![](https://berkeleyplaceblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_8709.jpeg)
This seven issue arc(!) starts with Mandarin sparring—and looks a lot like the old Kingpin workout scenes from Frank Miller’s Daredevil. By which I mean that Mandarin is in his underwear kicking the asses of armed dudes, then killing them.
Tony Stark is still paralyzed from the waist down, and goes to China for a cure.
![](https://berkeleyplaceblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_8710.jpeg)
Black Widow is in the background, and she’s introduced with a workout scene that is also reminiscent of Miller’s Daredevil, where we often saw him exercising out of costume in his basement. There’s several scenes with her, but it’s all set-up for the next story.
Not a lot of surprises here. If it’s China, there must be Fin Fang Foom (just like Sunfire has to be in all the Japan stories).
![](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dugcuK07iUo/UVLp3Mh54wI/AAAAAAAADhQ/rfZUQxyptDI/s1600/finfangfoom_iron_man_271_1991_01.jpg)
This leads to Fin Fang Foom’s entire family—apparently, there’s a lot of dragons out there.
![](https://cmro.travis-starnes.com/images/characters/wupong.jpg)
And they’re space dragons. And they’re the ones who brought the rings to Earth that Mandarin is now using.
![](https://berkeleyplaceblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_8711.jpeg)
Hence the title of this tale, “The Dragon Seed Saga.”
![](https://66.media.tumblr.com/e3f31ed23cbac827ca039536bc55e07f/tumblr_p3tc52Oi1i1vpl0aoo1_1280.jpg)
![](https://berkeleyplaceblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_8711.jpeg)
Basically, this story is an extensive origin tale for both Mandarin and Foom.
And by the end, Iron Man can walk again. Nothing bad here, nothing great.