3X2(9YZ)4A!

The Good

Having recently rewatched Superman (2025), I say with great affection that the Big Bad in this issue, Drexel Cord, reminds me very much of Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor. He creates a giant robot ("the Demolisher") that he can remotely control to fight Iron Man. This robot has also been outfitted with perfect counteractions to Iron Man's fighting style, developed by Cord after obsessive study of Iron Man's moves from footage of his many battles. Cord doesn't start screaming "1A" at the screen, but it's a close thing

Drexel Cord looking absolutely unhinged: a (non-exhaustive) compilation

We get the first hints of how difficult keeping the Iron Man and Tony Stark identities separate is (It's possible this has already been touched on in Tales of Suspense but as I've mentioned, I haven't read those issues and have little inclination to). It's not just about the sneaking around and the lying, though that is a factor. Tony expresses some concern about feeling like he's genuinely losing his sense of who he is after spending so much time in the suit. This is a compelling staple of the "secret superhero identity" story genre, but as someone whose experience with Marvel was previously limited to the MCU and its related projects, I'm particularly into the novelty of this trope coming from Tony "I Am Iron Man" Stark. It's also fun to me because unlike Spider-Man or Batman, Iron Man is an identity Tony needs - in a very physical sense - to survive. Like fine, he doesn't NEED to put on the full Iron Man suit and go out and fight crime to live, but he does need the chestplate to keep his heart beating. I don't think it's been said outright, but I'm pretty sure the chestplate powers the suit. I imagine that disability makes it harder to define where Tony ends and Iron Man begins. It's an interesting dimension to add to this cliche

"...Tony Stark! After battling the Grey Gargoyle, then Whiplash, then A.I.M. without once shedding my armor, I have to keep saying my name just to be sure I still know it!"

Jasper Sitwell is an amusing little fella and I like how the narration will lovingly bully him a bit

"...And despite a natural tendency to talk, Sitwell does listen..."

Similar to the last issue, Tony plays possum to maneuver his way out of a tricky situation. I don't know if it necessarily takes a genius to figure "If someone designed a murder robot to destroy ME SPECIFICALLY then they probably hate my guts enough to wanna watch me die." Nevertheless I appreciate this demonstration of his excellent grasp of the human psyche. It's especially nice since the Tony Stark I'm familiar with will manipulate and misdirect people by playing up his arrogance and generally being a total nuisance (think "How does Fury even see these? / That man is playing Galaga!" while he bugs a SHIELD computer). As much as he's known for his technical genius, Tony understands people, too, so this is a neat parallel

"He's stopped... It's working! Anyone who'd design a machine so completely geared to combating me alone, must be panting to see it accomplish the task!"

More on Tony's disability: he's extremely aware of how much damage is being done to his heart during the fight. It makes sense that he would be! I just enjoy these little reminders because they reinforce how balls-to-the-walls insane he is. He catches a load of shrapnel to the chest, builds a chestplate to keep his fragile heart going, and decides to start rushing headlong into situations where he's likely to sustain more physical AND emotional stress. What a fucking idiot (affectionate)

"My armor equals his, but my heart won't take many more jolts like that!"

"Can't worry about how weak I am or how much power I'm using... Got to keep blasting while he's vulnerable! [...] Even if it means a fatal heart attack... I must hit first!"

Love the ending. Love that Cord finally snapped out of his Stark-hating mania to save his daughter. Love that we got Tony shirking a perceived duty because of his own guilt. It's interesting that he feels guilty at all. Tony's made many mistakes in his life and while he is certainly deserving of reproach, he has done nothing in particular to merit this specific grievance. Cord lost his marbles because he felt Stark Industries' accomplishments were outshining his. Despite this, Tony feels responsible for the man's tragic fate. Possibly his feeling of guilt is exacerbated by Cord turning it around in the end, but still, that's a lot of blame for Tony to shoulder over something that was not even remotely his fault. It's a fascinating insight into his character. You can start to understand how a genius with a bad heart might get the dumb idea to take up superheroics if he takes everything so personally

The Bad

N/A. This issue was entertaining, well-paced, action-packed, and full of interesting bits of characterization. If I'm being REALLY nitpicky I could say that the Jasper and Janice plot takes up a lot of time relative to their impact on the story (which is more or less none), but the way they're written really endeared them to me. Jasper's an enthusiastic but competent goof, and for a one-off side character, especially a female one-off side character in the 60s, I think Janice showed an incredible amount of initiative and agency

The Weird

Misc Notes

Prior to this issue I was operating under the assumption that this run was Tony Stark's debut. Not so! This issue threw me smack-dab into the middle of the already well-established Iron Man's takedown of AIM. The dialogue and narration boxes were, as is typical of Golden and Silver-age comics, generous enough with the exposition that I could fathom out what the hell was going on. My experience with the MCU and the Avengers cartoons (EMH & AA) also provided some helpful context about the characters involved in this story — namely, that AIM are bad guys of the mad scientist variety, and of course that Tony Stark himself is a billionaire genius who fights evil in a metal suit he cobbled together in Afghanistan Vietnam, etc etc.

In hindsight, it's my own damn fault for not doing more research beforehand. After all, DC introduced the Silver-age Flash, Barry Allen, in their Showcase comic before giving him his own book; it follows that Marvel would similarly test-launch their new characters before further developing them in a solo run (though in all fairness the Flash (1959) at least did not begin in the middle of an arc published in another book).

Anyway the abrupt beginning didn't negatively impact my enjoyment of the book. In fact it may have improved my experience. Since I'm already more or less familiar with Iron Man's origin, it was nice to skip over the obligatory introduction and get straight into the action. A summary of the Iron Man's beginning was included at the end of the book to catch up readers who weren't already familiar with him, which was thoughtful.

