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
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| X-Men #10 | Reading order | Tales of Suspense #64, Story B |
| Tales of Suspense #63, Story B | Tales of Suspense | Tales of Suspense #64, Story B |
What is this “Bullpen” they refer to?
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.
Prior to this moment, she was pretty much a straight villain. You could argue she was just serving her country, but she seemed pretty evil in all her appearances. Perhaps her affection for Hawkeye was at least genuine. The other villains who will reform (Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch) all were shown as basically decent people to begin with, reluctantly villains.
This brings us to Hawkeye, already a reluctant villain. He meant to be a superhero. He had turned to villainy first because of a misunderstanding, and then stuck with it because he fell in love with a villain. He expresses qualms about betraying his country, but the Black Widow bats her eyelashes at him. He’s not willing to be a Soviet stooge, but doesn’t mind doing small favors like killing Iron Man.
I might argue Stan has put more effort into the characterization of these two villains than he has for Tony Stark in the last 25 issues.
In what could be a milestone moment, Happy proposes marriage to Pepper. She says she needs more time to make a decision. She is not ready to give up on Tony Stark.
I’ve wondered before and I’ll wonder again: why does Iron Man even have a secret identity. For say, Spider-Man, it makes sense. He doesn’t want criminals to go after his aunt. Aunt May got kidnapped by Dr. Octopus once anyway, but that was just a coincidence, and it hasn’t happened since. Maybe Stark has some unmentioned family he wants to keep safe, but since Stark and Iron Man have a publicly close relationship, villains wishing to strike at Iron Man just strike at Stark anyway. The people closest to Stark are Happy and Pepper, and Iron Man’s villains come after them all the time.
Stark’s plan to rescue them doesn’t make much sense to me. He appears as Tony Stark, then launches a smoke grenade to change to Iron Man. Why not just show up as Iron Man and lead with the smoke?
Hawkeye has become more of a threat than before because of his acid spray arrowhead, which melts Iron Man’s armor. This brings him up to the threat level of at least the Melter.
Rating: ★★½, 48/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
I read this story in The Invincible Iron Man Omnibus vol. 1. You can find this story in the Iron Man Epic Collection vol. 1 or Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man vol. 2. Or on Kindle.
Characters:
- Iron Man/Anthony “Tony” Stark
- Black Widow/Madam Natasha
- Hawkeye
- Nikita Khrushchev
- Brushnev
- Black Widow’s mother and father
- Pepper Potts
- Happy Hogan
Minor characters:
- Vladmir (Soviet agent)
Story notes:
- Iron Man referred to as “Golden Avenger”.
- Brushnev designs Black Widow’s new gadgets.
- Happy asks Pepper about marriage, but she says she needs more time.
- Black Widow and Hawkeye escape
| Previous | #316 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| X-Men #10 | Reading order | Tales of Suspense #64, Story B |
| Tales of Suspense #63, Story B | Tales of Suspense | Tales of Suspense #64, Story B |
