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Tales of Suspense #68: Review

Aug 1965
Al Hartley, Don Heck

Story Name:

If a Man Be Mad!

Review & Comments

Rating:
3 stars

Tales of Suspense #68 Review by (February 15, 2010)
The Allied Supreme Commander is never named but slightly resembles Dwight D. Eisenhower, the actual commander. Conclusion of a three part story.


Tales of Suspense #68 Review by (May 3, 2012)
Review (Iron Man): Moon men?!? MOON MEN?!? And named Edam and Gouda at that? What is this, Rocky and Bullwinkle? Were Gidney and Cloyd busy? (At the end the aliens refer to it as a “moon colony” which helps a little.) And the “drive Tony Stark mad” scheme doesn’t make a lot of sense: why was it necessary for Morgan to be the one engineering the plot? And why would Nefaria trust the dissolute playboy to handle the matter without some sort of assistance or backup? And was the original spaceship an illusion? If so, how did Iron Man climb the stairs and go inside? And it seemed awfully convenient that the real space invaders would land in the same clearing where the fake landing took place. So what do we have? A lot of evidence that guest writer Al (ARCHIE) Hartley was putting us on. Got me again, Al! Fooled me into taking any of this seriously! Ha ha!

Comments (Iron Man): First appearance of Morgan Stark. The narrator refers to “an invisible shield similar to the kind you have seen on those T.V. toothpaste commercials.” Colgate with Gardol was the product in question.




 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Tales of Suspense #68 Synopsis by T Vernon

Happy Hogan returns from his stay in Ireland to a warm greeting by Pepper Potts and Tony Stark. Meanwhile in Monte Carlo, Tony’s wastrel cousin Morgan Stark has been losing big at a casino owned by the crimelord Count Nefaria. The Count proposes a way for Morgan to work off his gambling debts by helping him destroy Tony Stark; Morgan, who has always been jealous of his successful cousin, jumps at the chance….

Shortly thereafter, Morgan shows up a Tony’s office for a visit. A week later, Tony is driving along a country road on his way to a dinner date when he spies an alien spaceship in a clearing. He drives off to alert the CIA but changes his mind and returns as Iron Man (thus unwittingly protecting his secret identity from the watching Morgan). Iron Man enters the craft and discovers a ticking atomic device. Returning with the police (who are evidently trained to prevent nuclear holocausts), Tony finds no evidence of any spacecraft. He spots an alien lurker (thanks to an image projected by Morgan) but no one else sees it—or Morgan either even though they are searching the area. The police dismiss Tony as a prankster, Pepper and Happy are concerned that he is working too hard, and Senator Byrd plans to cancel his government contracts. Iron Man returns to the clearing to investigate in more detail and Morgan is there to repeat the trick with the image projector but something happens that is so bizarre that Stan Lee has to warn us about it in the narration: an actual spacecraft full of warriors from the moon lands. The invaders are planning to destroy Earth’s next moon rocket (wait, don’t they launch those things in Florida?) so Iron Man engages them in battle, driving them off with his superior weaponry. As the Moon Men flee Morgan Stark falls from his hiding place, and our hero has to rescue him too. This is a stroke of luck, as Morgan can now confirm for Senator Byrd that the rocket Tony saw was real. As a reward, Tony sends his cousin back to Monte Carlo in style—and to the gravely displeased Count Nefaria….



Story #2

The Sentinel and the Spy!

Writer: Stan Lee. Penciler: Jack Kirby. Inker: Frank Ray. Colorist: ?.

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Captain America has deflected the gunshot and grapples with the Nazi commandos while the Allied Commander calls for help. Bucky arrives and helps Cap mop up the enemy. Back in Berlin, the Red Skull reveals the second phase of his plan: an agent planted in an allied POW compound will seize the experimental weapon Project Vanish. Back in England, this Nazi escapes from captivity with a hidden gas bomb and makes his way to remote lab where the weapon is kept. Steve and Bucky pursue only to run into the Nazi wielding the stolen weapon: a disintegrator beam. Switching to their Cap and Bucky outfits, the heroes try to surround the villain but he manages to keep not just them but the entire company of soldiers at bay. Cap pleads with him not to set the weapon at full intensity but the killer falls for the trick and does just that. The weapon explodes, knocking him unconscious. The weapon project is abandoned because of its instability. Steve and Bucky’s absence is explained by Steve having fainted from the action.


Don Heck
Mickey Demeo
?
Jack Kirby (Cover Penciler)
Frank Giacoia (Cover Inker)
Stan Goldberg (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Bucky Barnes
Bucky Barnes

(James Barnes)
Captain America
Captain America

(Steve Rogers)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Tony Stark)
Pepper Potts
Pepper Potts

(Pepper Hogan)
Red Skull
Red Skull

(Johann Shmidt)

Plus: General Eisenhower, Morgan Stark, Nazis, Senator Byrd.

> Tales of Suspense: Book info and issue index

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