Issue(s): Iron Man #62
Cover Date: Sep 73
Title: "Whiplash returns!"
Credits:
Mike Friedrich - Writer
P. Craig Russell - Penciler
Mike Esposito, Fran Giacoia, & John Romita Sr. - Inker

Review/plot:
P. Craig Russell is the guest artist for the second appearance of Whiplash.

You might say there's a reason this guy hadn't appeared since 1968 but as i've always said, anyone who goes up against Iron Man with nothing but a whip has certainly got moxie, at least (ok, i don't always say "moxie").

And to be fair, Whiplash has a few other technological tricks as well.

The story here is a deliberate parallel to what's been going on with Pepper and Happy. Whiplash has disguised himself as "Mark Scott" and is working at Stark Industries' Cincinnati branch. He's been wooing the boss, SI's first female plant manager, Vicki Snow, and they are actually engaged. However, he fully expects her to quit her job when they get married, and further expects that he'll take over the job.

What's interesting is that despite his sexism and villainy, he does seem to legitimately want to keep his job at Stark Industries.

Also, the fact that he's a technological genius in his own right wasn't exactly clear from his first appearance.

When Iron Man defeats Whiplash, Vicki is inspired by his loyalty to Stark and decides to leave Mark and keep her job.

I'll say this for Friedrich: he may be a little clunky in execution but he's handling the feminist issues fairly well; better than Conway in Daredevil/Black Widow.

P. Craig Russell's art here is nothing like his eventual style but it has its moments. Judging from the number of inkers this was probably a rushed fill-in.

There's a set of scenes where Friedrich may have wanted to go in a different direction than Russell, leading to a minor discrepancy. When Whiplash shows up, Tony Stark goes running off to "find" Iron Man, as he usually does. This usually leads the people that he's with to call him a coward, but in this case Vicki actually calls him brave for running away.

And then after the fight is over, you can see Pepper's body language is pretty clearly meant to show anger, but no one says anything negative.

That bit about Tony's hands is unfortunate, though. Iron Man's gauntlets were destroyed in the fight with Whiplash and everyone saw that...

...so the fact that Tony has hand injuries would have to be pretty suspicious.

The book continues to have Iron Man pull out his old gadgets. In this issue he uses magnetized discs.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• Whiplash debuted in Tales Of Suspense #97.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

So, when does Tony move in on Vicki Snow?