Tales of Suspense #78

(June 1966)

Crescendo! (Table of Contents)

Iron Man / comic story / 12 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Gene Colan (co-plot); Stan Lee (co-plot, dialogue)

Pencils:

Gene Colan

Inks:

Jack Abel [as Gary Michaels]

Colors:

?

Letters:

Artie Simek

Content Information

Genre:

superhero

Characters:

Iron Man [Tony Stark]; Ultimo; Mandarin; Senator Harrington Byrd

Synopsis:

Iron Man defeats Ultimo by tricking the monstrous android into setting off a long-dormant volcano! The Mandarin believes Tony Stark is dead, and vows Ultimo will live again. Shellhead steals a Commie jet and narrowly avoids getting shot down by US fighters. But on returning home, he discovers to his horror that Senator Byrd has not taken his failure to show at the sub-committee investigation lightly...

Reprints:

• in Los Vengadores (Editora de Periódicos La Prensa S.C.L., 1965 series) #94 (23 de marzo de 1968)
• in Marvel Super-Heroes (Marvel, 1967 series) #30 (April 1971)
• in Essential Iron Man (Marvel, 2000 series) #2 ([December] 2004) [black and white]
• in Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man (Marvel, 2003 series) #3 [Regular Edition] ([August] 2006)

Indexer Notes

Part 3 of 3. The Mandarin would return 7 months later in TALES OF SUSPENSE #84 (December 1966); Ultimo would eventually return in IRON MAN #69 (August 1974), though his true origins would not be revealed until IRON MAN #23-25 (December 1999-February 2000).

Them! (Table of Contents)

Captain America / comic story / 10 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Jack Kirby (plot); Stan Lee (co-plot, dialogue)

Pencils:

Jack Kirby

Inks:

Frank Giacoia

Colors:

?

Letters:

Artie Simek

Content Information

Genre:

superhero

Characters:

Captain America [Steve Rogers]; Nick Fury; THEM (secretly A.I.M., really a division of HYDRA)

Synopsis:

While Cap is in the middle of a training exercise involving flying "shock rollers", he's surprised to see Nick Fury turn up looking for info on a secret organization known only as "THEM". As they talk, a strange flying craft lands outside Avengers Mansion, and a large, deadly "chemical android" attacks. In a remote lab, hooded members of "THEM" observe by remote camera, while watching over a "battalion" of androids growing like plants in a glass-enclosed hydroponic garden, due to experiments with D.N.A. One of the techs says "The Imperator" wants SHIELD destroyed. Cap and Fury barely manage to stop the android, which reverts back to its basic elements once its mission is a failure. Fury tells Cap it's SHIELD's job, and to stay out of it. But he gives Cap a SHIELD "Priority A-1" badge to make getting in touch easier in the future.

Reprints:

• in Los Vengadores (Editora de Periódicos La Prensa S.C.L., 1965 series) #94 (23 de marzo de 1968)
• in Marvel Double Feature (Marvel, 1973 series) #2 (February 1974)
• in Marvel Masterworks (Marvel, 1987 series) #14 ([September] 1990)
• in Essential Captain America (Marvel, 2000 series) #1 (July 2000) [black and white]
• in Marvel Masterworks: Captain America (Marvel, 2003 series) #1 ([June] 2003)
• in Marvel Masterworks: Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel, 2007 series) #1 ([October] 2007)
• in Captain America Omnibus (Marvel, 2007 series) #1 ([May] 2011)
• in Marvel Gold: Capitán América (Panini España, 2011 series) #1 - La leyenda Viviente (Julio 2011)

Indexer Notes

Part 1 of 5. 2nd-ever meeting of Cap and Fury, following the story in SGT. FURY #13 (December 1964). 1st on-camera appearance of "THEM", following mentions in STRANGE TALES #142-143 & 145 (March-April, June 1966). The hooded outfits worn by the evil scientists appear inspired by the ones worn in the 1st James Bond film, DR. NO (1962). Identity of "The Imperator" would not be revealed until STRANGE TALES #156 (May 1967). Cap and Fury team-up to battle mysterious invaders in the flashback in STRANGE TALES #160-161 (September-October 1967), apparently shortly after this episode. Meanwhile, this story continues directly into STRANGE TALES #146 (July 1966), while "THEM" also continue to appear (peripherally) in the next several issues of TALES OF SUSPENSE. The android-growing tanks appear to pay tribute to THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951). Thanks to Jack Kirby, D.N.A. experiments would play a large part in SUPERMAN'S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN #133-148 (November 1970-April 1972). The "flying shock rollers" are identical to the ones used by Obi-Wan Kenobi to train Luke Skywalker in the film STAR WARS (1977)!

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents)

Mails of Suspense / letters page / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Letters:

Typeset

Content Information

Reprints:

• in Captain America Omnibus (Marvel, 2007 series) #1 ([May] 2011)