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.
We see Pepper (still in her new look) acting on her jealousy of Stark’s dating life by sabotaging one of his dates.
In an unusual twist, Happy–Stark’s chauffeur– gives him a ride home. Most often, Happy is on hand to drive, but Stark declines, hinting he has some other mode of transport available.
I’ve noted it’s a lazy trope when the superhero in their secret identity happens upon the villain’s crime or is themself the victim. It makes more sense in this series, as Stark is a natural target for a super-villain. Moreso than Dr. Blake’s nurse, at least.
We’ll be seeing Scarecrow again when he takes on the X-Men, and then later when he becomes a regular foe of Captain America.
Scarecrow is of course a pretty generic name, so it’s no surprise that characters with that name have shown up in some of Marvel’s horror books. The comics don’t seem particularly relevant to cover in any detail, so I’ll just point out a few here.
Of course the more famous Scarecrow villain in comics is a Batman villain from the Distinguished Competition.
Rating: ★★½, 45/100
★★★★☆
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. 2. Or through Kindle.
Characters:
- Iron Man/Anthony Stark
- Uncanny Umberto/Scarecrow
- Veronica Vogue
- Pepper Potts
- Happy Hogan
Story notes:
- Umberto a contortionist and escape artist.
- Steals crows from “Thornton and his crows act”.
- Scarecrow figures Stark will be easy target as he’s a swinger often out on a date.
- Pepper wrecks Tony’s date.
- Happy gives Tony a ride home; Tony invites him over for poker.
- Scarecrow had heard Iron Man is Stark’s bodyguard.
- Scarecrow stole Stark plans for transistorized weapons. Plans to sell them back to him to keep them out of Commie hands.
- Scarecrow takes plans to Cuban gunboat.
- Scarecrow escapes to Cuba.
- Tony gives his show tickets to Happy and Pepper.
- Previous Marvel Scarecrows are from: Journey Into Mystery #2 (1952), World of Suspense #2 (1956), Strange Tales #81 (1961), Journey Into Mystery #77 (1962).
- Batman villain Scarecrow from World’s Finest Comics #3 (1941), Batman #189 (1967), Batman #457 (1990), Batman: The Animated Series: “Nothing to Fear” (1992), Batman Begins (2005)
#155 story in reading order
Next: Tales of Suspense #51, Story C
Previous: Amazing Spider-Man #10
