Invincible Iron Man #119: Review

Feb 1979

David Michelinie, John Romita Jr.

Story Name:

No S.H.I.E.L.D. To Protect Me!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #119 Review by T Vernon (January 27, 2015)

Comments: Part three of three parts. First appearance of Yvette Avril who will show up sporadically in this title over the next few years.

Review: Terrific air battle sequences (including a full page explosion) make this issue a winner. Conversely, the discovery that Nick Fury is plotting against him makes this one of the first “dark side of SHIELD” stories. Notable on both counts.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #119 Synopsis by T Vernon

Aboard the Helicarrier, rogue SHIELD Agent Buck Richlen threatens to kill an unconscious Nick Fury if Iron Man doesn’t use his repulsor rays to kill himself. Instead he silently emits an intense electromagnetic field which causes a ceiling camera to explode, giving the hero the chance to overpower his foe. Suddenly the Helicarrier is under attack by Russian planes as the ship has wandered into Soviet air space. To protect the NATO delegates aboard, Iron Man has no choice but to shoot down missiles and wreck planes, giving the pilots time to eject to safety. Nick Fury and others aboard the carrier begin to wake up and, sizing up the situation, Fury gives the order to get out of there. The Russians fire ICBMs at the Helicarrier and Iron Man shoots them down with a church steeple (!) and then shows up to lift the Helicarrier over the mountains to safety. The ship safe, Shellhead explains the situation to Nick Fury, who has Richlen and his cronies locked up. The hero dashes off to change into his Tony Stark suit and they drop him off at his company’s Paris branch office. There he is met by manager Yvette Avril who extends a warm welcome to her boss….
In private, Tony examines the mystery file he discovered on the SHIELD computer and makes a shocking discovery. He calls Nick Fury to confirm the findings: that SHIELD has been buying up stock in Stark Industries to gain a controlling interest in the company to force Stark to resume manufacturing weapons. In other words the rogue cell was in trouble for their methods, not their goal. Fury signs off and Tony is so upset he puts his fist through the monitor. He then heads out on the city to think things over….