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I thought I'd share this-- just posted at Amazon.com...


Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man, Vol. 1 ***
IRON MAN: The Tragic COMMIE-SMASHING Hero!
This book collects the first 12 stories of my favorite solo Marvel superhero, IRON MAN, from TALES OF SUSPENSE #39-40. It's a mixed batch, and one can't shake the feeling Stan Lee & co. were struggling to figure out how to do this series at first.

Tony Stark, a rich, impossibly-handsome, utterly brilliant inventor-industrialist, is seriously injured and captured by a North Viet Namese warlord, who tries to force him to design weapons for him on the promise of saving his life-- of which he has no real intentions. Instead, Stark fashions a device that can not only keep him alive, but doubles as a suit of armor. He dispatches his captor and escapes back to America, but his normal life has been shattered, for he can't remove the device he now wears without suffereing a fatal heart attack.

Jack Kirby designed the initial armor (and did almost all of the covers), while the interior art was assigned to veteran DON HECK, a master of horror, sci-fi, romance, and known for drawing some of the most beautiful women in comics. Iron Man was his first superhero assignment, and while some may feel he's out of his depth he brings a "real-world" feel to everything.

Stan Lee plotted all the stories here, but left the dialogue to others for the first 8 installments. His brother Larry Lieber, never as flashy as Stan, brought a solid, deadly-serious feel to his only episode, helping to fashion of the of the truly GREAT "origin" stories of early-60's Marvel! Back in the States, veteran scripter Robert Bernstein dialogued the next 7 stories. The really odd thing is that Jack Kirby pencilled episodes 2, 3 & 5 (SUSPENSE #40, 41 & 43). Kirby is known for his unparalled creativity, and anything he worked on it's a good bet he added immensely to the plots along the way. Looking over the first few episodes carefully I've suspected they may even have been done out-of-sequence, though one noted comics historian has suggested they weren't. Iron Man tackled various minions of the Communist Bloc, in line with Tony Stark being a weapons designer & manufacturer. Along the way he even tackles "Kala, Queen Of The Netherworld", who strikes me as a variation of Simon & Kirby's own "Green Empress" from the 1940 BLUE BOLT series! (Never throw away ideas.)

The one thing missing in the early episodes is anything remotely resembling a supporting cast! This is finally addressed in ep.7, "The Icy Fingers of Jack Frost", with the introduction of Stark's flighty, love-lorn redheaded secretary, "Pepper" Potts, and his ex-fighter turned chauffeur, "Happy" Hogan. While Don Heck's rendition of Tony Stark in many panels is a DEAD RINGER for Errol Flynn, he claims he based Pepper on Ann B. Davis! (A very YOUNG Ann B. Davis, I'm guessing.) Happy, more than anyone in these early stories, reminds me of Maxie Rosenbloom. Not too pretty, not too bright, not too couth-- but he takes one look at Pepper and falls HARD-- to her HORROR (and the humorous delight of anyone else watching). Pepper gets a facelift in ep.12 (SUSPENSE #50), but it's such a change it looks more like what happens when a tv show recasts an actor! Stark finally takes notice... but keeps her at a distance because (typical soap-opera problem) he feels she'd have no future with a man who could die any day now!

Steve Ditko (SPIDER-MAN, DR. STRANGE) was brought in for 3 episodes, and gets credit for completely redesigning the armor-- variations of Ditko's design lasted for decades! But when Heck returned, he & Lee began the REALLY "classic" run of the series. With all the right elements in place, they kicked off a nice solid run in #50 by introducing The Mandarin, a mysterious evil Oriental would-be world-conqueror (very much in the Fu Manchu mold), who would quickly become I.M.'s #1 arch-enemy!

