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
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| Tales of Suspense #67, Story B | Reading order | Tales of Suspense #68, Story B |
| Tales of Suspense #67, Story B | Tales of Suspense | Tales of Suspense #68, Story B |
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.
He’s also calling himself Count Nefaria again, rather than whatever new villain identity he assumed last issue.
And it seems as though Tony’s cousin Morgan Stark is in some trouble.
In the Marvel movies, Tony’s daughter is named Morgan Stark. Coincidence?
The plot of this issue that that Morgan uses Nefaria’s invention to make Stark think he is seeing space aliens. When nobody else sees the aliens, people assume he’s going crazy. Aliens is pretty far-fetched, right?
Anyway, then real aliens invade, and Iron Man stops them, so now people think Stark isn’t crazy.
Nefaria wanted to destroy Stark; he controlled Stark’s cousin. Yet all he could think to do was have the cousin project some images of aliens into the woods? What a waste of an asset. Any lackey could have done that. Not sure Nefaria is the master planner his reputation would suggest.
Let’s talk about Senator Byrd, who is slowly becoming important, always out to prove Stark isn’t fit for government contracts.
Sources generally suggest his story begins in Tales of Suspense #46, where Crimson Dynamo was sabotaging Stark’s plants and an unnamed Senator suggests Stark may be a Communist agent behind the sabotage himself.
Heck is quite good at making distinctive faces, and that senator definitely looks like Senator Byrd.
In the following issue, Stark meets another senator who is angry with him over sabotage (this time from the Melter). Most sources suggest this is the same senator from last issue, but they don’t look alike to my eye.
Issue 53 also features a senator angry with Stark, but this time we don’t even see his face. Again, sources tend to conclude all three are the same senator. But there’s really no evidence of that, unless we know that he’s the only senator who doesn’t like Stark.
That brings us to our recent reading. We’ve just read 66-68 in short order. Issue 66 named the senator annoyed with Stark as Senator Byrd, and I believe he was the same senator from issue 46 and plausibly 53, but not 47. So this is the second appearance since we’ve learned his name, but he’s possibly appeared 1-3 other times before.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆, 31/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
I read this story in Invincible Iron Man Omnibus vol. 1.
Characters:
- Iron Man/Tony Stark
- Pepper Potts
- Happy Hogan
- Morgan Stark
- Count Nefaria
- Senator Byrd — Need to track down appearances of Senator Byrd.
- Gouda
- Edam
Story notes:
- Morgan Stark has gambling debts to Count Nefaria. In Monte Carlo, Nefaria offers to free his debts in exchange for help against Stark.
- Tony Stark misses date with blonde cover girl.
- Nefaria’s visio-projector has Stark see things like a rocket and a spaceman. Morgan operates it.
- Happy and Pepper recommend a vacation to Florida or the West Indies.
- Why do the Moon-Men reference St. Elmo?
- Aliens had formed moon colony, but decide to abandon it because Earth is too dangerous.
| Previous | Next | |
|---|---|---|
| Tales of Suspense #67, Story B | Reading order | Tales of Suspense #68, Story B |
| Tales of Suspense #67, Story B | Tales of Suspense | Tales of Suspense #68, Story B |
