Iron Man Vol. 2 #11
Marvel Comics (September, 1997)
“Magical Mystery Tour” PLOT: Jim Lee & Jeph Loeb WRITER: Jeph Loeb PENCILERS: Whilce Poracio & Terry Shoemaker INKERS: JD & Homage Studios COLORIST: Martin Jimenez COMPUTER COLORING: Wildstorm FX LETTERER: Albert Deschesne ASSISTANT EDITOR: Michelle Upchurch EDITOR: Ruben Diaz
Doom has killed Iron Man…except it’s actually Rebel in the Iron Man suit (and no, I’m not checking to see if that plot twist makes sense…I have to read these once, that should be pain enough) and he proceeds to kick Doom’s butt until he crashes into Doom’s time machine and travels not in their universe but in the universe they came from. Our heroes have no time to ponder what it is Doom hasn’t told them he saw, and barely enough time to bury Rebel and ponder how weird it felt to have him there when the Watcher shows up to warn them about the coming of Galactus and introduce the new Hulkbusters–the un-abominized Doc Samson, the new She-Hulk, and the usual Hulk!
This is hard to do in the usual format. There isn’t a lot of story, just Tony and Victor going backwards in time seeing shared events like meeting Merlin again or keys to their current situation in an alternate universe they thought was home. I will say…do they really need to do another Galactus story arc? I only have the Iron Man issue of that arc so I’m not going to know everything that happens in it, but I have no draw to getting them. Heroes Reborn is as bad as I remember and I’m trying to cut down my collection. I feel no need to add anymore, especially when they just want to do their own Galactus, a common problem with Heroes Reborn, which feels like a poorly done Ultimate universe, and that’s got plenty of flaws, too. (Interestingly, Loeb’s worked on that, too.)
Otherwise, there isn’t much to say. It’s a close for Rebel, a bit of nostalgia disguised as plot device, and leads into the second crossover event in the Reborn storyline, showing the early stages of Eventitis. It’s another comic to ignore.