Featuring: Iron Man Release: September 9, 1965 Cover: December 1965 12 cents Writer: Stan Lee Penciller: Don Heck Inker: Mickey Demeo Letterer: Artie Simek 12 pages
The nation asks– no, it demands to know the true identity of one of its greatest heroes! We must learn– Who is Iron Man?
Let’s start with a bit of an apology to Iron Man. His character was introduced in Tales of Suspense #39, released December 10, 1962. So we just passed his 60th birthday and failed to mark the occasion with appropriate fanfare. Happy belated 60th, Iron Man.
Iron Man returns to America and cheering crowds, having triumphed over Titanium Man. But the victory was costly, as Happy now hovers on the edge of death.
Reporters seem eager to get the scoop on Iron Man’s true identity. I don’t really think it’s that hard if you want to do any amount of investigating.
Nobody ever seems concerned how casually Iron Man walks into Stark’s office and makes himself at home.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: August 10, 1965 Cover: November 1965 12 cents A study in splendor by Stan Lee, writer! A muse of majesty by Don Heck, artist! A glimmer of glory by Wally Wood, inker! A nice lettering job by Art Simek, bon vivant! 12 pages
Featuring: Iron Man Release: July 8, 1965 Cover: October 1965 12 cents Story: Scribbled and scrawled by: Stan Lee Illustration: Doodled and dawdled by: Don Heck Delineation: Battered and blotted by: Mickey Demeo Lettering: Mumbled and jumbled by: Sam Rosen 12 pages
Featuring: Iron Man Release: June 8, 1965 Cover: September 1965 12 cents Story by: Stan Lee, the idol of Millions! Art by: Don Heck, the toast of two continents! Inking by: V. Colletta, the pride of the bullpen! Lettering by: Sam Rosen, the last angry letterer! 12 pages
But, Iron Man must accept the challenge! It’s a matter of national pride… of prestige!
There are many stories I consider iconic. And, usually, who knows how this impression forms. Decades of reading comics and talking about comics has given me a sense of some stories that stand out.
I think of this as an iconic story and I know exactly why I think that. Very early in my Marvel reading, I also collected Marvel cards. The 1990 set had a set of famous battles. This was one of the chosen battles.
We’ve seen one famous battle (per that card deck) before, the Hulk/Thing fight from Fantastic Four #25–26. And are currently in the middle of another, the “Nick Fury vs. Hydra” battle begun in Strange Tales #135.
Of course, Titanium Man has one other claim to fame. Paul McCartney selected him alongside Magneto as villains to write a song about. (He also references Crimson Dynamo.)
The MCP wants Iron Man to attend the wedding in the middle of the events of this issue. I don’t see why it can’t just be before this issue. Maybe I’m missing some subtlety. As the issue opens, he’s spent weeks working on this sub-miniature reverser. He could have taken a brief break to attend a wedding.
Continuity does get complicated here though. Avengers #20 is concurrent to Tales of Suspense #70. Avengers #19 takes place in the middle of the Hydra Saga, yet Tony Stark’s life gets complicated starting now, so issue 69 or before is the best chance for his appearances in Strange Tales, including his appearances after the Hydra saga. And of course Iron Man shares a comic with Cap. As Nick Fury does with Dr. Strange, the latter of which we are months behind on reading.
For a reading order, we’ll read the Iron Man/Cap stories, then the Avengers stories, then the Dr. Strange/Nick Fury stories. But we’ll talk about what must be concurrent and what must fit where as we go.
Titanium Man is the Soviet answer to Iron Man. He issues a public challenge to prove Soviet superiority. Titanium is more powerful than Iron, so his armor is more powerful, but also slower and bulkier.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: May 11, 1965 Cover August 1965 12 cents Edited by: Stan Lee (who hasn’t slept since!) Written by: Al Hartley (who could never sleep!) Art by: Don Heck (who was under sedation!) Inked by: Mickey Demeo (who couldn’t have visitors!) Lettered by: Sam Rosen (who knows!) 12 pages
This is the third Al Hartley story we’ve read. He wrote last month’s Giant-Man finale and drew a Thor story way back. He is a Marvel regular, just normally on the humor titles this blog hasn’t focused on.
We can still count on one hand the number of stories Stan hasn’t claimed writing credit on. But he gets his name at the top of the credits anyway.
From the title page, this almost seems like the same story as last issue. Last issue, Count Nefaria took over Iron Man’s dreams to make him fight visions of his enemies. Now it looks like Iron Man is seeing visions again. Turn the page, and we learn Count Nefaria is involved again.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: April 8, 1965 Cover: July 1965 12 cents Written by our roguish writer: Stan Lee Pencilled by our prankish penciller: Don Heck Inked by our impish inker: Mickey Demeo Lettered by our other letter: S. Rosen 12 pages
The drama from last issue continues. Happy has quit; Pepper is sad; she blames Iron Man.
