Featuring: Iron Man Release: September 8, 1966 Cover: December 1966 12 cents Story: Stan Lee Art: Gene Colan Inking: Frank Giacoia Lettering: Sam Rosen 12 pages
SURVEY SHOWS THAT STARK AND IRON MAN NEVER SEEN AT THE SAME TIME TOGETHER
It’s been a year coming. Back in Tales of Suspense #72, Senator Harrington Byrd planned to summon Tony Stark to Washington to make him reveal Iron Man’s secrets, so the US military could use the technology. The following issue, he tried to confront Stark in his office with the summons, but found only Pepper. The next issue, he got Iron Man on the phone, and says he’ll come to New York with a subpoena unless Stark comes willingly to Washington. In the next issue, he made good on the threat and showed up with the subpoena at Stark offices, only to find Iron Man battling Happy, who had turned into the Freak. Once that resolved, he had police escort Stark to a car, to personally escort him to Washington. Only Tony Stark was transported from that car en route to DC, and found himself in Asia a prisoner of the Mandarin. Then Iron Man had to fight Mandarin and Ultimo. Only to return home and find all his factories shut down because he’d failed to answer the summons to Congress. He needed to recharge, rest, and deal with Namor. But finally he called Senator Byrd and agreed to come to Washington. And he did go to Washington. Only to be attacked by Titanium Man. With Titanium Man defeated, Stark should finally be able to appear before Congress a dozen issues after being summoned.
And here he is.
Ready to reveal the secrets of Iron Man.
Until he has a heart attack before the first question gets asked. How convenient.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: August 9, 1966 Cover: November 1966 12 cents Smilin’ Stan Lee, author Genial Gene Colan, artist Gleeful Gary Michaels, inker Affable Artie Simek, letterer Ineffable Irving Forbush, referee 12 pages
If only the day would come when force is no longer necessary– when men would reason together instead! But, until such a time, we should be thankful that power such as Iron Man’s exists– and can be used in behalf of freedom!
Titanium Man holds Pepper hostage. The battle continues in DC, delaying Stark’s testimony to Congress.
“…for the sake of freedom everywhere, I dare not lose…” claims Iron Man. That sounds a little overly melodramatic and self-important to me.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: July 7, 1966 Cover: October 1966 12 cents Script: Stan Lee Pencils: Gene Colan Inks: Frank Giacoia Lettering: Artie Simek Emergency first aid: Irving Forbush 12 pages
Featuring: Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner Release: May 3, 1966 Cover: August 1966 12 cents Plotted by Smilin’ Stan (who then went on vacation!) Scripted by Rascally Roy (who wishes he had!) Begun by Gallant Gene (who caught the flu after finishing the first two pages!) Finished by King Kirby (who drew the last ten pages, then asked who Sub-Mariner was!) Inked by Darlin’ Dick (who else?) 12 pages
Never will Prince Namor surrender! Never shall your eyes view the true Sovereign of Atlantis humbled! Not all your vaunted power will give you the final triumph!
Yesterday was Mother’s Day, and my mother, this blog’s most loyal reader, always liked Namor in her youth. So this is for her.
The digital reprints leave off the letterer credit, and I don’t own the original of this comic. And my reprint in Marvel Masterworks has the same misprint as the digital version. But the GCD tells me there should be one more line in the credits, which reads:
Adorable Arthur (Who??)
Where were we? Red Skull is alive and has been working with Them, and AIM and Them may be the same organization. AIM/Them had created the Cosmic Cube, which Red Skull used to make himself a god, but was still defeated by Captain America. AIM is a defense contractor trying to worm its way into SHIELD and convince the government to remove Col. Fury. But Fury suspects what they are up to.
The Secret Empire is after the Orion Missile, and has hired Boomerang to the task. He has kidnapped the General’s daughter, Betty Ross, as the first step in his plan.
To save Namor from the Behemoth, Dorma agreed to marry Krang, and they ran off together. Unaware of her noble intentions, a furious Namor pursued them to the surface.
Returning to America from a battle with Ultimo, Iron Man found that his factories had been closed, and that he was running low on power and friends. Happy, Pepper, the Avengers… none were home when he desperately needed them. Happy and Pepper may have been on a date. The Avengers may have been in a hidden kingdom in South America.
Krang attacked Iron Man, then escaped. Namor blamed Iron Man for the escape, and decided to stop pursuing Krang and battle Iron Man instead.
This is the direct continuation of the story from Tales of Suspense #80.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: May 10, 1966 Cover: August 1966 12 cents Stan Lee, Sovereign of Script Gene Colan, Prince of Pencilling Gary Michaels, Imperator of Inking Artie Simek, Lord of Lettering 12 pages
At last! I’m at the peak of my power! This is the moment that makes all the agony of the past more than worthwhile! This is the supreme sensation which no other living being can ever experience– the feeling which none can ever fully comprehend– the triumphant moment when the strength of a thousand transistors flows thru me and I stand once more ready for battle– as the invincible Iron Man!
