Iron Man Battles The Melter!

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Stark Industries is once again under siege by a super-powered saboteur, threatening Stark's reputation and fortune as well as America's national defense. But how can Iron Man defend himself against a foe with the ability to simply melt his armor?

Notes:

• In this issue, we meet The Melter--the third prominent Iron Man villain to appear in as many months. Bruno Horgan is a former competitor who lost his contract when Tony Stark proved he used inferior materials to build tanks for the Army. Appropriately enough, it is another one of Horgan's defective products, an electronic inspection beam that actually starts to liquefy the items it inspects, that gives him the means to launch his vendetta against Stark.
• In their first encounter, The Melter completely melts the armor around Stark's left arm but somehow Stark doesn't lose the limb or suffer serious burns. It's more like the armor simply evaporates . . . but "The Evaporator" doesn't sound very cool.
• Steve Ditko illustrates this issue but very little of his unique style remains after a heavy ink job by Don Heck. At least Heck's brush makes Pepper look prettier than Ditko's usual oddly featured women. Stan Lee sheds Berns as a scripter but his solo story is just as formulaic as most of the preceding ones.

Iron Man Faces The Crimson Dynamo!

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It's Iron Man vs. Iron Curtain when the armored hero clashes with his opposite number from Russia, The Crimson Dynamo.

Notes:

• Another recurring nemesis makes his first appearance in this issue. Professor Vanko's combination of genius and ambition insipres awe and fear in Khrushchev, who plans to liquidate him after the completion of his mission to ruin Tony Stark and destroy Iron Man. Vanko, in the best tradition of the mad scientist, has experimented on himself to gain complete mastery of electricty. It is unclear from the story whether this ability is now natural or conferred or amplified by the Crimson Dynamo armor.
• The Crimson Dynamo's campaign of sabotage against SI defense plants is quite successful and results in withdrawn defense contracts and even suspicion in Congress that Stark himself is intentionally crippling national defense. Of course, when he tries to cook the spam in the Iron Man can, he is defeated but not before establishing himself as the strip's most formidable foe to date--even though Khrushchev says his armor looks "ridiculous" (true) and it electrocutes its wearer when wet.
• Vanko reforms at the end of the story, denouncing the "savage, double-dealing" Commie system and agreeing to work for Stark. I guess the departure of "Jack Frost" Shapanka left a vacancy for a shady foreign professor at Stark Industries.

The Icy Fingers Of Jack Frost!

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Revenge is a dish best served cold in this story, when a sacked Stark Industries scientist returns to settle scores as the icy villain called Jack Frost. Long-time supporting cast members Harry "Happy" Hogan and "Pepper" Potts also make the scene in this issue.

Notes:

• Stark's chest plate runs out of juice while he is behind the wheel of the Stark Special during a 500-mile race. Suffering a heart attack, Stark loses control and the car plows through the railing and flips, trapping him under the flaming wreck. Risking his own life, retired boxer Hogan pulls Stark free just before the fire reaches the gas tank. Hogan parlays his heroism into a full-time job as Stark's chauffeur.
• On Hogan's first day on the job, he runs afoul of Stark's bitchy secretary "Pepper" Potts, who offers many, shall we say, unsolicited critques of Hogan's face. (No wonder Professor Shapanka makes it a point to freeze her solid.) Nevertheless, Hogan is instantly smitten with the sharp-tongued secretary, who harbors an unrequited crush on Stark.
• S.I. scientist Professor Shapanka attempts to steal plans for his employer's miracle transistors from a vault in order to fund his off-duty experiments with ice as a means of life extension. Stark as Iron Man catches him red-handed but decides to just fire him instead of turning him over to the police. To show his gratitude, Shapanka develops his ice technology's super-villain applications and attacks his ex-employer. Iron Man thaws him out rather quickly with a chest-mounted heat ray. Despite Shapanka's unpromising debut as a costumed criminal, he is the first adversary with a future in the strip and will return.
• Trivia: We see Shea Stadium and the '64 World's Fair under construction in this issue. S.I.'s main research facility is nearby, just off the Grand Central Parkway.

This is another Lee/Berns/Heck production . . . sigh.

Iron Man Faces The Menace Of The Mad Pharaoh!

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An evil pharaoh is awakened from suspended animation by an archaeological dig and promptly forces Tony Stark to return with him to ancient Egypt to use his technological prowess to conquer Cleopatra!

