The Dragon Seed Saga!

 

In 1991, John Byrne, the writer for the Invincible Iron Man title, began a one-year story arc which focused on essentially three things: the deteriorating condition of Tony Stark, his entire nervous system compromised by an aggrieved engineer using the resources of a ruthless corporation... the ascendance of one of Iron Man's oldest and deadliest foes, the Mandarin... and establishing the origin of a Marvel character which dated back thirty years. And while all of these things cross paths either indirectly or otherwise, we begin with the latter two characters who meet due to the involvement of one other: Chen Hsu, by all appearances an aged wizard who helps the Mandarin to recover his memories and subsequently brings him to the Valley of the Sleeping Dragon in southeastern China, in order to awaken a dreaded creature the PPC has only recently profiled.

Whatever passed between the Mandarin and Fin Fang Foom from that point was presumably not for our eyes and ears, but it was apparently convincing enough to rouse the dragon from his chamber and meet in force an army of 3,000 soldiers sent in response to the Mandarin's incursion into the dragon's resting place--even as the Mandarin and Chen Hsu, calmly observing the death and devastation which followed, come to an understanding between them.

And "romp" our dragon most definitely will during this saga.


But first, since Fin Fang Foom doubtless wishes to avoid a repeat of his experience as a tool of Dr. Vault, who sent him against IT, the Living Colossus, he must face and deal with his "liberators." Fortunately, however, Chen Hsu proves his mettle, at least in the role Byrne at present has him playing--and with Fin hereafter acquiescing to this duo's plans, the Mandarin's demands to those in control of China are not long in coming.

For now, however, the decision is made to grant the Mandarin one-third of the country, placating the villain for the time being (presumably with the excuse that such a turnover of power must be done gradually). But since the Mandarin isn't known for accepting half measures when he holds all the cards, he eventually pays a visit directly to those in power and issues an ultimatum (along with a suitable and convincing demonstration of the technology in his control): cede power to him in one week's time, or China will be laid waste. Visibly shaken in the face of the threat, our "cabinet" of military rulers realize that their backs are against the wall here; nevertheless, the decision is made to form a plan of resistance that will conceal their hand in its execution, namely, contacting Anthony Stark and enlisting the aid of his bodyguard, Iron Man, who has proven to be successful in dealing with the Mandarin in the past. In return, they offer Stark the services of their renowned neuro-biologist, Dr. Su Yin, in countering the extensive damage to his nervous system.

In the meantime, Byrne has been busy seeing to other developments, either ongoing or new. Stark's confrontation with Kearson DeWitt, whose collaboration with the Marrs Corporation has given him the means to challenge Iron Man, finally reaches its pinnacle--a battle that Stark survives with the timely help of his close friend, James Rhodes. From there, we segue to a curious take on Iron Man's origin, where the Mandarin is now inserted and plays a role in the tyrant Wong Chu's dealings with Stark.* (By this time, artist John Romita Jr. has turned over the book to Paul Ryan, who will see this year's arc through.)

*Also inserted, as we see, is the title's ownership statement, containing various minutiae involving the state of the book's sales and distribution figures as well as who held the reins of the company. Marvel may well have changed hands a few times during the final decade of the 20th century--but as of October of 1990, a few years before the roof caved in, they were owned by MacAndrews & Forbes Holding, Inc. in New York.

As for the problem at hand, Stark, in no physical shape to play a round of golf much less battle as Iron Man, nevertheless accepts the offer of the Chinese; but Rhodey, more of a realist than Stark, waylays him with knockout gas when the time comes and suits up in his place. From there, the plan of the Chinese works as intended, since from all appearances Iron Man has arrived at his own behest, gunning for the Mandarin--but of course there is the unexpected enforcer of the Mandarin to make it past first, a little detail the Chinese left out of their briefing.

It's at this point that Byrne interjects with the origin for Fin Fang Foom, along with nine others of his ilk, taking place centuries ago with the crash-landing of an alien ship in China--an origin which provides context to what was the Valley of the Sleeping Dragon (but is now scripted as the Valley of Dragons), brings new information to light on the Mandarin's rings of power, and sheds light on the enigmatic figure of Chen Hsu.

Thus we begin to learn of the ties binding Chen and Fin. But as another Iron Man--or, rather, another suit of armor guided remotely by Stark--enters the picture once Stark gets word of Rhodey's fate, we learn what happened to those dragons who withdrew that day, and who bided their time until their Captain made clear that their time of hiding among men was over.

As for Stark, he makes the difficult decision to retreat given the limitations of a remote connection with his armor**. Fortunately for Rhodey, the Mandarin now has other concerns, as "Chen Hsu" and his people make clear their designs on our world.

**As someone who works remotely and finds his keyboard is a hair less responsive than I'd like, I can relate. Sort of. I don't normally have to face down dragons (though there have been exceptions).

As you might imagine, the Mandarin doesn't take kindly to the thought that he must now fall in line and all but kowtow to the will of the dragons. Yet the line is truly crossed when, collectively, they seek to reclaim the rings of power as their own, eventually resorting to the use of force to strip the rings from his fingers (along with his fingers, if need be). It's then that the Mandarin takes an aggressive stance of his own, tapping into the full power of the rings at long last and launching a counter-attack that gives pause to these creatures who have played him so well until now--a show of force that serves as a prelude to the arrival of a new player in this drama.

The conclusion to "The Dragon Seed Saga," playing out in the book's 275th issue, turns out to be somewhat inconclusive in regard to its characters, with Iron Man combining his power with that of the Mandarin to end the threat of the aliens. In the aftermath, Iron Man has only a vague image in his mind of the dragons having "dissolved"--while the Mandarin has paid a steep price, recovered by a small family who tend to him, alive but now handless. The fate of Stark is uncertain, informed by Su Yin that there is no hope for his condition and that he has only a few months to live. To cap the issue, there is a segment at the end which sees Stark put aside his selfishness in regard to his relationship with Su Yin and instead step up and do the right thing.

BONUS!
What was cool in 1990? Thank goodness Marvel was around to tell us.

Well, at least they had the good sense to elevate Peewee above "Marvel stock."

NEXT:
A Fin Fang Foom encore! (Sort of!)