The INCspotlight: Iron Man (Vol. 1) #72 - Convention of Fear!

(Originally posted on Channel Awesome on July 13, 2015)

I hope everyone who attended San Diego Comic-Con International this year had a better time than Iron Man does in this issue. From January 1975, this is "Convention of Fear!"

The name Comic-Con is never actually used, but it's obviously the setting for this story nonetheless. It's even set in the El Cortez Hotel, one of SDCC's several homes since its founding in 1970, before finding a permanent home in San Diego's Convention Center. Prior to this, in 1965, Shel Dorf (1933 - 2009) had worked with Jerry Bails to set up the Detroit Triple Fan Fair, one of the first commercial comic conventions and which lasted until 1978. After moving to San Diego in 1970, Dorf organized a one-day convention as a test for something larger in scale. His next attempt was The Golden State Comic-Con, a three day event at the beginning of August, co-chaired by Richard Alf and Ken Krueger, which "only" drew 300 people. From the beginning, they partnered with other fan groups such as the Society for Creative Anachronism, in order to spread the word and help the con grow. From the beginning, Comic-Con was never exclusively about comic books, but also sci-fi and fantasy media. It's naturally grown considerably over the years, attracting literally hundreds of thousands of attendees per year, as has its focus. Hollywood studios have used it to give fans their first look at various science fiction, fantasy, and superhero films in the works, even debuting trailers and bringing on the A-list cast to generate hype. (This is obviously a very brief overview of SDCC's origins and founders, kept to a minimum for pacing - no snub was intended of any noteworthy figures I neglected to mention.)

WARNING: Here be spoilers! Read further at your own risk!

This particular issue loosely ties into the "War of the Super-Villains" storyline, featuring a mysterious figure known as the Black Lama who pits villains against each other in a deadly contest for obscure motives. (I haven't read the entire storyline, and from what I've heard, it wasn't that good of one.) We open with Iron Man soaring through the skies of San Diego, when he's attacked by a mysterious assailant, who bolts before our hero can nab him. We later find out that Iron Man - or rather, his alter-ego Tony Stark - is in town to check up on a problem at Stark Industries that requires his attention, only to find it's already been resolved and he made the trip for nothing. He takes the time to interact with his employees, only for the Black Lama to hypnotize some of them into attacking him. Stark manages to subdue them, but the two very different attempts on his life leave him puzzled. Stuck in San Diego overnight and pent up over the recent attacks, Stark decides he needs to do something to unwind. Reading through the local paper, he sees an article about a local comic convention, complete with a costume party, that he decides might be fun. To top it off, he goes in costume as "himself," which nobody so much as blinks an eye at.

He doesn't seem to have that great a time, though. Fans keep coming up to him griping about the latest Iron Man comics (yes, comics about the Marvel heroes exist in the same universe as the heroes themselves), and he doesn't have any cash on him to buy stuff. Not only that, but among the cosplayers are a trio of real super-villains - The Melter and Whiplash, both frequent foes of Iron Man, and The Man-Bull, who is primarily a Daredevil villain. Our nefarious trio was behind the attack on Iron Man at the beginning of the issue, and they hope their antics at the convention will get his attention and net them a small profit. The Black Lama shows up and kicks up some dust, but he doesn't really contribute much, and Iron Man basically dominates the battle. And for his troubles, a security guard kicks him out because his admittance badge came off during the fight.

Writers Mike Friedrich and Barry Alfonso know exactly what kind of story they're telling here, and they're just embracing the goofiness of it wholeheartedly. There's a lot of shout-outs to creators and publishers, with Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas making a cameo and Peanuts creator Charles Schulz (misspelled, as you can see in an above panel) listed as a featured guest. I didn't realize how many of the names and comic book titles referenced in this story are real. (I've seen them explained on more than one fan site if you're curious.)

​While there's a good amount of snarking on fandom, there's plenty of self-deprecating humor, with Iron Man getting flack from his fellow attendees about the nose on his helmet (which had been added back in Iron Man #68 to make his face more expressive - and which didn't last long because of how dumb it looked), including from an Iron Man cosplayer. I'm especially amused at how out of his element Shellhead seems in this story, not even having much cash with him. (And this is multi-millionaire Tony Stark we're talking about here.) There's a more somber scene where Iron Man sees how many people are dressed as Captain America, who had (temporarily) abandoned his superhero identity in the wake of the Secret Empire storyline in the pages of his own comic, another subtle reminder of how well Marvel puts together a fully-integrated universe. As an extra bonus, even if the fight with the villains is a quick one, I'm always a big fan of a superhero taking on someone from his or her rogues gallery.

While I definitely think this is a fun comic, to be honest, it's not exactly a good one. The reasons for Iron Man to come all the way out to San Diego are pretty contrived, and if you think about it too hard, you've gotta wonder how the super-villain trio knew that's where he was going to be. Also, I really don't get why this story needed to be part of the "War of the Super-Villains" storyline other than the fact that it was what was happening in the Iron Man comics at the time. Like I said before, the Black Lama's appearance doesn't contribute all that much to the overall plot, especially since we had a trio of villains in this story already. Speaking of which, the idea that three super-villains would team up to steal an ultra-rare comic book is pushing it, even if it is justified as an excuse to lure out Iron Man. (And why the Man-Bull instead of a third Iron Man villain?) Also, costume party or not, I find it hard to believe Iron Man wouldn't be able to tell the difference between two frequent enemies of his and someone dressed like them. Beyond the writing, George Tuska's art is decent, although stiff, and the continuity feels a bit off. Still, nitpicks aside, this issue is worth a read - you can nab it online without coughing up too much money.

This comic's more of a guilty pleasure than anything else, but it's still a pleasure. It's worth a read, especially if you're an Iron Man fan.