Issue(s): Iron Man #78
Cover Date: Sep 75
Title: "Long time gone"
Credits:
Bill Mantlo - Writer
George Tuska - Penciler
Vincent Colletta - Inker

Review/plot:
This is a very early work by Bill Mantlo (at least on the color comics) and seems to be an inventory story (Iron Man was having a lot of trouble staying on schedule this year). It is surprising in that it is a very political piece, with Iron Man contemplating his role in the Viet Nam war, the morality of the war in general, and indeed the value of war at all.

He regrets his time as an arms manufacturer and swears that as an Avenger he will "avenge those whose lives have been lost through the ignorance of men like the man i once was.".

This is pretty strong stuff from Marvel, although it's definitely heavy handed.

Iron Man meets a Major Al Stargrom, which is pretty clearly an amalgam of Al Milgrom and Jim Starlin, in a Viet Nam flashback. Stargrom is killed by sniper fire in this issue.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The Marvel Chronology Project places this after Thor #234, and before the disaster that was The War of the Super-Villains, even though that started with Iron Man #74.

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Iron Man #46 (Vol. 3 Nov 01)