Iron Man (comic): Difference between revisions

Unfortunately, after Arno's tragic exit in [[The Transformers issue 125|issue 125]], ''Iron Man'' became something of a sorry stopgap. After a promised ''[[Inhumanoids]]'' follow-up failed to materialise in [[The Transformers issue 126|issue 126]] – a result of the {{Marvel|Inhumanoids_Vol_1|U.S. book's}} cancellation – TFUK ran an unmomentous story from {{Marvel|Iron_Man_Vol_1_218|''Iron Man''{{'}}s solo U.S. title}} to fill the same amount of page space. With the final part of this story, [[The Transformers issue 129|issue 129]]'s Transformation solicited readers to write in if they thought ''Iron Man'' was the right co-star for the comic. The editorial was much more excited by the prospect of cover-to-cover ''Transformers'' action, as the back-up strip ran {{TF|The_Transformers:_Headmasters|''Headmasters''}} for sixteen issues. Once that story concluded, ''Iron Man'' was back in 1988, filling "a vacancy in our back-up spot" with "[[Stratosfire!]]", reprinted from {{Marvel|Iron_Man_Annual_Vol_1_9|''Iron Man Annual'' no. 9.}} The writing had to have been on the wall for ''The Transformers'' this point – or for its sister comic ''[[Action Force (comic)|Action Force]]'' at least! After a hint of big news in [[The Transformers issue 151|issue 151]], [[The Transformers issue 152|issue 152]] announced that ''Action Force'' would be folding into ''The Transformers''. Regardless of whatever reader opinion the comic received about ''Iron Man'', shellhead was forced out of ''The Transformers'' by ''Action Force''{{'}}s declining sales.

This wasn't quite the end for ''Iron Man'' in TFUK, as the entire ''Machine Man'' 2020 story was reprinted in 1991, late in the comic's run. The cyberpunkfuturistic settingbackdrop of the tale proved a big influence on Marvel UK; itafter had[[Death's alreadyHead]]'s becomesolo aseries basesaw ofhim operationsrelocated forto the2020 titularfor freelancean peacekeepinganti-hero agentteam-up in(read: ''[[Death'sfight) Headwith (comics)|Death's Head]]''Arno, andthe setting would gorecur onalongside tomany besimilar revisitedcyberpunk infutures {{Marvel|Death's_Head_II_Vol_1|''Death'sas Headpart of the expansive [https://downthetubes.net/british-comics-reference/marvel-uks-genesis-92-looking-back-and-what-might-have-been/ "Genesis II''92"] line-up,}} {{an attempt for Marvel|WildThing_Vol_1|''WildThing'',}} andUK {{Marvel|Death³_Vol_1|''Death³''to really break into the U.S. market.}} As for Iron Man himself... it'll never catch on!