Iron Man 230
“The Day the Hero Died”
Published Jan. 1988
Plot: Bob Layton and Dave Michelinie
Script: Michelinie
Pencils: Mark Bright
Inks: Layton
Letters Janice Chiang
Colors: Bob Sharen
Cover: Bright and Layton

Synopsis

This is chapter six in “Stark Wars,” a story arc detailing Tony Stark’s attempts to round up all the illicit uses of his technology. So far it’s been at a high cost, as he explains that an innocent was killed in the Soviet Union as he battled the Titanium Man. To disable all other uses of his tech, Tony is now deploying a “tapeworm” program, essentially a virus that infects all other technology.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military is working with a contractor developing “Firepower,” its own high-powered armor that utilize stolen Stark technology, with the intention of taking down Iron Man. A senator and generals lean on Tony to help them corner Iron Man, and Tony agrees, reasoning he has to confront Firepower at some point. They battle in the desert, and Tony is badly beaten, and in the last panel appears to have been killed.

What’s going on here?

This is satisfying comic, even jumping in without having read (or more accurately, remembered) the first five installments in the Stark Wars story. It features a lot of the Iron Man set-pieces from this era: Tony looking suave in his fancy Stark offices, Rhodey being the helpful voice of reason, Tony tempted to drink but rejecting booze, etc. It also features the Silver Centurian armor, which, although relatively short-lived, was the main armor for much of my Iron Man-collecting youth and an underrated look for the character.

The comic was also produced by the longtime Iron team of Michelinie and Layton, with Bright on pencils. Layton, particularly, feels like the quintessential Iron Man artist, and manages to make the armor gleam like no other other.

What I liked

This was a well-paced story, with the action alternating between Tony and his plans to eliminate rogue uses of his technology, and the military eagerly testing its powerful new weapon. There’s also a grim sense of inevitability as Tony prepares to take on a foe that seems more than capable of handling him, and in fact kicks his ass. It’s rare to see a hero get as badly beaten as Iron Man was here.

Also, I love the cover logo. Maybe the best Iron Man logo ever.

What I didn’t like

The Firepower design is pretty clumsy and unattractive. The last panel, suggesting Tony is dead, seems like such an obvious red herring. Only someone reading their first comic book would think Tony is dead. And while it’s cool to have Black characters like Rhodey and Jack Taggert, the soldier in the Firepower suit, in prominent roles, Michelinie is too quick to resort to stereotypes, such as Rhodey’s dropping letters in his speech and Taggart’s off-handed mention of “the projects.”

Overall

A solid, entertaining mainstream comic.