Plot by Stan Lee – Script by Robert Bernstein – Art by Don Heck – Letters by Sam Rosen
Marvel really does not know what kind of stories it wants to tell with Iron Man.
Last issue sent Tony Stark into a subterranean kingdom populated by descendants of Atlantis. This month, he’s traveling through time to ancient Egypt to fight the Mad Pharaoh.
At least we have Don Heck.
The issue opens with Tony preparing for a trip to Egypt, where reporters immediately ask whether he thinks he could have charmed Cleopatra. Tony responds that she’s a little old for him.
This is not starting out great.
Stark has been invited to assist with an archaeological excavation, but rather than doing the work himself, he suggests Iron Man would be better suited for the job. Using his technology, Tony discovers the tomb of Hatap, a pharaoh believed to have died thousands of years earlier.
Naturally, Hatap isn’t dead. He faked his death and used a magical potion to place himself in suspended animation for two thousand years.
Upon awakening in 1963, he can also conveniently speak English.
Sure.
Hatap isn’t content with returning to the modern world. Using a magical chariot, he travels back to ancient Egypt and brings Stark along with him as part of his plan to defeat Cleopatra.
This story is basically Marvel’s old anthology comics turned up to ten.
There’s an ancient tomb. A supposedly dead pharaoh. Suspended animation. Magic. Time travel. Ancient armies. And Tony Stark, a character whose stories were built around advanced technology and Cold War weapons only a few months ago, is now dropped into the middle of all of it.
But Don Heck makes it look good. Ancient Egypt gives Heck a chance to move away from laboratories and boardrooms and fill the pages with temples, armies, chariots, elaborate costumes, and enormous historical settings.
Iron Man battles Roman soldiers, finds Cleopatra, and becomes involved in the war against Hatap.
Tony also finds time to make a move on Cleopatra.
Because of course he does.
The depiction of ancient Egypt doesn’t fare particularly well either. The Egyptian characters are overwhelmingly depicted as white, and history mostly exists as an exotic playground for Iron Man’s latest adventure. And, naturally, everyone conveniently speaks English.
Eventually Iron Man helps Cleopatra defeat Hatap and returns to his own time, where he discovers paintings inside the tomb depicting a mysterious armored warrior who helped save Egypt thousands of years ago.
Back at home the reporters once again want to know whether Tony could have romanced Cleopatra.
Tales of Suspense #44 manages to collect several of early Marvel’s worst tendencies into one story. There’s the disposable anthology-style premise, magic that works however the plot requires, uncomfortable depictions of other cultures, and a treatment of women that reduces a historical figure into another romantic conquest for Tony Stark.
Marvel still hasn’t figured out Iron Man.
Fantastic Four has an identity strong enough to survive almost any setting. Spider-Man’s world seemed to arrive almost fully formed. Thor is increasingly finding himself through Asgard. Doctor Strange has needed only two five-page stories to establish an entire supernatural corner of Marvel.
Iron Man has fought Communist agents, aliens, gangsters, subterranean civilizations, and now an ancient Egyptian pharaoh.
The experimentation might eventually lead somewhere.
Right now, it mostly feels like Marvel throwing Tony Stark into whatever story happens to be available.
At least we have Don Heck.
Marvel in the 60s – Entry #71
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