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Tales of Suspense #54

The Mandarin’s Revenge!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: March 10, 1964
Cover: June 1964
12 cents
Written (in his magic Marvel manner) by: Stan lee
Drawn (in his famous flashing fashion) by: Don Heck
Lettered (in his smooth subtle style) by: Art Simek
13 pages

We reach a personal milestone for me in this reading. Up to this point, every story I’ve read, I’ve used some form of reprint, often a collection from one of their reprint lines like Marvel Masterworks, sometimes a later comic that happens to reprint the old story.

This comic I own. Cover barely hanging on, brown at the edges, but this is mine. That cover? That’s a scan of my copy. Most of the other covers have been taken from the GCD.

So that’s pretty exciting.

Now for the bad news. The Mandarin returns. Iron Man’s lamest villain yet (despite some stiff competition) is back for round 2.

Iron Man gets a new helmet. The face mask no longer protrudes out, making his head a smoother shape, and there are visible bolts along the mask. I get the bolts along where the facemask meets the helmet, but not sure what the ones down the middle are doing. They won’t be around long. In fact, they’ll disappear mid-story suddenly without any plausible explanation.

It’s a pretty weird look, frankly. It will be better when that middle line of bolts goes away.

Tales of Suspense #53

The Black Widow Strikes Again!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: February 11, 1964
Cover: May 1964
12 cents
Story plot by: Stan Lee
Script by: N. Korok
Art by: Don Heck
13 pages

Iron Man takes a big step forward. Since his debut, he’s been the lead feature of Tales to Suspense, featured on the cover with his name somewhere prominently, and his visage in the little box up top. This issue, he gets a logo. Large font in a standard position atop the page reads, “The Power of Iron Man”. The comic is still “Tales of Suspense”, as noted at the top; yet, the comic’s title is the subordinate font. In big bold letters, we see clearly this is Iron Man’s comic. Marvel will do the same with Thor next month. For whatever reason, they seem less inclined to advertise Human Torch or Giant-Man so boldly.

While less impressive, it should be noted that The Watcher gets acknowledged on the cover in a text box. No other covers have or will mention his backup features. That coincides with a change in the Watcher tales. He will no longer be narrating other tales but starring in his own adventures.

Black Widow returns, now with black hair (though this time it looks red on the cover). Last issue, her only role was distraction by seduction. Here, she steals a powerful new Stark weapon, but we still don’t see her demonstrating many talents of her own.

Her plan largely hinges on Stark’s stupidity (which worked well for her last time). He shows her his new top secret super weapon, perhaps because he is smitten with her. She then steals the weapon. We learn Stark was not smitten, but pretending to trust her to learn her plans. There was no need for that. The events of last issue provide plenty of evidence she was a Soviet spy and an accomplice in the murder of Professor Vanko. There was no reason to learn her new plan. Just have her arrested.

Tales of Suspense #52

The Crimson Dynamo Strikes Again!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: January 10, 1964
Cover: April 1964
12 cents
Plot by: Stan Lee
Story by: N. Korok
Art by: Don Heck
Lettering by: S. Rosen
13 pages

N. Korok is an alias for Don Rico. Stan credits Rico with the story and himself with the plot. I would love to know what Stan thinks the difference between “plot” and “story” is. Rico had been working with comics, and Marvel Comics in particular, since 1939, as artist or writer or editor. By this time, he had mostly left comics behind and become a successful novelist– likely why he’s not using his real name on this comic work. Any comics work by Rico from this point forward will be quite uncommon.

Khrushchev decides it’s time to deal with the traitorous Crimson Dynamo. He sends for Russia’s best agents, Boris and Natasha.

No, not those two.

Tales of Suspense #51

The Sinister Scarecrow

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: December 9, 1963
Cover: March 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan (When does he sleep?) Lee
Illustrated by: Don (When does he eat?) Heck
Lettered by: Art (When will he learn to spell?) Simek
13 pages

Stan notes we are probably wondering how a Scarecrow can cause Iron Man any trouble. I was wondering exactly that, Stan. In fact, I often wonder why most of Iron Man’s villains cause him any trouble. This issue will not answer the question. Iron Man strikes me as far more powerful than you make him out to be.

We get a somewhat interesting origin for a super-villain. It begins with Iron Man making a joke that he’s glad the performer is not a criminal, which inspires the performer to be a criminal. All he needs now is to steal a Scarecrow costume from a costume shop and some trained crows from a colleague.

Those who engage in humor know it to be an art form not free from consequence; we maintain that the rewards, though subtle, are worth the risk.

Tales of Suspense #50

The Hands of the Mandarin!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: November 12, 1963
Cover: February 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Don Heck
Lettered by: Ray Holloway
13 pages

So there’s this idea of an archfoe. Not every superhero needs one, but most have one. For Superman, it’s Lex Luthor. Batman has an extensive rogues gallery, but Joker stands out amongst them as his archfoe. We have not yet met Green Goblin, but many consider him Spider-Man’s archfoe. That’s likely why he was the villain in the first Spider-Man film. Those people, including the filmmakers, are wrong. We have met Spider-Man’s archfoe. It’s Dr. Octopus.

Thor has fought Loki in almost every issue. Magneto showed up in X-Men #1 and will be showing up a lot more. The Fantastic Four have fought Dr. Doom in a full quarter of their issues.

