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Appearing in "Iron Man Versus Gargantus!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Tales of Suspense #40

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • Marion (First appearance) (Tony Stark's girlfriend)

Antagonists:

  • Unnamed gangsters
  • Professor Ford (First appearance)
  • Escaped circus felines
  • Gargantus (First appearance) (Destruction)
  • Unidentified alien race

Other Characters:

Races and Species:

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

  • Unidentified Alien Saucer Ship

Synopsis for "Iron Man Versus Gargantus!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Tales of Suspense #40

Tony Stark travels the world, collecting awards for his scientific achievement, impressing military brass with his new inventions, and wowing the ladies with his wealth and good looks. However, he has to constantly remove himself from social situations in order to privately recharge his iron chest plate, which keeps the shrapnel lodged in his chest away from his heart. While taking Marion, one of his girlfriends, on a date to the circus, several big cats break loose and start terrorizing the crowd. Tony steals away into a private corner and changes into his Iron Man armor. Iron Man’s hulking, gray, armored figure saunters into the big top arena, corrals the cats into a group and shocks them into submission.

Iron Man quickly changes back into Tony Stark and returns to Marion, who tells him that Iron Man would be much less terrifying looking if he didn’t wear such dull, gray armor. She suggests he would look more like a "knight in shining armor" if he wore gold armor. This inspires Tony to change the color of Iron Man's armor from gray to shiny gold. While Marion leaves on a short trip to Granville, Tony takes the opportunity to change the color of his armor. The following Saturday night, when he goes to pick Marion up at the airport, he discovers that she is not on the airplane when it arrives. He's informed that the whole city of Granville is shut down and locked up tight, and that nobody knows why.

As Iron Man, Stark heads to Granville and learns that a wall has been built around the entire city limits and has armed guards posted on top. The local National Guard cannot bust in because "the town has the legal right to put up a wall." Iron Man decides to take matters into his own hands and tunnels underneath the wall. Inside the wall, he addresses some townspeople, who warn him that they cannot speak to him for fear of disobeying Gargantus! In fact, the people are in such fear that they throw cans and bottles at Iron Man to shoo him away from the city. Iron Man leaves the scene, and when he turns the corner he sees townspeople erecting a massive statue of what appears to be a large Neanderthal man. They are all bowing to him in prayer. The crowd sees Iron Man and begins to chase him again. Believing he needs to shock them from the spell they must be under, Iron Man pushes a ten-ton truck into the statue, busting it into pieces, yet the people continue to worship the rubble.

Iron Man flies away from the marauding townspeople and lands on the top of a tall building. He plays a challenge to Gargantus through the tiny public address speakers in his belt. Within seconds, the giant Neanderthal appears wielding a club. He stares down Iron Man with brightly glowing eyes that looked as if they were "mirrors reflecting the sun." Strangely, Iron Man notices there is a thick, dark cloud hovering nearby in the sky. He grabs a flag and holds it up in the air, watching it ripple in the breeze. Iron Man thinks to himself that he has finally solved the mystery of Gargantus, and instead of facing him directly in combat, lures him down to street level.

In the street, Iron Man spots his girlfriend Marion while moving towards the city square with Gargantus remaining in hot pursuit. Now, with plenty of room to move, Iron Man launches three transistor-powered magnets which surround Gargantus and begin to use their extraordinary power to pull him completely apart. Gargantus disintegrates into a pile of gears, tubes and motors, revealing that he was a robot! Iron Man shines a search light from his chest plate skyward, penetrating the dark cloud and revealing a hovering flying saucer. A citizen of Granville, now free from his hypnotic state, tells Iron Man that he remembers the flying saucer appearing over the city, and then Gargantus dropped from the saucer and began

Anthony Stark (Earth-616) from Tales of Suspense Vol 1 40 004

hypnotizing everyone. Iron Man reveals that he suspected things were not as they seemed when the monster's eyes appeared to be reflecting the sunlight, when there was no sun to reflect! Furthermore, a dark cloud overhead remained in place despite the blowing wind which would have blown any normal cloud out of the way!

Iron Man hurls his magnets towards the flying saucer, which retreats into space. The alien occupants are upset that the planet Earth has changed since their ancestors explored it 80,000 years ago, when it was inhabited by Neanderthal people like Gargantus! Their plan to dominate the Neanderthal men with a "super-Neanderthal" had been foiled. Back in New York, Tony Stark greets Marion at the airport and acts oblivious to the excitement that had occurred in Granville.

Appearing in "The Stronghold of Doctor Strange!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Tales of Suspense #41

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Unnamed bank robbers (Only in flashback)
  • Unnamed aliens (presumably from last issue) (Only in flashback)
  • Communists (Only in flashback)
  • Doctor Strange (Carlo Strange) (First appearance) (Main story and flashback)

Other Characters:

Locations:

Items:

Synopsis for "The Stronghold of Doctor Strange!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Tales of Suspense #41

While at a charity fundraiser for a children's hospital, Anthony Stark donates $100,000 dollars and states that he has contacted his friend Iron Man to entertain the children the next day. He receives much applause from the crowd, as well as the adoration of his girlfriend. Stark explains to the girl that he has far too many responsibilities to make a good husband. He has munitions plants to look after, scientific research to conduct, as well as his work for the US Department of Defense. He doesn't tell her about his secret life as Iron Man or the metal chest plate he must constantly wear in order to keep his injured heart beating.

The next day, Iron Man wows the kids at the children's hospital by hovering in the sky and juggling an assortment of cars. He also catches a cannonball fired at him with his bare hands and crushes it! In a nearby prison, a diabolical plan is about to come into fruition. The villainous Doctor Strange has heard of Iron Man's publicity and he has rigged up a device from tiny electronic parts confiscated from the radios he was permitted to work on in the prison workshop. He feigns a dizzy spell and is led by prison guards back to his cell, where he activates his device and hypnotizes Iron Man! He sends a mental command that orders Iron Man to free him from the prison.

Iron Man walks like a zombie through the prison, tearing down the walls until he finally locates and frees Doctor Strange. He evades the prison guard’s gunfire by flying him away from them. With Iron Man under his mental control, Doctor Strange devises a plan to dominate the world in order to impress his estranged daughter, Carla and make up for the many years that he neglected her for his criminal career.

Doctor Strange releases Iron Man from his mental grip and sets forth to hatch his plans for world domination. On an island somewhere off the Atlantic coast of the United States, he shows his daughter Carla her new home and introduces her to his new cadre of associates, some of the most cunning scientists and power-mad military men on Earth.

Doctor Strange launches an “S-Bomb" into the upper atmosphere as a demonstration of his destructive power, and then threatens to destroy the entire planet unless every nation surrenders to him within 24 hours. Several nations trace his broadcast and launch nuclear weapons at his island, which is protected by a virtually indestructible force field.

Iron Man approaches the island by submarine and, correctly figuring that the force field would not extend below the surface of the water, tunnels into the island base from below. Once inside, he witnesses Doctor Strange and his daughter bickering over his recent deeds. Carla is appalled at her father's despotic plans and evil nature. Iron Man smashes Doctor Strange’s electrical generators, accidentally short circuiting his armor and draining its power supply in the process. Iron Man is completely helpless until Carla tosses him a flashlight containing two batteries, which Iron Man uses to recharge his armor. His plot thwarted and fearing Iron Man, Doctor Strange vanishes from the premises, saying goodbye to his “foolish" daughter.

Solicit Synopsis

Reprinting the Iron Man stories from TALES OF SUSPENSE (1959) #40-41

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