Iron Man #200 (One to own)

  Easily one of the best Marvel Comics of the 80's. This issue is partly the inspiration for the first Iron Man movie. It's an anniversary issue and the culmination of a mammoth storyline that stretched over 40 issues where Stark met his match in a new nemesis called Obadiah Stane who takes over Stark industries in a hostile takeover, and plays on Tony Stark's one overpowering weakness, alcohol.

              Tony hits the bottle hard after Stane manipulates Stark's business and personal life to an extreme degree. Tony's life spirals out of control as he slowly hits rock bottom, and ends up living in flopho   uses and eventually on the street with only his insatiable thirst for hard liquor providing solace.
              Writer Denny O' Neil handled Stark's descent into alcoholism with maturity and sensitivity. This was not the first time Stark battled alcohol but as good as the famous 'Demon in a Bottle' storyline was, the whole issue of Tony Stark's alcoholism was just wrapped up a little to quickly and cleanly and never referred to again until Denny O' Neil came along.

The other big development was Tony handing the Armor to his pilot James Rhodes, or Rhodey. Around issue #182. Stark truly hits rock bottom and ends up in hospital with hypothermia after being caught in a blizzard with no shelter as his fellow derelict and girlfriend gives birth. The woman dies in a touching scene but Tony and baby both live on and this whole traumatic and cathartic event sets Stark on the road to recovery as he slowly pulls himself up by the bootstraps to start up a new fledgling company in California.

Scene from Iron Man #182 as Stark roughs it out with a bottle of Bourbon.

Anyhow, at the start of #200 we learn that Stane has struck again destroying bombing Stark's new business killing one of Stark's employees,Morley Irwin, who had been a supporting character, along with his sister Cly, for the last 30 or so issues. This promotes Stark to don his new silver armor and seek a confrontation with Stane.

This armor was always my favorite Iron Man armor. It was big and bulky and interesting to look at. It looked far more powerful and technologically advanced the his older red and yellow armor. I love this dramatic splash page showing Stark's rebirth as the new and more powerful Iron Man as he dons the armor in the labs of the West Coast Avengers mansion.

What follows is a quick bit of exposition explaining what new abilities this armor has as Tony prepares for his showdown with Stane.

     As it turns out Stane has kidnapped several employees such as Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan and Mrs Arbogast all of whom he has trapped in the underground catacombs of the Stane/Stark complex.

Stane as Ironmonger; another great image by artist Mark Bright

Stane has also designed a suit of armor based on Stark's original armor called the Ironmonger and when he learns of Iron Man's approach decides to take direct action. In this scene we get a view of the new armor in action against some of Stane's lackey's

Ironmonger and Iron Man have a titanic tussle as all the employees of the company evacuate the complex. In  a truly classic moment Ironmonger takes a small baby and threatens to crush it to a pulp unless Stark takes off his helmet, leaving him vulnerable. 

In a moment of ingenuity Stark realizes that the Ironmonger armor is being controlled from within the Stane complex and unleashes his new weapons, pulse bolts, at the building and Ironmonger freezes, while Stark saves the hapless newborn, who should have died from fright as he is left to fall from 200 feet. But that's comic books; a certain suspension of disbelief always aids the reader.

Ironmonger is now defeated with no further tricks up his sleeve and in a shocking moment decides to end it all rather than give Tony Stark the satisfaction of victory. This is a moment that shocked me as an 8 year old and still is powerful today rereading it years later.

Why is this issue a classic? Very simply it has everything a good Iron Man story should have. Like all great Iron Man stories it shows that it's the resolve and character of Tony Stark to overcome his own personal failings rather it being than a souped up suit of armor that make Iron Man the hero he is. 

Stane/Ironmonger as villian is portrayed as the perfect nemesis for Stark,a man who understands what makes a man like Stark tick and plays on it to the utmost. The measure of a hero is the quality of the adversary he faces and in Stane Iron Man had truly met his match, a man with the intellect and ruthlessness to bring Stark to his knees in every sense.

.A very well written and well paced issue, full of drama and twists and turns.The truly climactic and shocking ending with Stane's suicide let you know that this is a milestone issue. The artwork of Mark Bright is a joy to behold almost as good as his work on the Armor Wars. This issue is available in the Ironmonger trade paperback, The Many Armors of Iron Man TPB and the original issue shouldn't cost more than 5 bucks for a near mint copy if you are lucky enough to happen upon it..