IRON MAN #135

"RETURN OF THE HERO!"
Plot/Script: David Michelinie | Plot/Finished Art: Bob Layton
Pencil Art: Jerry Bingham | Letters: John Costanza | Colors: Carl Gafford
Editor: Jim Salicrup | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: As Titanium Man rampages through the streets, Bethany suggests to Tony that he slip away and summon Iron Man. Ducking into a seedy massage parlor, Tony quickly changes and then Iron Man confronts Titanium Man. The villain explains that he is trying to get back in the Soviet Union's good graces by destroying the U.S.A.'s most important city.

Following this monologue, the fight begins. Iron Man and Titanium Man battle across the city, eventually winding up on the ice rink at Rockefeller Plaza, where Iron Man finally gains the upper hand and defeats his foe. Iron man is cheered by the public before leaving. After changing back to Tony Stark, he accompanies Bethany home and enters her apartment with her.

IRON MAN #134

"THE CHALLENGE"
Plot/Writer: David Michelinie | Plot/Finished Art: Bob Layton
Pencil Art: Jerry Bingham | Letters: John Costanza | Colors: Carl Gafford
Editor: Jim Salicrup | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: After running his armor through several tests, Tony takes Bethany Cabe out for a date. Meanwhile, an armored figure flies across the Atlantic, bound for Manhattan. As Tony and Bethany take a cab home after dinner, a civil disturbance draws their attention. Exiting the cab, they find the Titanium Man bellowing his intention to destroy the city.

Continuity Notes: A footnote reminds us that Iron Man killed the Carnelian ambassador in issue #124. One of Iron Man's tests is for a security measure to make certain he can never be remote-controlled that way again.

Mrs. Arbogast informs Tony that Iron Man's speaking engagement at the Lions' Club has been cancelled in light of the Carnelian incident. Titanium Man is unaware of this cancellation, and his first stop in New York is the Club, where he accosts the replacement speaker: Rodney Dangerfield.

IRON MAN #133

"THE HERO WITHIN"
Plot/Script: David Michelinie | Plot/Finished Art: Bob Layton
Layouts: Jerry Bingham | Letters: Irving Watanabe | Colors: Glynis Wein
Editor: Roger Stern | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Failsafes prevent Stark personnel from opening Iron Man's fused armor. As his limited oxygen supply begins to run out, the Golden Avenger is rushed to lab for further inspection. Scott Lang secretly changes to Ant-Man and offers his aid. Guided by Iron Man, Ant-Man journeys through the fused armor, eventually releasing the failsafe mechanism from within, and saving Iron Man's life.

At the same time, elsewhere in Stark's complex, the pulse regulator has been removed from the unconscious Hulk, allowing him to revert to Bruce Banner. Tony Stark arrives at the operation's completion, and helps Banner to surreptitiously escape Stark International before the Army can recapture him.

IRON MAN #132

"THE MAN WHO WOULD BE HULK"
Writer/Plot: David Michelinie | Finished Art/Plot: Bob Layton
Pencil Art: Jerry Bingham | Letters: Joe Rosen | Colors: George Roussos
Editor: Roger Stern | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: As Bruce Banner is restrained in Stark International's lab, Tony, Scott Lang, and Dr. Sondheim, the surgeon who implanted the pulse regulator, realize that Banner is changing slowly back into the Hulk. The regulator is nuclear powered, and Banner's gamma-irradiated cells are overcharging it, such that it is regulating his pulse at higher and higher levels.

Even as they make this discovery, Banner completes his transformation and bursts out of the lab. Tony changes to Iron Man and challenges the Hulk. Their resulting battle carries them across the Stark compound, ultimately ending at the airfield, where Iron Man puts everything his systems can muster into one super-charged punch. The Hulk is knocked out, but when Rhodey jovially claps Iron Man on the back, the armored Avenger collapses.

IRON MAN #131

"HULK IS WHERE THE HEART IS!"
Writer/Plot: David Michelinie | Finished Art/Plot: Bob Layton
Pencil Art: Jerry Bingham | Letterer: Diana Albers | Colorist: Ben Sean
Editor: Roger Stern | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Bethany is driving Tony home from the airport when traffic comes to a halt, due to the Hulk eating fruit from an overturned truck up ahead. Bethany leaves to call the Avengers, while Tony changes into Iron Man and confronts the Hulk. However in the end, the Hulk reverts to Bruce Banner thanks to the friendship of a young boy. Iron Man takes Banner back to Stark International, where the two collaborate on a device to keep Banner's pulse steady and prevent him from changing into the Hulk.

Once the device is designed, built, and implanted in Banner, stress tests result in no transformation. With Banner seemingly cured, the army arrives to arrest him. Banner makes a break for it, prompting a young troop to hurl a grenade at him. Iron Man deflects the grenade, but the explosion is enough to trigger a transformation in Banner. However the change is mental only, as Bruce Banner emerges from the smoke ranting in the Hulk's voice.