Notes:

• Yet another attempt to harness the Stark demiurge, this time by the Mad Pharaoh, Hatap. Yet another queen throwing herself at Iron Man, this time the legendary Egyptian beauty, Cleopatra.
• Iron Man destroys Hatap's chariots by attaching casters to his back and rolling into them in a supine position, propelled by a "transistor-powered jet engine". The creators were evidently so proud of this ridiculous scene, it is shown as a teaser on the splash page.
• Hatap's failed first attempt to usurp Cleopatra's throne ended with the pharaoh swallowing a potion that placed him in suspended animation. Believing him dead, the Egyptians mummified him. I'm no Egyptologist but I'm pretty sure the process involves removing the organs of the deceased, which definitely would have killed Hatap, with or without his potion. He finally dies in the past by stumbling over on a conveniently upturned sword.
• Tony is tempted to remain in the past with Cleopatra but decides to return to our time to continue stringing along modern American glamor girls in relationships that lead absolutely nowhere. How long before the gay rumors start?

Another miserable script by the Lee/Berners team and solo Heck art that is competent but nothing special.

Iron Man Versus Kala, Queen of the Netherworld

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The belligerent queen of a secret subterranean civilization tries to coerce Tony Stark into designing the machines she needs to invade the surface.

Notes:

• Raven-haired Kirby babe Kala claims to be the ruler of the descendants of Atlantis. The Atlanteans retreated underground to escape the tidal waves that drowned the fabled city. This would, of course, come as news to Namor, who by this time had already made his debut in the modern Marvel continuity.
• The Netherworlders demonstrate advanced weaponry and a gem-like energy field that can effortlessly carry passengers through miles of solid rock, which they use to bring Stark to their city. So why do they need Stark and his almighty transistors to return to the surface? The entire premise of the story seems senseless.
• The Netherworlders confine Stark to a lab to build their machines. Instead, he creates another suit of armor which he uses to escape. Somewhere, Wong-Chu slaps his forehead.
• For absolutely no reason at all, Tony Stark surmises that the surface environment will prove toxic to the Netherworlders. He seizes Kala and uses the new armor's "nuclear-powered clippers" to return topside, where Kala immediately withers into a crippled old hag. Having proved his point, Tony takes Kala back to her Netherworld kingdom, restoring her beauty. Kala immediately abandons her invasion plans and proposes marriage to Iron Man. "He's just wonderful! Won't you stay here with me, Iron Man" she gushes. "Never forget that you'll always be welcome here!" adds General Baxu.
• Nuclear-powered clippers?

Trapped By The Red Barbarian!

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The Communist master of disguise known only as The Actor infiltrates Stark Industries and learns the secret of Stark's double life as Iron Man!

Notes:

• At this stage of the character's development, Iron Man is very much the Cold Warrior. As Stark, he is an enthusiastic member of the military-industrial complex, producing weapons of mass destruction for the US military such as this issue's disintegrator ray. As Iron Man, he is involved in F.B.I. counterespionage operations against the "commies".
• Iron Man's "commie" rogue's gallery increases in size with the introduction of The Actor and The Red Barbarian, a brutal but dim-witted spymaster for a "Red satellite country". Impersonating Stark to steal the plans for the disintegrator ray, The Actor discovers "various metal spare parts" in a filing cabinet in Stark's lab, from which he deduces that Stark must be Iron Man. However, the confused Red Barbarian executes him for losing the plans before he can reveal Tony's secret. Say hello to Wong-Chu in Commie Hell, you Red sneak!

This issue is another Lee/Berns story with solo Heck artwork. Undistinguished in almost every way.

The Stronghold Of Doctor Strange!

(No, not that Doctor Strange!)

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Super-villain dad Doctor Strange threatens the world with extinction in a stunt to win back the love of his daughter, Carla. Only Iron Man can penetrate Strange's titular stronghold and save us from his arsenal of 200-megaton "S-Bombs".

