Issue(s): Iron Man #162, Iron Man #163
Cover Date: Sep-Oct 82
Title: "The menace within!" / "Knight's errand!"
Credits:
Denny O'Neil - Writer
Mike Vosburg / Luke McDonnell - Penciler
Steven Mitchell - Inker
Mike Carlin - Assistant Editor
Mark Gruenwald - Editor

Review/plot:
Everyone at Stark Industries starts going crazy.

It turns out to be due to subliminal messages transmitted by an unknown mastermind and hidden by henchmen in an arch on the campus.

It's hinted that the mastermind is the Mandarin, but that will turn out to be a false lead.

During the chaos on the Stark campus, Iron Man rescues a woman named Indreis Moomji.

She'll become an important character fairly soon. Stark starts up a romantic relationship with her while she's still in the hospital.

He then tracks down the creator of the bombs that were used to sabotage his compound, and heads to New Mexico with Rhodey. They are attacked on course by an armored knight on a flying mechanical horse. It's a pretty cool design.

The Knight is being directed by an off-panel mastermind that plays with chess pieces.

As Iron Man, Stark steadies the plane but doesn't engage with the Knight.

His interest in Indries doesn't stop Stark from hooking up with an old flame that he meets in New Mexico.

The Knight catches up with Iron Man again as IM interrogates the bomb maker he was after.

Iron Man defeats the Knight, and the chess player sets up the Bishop to attack next.

Denny O'Neil's run on Iron Man is a bit uneven. Some issues are poor, and some are good. This arc is one of the better ones. Tony's continued struggles with alcoholism are dealt with here a bit, and in general the plotting and dialogue is pretty good. Tony's playboy lifestyle is played up to good effect. And the introduction of this chessmaster is intriguing. The art for issue #162 is pretty standard house style for early 80s Marvel, which is to say that i like it just fine. With issue #163, Luke McDonnell becomes the regular artist, and it definitely improves the overall quality of the book.

Quality Rating: B-

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - first Obadiah Stane (mostly unrevealed)

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

I know that we technically don't [i]see[/i] him yet, but shouldn't the historical significance be upped a bit for Stane's first appearance?

I've upped the rating a bit.