Issue(s): Iron Man #84, Iron Man #85
Cover Date: Mar-Apr 76
Title: "Night of the walking bomb!" / "...And the Freak shall inherit the Earth!"
Credits:
Roger Slifer - Script
Len Wein - Plot
Herb Trimpe - Penciler
John Tartaglione / Marie Severin - Inker

Review/plot:
I cannot believe that Tony Stark turns Happy Hogan into the Freak for a third time.

Three times! Plus Eddie March! It's notable that Stark only pulls this device out in his own book. You can imagine the behind-the-scenes conversations in the Avengers.

Captain America: The Wasp got shot by one of Count Nefaria's goons!
Iron Man: Oh, i've got a device that can fix her right up!
Captain America: Any side effects?
Iron Man: Well, it'll turn her into a rampaging Freak monster.
Captain America: ...let's see what Dr. Blake has to say.
Donald Blake: Bad news, guys. There's only one doctor that can save her, and we'll have to stop a war between two alien races to get him.
Iron Man: Actually...
Captain America: Sounds fine! Let's go!

But no one is here to stop him this time, so we've got ourselves a Freak.

He's radioactive this time.

Iron Man's main suit was damaged when Happy fell last issue, and his spare suit is destroyed by the Freak, so it's time to rebuild his suit again. In fact, the use of the Freak is probably a callback to a previous armor change during the Freak's second appearance. This time, the suit is designed so that Iron man can extend his sleeves and leggings and helmet automatically. It's said that because of this the armor is thinner and lighter, which makes it more vulnerable. Most importantly, and in fact the real reason for this armor switch, is that the nose is removed ("in order for the mask to retain its symmetry").

Getting rid of the nose was obviously a good move, but the automatic transformation is too Shazam-y for Iron Man.

After getting the new suit, Tony is able to defeat the Freak and Happy is restored.

Pepper is of course none too happy with Tony, and Roxanne Gilbert shows up to complain that the last she heard from him, he was being kidnapped by Super Apes and he hasn't even bothered to call her to let her know he's ok.

Marie Severin is only credited with inks on #85 but these are clearly her caricatures of the Marvel bullpen.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - nose cut off; face not spited

Chronological Placement Considerations: This shouldn't take place too long after the end of Iron Man #83, and Iron Man shouldn't appear elsewhere in between. A newspaper in a subway car has a Daily Bugle with the headline "Daredevil Wanted For Murder". The newspaper would have to have been published circa Daredevil #134, so this story needs to take place after that.

References:

• Happy got his Freak on previously in Tales of Suspense #74 and Iron Man #3 (and also Iron Man #26, but that was the Collector's fault. But Stark also turned Eddie March into a Freak in Iron Man #67).
  
• Against orders from his supervisors, Michael O'Brien is still investigating Tony Stark for the death of his brother in Iron Man #46.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

bullpen people, left to right:
1st panel:Glynis Wein, Ron Wilson, Marie Severin, John Romita, Morrie Kuramoto or Irv Watanabe,?, Len Wein, John Verpoorten
3rd panel: Roy Thomas, secretary whose name I can't remember, ?, Wein
5th panel: Roger Slifer(headband), Stan Lee(The Man shirt), Jim Shooter?(tall guy, but may have still been at DC then), Sol Brodsky(blue tie)

Also: Don McGregor(open pink shirt)

Fnord, have you decided For Reasons to exclude Marvel creators from 'characters appearing'?

Cullen, yeah, i don't list any real people as characters appearing unless they later become super-characters (e.g. Hitler = Hate-Monger). Real people are either in-jokes or they quickly become temporal references, and since either way they don't have any bearing on placement and we shouldn't expect any character development for them, i don't think they're worth listing. I similarly don't list nods to non-Marvel characters, like the occasional appearances of Clark Kent, unless they evolve into "real" characters (the closest example i can think of that right now is S'ym initially being a Cerebus nod).

Bless Roger Slifer,R.I.P.
He went on to a good career writing cartoons throughout the 80's, when he wasn't busy co-creating Lobo.
A good man.

Iron man really suffered from recycling ideas. The third time for Happy Freak is just silly.