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Well, after over a month of being extremely busy traveling and trying to catch up on modern comics, I’ve been able to re-focus on some Iron Man the last few days. And as luck would have it, this ‘re-focus’ jumped right back in at what I think is the real meat of the Archie Goodwin run, as each story has been a real pleasure. The Goodwin/Tuska/Craig team by this point has really melded well together and begins clicking on every level. I’ve been amazed by how excellent these stories were. Also, I’m realizing I’ve never read ANY of these stories before and the next Iron Man story I’ve read is actually WAY off.

Iron Man #7-8 – Issues #7 and #8 at long last bring the first Whitney Frost / Maggia subplot to close, and does so in a big way! As I said above, the entire team is really clicking at this point and this is the best story thus far of the solo series era.

First, I’ve got to say I love the Gladiator as a Marvel villain / Shakespearean character. He’s one of my favorite Daredevil villains. His inclusion is an excellent fit because he seems like a natural Iron Man foe. My one complaint is Archie didn’t really get at the pathos for the Gladiator, including his mental problems and struggles to do good; however, the story is such a solid action story that you can forgive it a little. Tuska does a GREAT job showcasing the raw power of the Gladiator.

The Whitney Frost storyline ties up nicely and I was quite impressed with it, mainly for two reasons: first, Whitney is really portrayed as a complex, reluctant villainess, which helps to differentiate her from the earlier Black Widow and so many other strait-forward “bad” enemies of Iron Man. It also would establish this complexity in her motivations for her later career (which I’m more familiar with). Second, I love that all along, Jasper was aware that he was being played and was prepared for it—it showcases Jasper as being smart and reliable and I found myself outright cheering for him. All along you’re convinced he’s going to be played as a sucker and then he comes through in a big way. At long last—I think I’m beginning to think of Jasper as being on the same level as Happy & Pepper (in terms of supporting cast members I love).

I really enjoyed Whitney’s “secret origin” as well, including the revelation she is really the daughter of Count Nefaria. Nefaria was always portrayed as the ultimate international criminal in the Silver Age and he became even more of a threat later when he gained major superpowers. (Trivia time: the first time Marvel coined the term “Maggia” was in Avengers #9, Nefaria’s first appearance).

Also, the cover for Iron Man #8 is terrific! I had it lying around and my brother-in-law came by and he was just fascinated by it. It’s definitely a ‘grab your interest’ cover.

Iron Man #9 – Following the Whitney / Gladiator story, Goodwin slows things down with #9, though this is really a prelude the oncoming Mandarin story. While Archie introduces the Mandarin as a mystery villain revealed in the end (and let’s face it, it wasn’t that surprising), he spends a ton of time on the supporting cast which is a nice time to slow down and catch up with everyone (modern day writers need to take note that these issues are necessary).

The story itself revolves around the Hulk attacking Iron Man—but it’s not really the Hulk, rather a Hulk robot controlled by the Mandarin. This could easily be a run of the mill fight issue, but Goodwin crafts an excellent story of Tony using his smarts and cleverness to beat the robot, while Tuska and Craig showcase panel after panel of awesome fights scenes and action. This reads like comic books 101 on how to do an issue long fight scene, and I’m reminded of other classic battles from the Silver Age (Hulk vs. Thing) or even later (Stern & Romita’s Spider-Man vs. Juggernaut).

In this story Janice Cord at last emerges as a more important supporting cast member and it’s clear she is the main love interest for Archie’s run on the title. As I said before, I know very little about her, and that makes me excited as it’s very rare where my knowledge of later events doesn’t ruin older stories. Even though her backstory of being the daughter of a rich businessman would seem to make her more Veronica Lodge, she comes across very much like Betty—she seems very much as the sweet, wholesome girl next door.

I also like Archie’s depiction of the lawyer, who is obviously a huge slimeball. Immediately I was curious where the story was going with him.

Iron Man #11-12 – The Mandarin returns in his first solo-Iron Man appearance in this story; up until now every single Mandarin story thus far in the Silver Age has been IMO Grade A+ Excellent. Part of me is getting weary everytime a Mandarin story appears now as I know eventually they’ll start to decline in quality. Luckily, this was not the case, as I thought it was a solid effort. My one complaint was it seemed a lesser in scope for the Mandarin, whose motivations and plans usually are very grandiose. Here, it is clearly to get revenge on Iron Man.

The Mandarin also shows his clever skill as he figures out Tony is Iron Man (something no one thus far has been able to do). What I enjoyed was Archie’s way of Tony using some ingenuity to get himself out of this mess—with a mask under his Iron Man armor and an LMD. Having read ahead, I know now that the LMD will cause all kinds of complications, and I like that type of long-term plotting. A really great twist.

The Mandarin is perhaps too easily defeated here, but I enjoyed his ruthlessness. The addition of Mei Ling was something I wasn’t expecting, and her character makes me a bit curious. I wonder if we’ll ever see more of her or if she died? I also enjoyed the Mandarin didn’t get too emotional about her apparent death—as a Dr. Doom level villain, he’s above that sort of thing.

I’m also noticing by now that the Tuska/Craig combo is developing a more dynamic style since their first few issues. It feels slightly like Gene Colan in terms of panel layout, making them more shaky and unique—I like that. I can see a Steranko influence as well; I wonder if the Steranko and Colan comics coming out concurrently were influencing the rest of the bullpen?

Also noteworthy is Janice Cord ends up in danger for the 2nd story in a row, so that’s when you know she’s really becoming an important part of the series.

Iron Man #12-13 – The subplot of Janice’s lawyer comes to a head with the introduction of a major Iron Man villain, the Controller. I thought this was yet another excellent story, continuing the series of hits of this creative team. The story definitely had a bit of a horror type feel, very Hammer Horror-esque, with even some Hitchcock type overtones. It was a great change of pace and I liked it quite a bit.

The Controller is an excellent villain and the threat he poses—by endangering all of the people who he is controlling by sucking their essence—is different than everyone Iron Man has fought thus far. This is showcased in the first part and in the second part, Goodwin & Tuska then shift the story-type so that the Controller’s plot to attack New York takes on a more sinister and epic scope.

Once again, Goodwin shows an ingenious solution (very much in the vein of the early Silver Age Superman stories, notably by Siegel and Hamilton) to the threat with the help of Jasper Sitwell and SHIELD. I’m kind of getting a little tired of Fury and SHIELD showing up constantly, but that is all forgiven when a clever plot-twist is used, as is here. I’ll spoil (so stop reading if you don’t want to go): as Iron Man distracts the Controller, Jasper disconnects the Controller’s powersource from the train so the Controller loses power. Writing it out like that it seems so basic, but Tuska and Goodwin do such a good job covering it up (though in hindsight it’s the obvious solution) that it works perfectly.

Janice is in harm’s way for a 3rd time in a row here and Tony says so at story’s end. By now things have moved really fast in 7 or so issues and Janice is already admitting to loving Tony (ah, the Silver Age, when someone committed, they really did so). But Tony fears her safety is in jeopardy is having second thoughts. Marvel knew how to stretch out the drama, and I’m hooked.

Iron Man #14 – George Tuska is on vacation (the letter’s page even says), so Johnny Craig does the full art chores in #14 in a one-off story featuring the menace of the Night Phantom. This is a solid one-off story though not quite as good as the last several ones. The Night Phantom is largely forgettable but the story had some good elements.

Namely, Johnny Craig does a great job on the art—much more so than his last few solo outings at the start of Iron Man’s solo title. I thought it was really solid, particularly the page 1 splash page.

I also enjoyed the change in location, as the story took place in the Caribbean. As I’ve said, Iron Man seems like a natural character to have adventures every few issues in a new exotic location and I like when they take advantage of that.

Iron Man #15-16 – George Tuska is back from vacation for a great 2-parter featuring the Unicorn and the Red Ghost in an excellent two-parter filled with double-crosses and triple-crosses that keep things exciting as you guess how things will shake out next.

As the Unicorn appears more and more, I’m really digging the character and all the great stories he’s been in! This was yet another solid performance and a good follow-up on #4, as the Unicorn’s deteriorating physical condition continues to motivate his every move. He’s gone from a “heir to the Crimson Dynamo” to almost being the “Anti-Tony Stark” with his handicap.

The Red Ghost is also a villain I’ve always loved (and I’m loving how the modern day Hulk writers have made him relevant again). This story serves as a major important part in Red Ghost continuity for the one or two possible Red Ghost continuity buffs out there. Even more important is just how sinister and ruthless he is, taking advantage of the Unicorn and claiming to help him, while he’s really just giving him tranquilizers to kill the pain rather than actual heal him.

Of course the best part of the story was the series of double-crosses. Beginning first with the Red Ghost double-crossing the Unicorn; Iron Man and the Unicorn then form an alliance as the Red Ghost allies with his new army of super-apes. In a big twist, the Super-Apes betray the RG, and naturally the Unicorn triple-crosses Iron Man to capture the RG so he can force him to search for a cure. That’s how you right a 3-way battle.

Iron Man #17-18 – Even though there is no creative-team changing point, I’m wondering if perhaps this story here, in #18, is an excellent marker for the end of the Silver Age and the beginning of Iron Man’s Bronze Age. I’m of the opinion that each individual title has it’s own transfer point (rather than a monthly marker across the board). The reason I saw so is this excellent 2-parter kicks off an excellent series of subplots that really set things going into the next phase of the comic book.

The main storyline is during an explosion caused by espionage, the LMD Tony Stark from a few issues back awakens and takes over Tony’s identity as Iron Man is trying to get back from his recent battle with the Unicorn and Red Ghost. The LMD assumes Tony’s life and then also Iron Man. As the real Tony arrives, he realizes the LMD had taken great steps to phase the real Tony out so he can’t access his livelihood (changed all his filed fingerprints, etc.). Down and out, Tony is forced to flee from the police.

Meanwhile, all the espionage causing the explosion and delay in Iron Man’s return was the work of the man known as Midas, who is introduced, and his number one assassin, Madame Masque. I know already who Madame Masque is, but I can appreciate her introduction and the mystery of her (even though Archie pretty overtly drops some clues on who she is so it’s not too big a mystery). It’s finally Madame Masque who abducts real-Tony and brings him to Midas, as they think he’s an imposter. They then train him to take out the LMD (believing the LMD is real Tony). Real-Tony uses this opportunity to attack the LMD, and with Madame Masque, they infiltrate Stark Industries with the LMD-Iron Man is waiting for them. During the battle, real-Tony dons his old Golden Armor and just like in the older Suspense story, it’s new Iron Man vs. old Iron Man (which I suspect will happen every so often in Iron Man history). The battle is a big one and ultimately, real-Tony defeats the LMD, as he falls into a smelting pot, just in time for the Avengers to arrive and find Tony just about ready to die because of the strain on his heart. They exit hoping to save him, but it doesn’t look good.

Whew—that’s quite a lot of plot! And what a damn good one at that! All of the last few stories have been really, really good, but this one might just be the single best one of the bunch! Everything is clicking: Tuska’s pencils look fantastic, Craig’s inking makes it pop and Stan Goldberg’s colors are phenomenal. Archie does a great job with the dialogue and the story in general is tight, well-paced and enjoyably complex.

There is also a ton of other things going on: first, the introduction of Madame Masque, perhaps the best of all the non-Suspense Iron Man villains, and one who will have a huge history ahead of her for Iron Man. She is really quite awesome to behold. I also enjoy the way Tony immediately flirts with her and she likes it; since I know who she is, I can see easily how Madame Masque’s personality is almost exactly the same as her previous non-MM appearances.

Also in this issue, the Janice Cord romance subplot continues to evolve and grow in the background, this time with the added complication of a new chief scientist for the newly energized Cord Industries (Alex ‘something’—I can’t remember yet but I suspect once his role becomes larger). There is obviously something more to this guy and I’m curious.

