Invincible Iron Man 19 Review

It's Winter and I'm cold, but I'm reading Ironman 19! (20 is not shown here, sorry)

Invincible Ironman 19 & 20

Into the White
(Einstein on the Beach)

Well, the continuing saga of Normal Osborne pursuing Tony Stark has come to a close. Norman is right on the heels of Tony Stark in a desert somewhere, some poor underling (Mr. Walsh) is arrested in assisting Norman Osborne in the possible murder of his former employer. I'd hate to be him. All the while....the 3 “Charlie's Angels” of Tony Stark (Tony's Angels?), finish an escape attempt after Pepper Potts (of all people) breaks 2 of the other ladies, Maria Hill and the Black Widow, out of the Osborne facility.

I think I'll focus little more on the “little” guy. Mr. Walsh, a former Stark underling who feels a half-hearted obligation to help Norman O. pursue IronMan. Mr. Walsh, feels regretful during his stent of helping Norman follow Tony straight to his exact location when he gets a change of heart and attempts to lead Norman in the wrong direction (away from Stark), he probably knew he's get caught, because his supervisor was wondering what the heck he was doing, because it was blatantly obvious, and there was no WAY he could get away with it, but his heart got the best of him. I actually hope when this is all over with, Stark will take note of his accolades have retire him early giving a pension and then some. Hooray for the “Company Man”!

Anyhow, Norman and Walsh's boss catch onto this and have him arrested, cripes, why arrest him, just fire him? Anyway, Norman finally makes it to Starks location and plans on killing him, until Pepper decides to get access to the national press that Norman O. plans on killing Stark. As a result, media choppers decide to make their way out to Norman's location, just as Norman decides to kill Tony on national television, he changes his mind as camera's are watching him beating the crap out of Stark. Norman decides this is a bad idea, and this would look terrible in the eyes of the citizen he supposedly serves. He doesn't want his true colors known.

I was hoping this would the turning point in ending Norman's reign, but he makes a smart political move, and decides to let Tony Stark live. Good move Norman (So I guess his reign will continue, even though this is the conclusion of this series of comics).

So, Osborne transports Stark back to his complex and tries to find some way to extract the remaining information from his mind, the doctor who was working on Stark could not get an inkling of info because he was too far gone, Starke is practically a vegetable now. That being said, Norman O. considered him useless and told the overseeing doctor to pull the plug, however, Norman must abide by law because Tony Stark has a will that in case of his death or extreme illness, any such action must be approved by his own doctor, Dr. Don Blake.

I was thinking, who the heck is this guy? I Wiki'ed him and turns out apparently this guy is actually THOR in human form, humbled by his father Odin, because of his actions. Yeah, I haven't been that much of a Marvel follower, so sometimes you have to do your research.

I'm curious as to why he picked that guy, I can only ascertain that he wanted his contacts to be obscure as possible? Perhaps a mere mortal that's incognito would suffice? Who knows.

All in all, a pretty good comic, it kept me interested. I was attracted to the fact that Pepper Potts was more than just a mere Executive Assistant who:

1. Got in a cat fight with Masque over the love of her life.

2. Rescued 2 seasoned professional female killing machines from the Osborne complex (the only part that didn't impress me when they struck a fight pose when they encountered only scientist and lab techs, what was up with that?)

3. Pepper Potts had proven to be a passionate woman who has proven to be very self-sufficient, not to mention the suit "Rescue" which kind of fits her passive and nurturing personality. Her iron suit, being the passive/defensive piece of equipment that she wears suits her just fine (no pun intended).

Mr. Walsh, what will become of him when this is all over? I have no idea, he might be some dude no one cares about in the Marvel Universe and be forgetten, OR, they might make a hero out of him? That remains to be seen.

When will Norman's "Dark Reign" end, I don't know either. Personally, I'm getting tired of his presence in Tony's halls.

Anyhow, great comic read....the Saga continues in The Invincible Ironman #20: Stark Disassembled