Invincible Iron Man, No. 80

Written by - Mike Friedrich

Pencils by - Chic Stone

Inks by - Vince Colletta

Colours by - George Roussos
Cover Art - Jack Kirby & Al Milgrom


It's been a while since my last blog entry but I'm back again to write about comics I've been reading; today's is 'The Invincible Iron Man' no. 80 from 1975. The beautiful cover art is by Jack Kirby in which he presents Iron Man filling the width of the cover elbow-to-elbow, giving Iron Man a sense of strength and weight; locked into the middle of the page almost having to carry the weight of his name upon his back.

The story is entitled 'Mission into Madness' and on the opening page at the top it states "The dreaded deadline doom has broken up our storyline far more than it should, but we're back on track now, and we're gonna see our story on to its smashing climax! Onward!" I couldn't find any extra information about this, but I guess it suggests that the book was late on its release due to missing tight deadlines for whatever reason.

The first few pages are a recap on previous issues in which it explains how Iron Man has done battle with foes such as the Yellow Claw (who was secretly an explosive automaton), the Death Squad and Modok. The start of this story finds Iron Man chasing Firebrand and the Black Lama through inter-dimensional space. They arrive in Black Lama's home dimension and are attacked by castle guards. I fight ensues and then Iron Man and Firebrand are taken to a secret hiding place by Princess Susan and her father King Jerald (the Black Lama) who goes on to explain how he isn't a bad guy but temporarily insane. Iron Man doesn't believe him and so Firebrand attacks and escapes. Iron Man defeats some Nulatron robots, catches up with the Black Lama and agrees to help him suppress the revolt, but the longer he has to stay in this dimension, the more insane he will become.

The Invaders, No. 16

Written by - Roy Thomas

Pencils by - Jim Mooney

Inks by - Frank Springer

Colours by - Janice Cohen

Letters by - John Costanza

Great cover art here by Jack Kirby featured on The Invaders no. 16 from May 1977. After recently reading Marvels current 'Fear Itself' event I was (again) reminded of Nazis in comic books, to which. The Invaders came to mind; The Invaders generally features many Nazis and this one has the biggest one of all... 

Captain America and Bucky are in London and fail to stop the abduction of American Private 'Biljo White' by a group of Nazis. Biljo White is the writer and artist of fictional comic book 'Major Victory'. Captain America purchases the latest issue as it features the origin of Major Victory which strangely mirrors the Cap's own origins. It is from this story that the Nazis believe its writer, Biljo White, knows the details of the 'Super Soldier Formula'. They travel to Berchtesgaden, Hitlers armoured fortress, in Namor's airship which is stormed by Master Man. Then Hitler arrives...

Iron Man & Captain America, No. 72

Tales of Suspense number 72 is from 1965 and contains two stories featuring Iron Man and Captain America respectively; the cover art is by legend Jack Kirby (Nazi robots, nice...)

Hoorah For The Conquering Hero!

This is the first story in the comic and follows Iron Man as he returns to America from battle with Titanium Man. Tony Stark is kidnapped by the Awesome Android and taken to the Mad Thinker's lair who has in turn been hired by Countess Stephanie De La Spiroza as she seeks revenge for being spurned by Tony.

The Sleeper Shall Awake!

The second story features Captain America and appearances by Avengers; Hawkeye (a personal favourite), Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Cap thinks back to the 2nd World War and remembers when the Red Skull, on his death bed, had told Cap that 20 years after the wars end, three Nazi sleeper agents would awaken and restart the Third Reich all over again. That date is now almost upon him...

Fantastic Four, No. 67

This issue of the Fantastic Four, issue 67, was published in 1967; written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby. When I say written by Stan Lee, I guess it's hard to know exactly how much he actually wrote, but that is a subject that has been discussed a thousand times on internet forums; I personally think he was an integral part of Marvel, however, the majority of the actual stories he was supposed to have written I find to be very hit and miss. The real talent on show here is the work of Jack Kirby, a man who's distinctive style I will be most definitely posting more of in the near future. I love the way Jack Kirby draws the human face, his male characters always look suitably rugged and chiselled, and the women have a strange beauty to them (I think it's in the cheekbones). Also, his use of shadow is very distinctive with large areas of black used to great effect; it usually only takes just one panel to know that it was drawn by Jack Kirby.

This issue also tells the origin of Warlock (Adam Warlock) who is originally known as simply 'Him'. The character is an artificial human created for personal gain and power by the scientific group 'The Enclave'. The Fantastic Four are on the Enclave's island base rescuing Alicia Masters, when 'Him' hatches from his cocoon and destroys the island. Him abandons his masters and departs Earth for space.