kill Tony if he calls him again. Tony offers Bethany a job with the company again.

Epilogue 1: Tony finds Veronica waiting for him at home and they go into the bedroom together....

Epilogue 2: Marcy Pearson's private hacker Philip “Raven” Grant cracks Stark's security on his files—then the two start sending out all the dirt to the media, causing the news companies to begin reporting allegations of fraud and other crimes by Stark. Marcy's mysterious employer watches and approves, plotting more and deadlier strikes against Iron Man....

“Personnel Bios”

Writer: Scott Benson. Pencils: Kevin Hopgood.

Brief accounts of current Stark staff members Felix Alvarez, Bambina Arbogast, Abraham Zimmer, HOMER, Erica Sondheim, Victoria [sic] Benning, Harold Hogan, and Bethany Cabe.

Story #2

Chapter 3: The Iron Legion

Writer: Len Kaminski. Penciler: Tom Morgan. Inker: Steve Mitchell. Letterer: Jack Morelli.

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

By None

Story #3

Finale: Armored and Dangerous

Writer: Len Kaminski. Inker: Steve Mitchell. Letterer: Jack Morelli.

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

By None

Barberoids 1 cover original artwork on ebay

Len Kaminski

Steve Mitchell

Ariane Lenshoek

Kev Hopgood (Cover Penciler)
Kev Hopgood (Cover Inker)

Letterer: Jack Morelli.
Editor: Nel Yomtov. Editor-in-chief: Tom DeFalco.

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Happy Hogan

Iron Man
(Tony Stark)

War Machine
(James Rhodes)

Plus: Abe Zimmer, Bethany Cabe, Carl Walker, Eddie March, Erica Sondheim, H.O.M.E.R., Marcy Pearson, Michael O'Brien, Raven (Philip Grant), Ultimo, Veronica Benning.

> Invincible Iron Man: Book info and issue index

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