Machine Man #15
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMachine Man #15 marks the debut of writer Tom DeFalco on the series — his first ongoing Marvel assignment — a handoff that would close out the original run and foreshadow a creative partnership with artist Steve Ditko that continued well into the 1980s. The issue also introduces two new characters in a single story: the tragic science-accident villain Ion (Dr. Voletta Todd), a nuclear physicist turned sentient cloud of ionized gas, and the supporting mechanic Oswald 'Gears' Garvin, who becomes a recurring fixture in Aaron Stack's street-level world. Beyond the debut count, the story is notable for bringing the Fantastic Four — specifically Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm — into direct physical conflict with both Ion and Machine Man, weaving the android hero more tightly into Marvel's shared universe tapestry. It is also one of the clearest expressions of the era's DeFalco–Ditko collaboration style: hard-luck science-gone-wrong as a metaphor for isolation, with a protagonist who chooses restraint and wit over brute force.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The relaunched Machine Man series (starting from #10 in 1979) was built on a striking creative pairing: Steve Ditko, who had returned to Marvel after years away, taking over interior and cover art from Jack Kirby, while Marv Wolfman scripted the first five issues of that second phase. When Wolfman departed, the editorial team — under editor Denny O'Neil, assistant editor Mark Gruenwald, and editor-in-chief Jim Shooter — assigned the relatively new Marvel writer Tom DeFalco beginning with this issue (#15). DeFalco has recalled that his first contact with Ditko was immediately unnerving: as a collaborator with strong convictions about heroic storytelling, Ditko reviewed DeFalco's plot before agreeing to stay on the title, a dynamic that shaped how DeFalco approached the remaining four issues of the run. The complete DeFalco–Ditko issues (#15–19) were later collected alongside the Kirby run in Marvel's 2016 trade paperback Machine Man by Kirby & Ditko: The Complete Collection.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Title: 'Kill Me or Cure Me' — written by Tom DeFalco, with art (pencils, inks, and cover) by Steve Ditko; release date March 4, 1980, cover-dated June 1980.
- First appearance of Ion (Dr. Voletta Todd), a nuclear physicist transformed into a sentient cloud of ionized hydrogen gas after a laboratory accident at the Alternative Resources Center.
- First appearance of Oswald F. 'Gears' Garvin, a junkyard mechanic who repairs Machine Man mid-story and recurs in the series' final issues.
- The issue marks Tom DeFalco's debut as writer on the series — described by collectors' sources as his first ongoing Marvel writing assignment — replacing Marv Wolfman, who had scripted issues #10–14.
- Ben Grimm (The Thing) and Johnny Storm (Human Torch) appear as guest stars and are both defeated in combat by Ion before Machine Man intervenes; Reed Richards and Susan Storm appear only in cameo.
- Machine Man resolves the crisis without destroying Ion: he lures her into a meat-locker freezer, where the extreme cold solidifies her gaseous form, and leaves instructions for the Fantastic Four to keep her cryogenically sealed pending a cure — a morally restrained resolution consistent with the character's ongoing identity themes.
- Ion (Voletta Todd) went on to appear in subsequent Marvel continuity, most notably joining Superia's Femizons in Captain America #389–391 (1991) and being cited in Dark Reign Files #1 (2009).
- The issue was reprinted in the French anthology Titans (Editions Lug) #52–53 (1983), in Marvel UK's The Transformers #10–11 (1985), and collected in Machine Man by Kirby & Ditko: The Complete Collection (Marvel, 2016) and Machine Man le robot vivant (Panini France, 2017).
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Reprinted in Forces in Combat #30 (1980), Forces in Combat #32 (1980), Titans #52 (1983), Titans #53 (1983), The Transformers #10 (1985), The Transformers #11 (1985), Machine Man by Kirby & Ditko: The Complete Collection #[nn] (2016), Machine Man le robot vivant #[nn] (2017)
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