Also in this story is Morgan Stark, the sniveling cousin of Tony’s that shows up from time to time. He’s as annoying as ever, but he makes for a good subplot. I honestly can say I have no idea what Morgan’s current status is. I keep waiting for a story to come along where Morgan doesn’t make it to the end.

It was interesting to see this version of the Avengers outside of the Avengers comic: Yellowjacket & the Wasp, Goliath (really Hawkeye), the Vision. A great line-up that doesn’t last too long (where the Black Panther, on vacation?).

The issue ends with Tony’s health in question and many unresolved plot threads, namely Midas and Madame Masque—all of which I can’t wait to get to.

Bullpen Bulletins Notes
Something else else interesting is in #19, Stan announces in his soapbox that after many fan requests, they will no longer be doing continuing stories. Prof and I just discussed this a few weeks earlier. Marvel did this company-wide and it was a huge disaster; by now continuing stories were a major part of the Marvel flavor and the switch back to single stories felt like it made things stagnant. What hurt was for some reason, the subplots ceased too. I have no idea what will happen with Iron Man but I know in Thor the effect was disastrous for several issues. Ultimately pretty quickly this would be reversed.

Marvel Comics Output
Also of note is that as 1969 comes to a close, the Marvel output is beginning to change again, as the Silver Age is now coming to an end. SHIELD, Dr. Strange and Captain Marvel all join the Silver Surfer as bi-monthly, meaning they don’t have much longer. The entire comic book industry was shifting genre-wise again as well: horror and romance were back in, and in a big way. Marvel didn’t miss a beat and soon Chamber of Darkness and Tower of Shadows were out, while My Love and Our Love Story filled the romance need. Not soon after a huge plethora of horror titles would join them for the early 70’s (and many of Marvel’s new characters would reflect that). Marvel Super-Heroes became a reprint title again and Marvel released the western reprint Mighty Marvel Western as both DC and Marvel began issuing a huge selection of reprint titles, realizing it was a cheap way to cash in on their library of comics. Marvel’s Annuals would now become all-reprint for a few years.

In Marvel elsewhere, the Falcon was introduced in Cap, Stingray was introduced in the Sub-Mariner, Rick Jones became a Captain Marvel supporting character instead of a Captain America or Hulk one, Roy Thomas retroactively created the concept of the Invaders in the Avengers and the last truly great Fantastic Four epic by Lee & Kirby was produced the story where the Thing is imprisoned on the gangster-Skrull world (one of my favorite stories of all time). Not long after this, the King would leave Marvel and the Marvel Age of Comics would truly come to an end. It’s sad for me to think about it; I’ll have to focus on the fact that I’ll be reading comics I’ve never read for the first time.

Soon several Marvel Comics would get the axe or go on hiatus and several new ones, squarely representative of the 1970’s would come into play.

"The Goodwin/Tuska/Craig team by this point has really melded well together and begins clicking on every level."

Compared to much of what followed, they proved to be a VERY "stable" team. Never my favorites, but some of their stuff was pretty good. However, it baffles me that IRON MAN was the only series I know of where Archie stuck around as a write for quite a long time, and yet, it's probably my LEAST-favorite thing Archie ever wrote.


"Iron Man #7-8 – Issues #7 and #8 at long last bring the first Whitney Frost / Maggia subplot to close, and does so in a big way!"

These I bought somewhere in the last 10 years. Probably paid too much for them, but compared to prices I've seen at conventions, I probably got a bargain (usually between $10-$20 apiece). One of these days I gotta dig 'em out and do nice hi-res scans of the cover images.


"It also would establish this complexity in her motivations for her later career (which I’m more familiar with)."

My intro to Whitney was the Bill Mantlo-George Tuska run with her & Midas. Later, right at the very end of Mantlo's run (when it wasn't so much that he left as he got KICKED off the book by the incoming team), was when I found out Count Nefaria was her father. I figured out all those early Tuska issues were going for INSANE prices because ALMOST none of them had been reprinted! That's changed since 2004...
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20Ess%2002.jpg
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20Mast%2005V.jpg
...I wonder if back-issue prices have come down any, now that they're no longer the ONLY way fans can read ALL this important back-history?


"I love that all along, Jasper was aware that he was being played and was prepared for it—it showcases Jasper as being smart and reliable and I found myself outright cheering for him. All along you’re convinced he’s going to be played as a sucker and then he comes through in a big way."

I'd say Archie wrote Jasper MUCH better than Stan. When Jasper first showed up in IRON MAN (in the SUSPENSE issues), it was as though Stan and Tony Stark had forgotten who the guy was from STRANGE TALES. In the NICK FURY series, Jasper may have seemed like a running joke when he debuted, but by his 2nd appearance proved he was a lot more than he seemed, and before long, became one of Fury's MOST trusted agents! When he showed up at Stark Industries, Stan wrote his dialog as if he was some kid fresh out of high school!


"The story itself revolves around the Hulk attacking Iron Man—but it’s not really the Hulk, rather a Hulk robot controlled by the Mandarin."

What the heck WAS it with all these robot duplicates running around? Maybe you can fill me in, who built this particular Hulk robot? The Mandarin? Or was it much later revealed to be another one built by Machinesmith (ash show in CAPTAIN AMERICA #247), like the the fake Baron Strucker or the fake Magneto?

IRON MAN #9 was the only issue from this period to ever be reprinted back when, in 1975, thanks to a "Dreaded Deadline Doom" issue...

http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20009.jpg
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20076.jpg

And here's George Tuska's "One Minute Later" cover...

http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20009%20OML-1.jpg

...and, colored by Chris Ivy...

http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20009%20OML-2.jpg


The Iron Man-Mandarin-"Hulk" story appears to be a direct sequel to a Hulk-Mandarin story only a couple months earlier...

http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/hulk/HULK%20107.jpg
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/hulk/HULK%20108.jpg

"I’m kind of getting a little tired of Fury and SHIELD showing up constantly"

They were appearing regularly in 3 books at the same time around here: NICK FURY, CAPTAIN AMERICA, and IRON MAN... not to mention guest-appearances elsewhere, like in FANTASTIC FOUR, HULK, etc.


"#14 in a one-off story featuring the menace of the Night Phantom"

Any relation to "The Phantom" from SUSPENSE?

http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/suspense/TOS%20063.jpg
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20014.jpg


"he realizes the LMD had taken great steps to phase the real Tony out so he can’t access his livelihood"

If it's not a random robot, or a Dr. Doom robot, or a Machinesmith robot, it's a SHIELD L.M.D. I'll bet Tony regrets designing THOSE things!


"the work of the man known as Midas"

So THAT's where he came in. I'm still missing most of these around here. All I've seen is the covers.

Let's see, I've got every episode from TOS # 39-99, IM&SM #1, IM #1, 6-8, 76 (heh), 10-11, 13, and a coverless copy of #21. (I AIN'T tellin' what happens in there!!)


I think this is an instance where I really don't mind finding out what happens in all these issues I'm missing, because I still have no idea when I'll ever get around to reading them. I only realized a couple years ago that Don Heck actually came back for a 2ND run, shortly after George Tuska left for the first of three times.

Well, I'll be glad to give some barebones plot summaries as I go!

One thing I immediately noticed about Midas is that despite his Greek myth motif, there is a strong strain of Sydney Greenstreet in the character, as dialogued by Archie. He actually talks just like Greenstreet does in the Maltese Falcon--and I often don't pick up on these beats unless they are quite noticable.

What I'm really curious about, since I honestly don't know, is who the new chief scientist at Cord Industries will eventually become. A major Iron Man villain whose origin I never knew? A one-off bad guy? Or someone of vital importance? I'm hoping to learn within the next few days!

I'm not tellin'!

Iron Man #19 – Following the awesome LMD storyline, Iron Man #19 wraps up the 2nd half of the story involving Midas and Madame Masque while also featuring several important game-changers in the status quo for the Iron Man series. This was one jam-packed story! And once again, it was excellent—the creative team of Goodwin / Tuska / Craig has knocked another one out of the park.

Apparently there was a tie-in issue of Avengers between #18 and #19, and I kind of recall this. I remember you really don’t need to read Iron Man to understand that story, and the same goes here. Still I wish I had it on hand to read it in order. Nonetheless, the story opens with Tony on the verge of death while a crowd gathers outside. This includes Janice Cord and Alex Niven (I at last remember his name, the chief scientist at Cord Industries), as well as Happy & Pepper, who return for a cameo after not being seen for 15 or so issues—always cool to see them! And then the shocker: the doctor not only helped Tony, but he’s actually cured Tony of his bad heart! In 1970 heart transplant medical breakthroughs I believe were beginning to occur so it wasn’t so far-fetched. This creates a huge change in the Iron Man status quo.

I personally wonder if eliminating Tony’s heart problem was a mistake. I can’t remember if this time it sticks or if the final fix happens slightly later but I do know it eventually sticks. Like I’ve said before, Tony is a wealthy, handsome, brilliant leading man and it’s not easy to relate to him. His heart ailment makes him tragic and gives you reason to root for him. It’s a major part of the series. By curing Tony, it removed a major element. Later writers would realize this and therefore find new ailments to give Tony so he could be tragic. The most famous of these was alcoholism. I can see this will be an ongoing theme in my continued review of the series as it becomes a larger part.

The issue then shifts gears as Tony returns at last to his life—only for Midas and Madame Masque to come a-calling! They naturally assume he’s the imposter Stark in a really cool bit of confusion but eventually Tony lets it be known he’s the real one. Hereafter, the story becomes less about Midas, who is a bit one-note, and more about the complicated and awesome Madame Masque.

Archie wastes no time in revealing who Madame Masque is, since it was obvious: Whitney Frost, tying his run together. Her personality is right in line with the pre-MM Whitney appearances and we see she is a reluctant villainess. Previously, Tony had flirted with her which made her feel like a woman again after being brutally scarred (in her first story-arc), and now Tony actually shows some real compassion…and it’s enough to turn Whitney against Midas. Iron Man and Madame Masque then take care of business and Archie adds an excellent touch of irony as Midas suffers his ultimate fate: he’s unable to mount the strength to move his obese body because for so long he’s relied on his mechanical throne to get around to carry out his King Midas motif to the fullest effect.

Also a nice touch was the confusion where Tony outright dons the Iron Man armor and both MM and Midas assume he’s not the real Iron Man but a fish out of water.

This was a really great story and a big part of wrapping up Archie’s subplots and evolving the status quo of the series.

Iron Man #20 – #20 is a huge change of pace and is one of those every so often off-beat stories to break things up in the run. I enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it; when things get this off-beat, the story really has to be something incredible. Tony Stark is hardly even in the story and none of the subplots are mentioned the whole time.

The basic gist of the story is it focuses on a security guard at Stark Industries who is jealous of both Iron Man (for getting the glory) and Tony Stark (for living the high life) and is not realizing what a great life he has at home with his wife and kids. Enter Lucifer, the one-time X-Men villain (who cost Prof. X his legs IIRC) and hasn’t been seen in a long time. Lucifer reaches out from the dimension he’s imprisoned in, mentally coercing the security guard to attack Tony Stark so Lucifer can use Stark to get freed. I’ve go to say, the story was okay but not great. The ‘focus on the common man’ motif is one I like quite a bit and several great stories stick out for me (“The Beetle and the Badge” by Elliot S. Maggin sticks out as one), but I’ve never really liked Lucifer as a villain and find him kind of lame. He is never more lame than here.