Count Nefaria of the Maggia returns, but with a new gimmick and identity. He now calls himself the Master of Dreams. Perhaps also Dream-Maker or Dream-Master; Stan can’t decide from one page to the next. He controls Iron Man’s dreams and sends old foes against him; if Iron Man dies in the dream, he will die.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: March 11, 1965 Cover: June 1965 12 cents Written in the Marvel tradition of greatness by Stan Lee Illustrated in the Marvel tradition of grandeur by Don Heck Inked in the Marvel tradition of drama by Mickey Demeo Lettered in the coziest corner of the room by Sam Rosen 12 pages
Due to circumstance, I lost the write-up for this particular story I had completed. I’m not a big fan of the Iron Man stories, and I was just unenthusiastic about writing this entry again. Please excuse me if I do a poorer job than usual. I just kind of want to get through this one.
In particular, I feel like I’d previously worked out where Attuma ranks in a particular metric, and I’m not sure I care to recompute it; I’ll just go off the top of my head and let somebody correct me if I’m wrong. Iron Man is the third distinct hero Attuma has fought, after facing the Fantastic Four and Giant-Man and the Wasp. I think that might be a record?
We have to define ‘distinct’ a bit carefully. I think fighting a hero and the team that hero is on should only count as one: Sandman fought both the solo Human Torch and the Fantastic Four; Loki fought both Thor and the Avengers.
With that caveat, Attuma is only the second villain to fight three distinct heroes. The first being Chameleon, who has faced Spider-Man, Iron Man (along with the Avengers), and Hulk.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: February 11, 1965 Cover: May 1965 12 cents Story by Marvel’s merriest marcher: Stan Lee Art by Marvel’s most amiable artist: Don Heck Inking by Marvel’s dizziest delineator: Mickey Demeo Lettering by Marvel’s persnippiest pen-pusher: Sam Rosen 12 pages
We just spent several weeks reading Red Skull stories to prepare for this, and it’s an Iron Man story. What gives.
But I see Red Skull on the cover. Ah, flipping ahead, there are two stories in this comic. The second story is about Captain America and the Red Skull. Maybe we’ll get there tomorrow.
There’s a new name in the credits. Who is Mickey Demeo? Well, his real Name is Mike Esposito. He’s been working in comics since leaving the army in the late 1940s, and is best known for his decades of collaboration with Ross Andru. I know him best as an inker, but he was often the main penciller on his earlier work. He and Ross Andru started small publishers together in the 1950s, including Mikeross Publications, and MR Publications, which published Mr. Universe. Esposito and Ross had a decade-long collaboration on the character of Wonder Woman, which helped give a definitive and iconic look to the character. Together with writer Bob Kanigher, they co-created the original Suicide Squad and the Metal Men. Esposito will become a significant inker on Amazing Spider-Man, for a time in collaboration with Andru.
Why the alias? He probably doesn’t want DC to know he’s doing Marvel work. And it’s not just this title. He’s also inking this month’s Human Torch and Avengers adventures.
Here is a sampling of some early pencil work by Esposito.
Men’s Adventures #6 (Marvel, 1951)
Weird Adventures #3 (PL Publishing, 1951)
Girl Comics #8 (Marvel, 1951)
Blazing Sixguns #15 (Super Comics, 1963)
And here is some of his inking work in collaboration with Ross Andru.
Mr. Universe #2 (MR Publications, 1951)
All-American Men of War #6 (DC, 1953)
Get Lost #1 (Mikeross Publications, 1954)
Wonder Woman #58 (DC, 1958)
Brave and the Bold #25 (DC, 1959)
Showcase #37 (DC, 1962)
On to Iron Man. In this issue, Iron Man fights Iron Man!
Really, the new Iron man fights the old Iron Man.
That is, somebody steals Tony Stark’s new armor. So Tony has to put on his old armor to fight him.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: January 12, 1965 Cover: April 1965 12 cents Powerful script by: Stan Lee Poignant art by: Don Heck Punchy inking by: Chic Stone Polite lettering by: Sam Rosen Plenty of kibitzing by: The Bullpen Gang! 12 pages
We just met the “new” Giant-Man. It was really just Giant-Man with a new outfit and gizmo. Similarly, the “new” Black Widow is just the Black Widow with some new gimmicks.
These gimmicks make her more formidable, but still no match for Iron Man.
She can now climb walls and fire a line of suction-tipped nylon, a web of sorts. She is a spider-themed heroine, so it makes sense her gimmicks will have hints of Spider-Man.
We also see the first hints of a possible road to redemption for Black Widow. She has decided she wishes to stop being evil and tells Khrushchev this to his face. He shows her that her parents are his prisoners, and they will be killed unless she cooperates. That Khrushchev is a villain, indeed.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: December 10, 1964 Cover: March 1965 12 cents Have you the nerve to read this great Stan Lee story? Should we preserve these thrilling Don Heck drawings? Dare we observe this unique Dick Ayers inking? Do we deserve the impact of this Sam Rosen lettering? 12 pages
Introduces a new villain, the Phantom, who is sabotaging Stark’s plant. I thought about naming all the Iron Man villains whose plan has involved attacking or sabotaging Stark’s plant, but it would be easier to name the rest of them.
This resolves the story arc where Tony Stark seemed to be dead. He turns out not to be.
He pretended to be dead because he was trapped in his armor. Yet… trapped in his armor, he could still remove his helmet and gloves, at least. He has always been trapped in the chest plate and just puts clothes over it. So I don’t understand why he couldn’t have just put clothes over the rest of his armor.
Whatever the explanation, he modified a transistor so now only needs the chestplate. Basically, his new invention allowed him to take his pants off.