The Good

I LOVE the art. I'm very fond of the way most inkers drew people up 'till the late 80s/early 90s. The semi-realistic, rather non-stylized approach to drawing human beings is, to me, one of the main attractions of Golden & Silver Age comics

The Iron Man suit looks ridiculous and I mean that with all the affection in the world. Instead of overlapping plates & geometric shapes, we get total leg and arm muscle definition, such that it appears Tony took the time to mold each part of his armour in an anatomically accurate fashion. The flared pieces at the tops of his boots and gloves, the belt & underwear design around his waist — it all reads like the artist wasn't sure how the hell to translate a career of drawing skintight-fabric costumes into drawing a humanoid metal shell, and decided to let the mask and ridges along the shoulder/torso junction carry the idea that this is an actual hard, solid, iron suit. It looks goofy, and the lack of an arc reactor in Tony's cuirass makes his breastplate look like an old diving helmet, and I fucking adore it

"Iron Man" is a secret identity! Not only was this a fun revelation for me, as I've only ever known Tony Stark's exploits as Iron Man to be public knowledge to people within the Marvel universe, but it's also executed in what I thought was a clever way. Though he's considered to be a separate and individual entity, Iron Man has a public association with the genius Tony Stark, as he's purported to be Stark's bodyguard. Thus, it is a widely-held in-universe belief that the Iron Man suit was designed by Tony Stark and is worn by someone he evidently trusts enough to use it well. So, why don't the supervillains du jour seem to give a shit about unmasking the Iron Man, even when they have him unconscious and at their mercy...? Because inherently, the most interesting part about the guy foiling all their plans is the technology of the suit and the brains behind it, and since they already know who's responsible for its creation, they don't give a damn about the person piloting it! I think it's a great way to incorporate the tension of a secret double life while neatly sidestepping all the related struggles with villains' attempts to unmask the superpowered pain in their ass. Iron Man has a secret identity and nobody really cares... at least for now(?)

"But we are not concerned with the man... only the armor! All his power, all his much vaunted invincibility-- lies in the secrets of his incredible costume--" [...] "Anthony Stark, a genius, designed the armor! I, a greater genius, shall master his creation!"

Tony fights with his wits. Like, obviously - he's meant to be a genius. But it's nice that they make a point of showing him actually planning and strategizing rather than brute-forcing his way through every obstacle. In this issue alone, Tony: 1) fakes unconsciousness to gain more information, 2) goads Mordius into a massive, chaotic attack that allows him to slip away to do more recon, and 3) sets off a fire/smokescreen in the generator room to trick AIM into switching to auxiliary power, thereby overloading their own fully-functioning generators (which they thought he had damaged because of the fire). With a character like Iron Man, it's important to have an answer to the question: Why can't someone make a more powerful suit and beat him? And part of the answer may be that his suit is generally better than anything else people can come up with, because he's a genius. But it makes for a very boring story if every conflict culminates in a tech stand-off which is won by whipping out a new and stronger gadget. I think this issue was effective in showing that Iron Man works because it is, specifically, Tony Stark behind the mask.

"Of course, their strength does equal mine-- But there's more to being Iron Man than strength! There's a little thing called... SKILL!"

And finally here are some favourite scenes of mine:

"If you think I'm gonna sit still for a corny line like that-- you're out of your tree!!"

My favourite line in this whole issue. What the hell does that mean, Tony

"That's what you get for using cheap imitations, Mordius-- Next time, stick to brand names!"

Genuinely got a laugh out of me. Snarkiness is pretty central to Tony Stark's personality but I especially love how fitting a crack about "brand names" is. It's a good characterization moment

"Made it! But only because I'd intentionally maneuvered myself near the exit during the fighting! [...] But each generator is rigged to function independently of the others-- [...] I could knock out a few, but they'd be all over before I can inflict the full damage needed!"

Just a good moment of Tony thinking through his options and coming up with a plan. Showing the thought process is half the work of writing a convincing "smart character"

The Bad

I don't have many criticisms of this first issue. The plot was easy enough to follow even without the context of the first half (didn't know who tf Jasper Sitwell and Whitney Frost were but I got the gist) and it was overall an entertaining story. My one gripe - and this is a general issue I have with older comics - is the occasionally clunky dialogue and the way every! Character! Speaks! Like this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Every sentence MUST end in an exclamation mark!!!! Like they're actors on a broadway stage!!!!!!!!! Maybe it's a petty complaint but I find it exhausting to read. It's like everyone is aware they're performing for an audience, and they stop sounding... human, lmfao. Comics in the Gold and Silver Ages were very fond of using dialogue to get exposition across (on top of the narration boxes and the actual drawings that show what's happening, this can become VERY tedious, though I didn't find it too bad in this particular issue) and it can make the characters seem borderline alien. It reminds me of the problems with the Star Wars OT's (and Prequels') scripts. In the immortal words of Mark Hamill: "Who TALKS like this, George?"

The Weird

Beyond some aspects of the Iron Man I know from the MCU and cartoons being absent (e.g. the arc reactor tech seems to not exist...? I went back to read Iron Man's OG appearance in Tales of Suspense #39 and there was a lot of talk about transistors, not so much about anything "arc" or "reactor"), there was nothing out of the ordinary in this issue. I never expected a 1:1 match anyway; part of the appeal of reading first appearances and first runs is to be able to trace the evolution of a character from their origin to their modern form.

I guess I'll add that the detour to Jasper Sitwell and Whitney Frost's adventure on the sinking Maggia was unexpected. But again, that's because I didn't do my research. Although it seems Whitney Frost will be a recurring character in future issues, so maybe I'll go back and skim through her first appearance to get all the details.