War For A World!

 

Given their extremely long life span, it was inevitable that the population of the planet Rigel would come to realize that at some point their numbers would begin to threaten their existence due to the finite space available on their world. And so they turned to colonization of other worlds in order to survive--and in time, that pursuit became their preoccupation, eventually leading them to Earth where one of their operatives, Tana Nile, laid claim to it. It was the intervention of Thor which foiled that plan, and, in so doing, led to the confrontation of the menace of Ego in the bio-verse of the Black Galaxy which the Rigellians feared would expand to engulf their own planet.

It was the encounter with Ego which inadvertently led to the Rigellians' attempt to use that being's unique properties to evolve heretofore unsuitable worlds into habitable planets that would ensure enough space for their ever-growing race in perpetuity. Yet that effort ended in disaster--and, months later, the Rigellians' greatest fears were realized when their home world was destroyed by the approach of the Black Stars (a coincidental play on words in light of their past dealings with the Black Galaxy), leading the Rigellians to undertake the most massive evacuation in their history in spacecraft that collectively housed nine billion of their people in close quarters. For a pioneering race, such a fate no doubt amounted to living their worst nightmare.

Which brings us to a six-issue arc of Invincible Iron Man from 1978, written by Bill Mantlo and featuring art by Carmine Infantino, Keith Pollard, Fred Kida, and Alfredo Alcala, which begins with the discovery of the Growing Man on Earth:

And since the Growing Man's former master, Kang, was believed to be deceased at the time, the search for its point of origin leads to the moon (thanks to the calculations of the Jack of Hearts, whom Iron Man has agreed to take on as an apprentice), where Soviet super-agents had previously arrived to investigate signals being emitted from a mysterious egg-shaped object now present on the surface.

When the same piercing sound that downed both their craft reoccurs, Iron Man and the Jack of Hearts race toward and penetrate the object, which transports them into deep space and a confrontation with Rigellian colonizers of unknown intent who react preemptively.

Uh oh--it seems Mr. Pollard has joined the ranks of Messrs. Buckler, Frenz, et al.!

Anyway, since Thor had no difficulty escaping from his own Colonizer-induced proton particle casing...

...Iron Man proves he's no slouch at the task, either, as we arrive along with himself and his card-motif companion at this story's third installment--hopefully to learn just what the Rigellians are up to!

But while our pair of heroes excel at keeping the Colonizers on the defensive, we see that their foes have another surprise for them waiting in the wings.

Good grief, picking up remnants of both Kang and Galactus? Have the Rigellians been indulging in a galactic scavenger hunt? At any rate, during a pause in hostilities, the Rigellian commander, Arcturus, has no choice but to err on the side of (pre)caution regarding Iron Man and the Jack of Hearts, given that they're currently engaged in a war with the inhabitants of a planet which holds great interest for them.

Since we've already witnessed the detailed "Viviscan probe" of our heroes, we can skip to the results--but war waits for no man (er, Colonizer), as the planet's inhabitants launch a full-scale attack against the fleet's command ship. And this world being known as "Wundagore II," we can make a fair guess as to who Mr. Mantlo is bringing to the party, as we segue to this story's fourth issue.

So far Mantlo has navigated this story's complexities adeptly, even to Iron Man's detriment--for while the Avenger will weigh his choices well, he fails to take into account the fact that the side he finally chooses to ally himself with hadn't had the opportunity to assess his actions as heroism on their part, and so they react accordingly, just as the Rigellians do in response.

As a result of the joint attack, Iron Man is rendered unconscious and plummets to the world below, his armor saving him from death on impact. (And without a scratch on it--to say nothing of the fact that this suit must have some heavy-duty shock absorbers to save the man inside from that kind of crash.) But back on the ship, the Jack of Hearts presses on, acting as our eyes and ears as we learn more about the Rigellians--including their "justification" for warring with the New Men of Wundagore.

Meanwhile, on the planet, Iron Man is getting his own history lesson on the New Men, leaving him as shocked as his partner in regard to the deplorable behavior of the Rigellians. (Though more on that in a moment.)

Yet we learn that there is more behind the actions of the Rigellians than meets the eye--specifically, the actions of Fleet Commander Arcturus, who is revealed to be a rogue element among the Colonizers out to pursue his own agenda, and who now uses a deadly gambit of blackmail to convince the Jack of Hearts to take his side in the conflict with the New Men.

Jeez! Do you get the feeling that Earth is always caught in the middle of a power struggle?
COMING UP:
The Soviets return! The Punisher returns! All-out war on the moon! All this, plus Fred Hembeck! More you could ask for!?