This issue also had Johnny Craig taking a break from inking (I believe he was on Sub-Mariner now inking Marie Severin) and Mike Esposito steps in for several issues before Craig returns for his final issues. Esposito’s lines are thicker but the change isn’t overly noticeable; both he and Craig do a great job bringing out Tuska’s pencils.

Also a great bit of dialogue from another Stark Industries Security Guard as a car approaches: “Jeez, I thought I saw my last Kamikaze back in ’45 on the Intrepid!”. Love it.

Bullpen Bulletins
A few noteworthy things were in the Bullpen Bulletins in this story. First, Stan makes the announcement that longtime Marvel artist George Klein passed away from an untimely death, which is always a sad thing to read, even if it happened 40 years ago.

Also noticeable is the Bullpen Bulletins page shrinks temporarily to about a half a page. I remember this happening for a little while before it’s restored completely.

Also Stan mentions that Johnny Craig will be inking Marie Severin on Sub-Mariner, which is ironic, because when Marie was a youngster, she used to ink the classics at EC Comics, which included Johnny Craig’s great stories. What I enjoy—and this isn’t the firs time—is that Stan clearly has a reverence for EC Comics and mentions it severely times. The Comics Code was still in full effect here and I like that Marvel is forthright about acknowledging EC’s greatness.

Last thing—Stan mentions something about President Nixon. Jeepers! Nixon is President already! When the Iron Man series began, Kennedy was President and by now at the close of the 60’s, it’s Nixon’s time. It really is a different era by now.

Price Change Alert
This happened a few issues ago but I finally noticed that the prices went up across the line from $0.12 to $0.15. This was big for the time—they were $0.10 for so long and then to $0.12; now up to $0.15 and hereafter, they would keep going up at a faster and more alarming rate.

Iron Man #21 – 22 – Well, having just read #21 and #22, I can see all of these past stories have been culminating towards this 2-parter which was simply incredible and quite monumental. And Prof, all of your ominous comments on Janice Cord suddenly make sense! This story has a lot to cover, so I’ll build to it:

First, the introduction of boxer Eddie March as a potential replacement Iron Man. I thought this was a great plot-twist and now realize that Jim Rhodes is directly influenced by Goodwin & Tuska’s Eddie March; it’s so obvious now it’s ridiculous. March is a solid character I hope (but doubt) we could continue to see him as part of the series. I also like how his enthusiasm for being Iron Man helped finally bring to a conclusion the ‘reluctant Tony’ following Tony’s fixed heart. I was also pleased that Eddie lived following his battle with the Crimson Dynamo.

I’ll also mention that I really loved that Tony was shown just having a good time and relaxing with Happy Hogan, going to a fight. With Happy out of the series, it really felt like a couple of old friends taking some time out to enjoy life a little. The fact that Happy knows Tony is Iron Man and thus can give some advice to Tony and listen to his problems only makes their friendship so much better to read.

That brings us on to the 3rd Crimson Dynamo, Alex Nevsky, previously known as Alex Niven, the head scientist of Cord Industries. I enjoy the legacy of the Dynamo but after the first two, I’m in the territory of not knowing exactly what the next few are like; that’s why I’m particularly enjoying the Nevsky Dynamo because he’s quite complicated with several layers. He wants revenge on Tony & Iron Man for his mentor (Vanko, the 1st Dynamo) changing sides, but he also genuinely appears to want to do good and not be a villain. This is all complicated by the fact that Nevsky falls in love with Janice Cord and then with Eddie March taking over for Tony as Iron Man, Tony & Janice reconnect and this sets things into motion.

The plot is even further complicated (whew!) by the 4th appearance of Iron Man’s 2nd greatest enemy, the Titanium Man! I’ve reviewed all three excellent previous Titanium Man sagas, all of which I consider classics; this one I wouldn’t put on the ‘classics’ level since it is so brief and we hardly get to see the Titanium Man in action or build any sense of drama or suspense. However, that being said, the ramifications of the Titanium Man’s appearance this time around are far greater than they ever have before. I had no idea the Titanium Man was responsible for such tragedy in Iron Man’s life. Whoever is writing Iron Man should make sure the ORIGINAL Titanium Man returns—several different Dynamo’s is okay but there is only one Titanium Man.

And that brings me to the major ending: the death of Janice Cord! This caught me totally by surprise and I was shocked—SHOCKED—by it! Predating both Gwen Stacy and Lady Dorma, Janice Cord is a love interest of a Marvel character who is killed. This is major! (She’s probably only the 2nd if you count SGT Fury’s). I’m anxious to see what the ramifications for Tony are going to be in the coming issues.

It took me awhile to warm up to Janice because she seemed so bland, but she quickly became the steady character throughout the Goodwin / Tuska / Craig run and I grew to like her. She never approached the level of Pepper Potts in the series but she is clearly Iron Man’s 2nd only real love interest. The fact that her death was the direct result of a Crimson Dynamo / Iron Man love triangle makes it all the more dramatic.

I’m anxious for a Crimson Dynamo / Iron Man follow-up, since they both blame each other for her death (and she tried to tell them otherwise in a bout of irony) and even moreso, I’m anxious for Iron Man to have a chance for vengeance against the Titanium Man.

Wow—what a shocker! This truly exemplifies the continued evolution of Marvel Comics for a such a major game-changer to occur.

I didn't say much... aren't you glad now I didn't?

Somewhere along the lines I picked up IM #22. It may have been my first-ever view of George Tuska. When I re-read it recently, I was astonished by how DENSE the plotting was. Archie Goodwin seemed bent on cramming a 20-page story with enough plot to fill 40 pages, and with twists and turns coming so fast it's hard to keep up. As for George Tuska, I often jokingly refer to his style as a "blunt instrument". His characters always seem to be in FAST motion, even when they're standing still, and when he does action, BAM! Like a freight train crashing thru a brick wall.

What a place to come in, though... IM #22 was my first view of Janice Cord, AND the 2nd Crimson Dynamo (I never knew there was one between him and the first, at the time, I'd never seen the first except in flashbacks). he later turned up in both IRON MAN and THE AVENGERS, in a pair of stories set in Viet Nam, where he'd become part of a Soviet team. (Or maybe it was someone else in the suit... I haven't read those since the 70's.)

Did you notice that for a page or so, all the detail on Titanium Man's armor changed? I'm not sure what happened there, but it looked to me as if someone else stepped in to help with the inks.

I've never been too crazy about Mike Esposito, but generally, he did a damn good job on this issue. MUCH better than the majority of the later Tuska-Esposito issues. (It got to a point where almost every time Tuska turned up, he'd be inked by Esposito or Colletta... which gives me the impression he was helping out on other people's blown deadlines a lot. ALL 3 guys were known-- or maybe notorious-- for being FAST and dependable.)

Since Tuska was on the book when I started reading it regular, and he was on it here, I was kinda surprised when I found out that IM #23 was his LAST issue as penciller for quite awhile. But I see Johnny Craig did work on #24-28, pencilling the first 2 and inking the other 3. Looks like #19 was the last time we ever got to see Tuska-Craig. a shame, Craig was one of the BEST inkers Tuska ever got at Marvel. If the credits I see listed are right, it's strange that the last time they teamed up, #24, Tuska was inking Craig's pencils! (Can that be right?)

I also snuck in one more issue last night:

Iron Man #23 - Archie & George follow-up the death of Janice Cord with a story that deals with the ramifications somewhat, while also providing a solid one-issue story on its own. I was actually a bit surprised by the level of "Tony grieving over Janice", since it wasn't really that in your face. In modern times, such a major shake-up would have issue after issue after issue of the hero brooding and crying about the death of a loved one, to the point where it's really over the top. This is the opposite--the opening pages have Tony dealing with his and doing his own brooding but the story quickly moves into a new direction as Tony has to deal with a new problem.

In a way, it's a bit refreshing. I suspect several issues going forward will have more Tony dealing with Janice's death. It's obviously an important facet of what's happening, but Tony just isn't the kind of guy to sit there at his desk crying himself to sleep (at least not this early in his career). He's very much a "get out there and fix something" kind of person, which is something I've always liked about him. He does take some time off for a personal vacation, which is something he usually doesn't do.

This brings us to the story itself, which is another great one-shot story, involving a super-villain known as the Mercenary, who is really a gadget-centric high tech assassin. He was actually a very interesting and competent villain, and I wish we could see him again (but given the awesome ending, that isn’t happening).

What really made the story good was all the twists, and how Archie decided to wrap-up a dangling plot thread, that of Sandherst, Janice Cord’s lawyer (and brother of the Controller) in a brilliant way. Sandherst was embezzling Janice’s funds and Tony caught on to it, but after the Controller story was never mentioned again; on the letter’s page, a fan called Archie out on this earlier. With Janice now gone, Archie must have wanted to tie this up. And so he does well: Sandherst is now ruined and on the verge of going to jail so he decides to try to kill Tony. Meanwhile, a girl whose fiancé was aboard the ship that previously smuggled in the Titanium Man to the US (tying this story to the previous one in another great bit of continuity—well done Archie!) is on the run because she’s the one who dropped a dime on the smuggling operation when she realized it wasn’t on the up and up. The story opens with a incredibly angry Iron Man taking out the smugglers but he doesn’t know the Captain had previously put a hit out on the girl, using the Mercenary. Thus, the girl goes to Tony Stark for help (from Iron Man). Tony agrees, taking her with him to his cabin where he trying to go on vacation. I love Archie’s complex plots!!

Tony & the girl arrive with both Sandherst and the Mercenary trying to kill them respectively. The Mercenary sees Sandherst and in probably the most brutal murder in Iron Man history so far, quickly shoots Sandherst and leaves him to die in the snow. WOW! This is right out of Luke Cage. The 70’s have arrived! The Mercenary then goes on to kill the girl but Iron Man is waiting—silly Mercenary, to think Tony wasn’t prepared for this and didn’t have his own monitors in place for when he’s being followed. They duel and the Mercenary shows his mettle, and actually gets the upper-hand. But the girl is in a safe room (before ‘safe room’ was in the vernacular) and will only let Tony Stark in. The Mercenary was prepared for this, and so he puts on make-up he packed that make him look like a dead ringer for Tony Stark, and thus she lets him in. And then in an awesome bout of irony, Sandherst shows up—still alive—and thinks the Mercenary is actually Tony and so shoots him! Thus, Sandherst unknowingly gets revenge as he kills the Mercenary! He then falls, dying from his own wounds, thinking he killed Tony.

This story was awesome! And all in one issue, with the first several pages featuring Iron Man taking out a ship of smugglers and then brooding over Janice’s death! Great, great story with a full plot that had layers of irony and twists & turns.

How do you follow-up a status-quo changing shocker? With a one-off story featuring a brilliant plot. Well done.

You’re not kidding! I’m really glad you didn’t say much—the story packed quite a wallop.

I remember the Dynamo from Englehardt’s run in the Avengers, when they joined Mantis in Viet Nam. I want to reread that story now to see Iron Man’s interaction with him. It sounds like this is probably the same Dynamo.

I know the Titanium Man’s armor always has a tendency to have little changes mid-story. Not only that, but the general size of the Titanium Man changes, much like the Hulk does. One minute he’s HUGE, and the next he’s more like a larger version of Iron Man.

I agree that Craig inking Tuska is a superb team. Esposito does a good job, but it’s not quite on the level of Tuska/Craig. I also saw in the credit listing (I’ve used an online reference because I know many artists use pseudonyms) that the next issue features Tuska inking Craig so I’m really curious if that’s right and if so, how it looks.

The next few issues feature Tuska’s exit and then Archie’s so I’m curious how they’ll hold up during a year’s worth of creative change chaos. I’ve got to say, I really enjoyed the heck out of Goodwin/Tuska/Craig’s run. Especially the latter 2/3rds worth, which were a worthy successor to Stan/Gene.