For Human Torch, it seems to be the Wizard. For Ant-Man/Giant-Man, it’s a little less clear. I tend to point to Egghead, others to the Human Top.

In this issue, Iron Man meets the Mandarin. He’ll be showing up again in a few issues. And conventional wisdom suggests Mandarin is Iron Man’s archfoe. I have no idea why conventional wisdom suggests that. I just don’t understand and never have.

Mandarin is a “yellow peril” villain, part of a long tradition of villains, with the most eminent one being Fu Manchu. Within Marvel, they had the Yellow Claw back in the 1950s. We’ll visit his old stories when he reemerges in the modern era. Today, by modern standards, this tradition of villains is considered racist. They are stereotypes of Asian people, which feed and draw from the prejudice that many Americans feel toward the people of various Asian countries. This prejudice is rooted partly in government propaganda, going back to the war against Japan, and continuing with the Cold War against Communist China, with this xenophobia enduring to the present day.

Tales of Suspense #49

The New Iron Man Meets The Angel!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: October 8, 1963
Cover: January 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Steve Ditko
Inked by: P. Reinman
18 pages

Paul Reinman on inks. It’s not often Ditko gets an inker. He usually does his own finishes. His first Iron Man story had Don Heck doing “refinement”. I think that’s the only other time we’ve seen anybody else finishing Ditko. Paul Reinman has been inking the X-Men comics, so he may be here to help keep their faces on-model.

Once again, that weird note at the beginning; we’ve seen something similar in every crossover. Stan thanks the editors of X-Men for letting the characters appear. You are the editor, Stan. But there may be legal reasons for this. Martin Goodman played all types of crazy games with shell companies and such to save a buck here and there.

The idea is it’s all one continuity, one universe. That’s why we read these comics together. But we don’t know that any character is part of that continuity until they cross over. At first, crossovers were sparse. It was a while before there was any hint Iron Man and Thor might be in this world. Crossovers have become increasingly common. After only two issues of X-Men, we learn they are a part of this world. The main story is a battle between Iron Man and Angel, but all the X-Men and Avengers will also show up.

Tales of Suspense #48

The Mysterious Mr. Doll!

Featuring: Iron Man
Relese: September 10, 1963
Cover: December 1963
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Art: Steve Ditko
18 pages

Iron Man gets a new look.

Steve Ditko is the artist on this issue. Jack Kirby drew the cover. Covers were often completed first. Most internet sites claim Ditko designed the new armor, but it might have been Kirby. These questions have been the subject of decades of debates and lawsuits. I do not know what is true, though I have my guesses.

I do know this new armor is better than the old one. I also know Ditko is responsible for the quality storytelling in the interior.

I also know that Mr. Doll looks much more like a Kirby villain than a Ditko villain. Simple color scheme. Weird headgear. All seems trademark Kirby.

Also, he has a dumb name. The GCD informs me Mr. Doll was supposed to be named Mr. Pain. That’s slightly better, I guess.

Tales of Suspense #47

Iron Man Battles the Melter!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: August 8, 1863
Cover: November 1963
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Interpreted by: Steve Ditko
Refined by: Don Heck
18 pages

Interesting credits this issue. “Interpreted by”, “Refined by”. But more interesting than the colorful descriptors used is the name of the person doing the interpreting: Steve Ditko. Currently the artist on Marvel’s two best series: Spider-Man and Dr. Strange. Iron Man has not been very good. Can Ditko turn it around?

Short answer: yes. Long answer: Probably not in a single issue. This is probably the best Iron Man story since his first appearance, but the character still hasn’t reached his potential. And he won’t while wearing that clunky costume…

Tales of Suspense #46

Iron Man Faces the Crimson Dynamo!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: July 9, 1963
Cover: October 1963
12 cents
Story plot: Stan Lee
Script: R. Berns
Art: Don Heck
13 pages

The cover bears a resemblance to the Ant-Man cover we just examined. The hero and villain are not actually in the same picture, with one confined to a separate panel.

Professor Vanko is Russia’s top scientist. He has built a suit that makes him master of electricity, the Crimson Dynamo. By the end, Tony Stark tricks him into defecting to the West.

Tales of Suspense #45

The Icy Fingers of Jack Frost!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: June 11, 1963
Cover: September 1963
12 cents
Story plot: Stan Lee
Script: R. Berns
Art: Don Heck
18 pages

We meet a new villain, Jack Frost. His special suit covers himself in ice and he can freeze people. He isn’t the first ice-themed super character and won’t be the last. Though off the top of my head, I am not thinking of any earlier examples within Marvel. Over at DC, we met Captain Cold in Showcase #8 (1957) and Mr. Zero in Batman #121 (1959).

But Jack Frost is something of a footnote in the Marvel Universe. This is the first of 6 stories he’ll appear in, making him the most significant Iron Man villain we’ve met, but still not all that significant.

The bigger news is that Iron Man gets a supporting cast!

The writers must know that having a supporting cast is a good idea. This isn’t new. Superman has had Lois since his first issue. Jimmy and Perry followed eventually. Batman has had Alfred for a couple decades at this point. It’s just not a new concept. And it’s working really well for Spider-Man. Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, Flash Thompson… they help make the book. But the other stories have mostly not bothered with the concept. Thing has Alicia and Thor has Jane, but that’s the extent of it so far.