Tales of Suspense #53

(May 1964)

The Black Widow Strikes Again! (Table of Contents)

Iron Man / comic story / 13 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Stan Lee (plot); Don Rico [as N. Korok] (script)

Pencils:

Don Heck

Inks:

Don Heck

Colors:

?

Letters:

Sam Rosen

Content Information

Genre:

superhero

Characters:

Iron Man [Tony Stark]; Black Widow [Natasha Romanoff]; Pepper Potts; Happy Hogan; Crimson Dynamo [Boris Turgenov] (flashback); Soviet Premier Nikita Khruscchev (cameo); Igor; Stansky

Synopsis:

To redeem herself in the eyes of the communist leader, Black Widow steals the new anti-grav ray device developped by Tony Stark and attacks Fort Knox. Iron Man destroys the ray device, but the Black Widow escapes.

Reprinted:

• in Marvel Collectors' Item Classics (Marvel, 1965 series) #13 (February 1968)
• in Essential Iron Man (Marvel, 2000 series) #1 (2000) [black and white]
• in Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man (Marvel, 2003 series) #2 (2004)
• in Iron Man Omnibus (Marvel, 2008 series) #1 (2008)

Indexer Notes

Black Widow next appears in issue #57 (September 1964).

The Magician (Table of Contents)

text story / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

?

Inks:

?

Colors:

?

Letters:

typeset

Job Number:

[G-719]

Content Information

Genre:

occult

Characters:

Howard; Uncle Bart

Synopsis:

A TV studio page and aspiring magician gets a lucky break when he meets a real sorcerer time traveling from the past.

Reprinted:

• from Uncanny Tales (Marvel, 1952 series) #34 (August 1955) [page 2]

Indexer Notes

Text story with illustration. Continues from last issue.

The Omen (Table of Contents)

comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Stan Lee (plot); Larry Lieber (script)

Pencils:

Larry Lieber

Inks:

George Roussos [as George Bell]

Colors:

?

Letters:

Sam Rosen

Content Information

Genre:

science fiction

Characters:

Lokar

Synopsis:

A superstitious warlord thinks a flare of light is a good omen for an invasion, but when it is discovered to be a meteor his entire world must evacuate in order to survive.

Two More Triumphs for Marvel..! (Table of Contents)

promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Pencils:

Jack Kirby (Fantastic Four cover); Steve Ditko (Amazing Spider-Man cover)

Inks:

George Roussos (Fantastic Four cover); Steve Ditko (Amazing Spider-Man cover)

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Indexer Notes

Advertises Amazing Spider-Man (Marvel, 1963 series) #12 (May 1964) and Fantastic Four (Marvel, 1961 series) #26 (May 1964)

The Way It Began... (Table of Contents)

Tales of the Watcher / comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Stan Lee (plot); Larry Lieber (script)

Pencils:

Larry Lieber

Inks:

Paul Reinman

Colors:

?

Letters:

Artie Simek

Content Information

Genre:

science fiction

Characters:

Watcher [Uatu] (origin); Ikor; Emnu

Synopsis:

The Watcher comes from a super-advanced race that decides to share its technology with others. When their first attempt ends in tragedy they vow never to interfere with the affairs of less advanced species.

Reprinted:

• in Marvel Collectors' Item Classics (Marvel, 1965 series) #9 (June 1967)
• in Fantastici Quattro, I (Editoriale Corno, 1971 series) #56 (May 29, 1973) [as "Così cominciò...", Italian translation]

Indexer Notes

From here on, the Tales of the Watcher stories in Tales of Suspense are about the Watcher and his people.