I picked up this fun issue of Invincible Iron Man for a buck back in February, resolving to make a short post about it eventually, and five months later, here we are. The conclusion of the previous issue #149, "Doomquest", finds Doom and Iron Man are double-crossed by one of the former's lackeys while crossing a time machine platform in furious battle. If you picked up only this double-sized issue back in '81 however, it almost would not have mattered- Doom and Iron Man literally drop out of the sky into Camelot, have adventures with King Arthur and his armored knights... what else could a kid need?
Doom will not recognize the authority of King Arthur and his knights, but Iron Man pleads with him to be cool until they can figure a way out of their time displacement situation. Unfortunately, Doom has his own plans, using the opportunity to find Morgan Le Fay, whom he makes an alliance with to destroy King Arthur and Camelot for her assistance in retrieving his mother from the bowels of Hell!
With help from Iron Man, King Arthur and his knights defeat Doom and Morgan Le Fey's undead army. The witch escapes the armored Avenger through a dimensional portal at the last moment with the shard of Excalibur she used to attack Camelot, vowing vengeance on he and her brother, King Arthur.
Crushed by his chance to free his mother from Hell, Doom is persuaded to combine scientific skills with Iron Man, using their tech to make it back to present day. Though a truce is met out of necessity, the mortal enemies vow to resume their rivalry 24 hours after their escape, bidding a bitter farewell upon their mission success!
Artist John Romita Jr. is certainly working in the Marvel Method here, employed by his father before him, far removed from his later, more unique style. Bob Layton finished the art, also co-plotting the issue with writer David Michelinie. This is a real slice of the kind of Bronze-Age Marvel I was raised on, and would have loved as a nine-year old! Circle back and check out my posts on the Marvel Legends 80th Anniversary Iron Man and Doctor Doom!
More Later- Make It FUN!
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