Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes - Posts Tagged "alcoolism"

This is perhaps the most famous Iron Man story. It begins in Issue 120 and concludes in Issue 28 of Iron Man Volume 1 published in 1979.

There are two key plots here. First, there's an external plot against Iron Man. Due to this plot, his suit is having a series of malfunctions, one of which gets him accused of murder. This external plot really works out nicely. The story told by Bob Leyton and David Michelinie is very told with lots of action, suspense, twist, and turns along the way with some guest appearance by the second Ant Man (Scott Laing), Captain America, and Namor the Sub-Mariner. And the fight at the start of Issue 127 is perhaps one of the best superhero performances ever.

The internal conflict over alcoholism was the series' hallmark. Some critics and fans alike have complained that the issue of alcoholism is hardly touched on in early issues in the arch and given a too quick resolution in Issue 128.

I think the critics have it wrong for two reasons. First, I think Leyton and Michelinie were actually pretty clever in how they dealt with it. They slowly began to expose the problem with Tony and alcohol in Issue 120 with Tony having had four martinis since aplane took off and a little regretful when he put on his Iron Man costume. Each issue had an ever-increasing number of shots of booze and drinks. Leading up to a drunk Tony Stark snapping at Jarvis leading to his resignation.

One of the most stunning panels in the story is in Issue 127 when Stark realizes that he's been blaming an inanimate piece of armor (Iron Man) for his problems when in reality, they are his. The story of Tony's girlfriend and fateful butler helping back from the abyss was moving. The story didn't carry on for multiple issues because they had no idea how the public would take it. Dennis O'Neal would this alcoholism thing to another level with it forcing Tony to leave being Iron Man.

The book wasn't without improbabilities and silliness. One of the worst examples of this was the mad panic over Jarvis selling two shares of Stark International and the fear that S.H.I.E.L.D. could buy it to take over. Note: if you're two shares away from being taken over, you'll be taken over. Publicly held stocks easily trade that in minutes.

That annoyance alone stands out in what's otherwise a solid story.

So I give this one:

4.5 shellheads out of 5.0