Marvel—or rather Editor Stan
Lee and his artist cohorts, was on a tear of universe creation in the early
1960s. Iron Man came into being within two years of the great Lee/Kirby/Ditko
creations such as Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Thor and the Avengers. This first
Epic Collection of the earliest Iron Man stories, remastered, recolored and in
order, is a comic lover’s dream. The book covers the Armored Avenger from
1963-1965, featuring stories from Tales
of Suspense #39-72.
Shellhead’s
origin story from TOS #39 was
astonishingly held intact, with minor tweaks, for the first Iron Man movie.
Why? It works. A cool executive with a heart of steel, Tony Stark is monitoring
his company’s war munitions in Viet Nam when a bomb goes off nearby, lodging
shrapnel into his chest close to his heart. He wakes up in the camp of
Vietnamese warlord Wong-Chu, forced to manufacture a weapon of mass destruction
for Chu’s pleasure. Instead, he manufactures a chest plate to keep his heart
pumping and weaponized suit of armor that allows him to defeat Wong-Chu and
start his superhero career. The creative team for the first issue are not the
usual suspects, as Stan only plots, his brother Larry Lieber scripts, and Dandy
Don Heck does the art. The results are still outstanding.
What I love about
these stories is that the character and his look start to grow and change
immediately, starting with the second Iron Man story in TOS #40. Stan is still plotting, but writer Robert Bernstein
(credited as R. Berns) takes over the scripting chores. Jack Kirby takes over
the art for a while as Iron Man battles Gigantus in this issue. Iron Man’s
armor, already changing and updating each issue, turns from iron gray to gold. Readers
get a true appreciation of Stan’s tight plots after reading a few issues by
Bernstein—his dialog and characterization were throwaway nonsense for lowbrow
readers and children. I realize Lee isn’t Shakespeare, but Stan had such a
sharp sense of fun and witty dialog. It appears that Bernstein cranked out random
words while he was working on his novel. Lee doesn’t take over full scripting
until TOS #47, where he immediately
whips things into fine superheroic shape.
Issue #41 introduces fans to “The
Stronghold of Doctor Strange,” not the Lee/Ditko Stephen Strange we come to
know later, but sort of a villain prototype. In TOS #42, Heck returns to the art chores and decides to stay for a
while. Issue #45 introduces two characters destined to make a huge impact on
Tony Stark’s life, ex-boxer/bodyguard/chauffer Happy Hogan, and Stark’s
secretary, Virginia “Pepper” Potts (Fun Fact: Potts’ look was based on the
tomboy character Schultzy from The Bob
Cummings Show, played by the Brady
Bunch’s Ann B. Davis).
When Stan takes over scripting in issue #47, he
wastes no time setting up the action framework of the series. With Don Heck creating
fun (but somewhat ridiculous-looking) villains, Lee intersperses epic superhero
battles with the triangle of Stark, Hogan and Potts. Stark actually has romantic
feelings for Pepper and eventually falls for her, but can’t act because of his
fear of her being collateral damage of a murderous Iron Man villain (the
classic hero’s conundrum). Meanwhile, Happy falls for Pepper too, but she
rejects him because of her feelings for Stark. Eventually, angry at yet another
frustrating rejection from Stark, Pepper agrees to go out with Happy and has a
good time, which breaks Stark’s heart and riles up some hard feelings between Tony
and Happy. Meanwhile, villains are infiltrating Stark International left and
right (mostly left) to kill Stark and end capitalist aggression. Yes, Russian bogeymen
are prominently attempting to shut down Stark’s business so America won’t have
weapons to fight Mother Russia. It’s all so quaint now, but at this time in
history the Red menace was real and Russia was the biggest threat to American
peace and prosperity. It sure was in Iron Man tales.
Ever changing, artist
Steve Ditko (can we all pause to genuflect while saying the name Steve Ditko?)
ushers in Iron Man’s classic red & gold armor as the cliffhanger of TOS #48. It’s a rather forgettable
story, with villain Mr. Doll having the same powers as the FF’s Puppet Master,
but the Ditko art and that gorgeous last page totally make up for it.
Tales of
Suspense #50 introduces classic Iron Man villain the Mandarin, with whom Shellhead
picks a fight so he won’t become a bigger threat later (sound familiar? I knew
Iron Man was a Republican!). It’s one of the best stories in the book. Mandy is
clobbered, but they basically end in a draw. Issue #52 introduces the Black
Widow—I’d forgotten that in her debut and for a few years after she was not
only a Russian spy, but malicious and evil. Here she is a far cry from the eventual
heroine of the modern Marvel movies. Issue #54 is the return of the Mandarin,
where it was revealed that he has Green Lantern’s origin. I never knew that—I
love reading these seminal stories! Don Heck is really on fire at this point,
as general costume design gets better and Iron Man’s armor becomes more
stylistic and streamlined. The art is phenomenal during this period.
Issue #57 is huge as it introduces everyone’s
favorite archer, Hawkeye. Never really a villain, Hawkeye does start out
committing some minor crimes and is then seduced completely by the Black Widow.
His heart is never in it and he does redeem himself, but this kind of struggle really
defines Marvel compared to any of its competitors at the time. I imagine DC
just didn’t know what to make of these complex (for comics) attitudes and
plots. As late as issue #64, the Black Widow is still leading Hawkeye around by
his ... leash, and against his better judgment he is helping her fight Iron
Man. In issues #69-71, Iron Man is called out to duel by the new Russian
armored powerhouse the Titanium Man. In a three-issue mountain-toppling battle,
Iron Man emerges victorious, but Happy Hogan is severely wounded. Happy’s
injuries, and Pepper’s devastation at them, drive Stark nearly mad. Even in
victory he loses the things most precious to him.
In the last issue of this
collection, TOS #72, Iron Man takes on the Mad Thinker and his android, but
Happy continues to deteriorate and Stark manages to totally alienate Pepper, by
now the love of his life. Lee, through sheer force of will, succeeds in making
the soap opera drama balance perfectly with the action and superhero battles.
Iron
Man has always been one of my favorite Marvel heroes and currently the only
Silver Age Marvel series I have in totality from issue #1 of the regular
series. But I own very few of the Tales
of Suspense stories and they are a pleasure to read. The stories vary in
complexity and quality at the very beginning, but once Lee takes over the
plotting and writing the book shoots into the stratosphere, with epic tales of cold
war politicians and businessmen, steel-clad heroes and villains, and mushy love
triangles. Highest recommendation.
Rating: ***** out of 5 stars
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