Tales of Suspense #49

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.

And we get our first chronology difficulty. So let’s pause to reflect on chronology. My main concern when developing my reading order is finding a good order to read the books in. Date of publication (courtesy of Mike’s Amazing World) has been my main guide. Keeping stories together is another consideration. What order these events took place in-story is yet another. I think, philosophically, I match the intentions of the CMRO, though we are coming to different conclusions here and there. The MCP is only focused on the last criterion, the in-story ordering of these events.

That criterion is the most dangerous one, as it quickly leads you to contradictions. If you look within the text for clues to decide what took place when, you sometimes find impossible orderings.

Look within this comic and within Avengers #2. We find two clues about their relative placement. The first is that Iron Man is wearing his new armor in this issue. We see him wearing the old one in Avengers #2 and the new one in Avengers #3. That would suggest this comic takes place chronologically after Avengers #2. This is consistent with the date of publication. This comic was published in October 1963, and Avengers #2 and #3 were published in September and November respectively.

However, this comic lists Hulk amongst the members of the Avengers. Yet, Avengers #2 ended with Hulk quitting the team in a huff. He doesn’t return to active membership for decades. That suggests this comic takes place before Avengers #2. Both cannot be true.

So one clue must be ignored or explained away. For example, perhaps Iron Man put on his old armor one last time for that Avengers mission.

Or, we look to the Hulk’s placement with the Avengers. It is only the narrator of this issue who claims Hulk is an Avenger; we don’t actually see him with the team. Perhaps the narrator is mistaken. That is the easier answer. The narrator was not yet aware of the events of Avengers #2, or did not appreciate how serious Hulk was when he quit. Perhaps the narrator thought Hulk would calm down and rejoin the team, like Ben and Johnny always do when they quit the Fantastic Four. That is the explanation we will go with, the optimistic narrator. “Once an Avenger, always an Avenger,” is perhaps the narrator’s philosophy.

Let’s now discuss the superhero battle of this issue. Angel vs. Iron Man. Angel can fly. Iron Man can fly and do all sorts of other stuff. Angel’s only chance is that Iron Man doesn’t really want to hurt him.

I’m not particularly surprised that radioactivity from a nuclear explosion turned Angel evil. I am surprised that Stark predicted this effect. I would have thought radiation is more likely to give you super–powers than turn you evil. Or give your children super-powers. Or perhaps place you under the telepathic control of somebody at a connected control panel.

Angel wants to contact the evil mutants. It’s not clear who is he talking about. Xavier often talks of the threat posed by evil mutants, but I always assumed he was speaking in abstract hypotheticals. Angel seems to be seeking out specific evil mutants. The X-Men have only met two: Magneto and the Vanisher. And Vanisher has been psychically lobotomized by Xavier, so he’s out of the picture.

We get what is, to my eyes, one of those dialogue/art discrepancies. The dialogue goes on and on about evil mutants, and Angel’s plan to try to contact them. Then the narrator finally tells us they decide not to show. There’s no hint of evil mutants in the artwork. Angel just seems bent on destruction. I am guessing this angle was added in later by Stan Lee.

The line about Iron Man realizing radiation would turn Angel evil is in the same category. If he surmised that right away, it’s a bit weird that he then seemed to forget about Angel turning evil until the X-Men called to ask for help. I think Ditko’s art tells a clearer story than Lee’s dialogue.

Dialogue oddities aside, this was a good comic. Unfortunately, it marks the final issue of Steve Ditko’s short tenure on this series. It will be left in other hands next issue. And next issue will be awful.

The best part is the ending. Iron Man makes a bold move, risking his life to snap Angel out of being evil. He bets that if his life is really in peril, Angel will save him. If he were wrong, he would have died. Good act of heroism, rooted in believing in the best in people.

The issue is most notable for being the first comic to feature both the Avengers and the X-Men. It’s also notable for being Ditko’s first opportunity to draw most of those characters. With this issue, he’s now drawn all of our stars except Sgt. Fury.

Rating:★★★☆☆, 57/100
Significance: ★★★★★

I read this story in The Invincible Iron Man Omnibus vol. 1. You can also find it in the Iron Man Epic Collection vol. 1 or Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man vol. 1. Or through Kindle.

Characters:

• Angel
• Anthony Stark (or perhaps Blake)/Iron Man
• Pepper Potts
• Cyclops
• Beast
• Iceman
• Marvel Girl
• Professor Xavier/Professor X
• Bruce Banner/Hulk
• Dr. Don Blake/Thor
• Henry Pym/Giant-Man
• Janet Van Dyne/Wasp
• Happy Hogan

Story notes:

• Angel takes a shortcut to Westchester over a Stark weapons plant, where a deadly atomic explosion is about to be detonated.
• Iron Man’s suit shields him from radiation.
• Iron Man’s jets lose power fairly easily.
• Angel turned evil by radioactivity; Stark predicted this as a likely result of radioactive exposure.
• Iron Man saved by magnetic repeller.
• Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.
• Angel one of the first X-Men; Beast notes the two of them started together.
• Professor X considers disbanding the X-Men over Angel’s betrayal.
• X-Men are a specially licensed crimefighting organization. They have a secret wavelength they can use to contact the Avengers.
• Narrator notes Avengers consist of: Hulk, Thor, Giant-Man, Wasp, and Iron Man.
• Bruce Banner at work at his lab in New Mexico.
• Angel looking for X-Men’s mutant enemies.
• Iron Man was ready to sacrifice himself.

#127 story in reading order
Next: Tales of Suspense #49, Story B
Previous: Tales to Astonish #51, Story C