Iron Man #26 (1970)

Yes, it has one of my favorite Marvel villains in it, but this book reads like it was written 10 years earlier.  Collector uses a “converto-ray?”  Come on.

Plus, I thought it was bad when inker Johnny T. Craig took over penciling chores in earlier issues, but now they’re bringing back Don Heck!  Ugh!

As for the story, The Collector wants Happy Hogan because Hogan can turn into The Freak (remember that, from Tales of Suspense #74?), so he kidnaps Pepper Potts for a hostage exchange.  Collector instead agrees to send Iron Man to another dimension to collect a magical sword, saying it’s as good as The Freak for his collection.

Not a big fan of swords and sorcery comics, so this one just doesn’t do it for me.

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