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Invincible Iron Man #18: Review

Jul 1999
Roger Stern, Sean Chen

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Story Name:

Sunset Intrigues (Machinery of War Part 1)

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Invincible Iron Man #18 Review by (January 7, 2020)
Comments: Rafe Michel was a Harlem activist who butted heads with the Falcon in a few issues of CAPTAIN AMERICA in the 1970s (issues #143, 151, 154, 160, 161) and whose body was taken over by Lucifer in CAP issue #177, killing him in the following issue; this subplot will be continued in IRON MAN ANNUAL 1999. Abner Little was introduced in BLACK PANTHER #1-7 during the Jack Kirby run; he’ll show up again in issues #21-22. Sapper and Golden-Blade first appeared in MS MARVEL #13 (1978); this is their second appearance and they will turn up again in the next few issues. Glenda Sandoval was introduced in issue #15 and will appear more frequently in WAR MACHINE (2009 series). Kurt Busiek and Roger Stern co-plotted this issue. Lary Stucker and Eric Cannon co-inked.

Review: Caught between two women: Tony Stark matches wits with a slinky Sunset Bain and tries to help alcoholic Carol Danvers. And big bad War Machine II awaits in the wings. Much of the action comes from a battle with a pair of obscure villains but it’s the human drama that moves the story along, mostly Tony’s suspicions and Carol’s plight. And we learn what we were never told in King Kong and various Godzilla movies: what do the good guys do with a dead (or otherwise incapacitated) giant monster? In KING KONG ESCAPES it was giant balloons but here it’s heavy engineering and a lot of sweat from Iron Man.





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #18 Synopsis by T Vernon
With the aid of lifting engines and massive scaffolding, Iron Man is able to raise the unconscious Fin Fang Foom and deliver him to the US Navy, where he learns that Sunset Bain is in charge of the transport work. She lets Shellhead know that she will see Tony at his upcoming party….

And at the party, Tony sees her—a vision in a sexy minidress with every man’s eyes on her. She asks to see Tony in private where she tells him of an AI project she needs his help with; they nearly kiss but they are interrupted by Abner Little who wants Stark Solutions to help in locating a lost treasure (as did Count Andreas Zorba in issue #16). Tony turns him down….

In Brooklyn the police are puzzled by a grave robbery—that of minor hood Rafe Michel….

Later Tony explains to Pepper Potts that he accepted the Baintronics job so he could look for proof that Sunset Bain was behind the second, evil War Machine. Feeling lonely, Tony calls Rumiko Fujikawa in Fiji; she invites him down but he can’t go. Tony, tempted to drink, puts the bottle away from him and wonders how Carol Danvers is doing with her drinking problem….

Iron Man finds Warbird atop a Navy sub, battling former foes Golden-Blade and Sapper. Tony realizes Carol is drunk but she resists help, even saving Shellhead from their enemies….

Interlude: Dr. Glenda Sandoval is helping James Rhodes search for her husband Parnell Jacobs

…who is the new villainous War Machine, watching Iron Man and Warbird’s battle on TV and wanting to take Iron Man down now, but Sunset Bain warns him against arousing Tony Stark’s suspicions of his involvement with Baintronics….

As the heroes battle the villains, Sapper overloads and explodes; Shellhead allows the baddies to get away as he rescues Warbird from the deep. When she regains consciousness, she realizes she messed up because of her drinking and appeals to Tony for help….

Epilogue: Sunset Bain muses on drawing Tony into a trap, tricking him into unwittingly decoding the AI that is Jocasta….


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Barberoids 1 cover original artwork on ebay

Sean Chen
Lary Stucker
Steve Oliff
Sean Chen (Cover Penciler)
Mark Morales (Cover Inker)
Plot: . Letterer: Richard Starkings.
Editor: Bobbie Chase. Editor-in-chief: Bob Harras.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Iron Man
Iron Man

(Tony Stark)
James Rhodes
James Rhodes

(Rhodey)
Pepper Potts
Pepper Potts

(Pepper Hogan)

Plus: Abner Little, Glenda Sandoval, Golden-Blade, Jocasta (Jocasta Pym), Rumiko Fujikawa, Sapper, Sunset Bain (Madame Menace), War Machine (Parnell Jacobs), Warbird (Carol Danvers).

> Invincible Iron Man: Book info and issue index

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