In his private lab, Tony Stark is working on an anti-gravity device; it succeeds in lifting a heavy piece of machinery into the air but Happy Hogan, entering at that moment, thinks Tony’s life is in danger and pushes him out of the way. In the fall, the circuitry of the anti-grav device fuses—the machine still works but it cannot now be duplicated. The next day, Tony demonstrates the device for Pentagon officials but a press photographer manages to sneak in and take a picture of a levitating tank. Soon the story is in all the newspapers, and the Black Widow conceives a plan to get back into the Kremlin’s favor by stealing the anti-gravity ray. Madame Natasha arranges a meeting with Tony Stark at his office. She shows remorse and Tony, womanizing fool that he is, believes her and tells her all about the anti-gravity ray. When he gives her a demonstration, she gasses him and makes off with the new weapon. Pepper and Happy find the paralyzed Tony in his office and revive him; they search the grounds until they come to a levitated security guard; Tony then dons his Iron Man armor and follows the trail of the Black Widow but he can find no trace of her.
Meanwhile, the beauteous spy contacts Premier Khrushchev to tell him she has obtained the “new toy” and asks to be taken back into his good graces. And in Washington, Congress blames Tony Stark for the loss of the weapon. Iron Man is at a loss as to where to find her but the Widow makes it easy for him: she uses the anti-gravity ray to destroy Stark facilities throughout the area. The hero no sooner heads to one to repair the damage than she strikes at another. Soon, a team of agents sent by Khrushchev arrives at her apartment bringing orders to destroy Iron Man and rob Fort Knox. One of the Red thugs tests the device by levitating a car and Iron Man, who was (rather conveniently) nearby, spots it and overpowers the spies. But Madame Natasha gets her hands on the ray and uses it to levitate the hero—and then to raise and drop the building on him. By the time he digs his way out, she’s gone. He adjusts his radar to pick up the frequency of the anti-grav device and follows her to Fort Knox. There, the Black Widow levitates the mountain that stands over the gold vault as well as the army tanks that guard the facility. Iron Man arrives in the nick of time, breaking the anti-grav beam and intercepting the tanks as they fall to the ground. He then uses a proton beam to destroy the anti-grav device in the Widow’s hands and rushes to save the Red spies from being crushed by the falling mountain—an act which surprises the bad guys. The Black Widow escapes in the confusion and the military is grateful that Tony Stark has Iron Man around to clear up his messes.
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Comments: Second story: Text story with one illustration, reprinted from UNCANNY TALES #34; part one appeared last issue. Story earlier reprinted in TALES TO ASTONISH #37.
Fourth story: With this issue, “Tales of the Watcher” becomes a series about Uatu and his people, starting with the origin of the Watchers.