"and I wish we could see him again (but given the awesome ending, that isn’t happening)"

Did he get blowed up real good or something?


"WOW! This is right out of Luke Cage"

That's George Tuska for ya. Funny, I used to think he was one of the "new young guys". I didn't realize until a few years ago that he'd been around since the late 40's. Tuska was really one of the "Golden Age" artists! I think that may be why HERO FOR HIRE had such a "Golden Age" feel to it (though at the time, I probably didn't realize it-- I may have just thought it was the "darker 70's" thing, where movies got so cynical and violent).


"Great, great story with a full plot that had layers of irony and twists & turns."

I'm beginning to wish I'd gotten ahold of these a long time ago. Then again, I'm still missing the bulk of Archi'e Warren work. Most of the stuff I have from him was from his 2nd period, when he returned to Warren and elevated the previously "jokey" version of VAMPIRELLA to a classic, "serious" character. That would be right after he left Marvel, I think. (So Archie went from IRON MAN to VAMPIRELLA! What a segue.)

"It sounds like this is probably the same Dynamo."

I tyhought it was, but then I realized, he's teamed up WITH The Titanium Man, so I'm not sure.


"One minute he’s HUGE, and the next he’s more like a larger version of Iron Man."

Bob Layton (whose been known to have a "KING-SIZE EGO!") once got very snotty about Jerry Bingham not drawing Titanium Man consistently from panel-to-panel when he filled in for a couple of issues for John Romita Jr.


"I also saw in the credit listing (I’ve used an online reference because I know many artists use pseudonyms) that the next issue features Tuska inking Craig so I’m really curious if that’s right and if so, how it looks."

It's possible, since both Tuska and Craig have done pencilling AND inking, though offhand I don't recall any other instance of Craig being inked by someone else. An awful lot of terrific artists had their work mangled at Marvel due to the 'assembly-line" method where scripts were written and dialogue pencilled in AFTER pages were pencilled and BEFORE they were inked, which made it logistically "simpler" for an editor to just give the uninked pages to WHATEVER INKER happened to walk in the door that morning. Of course, it's always better if you have a consistent team, and in many (NOT necessarily all) cases, it's better if one artist does the full art. Tuska, it turns out, was a TERRIFIC inker, better than some guys who inked his stuff, but maybe not as good as some others. I do think Craig made Tuska look better than Tuska solo (and better than Esposito, Colletta). Then again, one of my favorite teams was Tuska-Graham, which had a VERY "Golden Age" look to it (as did the writing on that series). Much later there were also some Tuska-Abel issues, which looked as slick or moreso than when Abel was inking Colan.


I recently ran across the IRON MAN ESSENTIAL book which reprinted the post-Goodwin era, and the reviewer at Amazon dismissed it, describing it as having "terrible writing, terrible art". All the Gil Kane covers couldn't have helped (in my view), but this all makes me very eager to hear your views on them. (At this point, neither of us have read these stories yet, right?)


At this point, my next IM is #47 (which I'm NOT crazy about at all), and then, #55 (which is just absolutely MIND-BLOWINGLY good).

Found it! I started posting my "re-reading project" reviews at the SA Marvel site earlier this year, but got distracted and started doing something else. I still intend to post those reviews eventually... but until then, HERE's my review of #22 (probably written right after I re-read it in July 2008):


http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20022.jpg
IRON MAN #22 -- "From This Conflict... Death!" has IM racing to aid Eddie March, an ex-fighter he had take his place as Iron Man, before learning the guy had a blood clot in his brain which could prove fatal if he ever fought again. It seems Tony survived a heart operation involving synthetic tissues, but became so afraid his body might reject it, he put out the word that the "real" IM had become injured and needed a replacement. Now, March is taking a savage beating from the NEW Crimson Dynamo, neither willing to say uncle. Tony gets Eddie to a hospital, where it's touch-and-go. Meanwhile, the TITANIUM MAN-- still alive after that fracas in Viet Nam-- arrives, once more taking orders from the Commies, and his mission is to drag Alex Nevsky back to Mother Russia so he can once again serve "his" country. Considering Alex fled Russia specifically because of the disgrace (and persecution) the original CD's defeat brought down on his family and all his associates (Alex had been Professor Vanko's assistant in the old days), he's not in a hurry to comply. Alex has been working at Janice Cord's factory, building the new CD suit, and wants revenge against Stark AND Iron Man, and had been using Janice as part of his schemes-- until-- HE claims-- he fell in love with her for real. When Titanium Man shows up, he tries to get Janice to safety. Iron Man, misreading the situation (with good reason, to be fair), butts in, and before you know it, Titanium Man unleashes his high-voltage electric beam-- the VERY weapon that almost killed Pepper back in SUSPENSE #82-83-- but Janice isn't so lucky. As Tony cradles her in his arms, she dies... IM manages to polish off Titanium Man (at least, for now) by leaving him in the river with his circuits burned out, while Alex escapes, vowing vengeance on Iron Man for being responsible for the death of the woman he loved.

What a complex mess! Man, Archie Goodwin should could CRAM a lot into 20 pages!! This is some of the most powerful, exciting stuff I've seen from George Tuska, who I see is back to using rectangular panels again. Joe Gaudioso-- alias Mike Esposito (heh) does one of his better jobs on this as well. The splash panel was so dynamic, I'm reminded I actually swiped it for one of my own comics, back in the late 70's! I'm also reminded that George "blunt instrument" Tuska could also draw very pretty girls when he put his mind to it-- in between some of the more hard-hitting and raw-looking panels. The one I can't figure is page 19, where most of the detail on Titanium Man's costume DISAPPEARS for all 7 panels-- then comes back on page 20. Wha' hoppen? Did someone else pencil that page-- or ink it? Anybody? Oddly enough, a couple of those small panels look like the poses were SWIPED from Gene Colan panels (in the 2nd Titanium Man storyline), which I can believe, as several of the flashback panels relating the original Crimson Dynamo appear to be have been swiped direct from Don Heck poses.

So much tends to get made of the death of Gwen Stacy, but a lot of readers usually forget she was FAR from the first regular to go in such a sudden, pointless manner. (Wouldn't you know, for more than 20 years, this episode was my ONLY exposure to Janice Cord?)

One of these days, I suppose, I gotta get ahold of ALL the issues from this period I'm missing... I don't have another issue of IRON MAN until #47. And, between the very popular later runs by Michelinie & Layton, and Busiek & Chen, and the fact that until quite recently NONE of these issues had EVER been reprinted, the cost of back issues from this period shot up WAY more than concurrent issues of FANTASTIC FOUR. When Tuska is going for 4 TIMES more than Kirby, you know something ain't right.

Well sneaky me—I actually brought a few Iron Man issues to work today. I’ve been so busy lately work has really been stressing me out so as luck would have it, most of my office is out for the day for various reasons and I thought I could sneak a few Iron Man issues in to slow things down.

Iron Man #24 – The credits were indeed right: this is a Johnny Craig penciled story with George Tuska inking, the reverse of what’s come before. I wonder how many times that has happened? Probably not many. I believe this is where Tuska exits for awhile, while Johnny Craig does a few issues on pencils, then a few more on inks before his departure (permanently). The art change is quite noticeable, but it’s actually quite a nice combo! The result is a smoother look with much more emphasis on horror and mystery than the usual powerful pencils Tuska would use to give the series it’s action/adventure feel. Archie Goodwin’s story helps alleviate the feeling as there are many moments where horror tropes come into play: Madame Masque’s bandaged face, needles, the Minotaur as a monster, a small town on fire, lots of shadows within a cave…it all feels like an old EC Comic actually, making Craig’s pencils really work. Tuska also returns the favor Craig did him by not dominating the inks in any way but enhancing Craig’s style. Art-wise, this is the best Craig’s pencils looked on Iron Man (considering his earlier outing before George came to the series).

The story itself continues the saga of Madame Masque, which has become one of the most interesting ongoing plots in Iron Man history—as good as the Suspense Hawkeye/Black Widow ongoing plot for sure. Archie does a great job making every story she appears in mean something, where things continue to evolve. Here, he uses a really clever plot technique showing how Madame Masque ends up on a small island while her host sells her gold mask for money and it makes it’s way to the Middle East; the current holder of the mask has his own problems with SHIELD and the mask is examined, revealed to have Whitney & Tony’s prints on it and makes its way to Jasper Sitwell. A really cool 2-page spread! Jasper confronts Tony and at last learns Whitney’s fate and now goes off to search for her, as does Tony. They both become embroiled in Whitney’s current predicament, as her host is really a captor, mastering ancient sciences used by the Greeks to create Minotaurs. The larger plot gets a bit kooky after that, involving Minotaurs, but Archie lends some heart to it by having the Minotaur make a sacrifice to the end, and Craig/Tuska do a great job drawing the sympathetic yet awesome look to the minotaur.

By issue’s end, Whitney at last has gained some hope for herself and sets out to earn the compassion Tony showed her and the love Jasper showed her (since Jasper at last realizes he loves her), and the readers see her continued evolution. I naturally am looking forward to her next appearance though I wonder when that will be, considering I realize Archie is leaving shortly.

I also liked seeing Tony visit Monte Carlo to ease his mind after Janice’s death, which only makes things worse. It goes with my above post of wanting to see Tony grieve, while liking that it doesn’t dominate the story. Tony is in a white tux—something 50’s and 60’s comics would always portray because it was a huge part of the times. But in 1970, the socialite white tux look was on the way out; I’m curious to see what other fashion trends make their way into Iron Man now that the times are a-changing. I also like that Monte Carlo is often the place Tony visits to showcase his playboy persona (all the way back to his first appearance); the second Iron Man movie was right to use it as a location.

Marvel’s Output
By now the Marvel output began to change as the 1970’s hit and comics sales began to tank in a big way. DC had been doing big cancellations for several years already and now Marvel could hold off no more. By now Captain Marvel, SHIELD and Dr. Strange were all cancelled (Captain Marvel really on hiatus) and soon to follow were Captain Savage, Silver Surfer and X-Men (who would also really be a reprint title then ‘hiatus’). While reprint titles, horror titles and romance titles were a new focus, Marvel did have some ideas up it’s sleeves; but rather than launch them as solo series (like Inhumans by Stan & Jack, which is announced in the bulletins but never comes), it would be through anthology titles once more, beginning with Amazing Adventures (Black Widow and Inhumans) and Astonishing Tales (Ka-Zar and Dr. Doom). Many other anthology titles would follow as well as “introductory titles” like Showcase at DC.

Bullpen Bulletins
It’s in March 1970 where the Bulletins announce Jack Kirby is getting a writer-credit in his Chamber of Darkness story, even though we all now know he did the majority of plotting on FF, Thor, Cap and other series for YEARS. It would be too little too late though…the King is gone within 4 months cover date time; meaning he was gone as of the publication date of this issue I’m reading. And so changed the comics industry!

I've been racking my brain and to be honest other than an issue here or there, I haven't read anything from now until the Michelinie / Layton era, of which I've never read all at once. I *think* I read the Starlin issues but if so, it was a long time ago.

Great review, and it sounds like we had similar reactions! Tuska really does a great job showcasing the three way battle. I also didn't realize this was the exact weapon the Titanium Man tried to use on Pepper back in his Washington D.C. battle with Shellhead.

And you know, I think you might be right about Gene's panels being re-used. Certainly those are Don's panels in the flashback sequence.

Something else else I also want to mention is that Goodwin/Tuska do a great job at showing Tony use his various gadgets from time to time, including a flame retardent to put out fires and a diamond tipped drill bit to drill through caves and rocks and such.

Also, in #4, Tony makes his armor now able to convert the power from intense heat into electrical currnet to recharge his suit, and Archie does a good job at making sure this happens every few issues so we get to see it in use.

