Iron Man #101
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeIron Man #101 earns its place in Bronze Age history primarily as the debut of Dreadknight (Bram Velsing), a Latverian scientist permanently disfigured by Doctor Doom and transformed into an armored, lance-wielding villain who rides a mutated, bat-winged steed — a character whose distinct visual design and Doom-connected origin gave him a surprisingly durable presence in Marvel's villain roster. The issue also serves as an editorial bridge between two cancelled or dormant corners of the Marvel Universe: it directly continues loose plot threads left dangling by the cancelled 'The Frankenstein Monster' series, using Iron Man's globe-trotting flight home from China to organically revisit Frankenstein's Monster and Castle Frankenstein in the Balkans. On top of that, Madame Masque appears in cameo under her undercover alias Krissy Longfellow, quietly seeding a subplot that would pay off in the ongoing Stark Industries espionage storyline over the following months. Taken together, the issue exemplifies the Bronze Age Marvel method of cross-pollinating monster comics, super-hero action, and serialized soap-opera plotting into a single, densely packed 30-cent package.
In "Then Came the Monster!", Iron Man faces his most shocking adversary yet—a creature straight out of nightmare lore—while the art of George Tuska, inks by Mike Esposito, and colors by Don Warfield bring the clash to life. The cover by Val Mayerik and Dave Cockrum captures the moment with eerie intensity, making this 1977 issue a standout in the series.
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Writer Bill Mantlo, who had himself scripted 'The Frankenstein Monster' #18 — the final issue of that short-lived series — used his assignment on Iron Man to revisit unresolved threads from that book's cancellation, effectively giving the Monster's corner of the Marvel Universe one last flourish. Editor Archie Goodwin oversaw the issue, with interior art by the long-tenured Bronze Age penciller George Tuska and inks by Mike Esposito; the cover was a collaboration between Val Mayerik and Dave Cockrum. The story opens directly in the aftermath of the celebrated Iron Man #100 Mandarin anniversary battle, making #101 the first chapter of a new arc rather than a standalone, and part one of a two-issue story completed in #102.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Dreadknight (Bram Velsing), a Latverian scientist whose skull-like metal helmet was permanently bio-fused to his face by Doctor Doom as punishment for treasonous ambition — created by writer Bill Mantlo and penciller George Tuska.
- Dreadknight rides the 'Hellhorse,' a winged, mutated steed revealed to be a further-altered version of Elendil, the original Black Knight's flying horse, genetically re-engineered by Victoria Frankenstein.
- Frankenstein's Monster appears as a major character, with Mantlo explicitly continuing story threads from the cancelled 'The Frankenstein Monster' series, of which he had written the final issue (#18).
- Madame Masque (Whitney Frost) makes a cameo in her 'Krissy Longfellow' undercover identity, alongside S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper Sitwell, seeding an ongoing corporate-espionage subplot at Stark Industries.
- The story is titled 'Then Came the Monster!' and is Part 1 of a 2-part arc; Part 2, resolving the Dreadknight conflict and delivering his full origin, ran in Iron Man #102 (September 1977).
- Cover art by Val Mayerik and Dave Cockrum; interior pencils by George Tuska, inks by Mike Esposito, colors by Don Warfield, edited by Archie Goodwin.
- The issue exists in multiple print variants: a standard 30-cent edition, a limited-distribution 35-cent cover-price variant, a Whitman edition, a UK edition (with a 12p cover price), and a Mark Jewelers advertisement-insert variant.
- The story has been reprinted in 'Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man' Vol. 12 (2019) and the 'Iron Man Epic Collection' Vol. 7 — Ten Rings to Rule the World (2025), as well as in multiple international editions including Italian and Scandinavian publications.
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↩ Reprints [Marvel Hostess Ads] #18 (1977)
Reprinted in Strange #103 (1978), L'Uomo Ragno [Collana Super-Eroi] #238 (1979), L'Uomo Ragno [Collana Super-Eroi] #239 (1979), Atlantic special #2/1981 (1981), Atlantic Spesial [Atlantic Special] #2/1981 (1981), Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man #12 (2019), Iron Man Epic Collection #7 (2025), The Invincible Iron Man Omnibus #4 (2026), L'Invincible Iron Man #55/56
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