Invincible Iron Man #19: Review

Nov 1969

Archie Goodwin, George Tuska

::: click cover to ENLARGE it :::

Story Name:

What Price Life?!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Invincible Iron Man #19 Review by T Vernon (December 28, 2012)

Review: Half an issue of new complications for Tony and half an issue of James Bond-style pyrotechnics, this issue is a winner all the way. Logic finally wins out and Tony has his heart repaired but his doctor tells him to take it easy—can he go on being Iron Man?? And Midas goes the way of all good movie villains: hoist on his own petard—in this case his weight and the gold furnishings he affects conspiring to prevent his escape. Nice explosion at the end. And Madame Masque gets characterization! Whoa!

Comments: Conclusion of a three-part story. The events of AVENGERS #69 take place immediately before this issue (though the note on page 2 claims it’s issue #68). Madame Masque is revealed to be Whitney Frost. Midas returns in IRON MAN #103. It is finally explained how Iron Man’s helmet is hard for the most part but seems like rubber or cloth when he pulls it off: flexible polarized metal. Enemies appearing in Tony’s fever dream include the Mandarin, Crimson Dynamo, Mole Man, Unicorn, A.I.M., Whiplash, Attuma, Titanium Man, and Count Nefaria; the cover adds the Black Knight and Lucifer (who won’t meet Iron Man until the next issue). Happy and Pepper Hogan are among the concerned friends.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invincible Iron Man #19 Synopsis by T Vernon

In a realm between life and death, Iron Man is battling valiantly against his many foes but they have an invincible ally on their side: Death himself…. Tony Stark, having suffered a critical heart attack while fighting his own LMD, has been rushed to the hospital where Dr. Jose Santini is attempting to rebuild Tony’s damaged heart with synthetic tissue. The media and Tony’s friends and colleagues wait nervously for hours…then Captain America appears to announce the success of the operation. Iron Man is pulled from the grip of Death as Tony awakens to the good news. Dr. Santini tells him all should be well if he avoids unusual stress to his system. After his release, Tony returns to the office where he struggles with the question of whether to wear the Iron Man armor again. An alarm sounds and Tony rushes into his office, only to be captured by Madame Masque and delivered to Midas. When Tony reveals to the villain that he is not the impostor but the real thing, Midas has him imprisoned until he decides to sign over his wealth to the greedy master criminal. In his cell, Madame Masque reveals her real face to Tony and he recognizes her as Whitney Frost, assuring her that, in spite of her disfigurement, she is still a beautiful woman. She decides to help him escape and leads him to his attaché case. As Midas sets off a laser trap, Tony dons the Iron Man armor and crashes through the ceiling with Masque. The villain uses his weaponized hover-chair to fire upon Shellhead and the two battle it out. Midas manages to trap Iron Man under his chair but when he threatens Madame Masque, Tony summons all of his strength and overturns the chair, throwing Midas to the floor. As Iron Man and Masque flee, Midas notices that his chair is about to explode but the obese villain is unable to use the soft gold furnishings to pull himself up to escape. Masque takes Tony away in a captured hydrofoil as the island stronghold goes up in flames. Near shore, she leaps overboard to leave the unconscious Tony to be rescued by the authorities.

Story #2