Before Riri Williams and James Rhodes, there was Eddie March, the first African-American Iron Man.
Obviously, there's no way Eddie March was going to replace Stark as Iron Man for any length of time - the climax of the story alone makes that clear. Still, if he had, I'd have been on board with that. I like the character, and he has a compelling story. Not only that, but Stark could have stayed in the picture as March's mentor - and it would have made it easier to sell the ruse that Iron Man was Stark's bodyguard. Also, it would have continued the legacy of Iron Man's alter-ego living on borrowed time.
As icing on the cake (for me personally), this features a battle between both Iron Men and the Crimson Dynamo, who didn't really trade blows with the Armored Avenger all that often, especially post-Silver Age. As a collector, I prioritize issues where the titular hero dukes it out with one of their recurring villains, and given how rarely Iron Man and the Dynamo clashed, this was a must-have for me. (I finally snagged it at the first Awesome Con I ever went to.) The conflict between Iron Man and the Crimson Dynamo would conclude in the next issue with another foe, the Titanium Man, sent after the Crimson Dynamo for pursuing a personal mission. The resulting clash unfortunately claimed the life of Janice Cord, a woman Stark and the Dynamo both loved.