"most of my office is out for the day"

I'm working AT HOME the last 2 months. Somehow, I've managed to be MORE productive. (Somehow!)


"it all feels like an old EC Comic actually"

Archie Goodwin -- CREEPY, EERIE, VAMPIRELLA
Johnny Craig -- TALES FROM THE CRYPT (the comic AND the movie, heh heh)


"Tuska also returns the favor Craig did him by not dominating the inks in any way but enhancing Craig’s style. Art-wise, this is the best Craig’s pencils looked on Iron Man (considering his earlier outing before George came to the series)."

So, not only does Craig make Tuska look better, Tuska makes Craig look better? That's WILD! When I think about it, they were really "contemporaries", though I don't know if they ever worked together outside of IRON MAN.


"But in 1970, the socialite white tux look was on the way out"

I immediately recall Roger Moore walking across the Egyptian desert in one (he HAD come from a casino), and the visual was played for humor. (Bond should NEVER be the butt of jokes in his own movies.)


"Many other anthology titles would follow as well as “introductory titles” like Showcase at DC."

I recently read that PREMIERE, SPOTLIGHT and FEATURE were all intended to be, like SPOTLIGHT, 3 issues apiece per new series. This would have worked much better than when, APPARENTLY, the editors got so overworked and overwhelmed with the tidal wave of new product, that they instead decided, NO, let the new series go on UNTIL THEY FAIL. I'm thinking of ANT-MAN as a good ("bad") example. Had that been 3 issues, Friedrich-Trimpe could have plotted a TIGHT complete story. Instead, it went on... and Trimpe left after a few issues, as, I'm guesdsing, that's all he planned to do in the first place. But when the series continued with someone else, and then had a reprint issue stuck in there, I'm sure it hurt sales. Another example was THE BEAST, where Tom Sutton had 5 inkers in 5 episodes. "WTF"???


"it sounds like we had similar reactions"

I noticed that when I posted it.


"I also didn't realize this was the exact weapon the Titanium Man tried to use on Pepper back in his Washington D.C. battle with Shellhead."

I don't think I noticed that until this last time I re-read it. Seems a running thread... the 1st TT story, Happy almost gets killed. The 2nd, Pepper almost gets killed. The 4th, Janice DOES get killed.

I wonder if any of those enslaved Russian scientists who were forced to build his suit under promise of early release (which we know was reneged on) ever got the idea to have revenge, once the Soviet Union fell? (Hey, maybe there's a story there...)

And so tonight, I’ve wrapped up the Archie Goodwin issues:

Iron Man #25 – you can sometimes tell when a writer is approaching the end of a run because things peter out a little bit…this may be the case with Archie Goodwin’s run, though I think George Tuska’s exit may have something to do with it. In #25, which features another Sub-Mariner / Iron Man rematch, the story isn’t bad, but it’s just not quite on the same level as the last several. This could be because many of the dangling plotlines have been tied up and the plot therefore becomes very story specific. Or in this case, where the story is really a front for an anti-pollution theme, very thematically driven.

Around the early 70’s there were tons and tons of anti-pollution stories and with good reason; it was a long ignored problem that finally became a huge focus (by the time I went to grade school in the 80’s it was part of the curriculum). The problem is when it takes center stage so forthright, as in this case, it kind of is a little too in your face and preachy and detracts from the story.

The Sub-Mariner and Iron Man have a great history as this thread has pointed out before and it’s cool to see them battle once again. However, I’d have liked if some more reference was made to their earlier battle, even possibly with the intentions of hinting at a long-standing grudge like with the Thing and the Hulk. Such was not the case.

Johnny Craig does one more issue as penciler, this time with Sam Grainger on inks as Tuska has finally left completely (for a time). Grainger does a good job but it’s not as good as Tuska inking Craig, and in fact, feels like a flat at times. That could also be because I found the general story to be that exciting.

Iron Man #26 - #26 marks the return of the penciler who really kicked off the Iron Man saga, Don Heck, who returns for a 2nd, albeit briefer, run on the character he is most widely connected with. By now Heck was reaching the end of his career as a steady artist (he’s still do stories occasionally well into the 90’s). Over the next few issues both Archie Goodwin and Johnny Craig will leave and a few different writers and inkers will come in. Throughout the creative chaos, however, it’s nice to know that Heck will be around as a rock holding things together. I think he stays on for about 10 issues to a year.

The cover to #26 by Heck and Craig is one of the best covers of the entire Silver Age IMO. It’s beautiful and dramatic and we are lucky enough to own one in Mint condition (a rarity for Silver Age comics). The Heck/Craig combination is at first a little hard to get used to, since it’s not as good as Tuska/Craig or the years earlier Heck/Ayers and Heck/other artist combos. But by issue’s end, I felt like they were clicking. Craig is only around as long as Archie is so there isn’t much time but I’m interested in how the combo looks later.

The plotline is really far out and totally different than anything since the offbeat #5. I’m actually convinced upon reading it that it’s not actually a Goodwin plotted comic but a pure Don Heck plot. It’s totally sci-fi and more an Avengers/Thor type story, and it features the Collector, who Heck created. Iron Man winds up in another dimension searching for the Solar Sword and helping a resistance battle against an evil wizard. As I’ve said, unless Kirby is drawing it, I’ve yet to see a crazy Iron Man story like this that I’ve loved.

The reason Iron Man let’s himself get drawn into this mess is because the Collector has kidnapped Happy Hogan and Pepper, and is trying to turn Happy into the Freak so he can add him to his collection. Not a bad plot or bit of continuity but with Happy already having turned into the Freak twice and knowing there are more to come, I’m beginning to dislike the repeated Freak stories—I want to see Happy as Tony’s friend more than anything without his every 3rd appearance being Freak-related.

Something else else I noticed: in an issue or two prior, someone in the letter’s page complained that Janice Cord looked like a girl out of the 50’s and Marvel needed to get with the times. Here, with Pepper back, (and by Heck her creator and the guy who changed her look), I’m reminded by what a bombshell she is. She’s not quite “1970”, but she has long hair, long legs, wearing a dress and all around very feminine looking. I don’t think it’s as extreme as the letter-writer wanted (who said he wanted longer hair and shorter skirts) but it’s a step in the right direction.

While I think Archie scripted the dialogue, I’m betting he had little to do with the plot. It just doesn’t feel very Goodwin like.

As a sword & sorcery comic though it kind of works. And we all know that genre was about to EXPLODE in comics, particularly at Marvel, with the coming Conan the Barbarian, a true marker of a new era in comics.

Iron Man #27 – With just two issues to go until Goodwin’s final issue, he introduces yet another classic Iron Man foe, Firebrand. Firebrand is IMO an excellent enemy of Iron Man’s and one whose many returns will lead to some great Iron Man stories. He’s also completely appropriate for 1970; if the political overtones of the Cold War were relevant of Iron Man’s earliest years, then this story of the political tensions of the inner-cities is fitting for 1970.

What I liked about this story—and I thought it was excellent—was unlike the story two issues ago which was a bit preachy, this story does not present any easy solutions. It simply addresses some real political and cultural issues of the day and let’s the reader decide for themselves what the solutions are. The ‘tensions’ are prototypical of the late 60’s/early 70’s in terms of the haves vs. the have nots, the establishment vs. the disenfranchised, but they also are explored in terms of both class and race. Goodwin really seems to have had a good sense of these tensions because it doesn’t feel paternalistic at all.

Firebrand is a villain here, someone trying to ignite a political powder-keg because he feels it’s the only way to make a difference, but he’s not entirely bad. As Iron Man points out, it’s a shame that the world had produced a Firebrand in the first place, because he’s obviously intelligent and compassionate. We don’t learn much about him, so I’m really anxious to see his 2nd appearance and whether that is his origin. The real villain here is the corrupt councilmen, using the building of a community center (via a the Iron Man Foundation charity) to enrich himself by making sure his own development company gets the contract; this has been common practice since the dawn of time (historian buffs only need to look to Rome’s Marcus Lucinius Crassus) and it’s something we all have deep fears of.

Something else else I really enjoyed was the return of Eddie March to the series, a character I really liked. The set-up seems to allow for subsequent future appearances in the way Happy & Pepper recur—not regularly but every so often. It’s slightly unclear (new head of the Iron Man foundation to help develop inner cities?) but it felt upbeat. I like that Eddie is kind of like the 3rd Iron Man, since if you count his mini-career, you have to count Happy’s. Neither is really countable IMO but they are a nice asterisk.

Something else else also noteworthy is that my above curiosity / prediction proved true: the Heck/Craig combo really seems to click here. Craig seems to lend Heck’s work a thicker, more fluid line; it actually feels a bit more like Colan to be honest (nowhere near as stylized just fluid). What is most pronounced is the way they showcase Iron Man himself. The armor feels shinier and very “top of the line metal”.

Iron Man #28 – And so, I’ve not hit Archie Goodwin and Johnny Craig’s final issue in their Iron Man run (Archie would return for three issues a few years later but this was truly Johnny’s last issue).

The story brings back the Controller who was introduced earlier in this run and therefore makes sure he is established as a recurring A/B-class Iron Man villain over the next few decades. The story is a very solid done-in-one that showcases what makes the Controller a different villain for Iron Man (with a nice bait & switch plot device) while also providing some good interaction between Tony & Jasper, as they kind of clear the air following the Whitney love triangle they are both in. It almost looks like Jasper is going to exit the series but by issue’s end he decides to stick around. In a way, its the final dangling plotline for Archie to address before his exit and ties his run together.

The story also introduces Tony Stark’s first love, Meredith McCall, though her current status is she is married. I wonder if we’ll ever see her again? She’s yet another character I don’t recognize so I don’t know if she’s a walk-on character or someone who recurs.

All in all this was a solid story, and Don Heck does a good job at making the Controller look as nasty as his first appearance. I suspect the next Controller story needs to be a good one, less the natural ‘villain decline with each appearance syndrome’ take place; the first story was a classic but this was not quite on that level.

And so the Goodwin / Tuska / Craig era truly comes to a close. I have to say, at first, I was worried I wouldn’t enjoy it since the first Heck run and then the Colan run were so damn good. But all in all, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Especially after the first 1/3rd, which was where they kind of found their footing; the latter 2/3rds were often one excellent story after another, with excellent subplots carrying along throughout.

My experience with Goodwin as a writer is criminally limited and so I’m glad I got to read this. It’s incredibly obvious he was an immense talent not just as an editor but a writer. With the exit of Happy, Pepper and the Senator, the only supporting cast member was Jasper Sitwell—it’s amazing how many characters Archie’s dialogue (and Tuska & Craig’s art) brought to life: Janice Cord, Whitney Frost, Eddie March, Alex Nevsky, Sandherst and several others.

Johnny Craig was also a delight to behold. I didn’t like his pencils at first, but his inks on Tuska were masterful, and then when the reverse happened, it brought out Craig’s legendary talent from his EC days. I know this is his final Marvel work. I wonder if this was pretty much the end of his career?

As the two of them leave, Don Heck provides a link to the next era, as I mentioned before, and no one is a better shepherd. I now plan to take a mini-break so I can catch up on my modern day comics but hopefully by the weekend I can move on to the next Iron Man era.

Enter the Bronze Age
If there was ever a date that marks the transition out of the Silver Age for Iron Man, this would be it. Curiously, the month of Archie’s final issue, August 1970, also has some milestones: this marks the beginning of King Kirby’s final issues for the various series he leaves for DC (Fantastic Four and Thor); it also is the first issues of Amazing Adventures and Astonishing Tales; Captain Marvel goes on hiatus; the Silver Surfer would wrap up; Spider-Man is about to go on a story-arc resulting in the death of Captain Stacy and truly ending his Silver Age; all around Marvel, it was the end of the Silver Age and the beginning of a new era. As I review the next era, I plan to comment on the new titles in Marvel’s output and trends of the era.

