Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1971-02-01 00:01:20 |
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Iron Man #38
Issue(s): Iron Man #38
Cover Date: Jun 71
Title: "When calls Jonah..!"
Credits:
Allyn Brodsky - Plot
Gerry Conway - Script
George Tuska - Penciler
Mike Esposito - Inker
Review/plot:
After the frantic pacing and far out story from last issue, i was surprised by the down-to-earth plot here until i saw on the last page that it was based on a plot from Allyn Brodsky.
It's about a man named Frankie Majors, a former Harlam crime lord who got put in jail as part of a power play by a larger crime lord that uses the alias Jonah (real name: Anthony Gardenia).
While in jail, Majors devoted his efforts to educating himself, and when he gets out he's hired by Tony Stark. But Jonah still has it out for Majors, so Iron Man has to help him out. It's a decent story about giving someone a second chance despite having a black mark in their past.
It's a bit ruined by the fact that Tony Stark takes a bullet in the shoulder at one point...
...and the next thing you know, Iron Man is going around with an iron sling.
There's also a weird bit in the beginning where Tony Stark makes a wife-beating joke (?, i guess?) when talking with his personnel director. I'm not being sensitive here; i just don't get it (and i'm aware of the 'when did you stop beating your wife?' thing; just not sure how to apply it here).
Unfortunately, Frankie Majors isn't seen again. It would have been nice to see him popping up from time to time, still working at Stark. I guess it's for the best though, because if Marvel used him again it would probably be to turn him into a Freak or kill him off or something.
Quality Rating: C
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: The MCP places this before Iron Man's appearance in Avengers #86.
References:
- No footnote, but this issue starts with Tony Stark checking up on the status of Jasper Sitwell, who was injured in Iron Man #34.
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: Marvel Masterworks: Invincible Iron Man vol. 7
| Previous: Amazing Spider-Man #93 | Up: Main 1971 / Box 6 / Silver Age | Next: Captain America #134 |
Comments
the sling thing is just unforgivable
I just burst out laughing at the sight of the iron sling
"There's also a weird bit in the beginning where Tony Stark makes a wife-beating joke (?, i guess?) when talking with his personnel director. I'm not being sensitive here; i just don't get it (and i'm aware of the 'when did you stop beating your wife?' thing; just not sure how to apply it here)."
I don't think that it was intended as a joke. It was a clumsy bit of dialog, insofar as the meaning is unclear. I can't read the writer's mind of course, but would speculate that the intended meaning might have been better clarified by saying, "What's so special about him? You know I trust your judgment in hiring people, Lee, that's why I hired you for this job. What's so terrible about this guy that you felt you needed to check with me?"
Both women and men have been known to justify the inherent inequality in a patriarchal society by arguing that, because women are believed to be physically weaker than men, it's necessary for men to protect women. This was one of the principal arguments Phyllis Schlafly used in the 1970s to justify her opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment, which passed Congress in the early 1970s (yet still to this day has not been ratified by a sufficient number of states to pass into law).
A "man of principals" in a patriarchal society, who might be willing to take a chance by hiring an ex-con, might nevertheless be unwilling to hire a wife-beater, particularly an unreformed one. The stigma is that strong. I think that's all that was intended here.
On the comments for Fantastic Four #150, Mark Drummond says that Gerry Conway had a habit of lifting dialogue from cop shows - could that explain the odd wife-beating remark?
