Plot by Stan Lee – Script by Robert Bernstein – Art by Don Heck – Letters by Sam Rosen
This feels like the official coming out party for Iron Man.
For the last several issues, Tales of Suspense has seemed unsure what kind of comic Iron Man should be. Tony Stark has fought Communist spies, gangsters, aliens, and an ancient Egyptian pharaoh.
Now he gets something considerably more useful. A supporting cast.
Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan make their first appearances in Tales of Suspense #45, and almost immediately the comic feels different.
It starts with Tony showing off a new engine by driving a race car himself. The battery powering the chest plate keeping his heart alive begins running low. Tony loses control and crashes. He is pulled from the wreckage by Happy Hogan, a retired boxer who seems permanently annoyed.
Tony is so impressed that he hires Happy as his chauffeur and bodyguard.
And Happy is a real character. He calls Tony “boss,” throws around boxing references, complains constantly, and generally refuses to stop talking. For a few pages, I wasn’t sure if I was still reading an Iron Man comic or The Happy Hogan Show.
Then we meet Kitty…wait…Pepper.
Despite being called Kitty when she first appears, Pepper Potts joins Happy in giving Tony something this feature has desperately needed: people to interact with when he isn’t wearing the armor.
Happy is attracted to Pepper. Pepper is smitten with Tony. Tony seems oblivious to the entire situation. There’s a little screwball-comedy energy to it. Happy and Pepper bicker. Happy shows off. Pepper insults him. Tony tries to find a moment of peace so he can test his armor.
Suddenly Tales of Suspense has relationships that readers can start to care about.
Even the villain feels like a step toward a more conventional superhero comic. Professor Gregor Shapanka is one of Tony’s employees, and Iron Man catches him trying to steal Stark’s technology. Shapanka wants to sell Tony’s transistor secrets for millions.
He also casually mentions that he’s discovered the secret to eternal life.
My dude. Forget the transistors. Get rich off of that!
Tony decides not to press charges but fires him and makes sure his career is over. Then he makes an offhand remark about Shapanka getting “cold feet.”
This apparently changes the man’s life.
Shapanka concludes that extreme cold can make him immortal, give him superpowers, help him rob banks, and allow him to get revenge on Tony Stark.
The result is Jack Frost, Iron Man’s first costumed superpowered villain.
What makes Tales of Suspense #45 interesting is not the fight with Jack Frost. For the first time since Iron Man’s origin, it feels like Marvel is putting pieces around Tony Stark that can actually sustain a series.
Happy Hogan and Pepper Potts give him a supporting cast. Their budding love triangle gives Tony a personal life outside the armor. Jack Frost gives Iron Man a costumed supervillain with a connection to Stark himself.
Marvel has spent the first several Iron Man stories trying to figure out where Tony Stark belongs in their growing superhero universe.
With Tales of Suspense #45, they may have finally worked it out.
And if Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan, and Iron Man’s first costumed supervillain weren’t enough, Tony also invents a pair of jet-powered roller skates that can reach 200 miles per hour.
Now we’re getting somewhere.
Marvel in the 60s – Entry #78
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