“Yesterday’s” Comic> Iron Man #248

“Hey boss, I think you have dandruff.”

Iron Man #248

Marvel (November, 1989)

It annoys me when the credits don’t tell you who does what. I had to go to the Grand Comics Database just to confirm the first names!

Tony’s ready to give up his non-Iron Man life since it’s the only way he can walk. And yet he’s willing to attempt an experimental surgery, except the creator says it’s not ready and he won’t do it. It isn’t until Dare’s trial, where many people stand up for his character when she accuses him of attacking her that he rethinks his position. That doesn’t make Marcy happy since he was going to name her the new CEO of Stark Enterprises. (Meanwhile, a psychologist who used to handle Dare’s case reveals she’s obsessive/possessive to the point where she should be institutionalized.) But just as he has his new lease Dr Sondheim appears and offers to do the procedure. Now Tony has his legs back.

What they got right: I liked seeing Tony realize that “Tony Stark” is just as important to the world as “Iron Man” and ready to face his life as it will now be. It’s a good character moment for him.

What they got wrong: But we won’t get to see how he’d deal with his inability to walk with this new attitude because it’s immediately undone by the surgery, which involves a chip implanted that will force his spine to heal itself somehow. (Minor note: this will come back to haunt him later.) It reset the status quo when they had the opportunity to do something interesting with this. Yes, I said earlier that this felt like a replacement for the damaged heart but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a good idea here. It was done so make good use of it.

Recommendation: These are the only two issues I have of this arc but I liked it and would recommend picking up the whole thing. Hopefully it’s good all around.

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