 |
Title |
| Iron Man #193 |
| Author(s) |
| Denny O'Neil |
| Pencils:
Luke McDonnell |
Inks:
Ian Akin & Brian Garvey |
| Language:
English |
Release:
1985 |
| Publisher:
Marvel Comics |
Pages:
32 |
| Colors:
Bob Sharen |
Cover:
N/A |
| |
| Monster
Appearances: |
Aliens,
SDF, & Misc Appearances: |
| Godzilla |
Iron
Man, Tigra, Doctor
Demonicus, Quinjet |
|
| Comments |
 |
Anthony
Romero |
 |
|
|
Nearly six
years after the closure of Marvel's Godzilla series,
writer Denny O'Neil decides to revisit the character
in what would become a controversial move among fans
of the King of the Monsters. This book, Iron Man #193, sees
the title character with some of the West Coast
Avengers tackling Doctor Demonicus. The twisted geneticist,
not fighting directly, utilizes the heavily mutated Godzilla
to do his bidding and battle the heroes on a remote
island. The other Avengers are
powerless against the beast, forcing Iron Man to grapple
with the monster and fly out to sea, where the comic
ends on a cliff hanger.
This book represents the third story arc to include
the Doctor Demonicus character. Originally in Godzilla
#4, Demonicus sent Batragon and other genetic
creations at Godzilla before being beaten back. His
next appearance was in another licensed series by
Marvel called Shogun Warriors, which was based
on a Mattel line of toys (which, interestingly enough,
featured Godzilla and Rodan even though neither appeared
in the comic adaptation). The villain then slipped
into obscurity for more than half a decade before
reemerging in 1985. The timing for his reappearance
should be obvious: with an upcoming US release of
The
Return of Godzilla (1984) under the Godzilla
1985 marquee, what better time to bring back one
of Godzilla's old foes?
Demonicus is not alone, though. With him is a giant aquatic
beast who has been bent to the doctor's will. To be clear,
this creature is purposely, and conveniently, never named.
Yet the allusions as to who it is are clear. Marvel no
longer had the licensee to the Godzilla character, yet
through some creative writing from O'Neil the identity
of this beast are easily traceable. Demonicus, giving
a monologue about the creature, refers to him as his
"once greatest enemy", and when coupled with the fact
that he had only faced Godzilla, the robot Shogun Warriors
and S.H.I.E.L.D. at this time that statement narrows
the field. So what happened to Godzilla? This is also
made clear in this issue, as Demonicus tells the creature
that if he performs well the doctor may even spare him
of "further mutation". For some fans, this isn't enough
of a confirmation, and who can blame them for
not wanting to think that one of Godzilla's obscure,
and fairly lackluster, opponents managed to get such
an upper hand over the King of the Monsters. Yet the
evidence, and certainly the timing of this reemergence,
make the attempted connection by the writing staff overt.
This wouldn't be the first time the company flirted with
licensed properties outside of their comic runs either.
In the 1970's and 1980's, this type of practice was not
uncommon. For example, characters from both the comic
adaptations of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Transformers (Machine
Man and Circuit Breaker respectively) have
appeared in the main Marvel Comics continuity. Certainly
Godzilla's own comic run from the company featured a
plethora of Marvel heroes already, such as the Avengers
and the Fantastic Four, so his induction into the continuity
was already established.
Sidestepping the controversy, though, how does this comic
fare? Well, it's pretty standard actually. There isn't
much to the story to begin with, while the art isn't
too impressive, although there are a few shots to the
contrary of that statement. If not for the Demonicus/Godzilla
angle, there would be little reason to even give the
book a second glance, as it feels like a fairly run-of-the-mill
and rudimentary entry in a long running series. |
|
