Tales of Suspense Vol 1 55

Prisoner of the Mandarin, Iron Man is about to be destroyed when he comes up with a way to bluff his way out of the villain's grasp. Because the madman is unaware that Iron Man and Stark are the same person, the Golden Avenger reminds the Mandarin that after escaping capture from his guards, Stark remained loose in the castle, and could be foiling the Mandarin's plan at any moment. The Mandarin is forced to look for Stark, and leaves the machine that would've killed Iron Man in stand-by. Thanks to a miniature generator in his suit, Iron Man recharges his armor and breaks free from the steel whips. Iron Man stealthily follows the Mandarin through the castle.

Once the Mandarin reaches a chamber where the two observer missiles he had stolen are being held, a light signal flashes in the villain's computer, alerting him that the American military is preparing to launch another observer missile. Iron Man waits for the Mandarin to reveal how he intercepted the missiles (an interceptor ray that catches objects and brings it to the Mandarin's castle), and then attacks the villain. After knocking the Mandarin with a magnetic repulsor, Iron Man damages the machine. However, it's too late: The automatic relays have taken over the operation, and the ray can't be stopped. Iron Man seemingly flees from the battle, and flies into the missile at the right angle and speed, causing it to veer from its course and avoid the Mandarin's ray. In saving the missile, Iron Man is caught by the energy ray and pulled back into the castle.

As he's forced to crash into the castle, Iron Man enters through a window leading to the interceptor ray's chamber. He breaks a piece of stone masonry and hurls it at the ray's power supply, exploding it. For thwarting his plan, the Mandarin swears to destroy Iron Man, once and for all. After dodging a desintegrator ray from the villain, Iron Man runs away and falls into a trapdoor.

Meanwhile, at Stark Industries, Happy Hogan is trying to manage the company in the absence of Tony Stark, and failing. After trying to run away, Pepper forces Happy to go see the weapons development section, where a machine had been built to Happy's specifications, with horrible results.

Back in the Mandarin's Castle, Iron Man breaks his fall through the pipe trap with his jet boots before reaching its end, where a pool of acid was waiting for him. The Golden Avenger smashes through the side of the pipe, into a room with a deadly contraption. The device is activated by the Mandarin and crushes the hero. Iron Man survives the attack, but is forced through the floor into another room, where he encounters a giant-sized Mandarin. Iron Man tries to attack his gigantic foe, but it was merely an illusion created by an elaborate complex of mirrors. Stark glides down the floor again and faces multiple Mandarins. Punching through the illusions at random doesn't work, as his attacks are quickly counteracted by the real Mandarin in the form of deadly blows, but through the use of a built-in sonar in his armor, Iron Man pins the real Mandarin and knocks him out with a single punch. Iron Man runs away, hoping to make it back to the missile chamber.

The Mandarin recovers and follows Iron Man, but his jet boots give the Golden Avenger an advantage. Before the Mandarin can reach the chamber, he witnesses the missiles flying back on their original way. The Mandarin considers using the interceptor ray, but as soon as he reaches it, Iron Man destroys it.

One of the freed missiles lands on the American base, with Tony Stark inside it, who had managed to use it as a means to return, and had changed back from his super hero alter-ego. After the army receives him, Tony returns to America and informs the Pentagon their problem has been solved. He flies back to New York City, where he is welcomed by Pepper and Happy. On their way back to Stark Industries, Happy is jealous of seeing Pepper and Tony sitting so close in the car, so he goes through a bumpy road to annoy them. However, the road ends up causing one of the tires to blow out. While Happy is left to repair the wheel, Tony takes Pepper for a walk.

Appearing in "All About Iron Man!"

Featured Characters:

Iron Man (Tony Stark)

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

Races and Species:

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

Synopsis for "All About Iron Man!"

A special feature which explains the technology and features of Iron Man's Model 2 armor. It is followed up by a pin-up of Pepper Potts.

Appearing in "The Atomizer"

Appearances not yet listed

Synopsis for "The Atomizer"

Synopsis not yet written

Appearing in "The Sun-Stealer!"

Featured Characters:

⏴ The Watcher ⏵

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Xakku, the Sun-Stealer (First appearance)

Other Characters:

Guna (First appearance)

Races and Species:

Watchers
Guna (First appearance)

Locations:

Andromeda Galaxy
- Janoth (First appearance)
  - Gunava (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
Milky Way
- Sol
  - Sun
  - Earth
    - Earth Orbit
      - Moon

Synopsis for "The Sun-Stealer!"

The Watcher is watching his favorite planet, Earth, when he is startled by a spaceship suddenly landing near his observatory. The spaceship was piloted by an alien known as Xakku who begs for the Watcher's help in fixing his craft, but the Watcher informs him that he is forbidden to interfere in anything. Xakku then reveals that the spaceship is still in perfect order, and he had only asked for the Watcher's help as a test, to see if the rumors are true that the Watcher can never help anyone. He tells the Watcher about his home planet, where the sun is dying out, and scientists have invented a machine that will allow them to steal another sun from a different solar system. The Watcher knows that if Xakku steals his sun, it will destroy the solar system which includes the planet Earth. He asks Xakku several questions about his planet and the machine, and by the time that Xakku realizes the Watcher is merely stalling for time, his spaceship has fallen too deep into a pool of quicksand that he had landed on, foiling Xakku's plan and saving Earth. Now Xakku begins to beg the Watcher for help once again, and once again the Watcher turns away.

Notes

Sequence II features a special bonus featurette "All About Iron Man", including a detailed description of his armor. This features the first appearance of Iron Man's armor with Belt Pods. Page 5 of this bonus section is a pin-up of Pepper Potts.

Sequence III is a one page text story: "The Atomizer". It is concluded in Tales of Suspense #56 as "Pouf".
Sequence IV is "The Watcher", Job #X-654

Links and References

References

Tales of Suspense Vol 1 55

Appearing in "No One Escapes the Mandarin!"

Synopsis for "No One Escapes the Mandarin!"