Iron Man Versus Gargantus!
Featuring: Iron Man
Release: January 10, 1963
Cover: April 1963
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: R. Berns
Art: J. Kirby
Inking: D. Heck
13 pages
I read this story in Iron Man Omnibus vol. 1.
Most of the credits only get first initials, perhaps to fit on a line. The letterer John Duffy doesn’t even get an initial, referred to as “Duffi”. Heck was the primary artist on the first issue of Iron Man, though building off some initial character work by Kirby. Here, Heck is credited with inking over Kirby. But to my eye, this issue mostly reminds me more of Heck than Kirby.
The script is credited to “R. Berns”. The first time we’ve seen that name. In fact, I think it’s the first writing credits given to anybody except for Stan or his brother Larry. The scripter is Robert Bernstein, who used the pseudonym “R. Berns” for all of his Marvel work, as he was mostly known for his DC superhero work at the time. He’d been working in comics for at least 17 years at this point, and had worked with Lee before on western and war stories. But he’d spent the last 4 years working in superhero comics at DC, famously reviving Aquaman for the Silver Age, and adding Aqualad and Aquagirl to the cast (working with Ramona Fradon). His Superboy stories (with George Papp) introduced the menace of General Zod and other Kryptonian criminals imprisoned in the Phantom Zone, concepts that would make it into the 1978 Superman film and the 2013 reboot. And he transformed Congo Bill into Congorilla (alongside Howard Sherman). An impressive pedigree to join our crew.
We saw 18 months of superhero comics made almost entirely by 3 people. It wasn’t sustainable as the number of heroes continued to grow, so we’ve seen an infusion of new writers and artists in the last month, some filling in, some here to stay.
Iron Man gets a costume upgrade, coloring the grey armor golden. It reminds of how Hulk switched from grey to green from his first to second issue. But that was about printing problems; this gets an in-story explanation, as he decides a golden suit makes him look more heroic. A fortuitous decision for a hero who will one day be nicknamed “the Golden Avenger”, as “the Grey Avenger” would be much less catchy.
I would argue the costume could still be better. Perhaps another artist will come along one day to give it an overhaul…
Bernstein provides some solid scripting in the opening. The first half of the story is dedicated to introducing us to Iron Man and what he’s been up to. The quality isn’t maintained as it gets into the issue’s somewhat lame plot.
Anthony Stark is described as someone who lives three lives: “mechanical genius”, “millionaire playboy”, and… Iron Man.
The last issue described him as a man trapped in a suit of armor. Here, we see that is only partially true. Most of the armor can come off. But the chestplate must be worn at all times, and regularly plugged into a wall to recharge. Otherwise, his heart would stop beating. You could imagine this affects his love life. A classic comic is too polite to go into that, so we instead see him turn down going swimming with his date.
This is a good hook for a hero. His armor makes him a superhero, but it’s also his life support. And his prison. There’s some similar thematic resonance to Thing’s predicament. Being a superhero isn’t all about the glory for these characters. There’s a tragic edge to them.
The narrator is entirely proud of Mr. Stark’s patriotic service in the Cold War. No mention of phrasing like “war-profiteering” the movie would use. No cynicism. This is just society’s changed attitude toward the military industrial complex and the Cold War itself in the last 6 decades. In general, there’s no hint here that Mr. Stark may possess any character flaws, save perhaps for an inability to settle down with a good woman. We see him on dates with two different girls in just this issue.
The narrator always refers to the main character as Anthony Stark, which is the only name we heard him referred to by last issue. But his dates and friends all call him Tony, a more familiar name to modern fans.
Most of the series so far have involved a time jump between the first and second story. We see their origin and first adventure. But the second story jumps ahead to when they already have some crimefighting under their belt and a reputation as a famous superhero. Only the Hulk stories made some effort to show his initial progression without much of a time leap.
Modern writers seeking to expand these stories or make them into movies are left with a gap for which there isn’t much baseline in the original comics for what happens after the hero’s first adventure, how they get into the routine of superheroing.
We even learn Iron Man has a weeklong mission in Africa in the middle of the story, but get no more details about it. This is just who he is.
The unnamed mad scientist Iron Man fights has invented a shrinking ray. But honestly, who hasn’t? Ant-Man, Mr. Fantastic, and Dr. Doom have all independently invented the same thing.
One thing that will happen in these Iron Man stories is we’ll always get more gadgets and capabilities of the armor. We’ll try to keep track. The armor having some never-before-mentioned feature makes much more sense than the random powers Thor’s hammer develops each issue.
This issue we see suction-cups, transistor-powered air jets, speakers in his belt, and the ability to charge the suit to shock any who touch it. We also learn the armor folds up and can be hidden in a briefcase.
Then we finally get to the story’s plot, unfortunately. A neanderthal has hypnotized a town and made them build a wall, but it turns out he’s a robot controlled by aliens. In the last Thor story, I listed the absurd number of alien invaders earth has had in the past several months. Here’s one more. These aliens go unnamed. Fighting off aliens within two issues seems to be a basic right of passage for these Marvel heroes.
Anyways, I think the moral of the story is that walls are bad and only bad people want them.
Other stories in this issue include “Work of Art” and “Prophet of Doom”.
Rating: ★★½, 49/100
Significance: ★★★★☆
First several pages catching us up on what Iron Man has been up to were pretty great. Then the last few pages tell the story’s main plot. And it’s terrible.
Characters:
- Gargantus
- Anthony “Tony” Stark/Iron Man
Minor characters:
- Jeanne (Tony’s date)
- Marion (Tony’s other date)
- Aliens from an unnamed species
Story notes:
- Stark presented with “Annual Medal of Honor” by “International Society of Physicists” for micro-transistor research.
- Invents roller skates for the army powered by transistor-powered engines
- His date calls him “Tony”; he’d been “Anthony” up to this point
- Stark always wears iron chest plate under clothes. If the plate were removed or wasn’t regularly recharged, his heart would stop beating.
- Montage shows Iron Man has been out superheroing regularly. We see him fight gangsters and a mad scientist
- Iron Man suit fits into a briefcase
- suction cups; transistor-powered air jets; able to turn up electrical currency in body to generate charge when touched; public-address speakers attached to belt
- Marion taking 6:50 plane from Granville, but doesn’t make flight
- Tony has his first date for the issue is in Monte Carlo
- Stark completed a mission in Africa as Iron Man… we get no more details
- Granville puts up a wall
- Gargantus appears to be a Neanderthal man from 80,000 years ago
- Gargantus robot sent by aliens from flying saucer
- Alien species unnamed
- Aliens had first visited earth 80,000 years earlier
#56 story in reading order
Next: Strange Tales #107
Previous: Tales to Astonish #42