One major drawback to most of Marvel's reprints is their longterm low quality standards with stats. Much linework tends to fatten, blur, or disappear. One of the worst victims of this, tragically, is the art of DON HECK. Fortunately, I happen to have all but a few of the original comics here. They've allowed me to compare side-by-side, and realize just how much younger fans are MISSING! Often, without the original 40+ years-old comics, you may have NO IDEA just HOW GOOD his work was. Also missing is Stan Goldberg's superb, intense, moody coloring on the covers. I see the new edition of this book at least gave I.M. back some of his shine on the cover-- the 1st edition (1992) reduced his armor to a single drab shade of brown. I have the original (1963)-- Goldberg used 4 different shades of gray, and made that suit look like REAL METAL!!!

One could look at this entire collection as the "origin" of Iron Man. After this, the next 2 years of the series would be among the BEST episodes seen in its entire run!
(# 340 / 12-25-2005)

Iron Man is one Marvel book that i was having fun with. I had dropped the infinite number of x-books because it was running good. Then, the big change up that was the apocalpse thing with the richards kid. After that, i tried the Chen run and it was good. When he left though, everthing went to hell super fast and i dropped it. I haven't seen anything in the last several years that made me want to return. Crappy art, crappy stories...etc...

I'll keep watching though and maybe one day.

And this was after i had a nearly complete run bought out of the back bins starting just before the silver and red armour.

Has anyone here picked up "IRON MAN: THE INEVITABLE"? (and am I the only one who hears agent Smith's voice when I see the word "inevitable?") The pace of his "regular" title was killing me, so I'm glad to pick this up. It's also got some great villains from the past - Spymaster! Living Laser! The Ghost! (who I thought was dead, but we all know that means nothing)

It's gotten off to a pretty good start (three villains is certainly a good way to go). I'm not crazy about this kind of artwork, but it does the job well enough. Still, like his other title, the realistic painterly approach weighs down the action for me - it never seem to flow or seem very ... "actiony". I also think they overdo the voice commands - he's never needed to command his armor to do every little thing before - why now? (I'm having similar qualms over in "Green Lantern" which is odd since these two properties have always been compared to one another).

It just seems to me the more technology advances in the real world, the less Iron Man advances in the fictional one. Maybe they don't want to take the tech so far ahead that Iron Man would be a totally different character from what we knew or that since there are more plausible explanations for what he does than there was twenty years ago that the writers feel a need to ground him in more real science than fantasy, I dunno...

Drake, I read it.

I liked the story. I just read some of Casey's WildCAT so I thought he was a natural fit for Iron Man...and he was.

I agree the art didn't do much for me. The villain on the last page for instance...could've looked much better.

Some of the earliest comics I ever read were original issues of the Tales of Suspense Iron Man run. IMO, Iron Man had the best supporting cast besides Spider-Man in the entire Silver Age (Marvel, DC *and* Charlton), and the love triangle between Tony, Pepper and Happy (the original one at least ) was very dramatic, very fun to read and actually made progress throughout the Silver Age.

Prof is right, the best Iron Man stories are to come (Hawkeye and the Black Widow, Titantium Man, Happy as the Freak, Happy in the armor captured by the Mandarin, the Black Knight, etc...---wow, I might have to reread, they really were some great, great issues). Later members of the supporting cast were great too (later Silver Age ones that is): the Senator, Agent Stillwell...

I have this dream where Cap, Iron Man and Thor are all excellent, beloved comics at the same time again. Maybe one day Marvel will do that.

Prof, I'd love to read more reviews of Shellhead's run!

Thanks! Having re-read all those stories recently helped. I feel so strongly about the series, I felt I could do a better review than the ONE that had been sitting there at Amazon the last 2 years (where the guy spent most of it talking about what he DIDN'T like about the character in general, and how he felt it never got "interesting" until we found about the drinking problem... HAH!). That's probably why it wound up being more long-winded than I prefer.

Of course, I don't have the 2003 edition, so I don't know for sure about the print quality. The Essentials books, put together more recently, seem to have used newer and better stats that the Masterworks done in the late-80's/early-90's, almost all of which were terrible.

