Mountain Comics #15 – Iron Man #200

MOUNTAIN COMICS #15 - IRON MAN #200

Rob welcomes podcaster extraordinaire Sean Ross to the cabin to discuss Iron Man #200, the big anniversary issue by Denny O'Neil, Mark Bright, Ian Akin and Brian Garvey!

Check out images from this comic by clicking here!

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14 responses to “Mountain Comics #15 – Iron Man #200

  1. What a terrific show that hits my personal sweet spot.

    I didn’t have any Iron Man comics until my dad handed me one that had Rhodey in the suit fighting the Flying TIger (or something like that). And for some reason, I wouldn’t get another issue until 198, where a lot of the set up for 200 takes place. I seem to remember flashbacks with Stane and Ms Masque, where Stane goes into a disturbing story from his childhood in which he murdered his opponent’s dog in order to be the boy at a game of chess. It was also here that I saw Tony in his first armor fighting alongside Rhodey in the then state-of-the-art (now “classic”) version of the suit. I didn’t think anything of it, and then I saw issue 200 on the stands of my local grocery store two months later. And WOW.

    That brand-spanking new armor worked its magic, because I snatched up the issue. Even then I could spot some of the wonkier point brought up on the show, but man I loved this issue. And that armor really sold it. The new color scheme, the new chest symbol, everything worked together. Like Sean said, this was my favorite era. I stuck with it until the aftermath or Armor Wars and the perm – something at the time I thought was cool. We all have our crosses.

    Looking forward to Comics from Aunt Marsha’s House.

    And i still say “Cool as December”!

    1. The Stane background issue really drives home how his sociopathic tendencies were present from the start. O’Neill took his time building a great villain for Tony and then had the guts to take him out.

  2. It’s a little known fact that Stane intended for the Iron Monger Mark II armor to carry a payload of puppies and kittens, in addition to the baby carried by the Mark I.

    Also, I enjoyed the mention of Stingray in the Armor Wars discussion. He’s my favorite D list superhero, and I’ve been eagerly counting down the years until they reach his entry on oHOTmu. So it was an unexpected treat to hear his name dropped here.

    Thanks for another fun episode.

  3. That was one classic issue, the ultimate payoff and redemption for Stark. It was also the first superhero book I had bought and savored as a 9 year old. Apart from Transformers. I agree with the sentiments and opinions expressed in this show. I think Michelinie continued the narrative trend of taking Stark through the emotional wringer later on, making Stark more than a suit of armor. This is something that writers in the ’60’s and’ 70’s missed. O’Neill’s run was gritty and not beloved of many IM fans who were weaned on Michelinie/JR/Layton’s more glamorous take. It is equally valid. The introduction of Mark Bright smoothened off the rendition of the armor. McDonnell suited the urban scenes but Bright had a cleaner edge for depicting technology. I can’t believe I agree with every sentiment expressed in that podcast, an excellent appraisal!!

    1. I can’t believe we got everything right on the episode!
      I love that run of IM. There have been great runs since, but it’s still my favorite.

  4. Great episode, guys!

    For a long time, I regarded the O’Neil run as “Tony’s low rent period between Michelinie/Layton runs” and even though I loved how O’Neil developed Rhodey, I didn’t hold this period in as high esteem initially because I thought the art quality was such a step down when Luke McDonnell replaced Romita, Jr. and Layton. When Bright takes over, though, it really picked up for me.

    I’ll always prefer classic Red and Gold, but I do have an appreciation for the Silver Centurion armor because the first Iron Man comic I ever read was a back issue from this era (issue #222, I think).

    1. I love the run in part because it strips everything away and forces Rhodey and Tony to rebiluid themselves. The new armor is a nice visual metaphor for Tony’s new, sober life. McDonnell captures the lows and Bright illuminates the highs.

  5. Fun show fellas. I didn’t have this particular issue, but I recall the panel’s of Stane’s repulsor ray suicide were printed in his OHOTMU entry, and I found them quite shocking then! I did have some random Iron Man issues during this period, and I liked the Silver Centurion armor quite a bit. I kept wondering if Mattel would add it to the Secret Wars toy line, since they made the black costume Spider-Man, but the line was soon cancelled.

    When Iron Man 2 used that color scheme for the suitcase armor, I squeed with delight. I still love that scene, one of the best in any super hero film.

    I also liked the next “bulkier” red and gold armor (recently released in Marvel Legends figure form), but yeah…that perm. At least the Jackson Guice art was nice!

    Chris

  6. Hey guys, great episode! Been a hardcore Iron Man fan since I was 15 and have no signs of stopping. About 25 issues or so from completing my run.

    Just wanted to add that Tony did not just get Stane International back under his control. Stane stayed as its own company for many years; Tony instead founded a new company called Stark Enterprises. Much later, Tony would end up buying up Stane International and reabsorbing it, which lead to other problems because of shady work they had been doing in the interim. After Stark’s supposed death in #284, Stark was bought by a Japanese firm and renamed Stark-Fujikawa. This would last all the way until the middle of the Heroes Return era (volume 3), when Tony would buy up a controlling interest again, and combine his various firms into Stark International once again.

    The various comings and goings of Tony’s business holdings were important for a long while in the 80s and 90s, back when continuity for such things was important. And Matt Fraction did a lot with the business side as well.

    Thanks again for the show!

    1. Thanks for clarifying how Tony got his company back. I knew there had to be more to it than that, but I didn’t remember the details.

  7. I got West Coast Avengers #1 before this issue, and loved the silver armor right away. I’ve been an on-and-off Iron Man collector, but got the first 5 issues with Rhodey in the armor. Great stuff, but news stands and all that made it hard to keep up. So I had to get IM #200 to see the real introduction of the Silver Centurion. Great coverage of a great arc’s conclusion.

  8. I got into Iron Man proper just before the Armor Wars, so I knew of this story through flashbacks and Marvel Universe Deluxe, and I probably started picking it up because I was a West Coast Avengers addict. Did not realize WCA (v2) #1 was the first published appearance of the Silver Sentinel armor, wow and oops! At least it didn’t happen in the pages of the aforementioned Official Handbook (we recently hit upon the spoilage that Spider-Woman II was made a member of Freedom Force in the encyclopedia series MONTHS before it actually happened.

    Publishing in shared universe can be funny sometimes.

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