Notes:

• Apparently no longer terrifying to small children, Iron Man entertains the patients in an orphan's hospital by juggling cars in mid-air with magnetic fields. He also demonstrates the armor's ability to withstand cannon fire.
• Disgusted by her father's villainy, Carla betrays him by tossing Tony some flashlight batteries to recharge his armor at a critical moment. The armor still seems dangerously unreliable.
• The story presents Doctor Strange as an established villain, prompting the reader to wonder "Do I know this guy?" Strange is an accomplished nobody, however, with his own private island protected by an army of seedy types and a force field that can withstand an atom bomb. He also posseses hypnotic ability as a result of being struck by lightning. He escapes capture while Tony fiddles with the Energizers.
• A silly, slapdash story plotted by Stan Lee and scripted by somebody called "R. Berns". A slightly better showing from Kirby, with Heck inks.

Iron Man Versus Gargantus!

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The citizens of Granville erect a wall around their city at the command of a massive Neanderthal man with mysterious hypnotic powers. Investigating the disappareance of one of his girlfriends in the city, Iron Man uncovers an alien scheme to conquer Earth!

Notes:

• We see Stark carrying his armor in an attache case for the first time. The collapsible sections are stored in a hidden x-ray proof compartment. Stark unrolls them like tin foil and "microscopic transistors" harden them for action. One wonders if Stan Lee even knows what a transistor is.
• Iron Man dispatches a crazy guy with a shrinking ray in a mere two panels. Crazy Shrink Ray Guy doesn't even rate a proper name, nor do we see him actually shrink anything. Perhaps the biggest loser in super villain history.
• The Iron Man armor starts to crimp Tony's style. In Monte Carlo, a beautiful woman begs him to strip off for a moonlight swim but our hero is forced to make lame excuses about "sudden tiredness" to avoid taking off his shirt and exposing his secret.
• The unnamed alien invaders are terrible procrastinators, only getting around to their attack 80,000 years after their first reconnaissance of Earth. Expecting to find a bunch of primitive dummies, they're quickly frightened off by Iron Man, who rips apart their slope-browed robot, Gargantus, without clutching his heart even once.
• Tony is back in the States after his first adventure in Southeast Asia. A sampling of the somewhat, um, mixed public reaction to Iron Man: "Ugh!" "Momma! Momma! *sob* Save me from the ugly man!" "Oh! How dreadful looking he is!" Stark coats his armor with gold paint when his girlfriend, Marion, suggests it might make him more appealing to the public. This thinking will one day lead to the infamous "nose armor" . . . The fact that she suggests a new color scheme to Stark that suddenly appears on Iron Man does not seem to register on Marion.

This issue is illustrated by an uninspired Jack Kirby with fairly crisp inks by Don Heck.

Iron Man Is Born!

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Playboy scientist Anthony Stark travels to Vietnam to observe his transistorized miniature weapons in action against communist insurgents. ARVN troops equipped with Stark's handheld mortars scatter the guerillas but Stark trips an explosive booby-trap, mortally wounding himself and apparently killing everyone else.
Captured by the warlord Wong-Chu, Stark is offered a choice. If he agrees to build advanced weapons for the enemy, their doctors will operate to remove the shrapnel moving towards his heart. If he refuses, they will simply allow him to die slowly. Stark knows they're bluffing; his wound is inoperable. He promises to build the "most fantastic weapon of all time" . . .

Notes:

• The co-creator of the original Iron Man armor is Chinese physicist Professor Yinsen. Believed to be dead, the professor was kidnapped by communist guerillas and reduced to a manservant. Without his assistance, Stark would not have completed the armor before the shrapnel killed him. Yinsen sacrifices his life while diverting Wong-Chu's men from their makeshift lab while the armor charges to full power.
• The "wood-burning stove" armor debuts with a variety of features including: a "magnetic turbo-insulator" that can generate a magnetic field capable of deflecting bazooka shells, the ability to override PA systems, palm suction cups, and "air-pressure jets" that can lift the bulky armor into the air. Its most important function, however, is keeping the fatal shrapnel in Stark chest from reaching his heart. The armor runs on batteries and doesn't hold much of a charge, apparently.
• The guerillas like to keep filing cabinets full of rocks on the second floor of their buildings; Wong-Chu pushes one over on Iron Man to temporarily immobilize him. These guerillas also like to speak in broken English to each other.
• Wong-Chu perishes in the explosion when Iron Man detonates his ammo dump.

Stan Lee & Larry Lieber create a typically tragic Marvel situation, trapping a guy who is the "dreamiest thing this side of Rock Hudson" (oh, if those girls only knew!) in a metal shell, a walking iron lung. Don Heck's pencils are solid; his ability to draw glamorous women is largely wasted in this story.