I'd love to do a review of the 2nd I.M. Masterworks... does anyone know exactly which issues it covers? (It's harder to be sure with the shorter episodes.)


"Happy (the original one at least)"

THAT's a good point. It's one thing when different artists draw characters differently. Don Heck drew 3 distinctly different Happys! (and 2 Peppers) First there's the "tough ex-fighter"m who reminds me a bit of Mickey Spillane. Then there's the more likeable "sad" Happy. He debuted about the same time Pepper came back from the beauty parlor. But when Mike Esposito took over as inker (doing 6 episodes in all), Happy suddenly became HANDSOME! It was like watching a soap-opera where they recast the part between episodes --and I always remember there were 2 Burke Devlins and 3 Victoria Winters on DARK SHADOWS! Actually, that's a good comparison-- replacing Mitchell Ryan with Anthony George is almost EXACTLY what happened with Happy Hogan. You went from a tough guy with real "character" in his face to a generic nice guy. (When Gene Colan took over, if anything, he followed the 3rd version of Happy-- but not too closely.)

I had a feeling Don Heck "recast" Happy during his run on IRON MAN in TALES OF SUSPENSE-- not once, but twice! Now I'm sure of it!

I was watching SWING FEVER today on TCM, a film that mixed big band music with pro boxing (what a combo). In one scene, 2 fighters are sitting together at the same table-- there they were in front of me, the 1st AND 2nd Happy Hogan!

Happy mk1 -- NAT PENDLETON --Pro wrestler-turned-actor, often played thugs, recurring role as Joe Wayman the “thick-eared” ambulance driver in the DR. KILDARE series! films include SWING FEVER, HORSE FEATHERS

Happy mk2 -- MAXIE ROSENBLOOM -- “he was a consummate defensive fighter and did whatever was necessary to avoid getting hit”; films include MR. MOTO’S GAMBLE, THE AMAZING DR. CLITTERHOUSE, THE BOOGIE MAN WILL GET YOU, SWING FEVER; was also burglar attacking Betty Rubble in an episode of The Flintstones


The 2nd Happy debuted (near as I can tell) in SUSPENSE #50, the same issue Pepper got a face lift (and an apparent recasting as well-- any ideas?). The 3rd Happy debuted in SUSPENSE #67 or 68, inked by Mike Esposito. This more "Handsome" Happy was apparently the model followed by Gene Colan when he took over.

I went looking online, and by luck happened across ANOTHER fighter, who'd been beaten at one point BY Rosenbloom-- James J. Braddock! The eyes make him a dead-ringer for the Heck-Esposito Happy.

Could this have been Don's idea, or Stan? I heard Stan didn't like the ears on the 1st Happy...


(I wish I knew how to post photos here, but...)

So what became of Happy Hogan and Pepper Potts when Tony Stark was embroiled in the dark recesses of alcoholism? It seems to me the only shoulder Tony/Iron Man got to "cry" on was Jarvis, the butler...

I blame Denny O'Neil for that...

I blame Mrs. Arbogast (but I tend to blame her for a lot of stuff...)

Here's another I.M.-related review I posted at Amazon...


Iron Man's 1st cartoon series ***

My first exposure to IRON MAN were these 6-minute episodes, part of the syndicated MARVEL SUPER-HEROES SHOW. Done by Grantray-Lawrence, they featured extremely limited animation that utilized many actual comic-book panels from the original comic-books!

The cartoons on this tape, "The Crimson Dynamo" and "The Death Of Tony Stark", were adapted from the stories in TALES OF SUSPENSE #46 (Oct'63) and #61-62 (Jan-Feb'65). These can be found reprinted in ESSENTIAL IRON MAN Vol.1 (in B&W) or IRON MAN Masterworks Vols.1 & 2 (in color), for anyone wanting to compare the 2 versions. The latter story, in particular, is a major highlight of the early career of Iron Man, as he faces off against his #1 arch-enemy, the would-be world-conqueror and Fu Manchu-wannabe, The Mandarin. All the art on these episodes was done by DON HECK, who was, to my eyes, the "definitive" I.M. artist (even though Jack Kirby tended to do the covers).

