Anyway, you know who doesn't get enough love? Spymaster, that's who! Great costume, great shtick...
Plus--electrified nunchucks!!
Don't worry, Comics Code--Spymaster had earlier boasted of having "absorption mesh" in his costume that let him absorb big impacts. So he's probably not permanently crippled.
So why doesn't Spymaster get more play these days?
Sure, he's a bit out of Iron Man's weight class, as Shellhead seemingly gets more powerful every day. But that's sort of the point--like Superman, you're not going to beat him physically. But using guile and craft and great Q-Branch style gadgets? You can bedevil him and frustrate him and confuse him, even if you don't defeat him. He's like Toyman is to Superman...
Plus, there are plenty of other heroes Spymaster could take on, especially in the "younger generation." Let him come up against Moon Girl or Ms. Marvel or Nova. That's one interesting way the Marvel Universe has evolved in the last few years--the old guard is focused more on Earth-shattering crises. So let the new guard take on some of the old school "minor" threats!
Anyway, Spymaster. Bring him back more often, please.
From Iron Man #117 (1978)
Holy crap, I didn't even recognize John Romita Jr's pencils under (the obvious!) inking of Bob Layton.
ReplyDeleteBlast, the Demon in a Bottle issues are all on Comixology Unlimited, but this issue from just a few months before is not. :(
Actually, if I'm reading it correctly, every single Iron Man vol 1 issue on CU is one I owe in hard copy, either from the Demon in a Bottle collection or the individual issue or both. :\
ReplyDeletePS Keith Giffen was the artist on #114! I had no idea he'd done any comics in the 1970s...
Dude, you've got to check out Giffen's 1970s Defenders run, starting in #42. 12 issues of ewatching his exciting style develop (plus, great stories)
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