“Yesterday’s” Comic> Iron Man #245

He hit him so hard his contact lens flew off!

Iron Man #245

Marvel (August, 1989)

At this point in the series Tony had been shot by Kathy Dare and his legs paralyzed. Since then he’s spending more time as Iron Man, and protecting his company has given him more reasons to do. Apparently acts of sabotage are becoming rampant and it appears the Dreadnoughts are involved. But Tony’s attempt to get information from Whitney Frost meets with a cold shoulder…made worse by the fact that the FBI found her body! Is there a new Madame Masque?

What they got right: I’m not big fan of the whole paralyzed thing because it feels like a replacement for the artificial heart, a step backward for Tony Stark’s character. That said, his reaction is written well. There’s also the start of an interesting mystery with the Dreadnoughts and Madame Masque.

What they got wrong: Tony’s attempts to continue his life while in a wheelchair (at Rhodey’s insistence) leads to some odd events. I know living in a wheelchair isn’t easy (granted only from third-hand experience in interviews with people who can’t walk for various reasons) and that some people have negative reactions but is that the reason a bouncer tells Tony and his date (mostly his date) that you have to be members of a club that didn’t used to be members only?  It was why that one girl who was hitting on him ran off, and that seemed like a jerk move. Both moments felt like forced drama, at least to me. Your opinion may differ on that.

Recommendation: A decent start to a mystery. I don’t have the next few issues so I don’t know how this will turn out, but this was worth at least looking at.