Comic Book Memories - One Of My First Trade Paperbacks

It's hilarious that Amazon has these for sale starting at 13 cents. Those 19 are used and if they look like my copy those are pretty beat up. This trade paperback was published in 1991 and was one of the earliest trades created to be sold exclusively in comic book shops. They did find their way into libraries but that would be a decade or more after the publication date.

 

When Iron Man made his first appearance in "Tales of Suspense" #39, the basic story was that inventor and industrialist Tony Stark was a millionaire bachelor who first don's his armored chest plate to keep his heart beating despite a piece of shrapnel. Originally the idea that Tony Stark was a rich playboy who liked wine, women and song was a familiar cover story for superheroes, going back to Bruce Wayne/Batman and Brett Reid/The Green Hornet. However, in this trade paperback collecting issues #120-128, we find there was a high price for Tony Stark to pay for living the good life: he is an alcoholic.

These classic issues of "Iron Man" were written by David Michelinie, with pencil art mostly by John Romita, Jr. (one issue is drawn by Carmine Infantiono), and inks by Bob Layton. Yes, there is a fight with Namor, the Sub-Mariner, along with the Melter, Whiplash, and Blizzard. But those are minor affairs compared to the attempt by Justin Hammer to take over Stark International and the self-destructive behavior of Tony Stark. Things get pretty bad as Iron Man's armor kills someone, he forgets to open up a window before flying out it, and even Jarvis gets fed up enough to tender his resignation. Bethany Cabe is not too thrilled with Tony either, but fortunately she is tougher than Stark and Iron Man put together.

"The Power of Iron Man" presents a story arc that has few valid points of comparison in the history of comics up to that point in time (the drug issues of "Spider-Man" and "Green Lantern/Green Arrow" are about all that comes to mind). These issues actually were praised by people in the real world for the accuracy with which certain aspects of alcoholism were depicted, and for avoiding a cop-out ending. Tony Stark really does bottom out in these issues; Captain America has to teach Tony Stark some basic self-defence moves once Iron Man is out of the picture. The only real complaint is that this trade paperback ended up falling apart. Good thing I still have the original comics (wrapped in plastic).