Voices were supplied by John Vernon as Tony Stark (later famous for such films as DIRTY HARRY, THE OUTLAW JOSIE WALES and especially ANIMAL HOUSE) as well as Peg Dixon as Pepper Potts & Paul Soles as Happy Hogan. Dixon & Soles would later supply the voices of Betty Brant & Peter Parker (among others) when G-L did the SPIDER-MAN series in 1967, and continue in those roles when Krantz Films (with Ralph Bakshi) took over in '68 after G-L went bankrupt.

Personally, for such short cartoons, I'd have thought they could have fit the ENTIRE Iron Man series on one tape!

IRON MAN - ENTER: THE MANDARIN
I like this. First of all, it's free from the "Nazi Iron Man" baggage since Civil War. Second of all, I like seeing this old armor again. It's not the classic model, but has its own charm. (thank goodness it's not the one with the nose) And thirdly, I really like the art. It's not the usual Marvel style we're seeing a lot of now - it's looser and more old school illustration. And the Mandarin still looks like the Mandarin without seeming like the stereotype he came from.

It is a little weird to see things like email being mentioned in a story that was originally told way before that stuff was around. Also cool to see the "Tony needs to recharge his chestplate or die" status quo again. (ah, those were the days)

So Iron Man has (2) ongoing titles now, with the movie and all:

Iron Man: Director of SHIELD (the own that's been ongoing for awhile) - so the latest story wrapped up, focusing on the Mandarin, the United Nations, politics and government, SHIELD with Maria Hill and Dum Dum. It started a little slow but picked up in the final parts, and actually I think it was pretty good. Not 'A', but I'd give it a B-B+. At times it felt like 24 in terms of pacing and tension. The one complaint is at times its a little hard to follow and like 24, gets too caught up in tech and spy-jargon.

Invincible Iron Man - Matt Fraction (quickly becoming a Marvel go-to writer) gives us a more 'super-hero' Iron Man, supposedly, and after #1, I have to say he did a pretty good job for a kick-off issue. It certainly has the potential to be great, but we'll see how it goes. Pepper, Rhodey and SHIELD are all there and all have quick good scenes, an obvious nod to the film by including them in similar roles. Obadiah Stane's son is the antagonist, though he's largely uninteresting so far (the by now typical teenage genius who is both blood-thirsty but politically aware enough to be anti-tobacco...yeah, feel like I've seen that bit before). More interesting is the idea of Adanvaced Genocide Mechanics, which just feels sickenly terrifying. This gets a 'B' also. Major complaint? Well, we know he's director of SHIELD, but it this is supposed to have a more super-hero adventure feel to it and here felt like another SHIELD book; and, Tony has that mustache again. Marvel needs to make a strong effort for artists to give Tony the goatee--the moutache worked for thirty years but now just feels like an 80's pornstar.

That's it. I need to grow a moustache ASAP.

Should be easier once you hit puberty...

I notice not a lot of people talk about Iron Man on LW--I wonder if anyone is reading? I think I heard Lardy say (er, or read Lardy say) that he dropped the title awhile ago. I don't blame him--while there isn't anything really wrong with the series, there just isn't that "wow" factor going on, and right now there are too many other great comics you could buy instead.

I caught up on the last two issues, #14-15, and they are pretty good, but its obvious the Dark Reign storyline is dragging out forever and just becoming a long boring mess that I hope is resolved. Having Norman Osborne around in yet another title just furthers my irritation with the character and its hurting things. On the other hand, I'm glad Maria Hill is a supporting character here and I like the usage of her. The Black Widow sequence was pretty good--I'd have done it differently but I'm not really complaining.

Glad to see Crimson Dynamo and he and Tony acting like old friends. I'm also glad to see Madame Masque used so well.