"Iron Man #26 - #26 marks the return of the penciler who really kicked off the Iron Man saga, Don Heck"

http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20026.jpg


"I’m actually convinced upon reading it that it’s not actually a Goodwin plotted comic but a pure Don Heck plot. It’s totally sci-fi and more an Avengers/Thor type story, and it features the Collector, who Heck created."

Depending on who you ask, some fans seem convinced that Jack Kirby was behind much if not all of Don Heck's run on THE AVENGERS. I dunno... there are a number of villains whose costumes just do NOT scream "Kirby" to me-- Melter, Living Laser, and probably Collector. I never liked this guy, he seemed downright INSANE to me, and he kept coming back way too many times for my tastes (of course, that goes for far too many villains). I always recall Jim Shooter finally came up with an "explanation" for his behavior (JUST before KILLING him off!), but to me, he's just some random intergalactic nutcase.

Anyway... I was just thinking the other day of how, as far as I know, George Tuska NEVER worked with Stan Lee doing his own layouts. Tuska worked with Larry Lieber (THE WATCHER) and Archie Goodwin (IRON MAN), and Jack Kirby (CAPTAIN AMERICA). I suspect the reason Tuska didn't take over CAP the first time out was not because Stan didn't care for his drawings, but because he INSISTED on the penciller doing "layouts" (PLOTTING!!! he never seemed to want to admit that "layouts" meant "PLOTTING" as far as things were really concerned). The same goes for Jim Mooney, who ALWAYS worked with John Romita until other "writers" came along. Tuska finally found a niche for himself on IRON MAN because Stan was no longer on the book!

Don Heck, on the other hand, seemed to have no problem co-plotting or plotting all on his own, so it woudln't surprise me if, having done it for so long, he hadn't become accustomed to it.


"By now Heck was reaching the end of his career as a steady artist (he’s still do stories occasionally well into the 90’s)."

Don returned to AVENGERS for awhile early in Steve Englehart's run, but it wasn't the same, and after that, he always seemed to be "filling in". In the 70's & 80's, it was at DC he got steady work. I've heard he did a ton of BATGIRL stories-- I've only seen the stuff from the late 70's. He was also the regular penciller on STEEL: THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN, under wonderful inks by Joe Giella (a book that was cut short by the infamous "DC Implosion" that took down a LOT of books with potential), and actually replaced Gene Colan on WONDER WOMAN, doing around the last 2 whole years of her book before it ended with the CRISIS. He also replaced George Perez on JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, which I admit I wasn't thrilled with, with one particular exception. He drew a 2-part time-travel story which featured ALL of DC's western heroes (a variation o Steve Englehart's AVENGERS-western time travel story), inked by a very young Brett Breeding, whose style is similar to Bob Layton. BEST-looking Don Heck job from that period! Sadly, it was downhill after that.


"the coming Conan the Barbarian"

Just 4 months later!


"Craig seems to lend Heck’s work a thicker, more fluid line"

I noticed from that cover, he really seems to be trying to bring out the best in Don's work, and it strikes me as rather unusual for Craig to be using THICK lines like that. Reminds me a bit of when Chic Stone inked Heck.


"My experience with Goodwin as a writer is criminally limited and so I’m glad I got to read this."

HERE's the book you need to read to see what Archie did NEXT!

http://www.comics.org/issue/768440/cover/4/?style=default

Don't be fooled by the Paul Gulacy cover-- the artwork is by TOM SUTTON, then JOSE GONZALES, and to this day, the 8 episodes reprinted (shrunk to regular comics size, I prefer the original magazine-size format) are the BEST Vampi stories EVER DONE, to this day. Archie was something else! What he did was, he took this bare-bones frame laid out by Forry Ackerman, dumped the humor, gave the series a DARK SHADOWS feel (with Vampi being like a female Barnabas) and tossed in a major H.P.Lovecraft tribute with "The Cult Of Chaos". It's my belief these stories served as MUCH more of an influence on the Wesley Snipes BLADE films than all the Marvel Comics BLADE comics put together! (Leave it to Hollywood to mix-and-match their sources and not be honest about it.)

Once again I’ve picked up on Iron Man, moving forward into the post-Archie/George/Johnny years, into what is essentially a transitional period at the end of 1970 to early 1971. For the most part, these stories begin as in my opinion, pretty weak stories that are one-offs and a little forgetful, but then begin to grow in quality. They also appear during the era Marvel was attempting to do single issue stories and had a moratorium on continued stories, which further hampers the series. However, in a way, it kind of serves as a great way to let the reader read into into Tony Stark as mourning Janice Cord after her death—we don’t actually see him doing so, but the lack of supporting characters and subplots makes the reader think that is what is going on, as he goes from issue to issue solving one problem after another.

Iron Man #29-31 – Following Archie’s exit, writer Mimi Gold has one issue (#29) and then Allyn Brodsky has five issues (#30-35) until Gerry Conway finally arrives for a long run (and this is Gerry’s heyday when he was a young gun influencing the fate of the entire Marvel Universe). So these 6 issues provides a bridge from Archie to Gerry, but that bridge is helped by the fact that Don Heck was in the midst of his second run, beginning with Archie’s final issue, throughout all of these issues and then for the first few Gerry issues. I tend to think Heck was certainly the major plotter here, just like in the Suspense days, as there is hardly a way to tell the difference between a Gold or Brodsky story. I also wonder if Allyn Brodsky is even a real person—is that Sol Brodsky’s son (or daughter)? Is it a made up name used by Don Heck (or someone)? I’m curious, Prof, if you know who this is? The name, other than the obvious connection to Sol Brodsky, rings no bells for me.

The first three issues are largely forgettable and three of the weaker issues I’ve read in some time. In succession, Iron Man deals with Myrmidion & a Fidel Castro-esque dictator, the Monster Master in Japan, and the Smashers, saboteurs on a remote island. All of them are largely forgettable menaces, and all have the same basic “Tony travels somewhere and solves a problem” premise (I wonder if Don Heck just wanted to draw Tony on a boat at the start of each issue?).

The last story with the Smashers is noteworthy as it introduced one new recurring character, Kevin O’Brien, an Irish inventor whose impressive enough for Tony to invite him back to the main NY factory. O’Brien hereafter appears to be of growing importance and is another character I’m very interested in. Some of the devices he creates are actually quite potent, like an anti-gravity mechanism.

Don Heck doesn’t do any of the covers, which are beautifully done by Marie Severin and Sal Buscema. Inside, Don’s pencils, inked by Chic Stone, are pretty good—certainly better than his post Iron Man Avengers run he had a few years earlier, but they are not quite as good as his first Iron Man run. I think the problem is comic books were changing: panels were larger and there is less happening inside a single issue; in prior years, Heck could cram in huge amounts of scenes in addition to the basic story & action sequence. Here, it’s less so and it’s noticeable, especially when those action sequences don’t have the pop that Tuska had been giving. Chic Stone does a fantastic job of adding some weight to Don’s pencils, however.

Something else else also noticeable is that the 1970’s have certainly hit Iron Man. An interesting way to think of the 1970’s is “the 1960’s hitting suburban America in a watered down, mainstream way”; you can see that here a bit, as Tony’s hair is longer, his clothes take on a ‘groovier’ feel and his home is totally a 1970’s pad. This, of course, was like this in all comics at the time, not just Iron Man.

Iron Man #32 – The series gains a sudden bump in quality as George Tuska makes a surprise return with inks by Mike Esposito (still written by Allyn Brodsky) in “Beware—the Mechanoid!” At first, I was unsure where the heck the story was leading but it actually turned out to be a really terrific little single-part story. It involves several different people who all converge in one place: two escaped cons, a young black woman right after splitting with her deadbeat boyfriend, an alien robot sent to Earth to monitor it’s advancement and of course, ol’ Shellhead. How they converge is done quite masterfully, with tension and action growing and growing, all the while the Mechanoid & Belinda (the female) really getting some added depth and becoming full-fledged characters you care about. The story has a tragic, yet fitting, end. I highly recommend this issue to anyone looking for a really great combo of sci-fi and down-to-Earth poignancy.

Iron Man #33-34 – Don Heck is back for the final Allyn Brodsky story, which is a 2-parter, which continues the big jump in quality from the previous issue. The story has Heck & Brodsky hitting their stride, as it is a full-on spy story that slows things down, builds up the mystery and suspense and draws the reader in. Within, it introduces a classic Iron Man foe, the Spymaster, who IMO is one of the better post-Silver Age Iron Man enemies (and it’s great to see one introduced even after Archie left). Mike Esposito sticks around following his story with Tuska and his inks lend a nice touch of mood to Heck’s pencils, providing what I consider to be the best inking job on Heck’s pencils since Dick Ayers.

One of the things that really works in this story is that Tony reflects on all that has happened to him in the last year’s worth of stories, from the death of Janice to Whitney as Madame Masque to his recent battles, etc. He is downbeat but reflects on all the good Iron Man (and the Avengers have done) and that lifts his spirits. It kind of takes the last several ‘bridge issues’ of Iron Man and folds them back into the larger continuity of the series. Furthering that feeling, both Jasper Sitwell and Kevin O’Brien are a big part of the series, so a sense of supporting characters are present.

Spymaster himself is very intriguing and leaves the reader wanting more, even though he isn’t actually seen all that much in this 2-parter. Despite that, he proves to be a master-planner, incredibly intelligent and a brains-over-brawn type enemy for Iron Man, which is needed in his rogues gallery. He also has a nice colorful costume despite being a spy, which is a nice touch, if unpractical.

The story ends with a big cliffhanger, which is surprising since this is Brodsky’s last issue and Gerry Conway takes over next issue. I suddenly wonder: is Brodsky actually Gerry Conway? After all, Gerry was only about 18 years old at this time and was just getting started, so perhaps he used a penname while he cut his teeth? Or perhaps Allyn Brodsky simply just left Marvel and Gerry jumped right in. (Right after this post, I’m going to do some online investigating). Jasper Sitwell lies on the verge of death after being shot point-blank by Spymaster (when he was unarmed) in a very brutal sequence and Tony is riveted with rage; it’s a great scene conveying a lot of anguish! Since Janice had just died a year earlier, I suspect readers really thought Jasper might possibly die in the following issue—I know I even wondered if that was the case (and he was later resurrected).

All in all, these ‘bridge issues’ started off rather week but grew in quality towards the end. The Tuska story was terrific and the Spymaster 2-parter turned out to be an excellent change of place that would fit right in with the best SHIELD issues. Don Heck’s artwork provided some consistency from Archie through this period. The next issue should be Iron Man looking for revenge and I’m quite interested in seeing what happens!

Letter’s Page
One of the readers wrote in to Sock it to Shellhead remarking that he wished all of the various supporting cast members, who tended to show up individually every so often, would show up all at once and be a part of every story, interacting with each other even without Tony. He even says this is how Spider-Man is. As I read this, I thought “he totally is putting into words how I’ve been feeling!”. With both Spider-Man and Thor as the benchmarks for me in rereading Marvel runs, I’m used to the supporting cast being much more present in the comics—showing up without Tony and interacting with each other, and being around every single issue, not just when it helped further the plot of that story. I hope Marvel takes this to heart and the issues I’m about to read reflect this.

Bullpen Bulletins
An interesting note from the Bullpen Bulletins during this time is even though Marvel quickly relented and canceled the awful idea of “no more continued stories” (which was a Martin Goodman idea, not a Stan Lee one), they still continued to get tons and tons of mail telling them how stupid they were, so Stan finally issued a proclamation saying they realized they goofed and were changing their tune. One thing about Stan—he always had a way of making the readers feel like they had some say in Marvel’s future, as he basically gave them credit for getting continued stories back.

