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Invincible Iron Man #26

Mar 2000
Joe Quesada, Sean Chen

Invincible Iron Man #26 cover

Story Name:

The Mask in the Iron Man


Synopsis

Invincible Iron Man #26 synopsis by T Vernon
Rating: 4 stars
At a Miami hotel, Tony Stark broods over his messed-up relationships, especially having accompanied Rumiko Fujikawa to a nightclub where he became jealous of a dude who was paying too much attention to her, accosting the fellow and getting a broken nose for his troubles….

The next day at a tech expo, Tony introduces his Synth-Kinetic Interfacing Nano-fluid (S.K.I.N.), having a remote-controlled Iron Man coat a basketball with it and can both bounce it and crash it through a wall. He has it roll toward Rumiko who is flirting with men in the room and asks her to throw it back; she hurls it at his bandaged nose and he stops the ball in midair with the press of a button….

Later Tony and Rumiko’s relationship is strained but they go to a club for New Year’s Eve festivities. On arrival, Tony’s jealousy comes out and Rumiko ends up screaming at him—and confessing that she is in love with him. Tony goes home and dons the armor, jetting into the sky at the stroke of midnight—where he is attacked by Whiplash. As they fight, they are separated by a firework exploding between them but clashing together again. The villain’s new and improved whip draws lightning from the sky to deliver a more painful slash to the Golden Avenger. Another lightning strike knocks them out of the air and Tony finds himself plummeting to a hard sidewalk….

Tony awakens in the hospital, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, and Rhodey standing around him. An enraged Rumiko pushes her way into the room showing him the news headline, “Tony Stark is Iron Man!”


 

Review / Commentaries


Invincible Iron Man #26 Review by (April 18, 2020)
Comments: Whiplash last appeared in issue #8. Tony refers to Rumiko’s “little black dress” but it looks red to me. The appearances of Rhodey and Happy at the end are revealed next issue to be a hallucination.

Review: The title is a cute variation on the classic adventure novel The Man in the Iron Mask but it will gradually take on a much darker significance as this story arc progresses. For the bulk of the issue the story is all about Tony and Rumiko’s romantic antics (rom-antics?), never the best part of any superhero story. The climactic battle with Whiplash is effective but a bit hard to follow in the darkness and rain. And for the umpteenth time, Tony’s secret identity comes out, rivaling Daredevil for the most exposed superhero, which always leads to a bizarre way of hiding it again.



> Invincible Iron Man comic book info and issue index

Elektra
Invincible Iron Man #26 cover

Excelsioring your collection:
Marvel Iron Man MARK7 Statue ARTFX 1/6 Statue
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Sean Chen
Rob Hunter
Steve Oliff
Joe Quesada (Cover Penciler)
Tim Townsend (Cover Inker)
Richard Isanove (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Richard Starkings.
Editor: Bobbie Chase. Editor-in-chief: Bob Harras.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Iron Man
Iron Man

(Anthony Stark)
James Rhodes
James Rhodes

(Rhodey)
Pepper Potts
Pepper Potts

(Pepper Hogan)

Plus: Rumiko Fujikawa.

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