I love Pepper Potts and things have been interesting with her since the movie came out and Marvel is capitalizing on that so she's had more screen time in the comics. But giving her her own Iron Man suit is kind of 'meh' to me. I really only want there to be Iron Man, War Machine, and then Iron Man's enemies / friends in other countries.

Matt Fraction is doing a pretty good job but its just not quite "WOW". I know Reboot said his Uncanny X-Men is mediocre, and though I haven't caught up on that yet, I would agree on the last issue's I'd read. Iron Man is better than Uncanny X-Men, but its still got a little of that same quality. Things could be taken up a notch.

Iron Man is a title I always return to depending on the storyline or creatives involved. I read Iron man through his time as head of SHIELD but then dropped it during the Skrull War when War Machine took over. I tried to get into it again with the latest "Public Enemy" storyline, but it just fell short of grabbing my interest. I flip through it on the stands when it comes out, but I'm glad I'm not spending money on "Pepper Potts: Iron Maiden."

Yeah, I don't really understand why this title and its current storyline "World's Most Wanted" is getting so much love on the online reviews. For one thing this storyline is just too long with much too little happening in it.

Second, the premise, in which Tony is draining his brain little by little to protect the identities of his fellow heroes from getting in Osborne's hands, is just fundamentally flawed. Crimson Dynamo recently summed it up best when he asked Tony why he didn't just jump in a volcano instead. I just don't buy the concept and the idea that Tony can't do it at once.

Combine those with Tony's characterization being pretty flat and boring since the series started but still luring both Maria and Pepper into the sack with him during the current storyline--well, it's just very uncreative character work on Fraction's part and demeans two otherwise strong female co-stars.

This book had a decent start with the Stane's son epic but has gone down the crapper since Dark Reign. I've never been terribly enamored of Iron Man comics, and Fraction's done nothing lately to justify wasting money I could be spending on a much better title.

I would expect that the hard drive Maria Hill was sent to get has a backup of Tony's brain on it, without the registration database. Tony's intending to reload himself once he's done - and if he's vapour, that wouldn't be possible.

The fatal flaw, of course, is that by the time things are set up for him to do that, he'll probably be too stupid/forgetful/senile to manage it...

I'm pretty sure she's no "maiden"

Yeah, you're probably right about Maria's mission, but it's still a suspension of disbelief that this 'backup' brain wouldn't be more accessible to him. It's just a little too thin a premise to stretch over a year's worth of comics. I know it's just a plot device to have Tony touch base with different aspects of his past and present, but it's a plot device that makes very little sense.

He needs to wipe his brain before he can upload the backup. And, apparently, that isn't the work of a moment.

Still a little too decompressed for me with little reward to this point. A CBR reviewer compared Fraction's longform storytelling with Brubaker's in his review of the most recent issue. Brubaker took forty issues to bring to a conclusion the seeds planted in what began in issue one of Captain America. Yet he didn't lable the story "xxxxx" part 40 of 40. We didn't notice because there was enough progression and interesting stuff happening. Fraction could learn a lot from Brubaker here. Even if I accepted the core concept of the arc, it isn't delivering enough month-to-month to reward my investment in all those issues.

What's up with Madame Masque in IRON MAN? Does her portrayal fit with what's going on in NEW AVENGERS (not that she appears all that much...)?

She's a villainess/antihero/villainess I always liked. She makes me interested in Iron Man more than I normally would be.

In fact, she and Nightshade are probably my two favorite Marvel villainesses. Oh, and Enchantress (though with her it's more that I enjoy hating her than that I really *like* her).

Madame Masque's portrayal in Iron Man actually does fit in well with her New Avengers appearances and it also kind of gives a more subtle connection to her previous long history, if for no other reason than Tony acknowledges it. I also love the character, she's one of the great Iron Man characters when Tony spun out of Tales of Suspense into his own title at the close of the 60's and into the early 70's.