“Hey, watch it with that axe!”
Iron Man #195
Marvel (June, 1985)
“The Thing Most Precious” WRITER: Denny O’Neil PENCILER: Luke McDonnell INKERS: Ian Akin & Brian Garvey COLORIST: Bob Sharen LETTERER: Rick Parker EDITOR: Mark Gruenwald
Seeking a cure for his headaches, Rhodey seeks out Shaman, who takes him on a spiritual quest within himself. In the end he ends up giving up the armor, the thing most precious to him and a tie to his own self-doubt. Meanwhile, Stane sends assassins against Bethany Cabe, who is supposed to be looking for Tony, who has been talked by Hawkeye to play around in the West Coast Avengers laboratory.
What they got right: A nice bit of insight into Rhodey’s history and character. Also, Tony revealed his identity to the WCA in an earlier issue, which is nice that heroes know who each other are, even if they keep it secret from the general public.
What they got wrong: From what I’ve heard the source of Rhodey’s headaches will turn out to be technological, not psychological or spiritual and we’ll see in later issues (I think the next one I review) that this was a huge mistake leaving the armor in that other dimension. Maybe it’s my own spiritual beliefs but I don’t see the point in shedding the armor unless O’Neil was trying to find a way to get Tony back in the Iron Man identity but there were better ways to do that.
Recommendation: My problems with the story are personal because it is a well-told story that’s worth a look if only for Rhodey’s character development.
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