Stan also had to announce Jack Kirby’s departure to DC Comics; amazingly, it’s very brief and as un-sentimental as it gets. Obviously, Stan was still hurt and the hard feelings that have been legendary for 40 years were at their most raw.

One of the Bulletin pages also announces that Marvel subtly did a few issues in the last few months were exclamation points were not used at the end of every sentence, as they had been since the dawn of comic books (apparently, the newfound popularity on college campuses led many college kids to question this). To Stan’s surprise, no one really noticed one way or another. Therefore, Stan was leaving it up to the individual scripter, but hinted that there would be a general decrease of exclamation points at the end of every sentence. IMO, this is actually a pretty huge transfer that takes place in the Bronze Age, and an instance were change was better as dialogue evolved into a more normal speech pattern.

One last tidbit—I learned that the person who created the various ranks of Marvel fandom, such as FFF (Fearless Face Fronter) was none other than Mark Evanier! He was just a kid and wrote in the letters to do so—eventually he got into the comic book industry and Stan comments about this on the Bullpen Bulletins page. That’s pretty cool on Evanier’s part!

Elsewhere in the MU
During this time, as Marvel titles were cancelled or on hiatus (or now reprint comics), new titles were mainly reprint comics, a few romance titles and horror titles. The title making big waves was Conan the Barbarian, as a huge array of literary talent was offering their support, such as Harlan Ellison and others.

By my count, this was probably the lowest point ever for Marvel in post-Marvel Age of Comics in terms of new story comic books: of the Silver Age powerhouses, the only ones left were Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man, the FF, Daredevil, Namor, the Hulk and Avengers, with SGT Fury having an original story every other month. In addition, Chamber of Darkness and Tower of Shadows had new stories, and Amazing Adventures and Astonishing Tales had new stories (both with duel leads). Very soon, Marvel’s Bronze Age would erupt with a plethora of new titles and characters, many of them quasi-horror based as comicdom believed Horror was making it’s comeback as the major genre in comics again as superheroes were on the way out.

In Iron Man related news, the Mandarin again was making the rounds in the MU, this time battling the Inhumans in Amazing Adventures. I’ve never read this 2-part story before, and I’m curious about it!

More changes at Marvel
After the departure of the King, the next few months had a few more notable changes: Sol Brodsky, who was as essential to the Marvel Age of Comics as Stan & Jack were, at this point left Marvel to “pursue independent publishing”; John Verpooten stepped into the role of Production Manager. Bernie Wrightson & Rich Buckler joined Marvel, lending their art skills to the growing horror-centric titles. Gerry Conway was on the cusp of beginning his major runs at Marvel, first with Thor & Iron Man, then with Spider-Man and others.

Ads
One issue totally had an ad for a lava lamp and it is groovy beyond belief! It is so a product a of 1970!

Absolutely, I must read this!

Let me know if you'd like, I could e-mail you scans of the 1st VAMPI story (the "jokey" one), as I've got it on disc. (It's not in the collection, as it woudln't fit-- completely different tone!)

Update: after doing some research last night, I realize now that Allyn Brodsky was indeed a real person who did some writing work for Marvel in the 70’s. However, I’m still unsure if he is a relative of Sol Brodsky.

Iron Man #35 – Gerry Conway comes on as ongoing writer of Iron Man as ol’ reliable, Don Heck, continues his penciling with Mike Esposito. This is actually the winding down of Heck’s second run on ‘Shellhead. This story, in which Iron Man seeks revenge on Spymaster and gets tangled up with the Zodiac criminal gang that battled the Avengers, Nick Fury and other Marvel heroes throughout the 1970’s, also features Daredevil and the aforementioned Nick Fury. It even continues into Daredevil’s issue that month (also written by Conway), which unfortunately is boxed away right now so I didn’t get to read it; ironically, though it’s marketed as a 2-parter, the actual final moments of the story are featured in the next issue of Iron Man, which probably annoyed Daredevil fans to no end since they had to buy 2 issues of Iron Man.

I’ll be honest: even though his writing contains many flaws at times, I really love Gerry Conway’s work in the early 1970’s. I think it is some of the best work for the characters ever in their history, particularly Thor and Spider-Man, and so I’m eagerly awaiting to read his work on Iron Man for the first time. Conway’s writing style is very heavily dialogued and narrated and that takes a little to get used to, but it all contains a sense of fun and I find it highly enjoyable. The reactions are very abrupt and over-dramatic but that was very much a nature of comics at the time. More than anything, Conway provided a sense of excitement and a sense of progress—where things were moving in a specific direction both in the smaller sense of that story and the larger sense of the character as a whole.

What many fans forget (or don’t know) is that Gerry Conway was only 19 at the time he started writing for Marvel and was absolutely a kid-wonder. He was already a successful writer doing trade paperback sci-fi dime novels, having written a plethora by this point. Coming to Marvel, he brought that with him. Something else else else people forget (or don’t know) is that following the Stan/Kirby era of Thor, he turned the title into a really terrific sci-fi title with lots of space travel and sci-fi elements. He also did a great job focusing on the supporting cast, giving it the team book feel that so many other writers would copy in future generations (as opposed to Kirby’s approach, which was always Thor-centric, not “Team Thor”). Conway’s Spider-Man run also had a very strong sci-fi approach, albeit, more down to Earth and less grand; and like Thor, his use of the supporting cast was downright excellent. I did not always feel this way—it took me many years to realize that Gerry Conway got a bad wrap and actually did some great stuff, especially during this era.

Here, he’s really *just* getting started at Marvel, but you can already see some of his stronger elements. There is a lot more self-reflection and the lead (here, Tony) going from one extreme to the other, like self-doubt to supreme self-confidence. And his huge sci-fi approach takes root firmly in this story and the next few. This latter element is a welcome change of pace, since the previous several stories were more political and social in their commentary. Conway’s stories maintain those elements but they are not front & center, rather enhancing the larger story.

While the story itself is hard for me to judge, since I didn’t read half of it, I did like the continued usage of Spymaster, who is emerging as an even better mastermind villain. His ultimate escape the following issue, and mysterious ‘walking off panel’ really intrigue me to learn more about him. In a way, it reminds me of Conway’s Jackal in Spider-Man, a character I loved.

Madame Masque also returns for this series and she is *always* welcome. By now the fans were loving her and so am I. Here she shows an even more heroic side than before, helping Daredevil and Iron Man against the Zodiac. She’s downright like the Black Widow at this point and later letter writers even comment on her maybe one day getting her own comic strip as a super-heroine. Since I know a bit about her future history, I’m glad it doesn’t go that route, and I’m anxious to see what’s to come for her.

It’s apparent to me that Heck was plotting the previous stories and I know Conway was a much more active writer than many of his peers. I wonder how their relationship was for these issues? It wouldn’t matter much because soon Heck would leave and Tuska would return—Tuska was used to Goodwin’s heavy hand in plotting so it makes me think this could be a great relationship I’m about to see.

Iron Man #36-37 – Something else else I noticed off the bat was #36 opens with about 10 pages that tie-up the previous DD/Iron Man crossover and then gets into a 2-parter (which is actually like a 1 and ½ parter). This reminds of Thor in the Silver Age, which had a method of story-telling that must have driven fans buying the comics off the rack (or fans who only have one issue and not the next) absolutely CRAZY. It’s such an odd approach to story-telling.

The story it eventually leads to is the story of Ramrod, the Foreman and a race of aliens acting as intergalactic real-estate businessmen looking to wipe out Earth and use it for a client-planet to live on. It’s actually a really nifty sci-fi story and a great example of the kind of stories Conway could produce; the social commentary is obvious (businessmen being the metaphorical enemy here) and the sci-fi elements are high-action and very colorful and interesting. It reminds me a bit of Conway’s Thor story with the Black Suns, a totally off the beaten path sci-fi story that has never been revisited all these decades even though it was a 3-4 parter and grandiose sci-fi story for Thor. This feels similar in that it probably won’t be mentioned again but is a very epic, larger than life story.

Within, after Madame Masque admits to Iron Man she has feelings for Jasper, Tony gets upset and begins thinking he needs to start living again—therefore, he goes off to resume his millionaire playboy persona, even digging up an old socialite heiress girlfriend (a 1971 Paris Hilton) to be his date. Marianne is as shallow as they come and this reflects on the larger sense of Tony acting immature by dealing with his rejection like this. By story’s end, not only has Tony regained his sense of purpose and responsibility, Marianne also gains some larger sense of responsibility and depth, mirroring Tony—very well done.

Another important element is Tony is beaten so badly by the Ramrod, he must go to Kevin O’Brian for help, revealing at last that he is in indeed Iron Man. Kevin thus becomes only the 2nd person to ever know (besides Happy Hogan) and you can see this will further up his rising star status as the go-to supporting cast member in stories. Kevin is actually quite a bit like Happy in that sense, though he also has the scientist angle too (recently promoted to head of productions at Stark Industries).

Kevin is forced to put Iron Man’s old chestplate back on Tony so the heart transplant surgery from a few years ago is no longer relevant and the old chestplate status-quo is returned. I was expecting this at some point and I think I see why Conway did it: as a young man in 1971, he was probably beginning to wonder if rich, handsome Tony Stark was a relatable character to readers, especially in the anti-industry, anti-capitalist era of 1971. One look at the letter’s page only reveal this to be absolutely true (I’ll get to that later), and so Conway probably felt they needed that huge dose of tragedy back into the comic. I wonder how many more times it will go back and forth in the next few years before ultimately Tony’s heart condition is cured?

This was a solid sci-fi story and a good way to really kick off this run. It’s also Don Heck’s last Iron Man story for his 2nd run and it’s actually quite beautiful. This is helped by excellent inks by Jim Mooney who really brings out some fluidity to the pencils, almost adding a Gene Colan sense to it in places.

Iron Man #38 - #38 welcomes back George Tuska on a recurring basis as penciler for Iron Man, pairing him up with new writer Gerry Conway as the two essentially become the ongoing team for the foreseeable future (a few issues here and there notwithstanding). From what I’ve gathered so far, the inkers appear to be fluctuating throughout this run, so that will be something to keep an eye on.

The story in #38 is a bit more street-level, with Iron Man battling New York mobsters (who normally he can take down quite easily), but it’s done well enough that it’s actually quite enjoyable. Already Conway and Tuska seem to be a good match.

A new character introduced is Frankie Majors, who is a former gangster from Harlem who did some prison time and has now gone strait; he also is quite intelligent and comes on to Stark Industries as a new engineer. Throughout the course of the story, as mobsters from his past life try to rope him back in, Tony/Iron Man tries to lend him a helping hand. I already find Frankie to be a great character and I really hope we see more of him. The idea of ‘giving someone a second chance’ is one I like quite a bit in literature, and I hope we see him succeed. The series has already done wonders for making what seemed to be a walk-on character Kevin O’Brian into a big part of the series, and adding yet another supporting player is needed (Kevin had a few brief but important scenes here, one relating to him knowing Tony’s identity).

Frankie, being an African-American, adds some diversity to the series, but what is noticeable is how *not* noticeable that is. The stories in Iron Man (and Marvel in general) had been tackling diversity for years by now. More important, Frankie is a good enough character where his race enhances his story and doesn’t need to be center stage. For 1971, when many other series were going about things the wrong way, this is refreshing. It’s also something Gerry Conway did very well in Thor and Spidey.

I’ve got to say, Tuska’s return is very welcome. Perhaps there was too much time between Heck’s first run and second run; because here, which isn’t too long after Tuska left the title, he easily slips right back into his role as penciler.