Namor attacks Iron Man. Superheroes do that when the meet, generally. And Namor has always walked that superhero/supervillain line.
Superhero brawls are a well-established trope by this point. A one-on-one battle between Namor and Iron Man was due. Of course they’ve fought before, but then Iron Man had all the Avengers on his side. And Namor still held them at bay.
The battle will exploit their respective weaknesses. They both need the occasional charge. Iron Man needs to plug in. Namor needs water.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: January 1, 1966 Cover: April 1966 12 cents Tenderly written by: Stan Lee Lovingly pencilled by: Adam Austin Gently delineated by: Gary Michaels Finally lettered by: Sam Rosen 12 pages
Look at you! Bedraggled and red-eyed! Too much celebrating last night, eh? I always said you were nothing but a playboy!
Marvel has given up on the idea of clean story breaks, which makes reading tricky when I’d like to put the stories together. This is part 3 of the Happy-as-The-Freak arc, but also part 1 of the Ultimo arc. Essentially they seem to want to end every issue on a cliffhanger, so they begin the next story now. I can’t just keep reading Iron Man. We already are getting ahead of the Captain America stories he shares the title with, because I need to align those with the SHIELD arc. And there’s a whole Marvel Universe to check in with. Which means I need to either break last issue with the Freak saga unresolved, or break after this issue with the Ultimo saga unresolved. The Freak saga resolves in about 2 pages, but the Ultimo saga really only takes up the last 2 pages. The ongoing Senator Byrd subplot dominates the middle bit. I don’t know. We’re reading this now, then we’ll take a break. And see what happens with Ultimo at a later date.
Where were we. The experimental treatment on Happy turned him into a Freak. Iron Man had a thing that might save Happy, at risk to himself.
Well, it worked.
This was all a fallout from the Titanium Man battle. That’s when Happy was injured saving Iron Man, and revealed he knew (or suspected) Tony’s secret. This is their first chance to talk since then.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: December 9, 1965 Cover: March 1966 12 cents Titanically written by: Stan Lee Tremendously drawn by: Adam Austin Tumultuously inked by: Gary Michaels Timorously lettered by: Sam Rosen 12 pages
He’s got to learn that Iron Man cannot work only for him, when the entire nation might benefit by his powers!
Happy Hogan has been turned into a Freak. A depowered Iron Man is in pursuit.
The Freak takes an interest in Pepper.
Senator Byrd has been a thorn in Iron Man’s side. Not a villain, but a nuisance. Does he have a point though? Should the powers of Iron Man benefit the entire nation, and not be controlled by a single corporation?
Featuring: Iron Man Release: November 11, 1965 Cover: February 1966 12 cents Story: As only the fabulous Stan Lee can tell it! Art: As only the fantastic Adam Austin can draw it! Inking: As only the flamboyant Gary Michaels can delineate it! Lettering: As only the frantic Artie Simek can scribble it! 12 pages
Somehow– I feel as though my whole world is crashing down around me–!
Jack Abel returns under the Gary Michaels pseudonym. He’ll be the regular inker for a period of time.
Recall Happy had been badly injured during the battle with Titanium Man in issue 71, and last issue he was kidnapped from his hospital by the Black Knight. Iron Man rescued Happy and the Black Knight fell to his death, but now Iron Man is out of power.
To add a bizarre but strangely common wrinkle to the relationships, Pepper now decides she loves Iron Man and hates Tony. It used to be the other way around. Tony loves Pepper but can’t be with her because he has a bad heart, so he’s been intentionally cruel. Happy loves Pepper, but Pepper couldn’t love him back because of Tony, but now she’s over Tony and in love with Iron Man.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: October 12, 1965 Cover: January 1966 12 cents Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Adam Austin, Gary Michaels, Sol Brodsky, Flo Steinberg, and Merrie Ol’ Marie Severin! 12 pages
Now look, Avenger– No one takes the law into his own hands– not even you!
Stan seems to be crediting an unusual amount of people, but it’s really people who are always involved. Lee always credits himself, this time presumably in an editing role. Roy Thomas is the scripter, Adam Austin (aka Gene Colan) the penciller, Gary Michaels (aka Jack Abel) the inker. The other names show up less commonly in credits. Sol Brodsky is the production manager, and usually is, though uncredited. Marie Severin is the colorist, and frequently is, though uncredited. (Unfortunately we won’t see any of Severin’s coloring in my images, as I’ve only found the digital version online, which is entirely recolored, and that’s likely Stan Goldberg coloring the cover above.) What’s interesting here is Flo Steinberg, who’s been behind the scenes since the beginning, handling the office work for Marvel. She gets her name here apparently because she assisted Roy with the plot.
Weirdly, for all that crediting, they forgot to mention the letterer. Apparently this time normal letter Artie Simek is joined by Ben Oda.
Speaking of Roy Thomas, that’s the new guy we first met on Modeling with Millie, which was released one week earlier. This is his first superhero work. Wonder if he’ll do any more.
