“Yesterday’s” Comic> Iron Man #175

Whatever happened to marking treasure with a simple “X”?

Iron Man #175

Marvel (October, 1983)

Nick Fury decides he wants the spare Iron Man armors Tony sent to the bottom of the sea and goes after it. Iron Man (currently Jim Rhodes) is determined to stop him. While Iron Man manages to damage Fury’s craft, the undersea warlord Krang (no connection to the Turtles’ enemy) goes after the armor. What nobody knows is that Erwin has a way to draw the armors back up, dragging Krang and his men to the air so they are forced to part ways with the spare armors. Iron Man then uses the weapons power source from Fury’s ship to slag all the spare armors so nobody gets them.

What they got right: While I’m not usually a fan of heroes fighting each other, O’Neil at least makes it fun. The artists may have decided the missile had SHIELD’s name on it but it was the banter between Nick and Jim that I liked. Krang is actually willing to admit to his own errors, which is rare for a ruler villain. The ship Nick is using is called the SPLASH, and Fury makes fun of the fact that things always have these cute acronyms. And the art was good, too.

What they got wrong:  Although there is one guy who designed the SPLASH that looks a lot like Erwin but isn’t. Really the only thing I can point to.

Recommendation: A good story and O’Neil helps sell the “all new Iron Man” with this story. Pick this one if you find it.