With George back and Gerry doing his thing, the next era of Iron Man has now officially begun.

Letters Page
Anyone who is doing a study in sociology of American culture and the change from the early 60’s to early 70’s should read the Iron Man letters page throughout that time. Wow, they are pretty wild! I was expecting some commentary but to be honest, I’ve been shocked at some of the extreme points of view coming in through the letters. One fan went as far as to call Tony Stark a war-mongering capitalist pig and obviously meant every word and felt he was right and not incendiary at all. IMO that is way too far and doesn’t fly, but it shows the nature of the times. Other letter writers sometimes take the far right POV, talking about the dangers of the Commies, but overall, it seems the real debate among readers were those that were center left vs. those that were radical far left. Crazy, crazy times.

Obviously, Stan & crew took notice and probably the eventual shift of Tony as a weapons manufacturer to other things was a reflection of this. I sometimes forget at how prevalent anti-business and anti-capitalist viewpoints were during this era (and still today on college campuses but it generally ends there). These are not “Barrack Obama liberal viewpoints”; *those* viewpoints would be considered downright rightwing!

What’s going on with Marvel
As Marvel was continuing to change, Conan the Barbarian was obviously taking off in a big way and was the darling of the industry. So much so that King Kull followed soon after, first appearing in Creatures on the Loose and then getting his own title (Chamber of Darkness became Creatures on the Loose as Tower of Shadows became Monsters on the Prowl). Marvel was also entering it’s Magazine era, an important facet of the 1970’s, with Savage Tales #1 featuring Conan and Ka-Zar, though for whatever reason it took them years to getting it out on a regular basis.

Elsewhere, Cap was now co-headlining his title with the Falcon; Thor was experiencing a new era by Gerry Conway and John Buscema following an awesomely illustrated “Infinity Saga”; the Avengers & Hulk had a story by Harlan Ellison and soon after the Avengers would scoop up Captain Marvel and march towards the Kree-Skrull War; the Fantastic Four was suffering from Kirby’s departure and continued to deteriorate; and Namor experienced the death of Lady Dorma, one of the most famous and first ‘lady loves killed’ in the 1970’s as this became a more popular form of character/series development.

Spider-Man during this time had the Harry Osborn drug issues which essentially led to the death of the Comics Code (if not death, then castration), and soon after DC’s Roy Harper on heroin story would seal the deal. These issues by Gil Kane (and as Prof pointed out, likely plotted by Johnny Romita) were excellent and the next phase of the post-Death of Captain Stacy status quo of the title.

With the Code taken down a peg and horror already becoming a hugely popular genre again in various forms (with a lot of credit due to Viet Nam), DC and Marvel would make a huge push back into horror (and credit must go to Creepy and Eerie for kicking off this trend years earlier). Werewolf by Night was even hinted at in the Bullpen Bulletins page…

Absolutely! I'd love the chance to read it!

I'll shoot you an email so you have my address.

Nice to see you finally back. I JUST got done with a MAJOR upgrade to the entire DAREDEVIL section at the SA Marvel site, so this seems a good time to reply here.


Just noticed on my index, IRON MAN ANNUAL #1 (Aug'70) falls neatly at the very END of Archie Goodwin's run. That reminds me of when a recording artist would switch to a different label, and his old label immediately puts out a "Greatest Hits" collection to "compete" (or to make one last bit of money out of them that they can). Doesn't really apply here because Archie had nothing to do with the episode reprinted, just the timing was coincidental.

One of my favorite Marie Severin covers, with Bill Everett on inks...

http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20A01.jpg


IRON MAN #29 (Sep'70)
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20029.jpg

There was a brief stretch where Marvel was giving women writers a chance. VERY brief. The only other Mimi Gold credit I found in my own index was a BLACK WIDOW story in AMAZING ADVENTURES #4 (Jan'71), 4 months after this IRON MAN. There was also Linda Fite on THE CAT #1-4 (Nov'72-May'73), Carol Sueling on SHANNA THE SHE-DEVIL #1-4 (Dec'72-Jun'73) and Jean Thomas on NIGHT NURSE #1-4 (Nov'72-May'73), the last issue of which was finished off by Linda Fite. I have no knowledge of Mimi Gold outside of this, and have not yet read either of her 2 stories!


IRON MAN #30 (Oct'70)
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20030.jpg

Another nice Marie cover. I doubt Alyn Brodksy saw his brief run as a "bridge", as he did 9 issues (the last 3 finished by Conway, including the crossover in DAREDEVIL #73). In more recent years, I've seen horrendous periods on this book (and many others) when a steady creative team suddenly departs, and the editor has made no provisions whatsoever to get a new team in place. You often saw 6 MONTHS in a row where each issue was by a different writer or artist OR BOTH. Not like when Don Heck left IRON MAN and was replaced by Gene Colan the NEXT month, and Gene's run turned out to be UNBROKEN (not like Heck's), with Gene not missing a single episode until he left for good. (The Subby crossover doesn't count... that was a SUB-MARINER episode he missed!)


Kevin O'Brien is someone I've read about for ages, but I don't think I've ever read any of his appearances when he was around.


I'd love to see what Chic Stone did with Heck during this period. The quality of Don's art took a major plunge in the 70's compared to his heydey in the mid-60's, and really great and/or appropriate inks got further and farther between. The Heck-Stone art in SUSPENSE #64 (Apr'65) was terrific, even though Stone's style was an almost total clash with Heck's. (As opposed to Kirby-Stone, a perfect match if I ever saw one.)


Mike Esposito's inks also took several dives in the 70's, ranging from average to awful. With some pencillers, he'd look okay, but certain artists required "more" and Don was one of those. There were some issues of AVENGERS with Heck-Esposito art which I'm sure was an example of what Jim Starlin meant when he told Steve Englehart he "couldn't read the book" because "the art was so bad".


IRON MAN #31 (Nov'70)
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20031.jpg

IRON MAN #32 (Dec'70)
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20032.jpg

"George Tuska makes a surprise return with inks by Mike Esposito"

George Tuska, like Vince Colletta (with whom he was paired more and more often) was one of those guys who could always be counted on in a pinch to help out someone else's blown deadline. I've heard he was not only popular with editors for this reason, but despite often being dismissed by fans, he seems to have been popular with general readers, as apparently, whenever he was on it book, it SOLD better!


IRON MAN #33 (Jan'71)
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20033.jpg

IRON MAN #34 (Feb'71)
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20034.jpg

I just noticed how confusing these 2 covers were, back-to-back, I suppose reflecting the "mystery" aspects of the Spymaster story.


"what I consider to be the best inking job on Heck’s pencils since Dick Ayers"

WHAAAAT? What about Wally Wood? John Romita? Frank Giacoia? Tom Palmer?? Syd Shores???


"since this is Brodsky’s last issue and Gerry Conway takes over next issue"

I suspect the way my index reads that Brodsky plotted the next 3-parter, and Conway wrote the dialogue. This happens all the time with the "assembly-line" process when one writer leaves and another comes on. When Gerry Conway was (BRIEFLY!) Editor-In-Chief, and writing freelance at night at the same time, he apparently plotted dozens of issues of various book which he never got around to finishing with dialogue, as he was gone by the time the art came back.


A quick look over my indexes, I see the "single-issue stories" thing in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN seems to have run from #78-82 (Nov'69-Mar'70 and in FANTASTIC FOUR #94-101 (Jan-Aug'70), just as two examples.


"Stan also had to announce Jack Kirby’s departure to DC Comics; amazingly, it’s very brief and as un-sentimental as it gets. Obviously, Stan was still hurt and the hard feelings that have been legendary for 40 years were at their most raw."


I've had people argue this point with me, but it seems to me that after Stan went thru a couple of years of his ego growing out of control, the unexpected (by him) departure of Jack Kirby seemed to send him into some kind of tailspin. Between increasingly LOUSY covers with way, way too much dialogue, creative team shake-ups (sometimes for no apparently purpose), and absolute CHAOS in some of the Reprint books, it almost makes me think Stan suffered a minor nervous breakdown for a few months.

IRON MAN #35 (Mar'71)
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20035.jpg

DAREDEVIL #73 (Feb'71)
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/daredevil/DD%20073.jpg

IRON MAN #36 (Apr'71)
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20036.jpg


The above is a perfect example of how DAREDEVIL (along with AVENGERS, X-MEN and THOR) had its cover date one month "off" from the rest of the line... FOR WHATEVER REASON. This went on for the whole of the 60's, and continued, right up until the month all the books went double-size 25c format (which only last 1-2 months, depending on the series). All 4 series had their cover dates adjusted then.


Someone pointed this out to me a few years ago, and I adjusted for it when I made up a "reading list" for my "60's Marvel Re-Reading Project". It was remarkable the number of times taking the cover discrepency into account made some very TIGHT inter-book continuity work MUCH better than if one tried to ignore it! (So, yeah, to put it simply, DD #73 SHOULD have been Mar'71, but it wasn't. But this is how you should read 'em!)


Both the DAREDEVIL ESSENTIAL and MASTERWORKS books that reprinted the Zodiac 3-parter included IRON MAN #35 & 36. I haven't checked, but I suppose the IRON MAN books would also include DD #73. (That would be only fair, right?)

"This reminds of Thor in the Silver Age, which had a method of story-telling that must have driven fans buying the comics off the rack (or fans who only have one issue and not the next) absolutely CRAZY. It’s such an odd approach to story-telling."


Well, it's safe to say they got it from Jack Kirby. The most famous example must be FF #48, where the first 8 or so pages finished up THE INHUMANS, and the rest of the issue introduces THE SILVER SURFER and GALACTUS. A "real" editor (heh) would have insisted on either padding out the INHUMANS to a full 5 episodes, or trimming some of the "fat" in the previous 4 to get it down to a nice, "organized" 4-parter.


The 1967 Hanna-Barbera FANTASTIC FOUR cartoon, "GALACTUS", fixed that by trimming off the first half of #48 and the 2nd half of #50 (seriously, the whole Galactus story should have been a 2-parter!!).


I started reading the "current" THOR with the Hercules & Pluto story where they have to rescue Hildegarde's sister from Hades, and Hercules took a (temporary) shine to her. I recall how Gerry Conway followed up that neat 3-parter with a Destroyer return bout... and mid-way thru an issue, suddenly, wraps it up and brings on The Firelord (who was working for Galactus-- one would think Gerry was DELIBERATELY trying to make fans recall the original Galactus story, right down to the oddball story structure).


I see George Tuska's 1st run on IRON MAN lasted 18 issues (with one break RIGHT in the middle!). Don's Heck's 2nd run only lasted 11 issues, also with ONE break right near the middle.


By comparison, Tuska's 2nd run was 30 issues, but there were multiple breaks done by Herb Trimpe, Barry Smith, Jim Starlin (2 issues!), and Craig Russell. However, in addition, he also did 2 ADDITIONAL "inventory" stories, which were puilled out probably quicker than anyone expected as his full-time replacements Arvell Jones & Keith Pollard proved to be not quite as dependable as he'd been (TO PUT IT LIGHTLY!!!).


Until I updated my own index (taking info from the George Olshevsky index book), I had no idea that Don Heck ever came back for a 2nd run. It seemed to me that George Tuska had been doing the book NON-STOP since Gene Colan left. (This was similar to my impression of Johon Buscema on THE AVENGERS. For the longest time, never having read most of his issues, I had no idea that he was missing for long stretches while fill-ins were done by Gene Colan, Barry Smith, and Sal Buscema, who may have done MORE issues than John did back then! I'd have to check.)


I see looking over my index that Conway only wound up doing 10 issues (kinda short for a run by him), and 3 of those were plotted by Allyn Brodsky (and the last one, diualoged by someone else).