Jack Abel is also new to us in our modern reading, though we read an old Captain America story he’d likely contributed to. He’d worked for Marvel back in the 1950s, often inking Bill Benulis or Bob Forgione, but lately has been focused on DC’s war comics. It’s probably why he uses a pseudonym here, so DC won’t know he’s doing side-work. He’ll eventually move on to DC’s superhero line and become the main inker on Superman stories. Here’s a sampling of his artwork.
Journey Into Mystery #20, Marvel, 1954
Our Fighting Forces #50, DC, 1959
Sea-Devils #14, DC, 1963
And a sampling of his finishing work.
Western Outlaws and Sheriffs #72, Marvel, 1952, pencils by Warren Broderick
Adventures into Terror #11, Marvel, 1952, pencils by Bill Benulis
Combat Casey #11, Marvel, 1953, pencils by Bill Benulis
All-American Men of War #25, DC, 1955, pencils by Bob Forgione
Wyatt Earp #1, Marvel, 1955, pencils by Bob Forgione
Turok, Son of Stone #3, Dell, 1956, pencils by Bob Correa
As a complete aside, the plot of that Adventures into Terror story amused me to no end. Lots of these stories about somebody murdering a partner for ambition. But in this case, they were a two-man horse act, and the guy who played the end of the horse wanted to play the horse’s head. Talk about ambition!
Featuring: Marvels Release: December 14, 1993 Cover: February 1994 $5.95 Writer: Kurt Busiek Artist: Alex Ross Letterers: Starkings w/ John Gaushell Editor: Marcus McLaurin Assitant editor: Spencer Lamm Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco Cover design & logo: Joe Kaufman Interior design: Comicraft 45 pages
The real story was the people who’d been scared too long. Who’d been wound tight by talk of mutant menaces and hidden conspiracies and shadows under the bed.
I’ve mentioned before I want to frame our reading around the Marvels miniseries from the 1990s. That hasn’t really been obvious yet. We read Marvels #0, which retold a few pages from Marvel Comics #1. And we read Marvels #1, which paralleled 1940s Marvel comics. But our reading is concentrated in the 1960s. Finally, we get to Marvels #2, which parallels the 1960s Marvel stories, ranging from Avengers #6 (May 1964), the 191st entry in our reading, through Tales of Suspense #69 (June 1965), the 404th entry in our reading. Quite the range. We are reading it after completing the Iron Man story from Tales of Suspense #72, because we’d first needed to tie up some continuity ends.
We’ve hinted before at the theme of this comic, and I’d like to just discuss it up front. The two centerpiece stories are the wedding of Reed and Sue in Fantastic Four Annual 3, and the attack on the X-Men by the Sentinels in X-Men #14. The writer Kurt Busiek had noted in his own Marvel Universe research what we also found in our reading here, that these events must occur on nearly consecutive days. That’s not obvious from any comic, but does follow from a close reading of the many interconnected comics. And the two stories make for quite the juxtaposition.
The contrast between these two arcs becomes the central tension of this issue. The Fantastic Four wedding is the celebrity event of the century. The press covered it, crowds of fans gathered, famous people like Tony Stark and Millie the Model attended. The Fantastic Four are super-powered heroes and beloved by the public.
The X-Men are also super-powered heroes. But where the Fantastic Four gained their powers from cosmic radiation, the powers of the X-Men are innate, based on an accident of birth, perhaps from radiation their parents had been exposed to. The “Children of the Atom”. And that difference is big enough that the same public who cheered on the wedding of the FF members would listen with interest and nods of approval as Bolivar Trask went on the airwaves to declare mutants a menace and announce he’d created robot-hunting Sentinels to hunt and kill the X-Men.
We read the Heroes & Legends retelling of the wedding, which focused on this very tension in the form of a child, who was a huge fan of the Fantastic Four, but afraid of the X-Men. He learned better by issue’s end.
Here, the arc will play out within Phil Sheldon, the photojournalist who specialises in shots of the people he’s dubbed the Marvels. A person who idolizes heroes like the Fantastic Four and Avengers, but fears mutants like the X-Men.
It’s entirely irrational, just like all forms of bigotry.
That’s enough belaboring of themes. Let’s dive into the story. As we do, we’ll try to draw the parallels between what’s happening on the page and our reading.
I’ll note that the title is called “Monsters”, which brings to my mind Thing and Hulk. The latter doesn’t appear, and the former is a minor player at best.
It’s 20 years after the events of Marvels #1. Phil Sheldon is now an established freelance photojournalist happily married with two kids. We see hm doing freelance work for Barney Bushkin at the Daily Globe. The shadows on the page somewhat obscure Phil’s eyepatch, a lifelong injury sustained last issue by getting too close to a superhero battle.
We remember meeting Barney in Amazing Spider-Man #27. He’s nicer than Jonah, but asked too many questions for Peter’s tastes.
