TALES OF SUSPENSE #70: And Yet…

Published: October, 1965

“Fight On! For a World is Watching!”
Script: Stan Lee
Pencils: Don Heck
Inks: Mickey Demeo
Letters: Sam Rosen

“If This Be Treason!”
Script: Stan Lee
Layouts: Jack Kirby
Art: George Tuska
Letters: Sam Rosen

I sat down to read this issue of Tales of Suspense, fully expecting it would be part of my next Meanwhile post. After all, what could possibly happen to cause me to wax eloquent? Iron Man fighting Titanium Man, Captain America’s taking on the Nazis, it’s just going to be fight, fight, fight. Right?

Wrong. First, I was surprised how many soap opera developments were squeezed into these two short stories. But even more, I began to notice a pattern: every time I wrote down something in the “Hot” column, oddly, it also contained a strong element of “Not.” And every time I coded something as “Not,” well…there was also something kind of cool—I mean “Hot”—about it.

My mind reeled, as for so many of these observations, I couldn’t quite decide whether to present them as positives or negatives. And then it hit me: THAT was my story! As colorful as the pages of my Marvel Masterworks, that’s how not black-and-white I found the events and concerns within this issue. Like life itself, so few things are truly good or evil (or, as Rhomann Dey philosophized in Guardians of the Galaxy, “I don’t believe anyone is ever 100% a dick”). So just when I thought that comic books are simple and easy, and I’ve got this all figured out, some new thought made me change my mind and muse, “Okay, sure… to some degree… and yet…”

“PREVIOUSLY IN TALES OF SUSPENSE…”
As I turn the first page of the Iron Man story, I’m immediately flooded with déjà vu. Here’s a recap of what happened last time, which is very cool for my plot-challenged brain (as detailed in my last post, Reads Comics Like a Girl.)

AND YET, I notice that some of these panels are directly lifted from the previous comic, so I can’t help feeling it’s a bit of a cheat.

Tales of Suspense #70	Tales of Suspense #69

Sure, the image of the Countess Stephanie de la Spirosa is flipped to try to throw us off guard…but I can’t be fooled that easily! In the past, I’ve chided the colorist for taking a day off whenever presented with Dr. Strange in his ectoplasmic form, and now I’m wondering if this was Stan’s way of making his job a bit easier. Every now and then a sitcom will do a retrospective of past episodes, where the only new work for the actors is to sit around and say, “Yeah…and remember when…?” before wavy lines lead to a flashback. I guess it’s not plagiarism when you’re repeating your own material, but I can’t help thinking that page two of this story is sort of like that.

GAME SHOW
As Iron Man and Titanium Man battle, the crowd watches on “a special T.V. complex.” Why are so many people gathered in this carnival atmosphere to stare up at teeny tiny television monitors. Wouldn’t they have been more comfortable at home?

AND YET…this immediately reminds me of Hunger Games, and to a lesser extent, Running Man. In both those stories, of course, the screens are appropriately GINORMOUS! Which leads me to suddenly realize that though so many things in these early Marvel comics are nowadays done so much better, we have to give Marvel credit for doing them decades earlier.

TRAVELIN’ IN STYLE
I understand that Stark is filthy rich, and hotel accommodations should never be an issue for him. He can have the biggest, best and most luxurious suites money can buy.

AND YET… I’m mesmerized that when he travels, he also books a hotel LAB. Is that a 1960’s thing, a rich guy thing, or simply a comic book fantasy? Well, I know this for sure: Stark isn’t using hotels.com, because whenever I book, I’ve never seen any “Lab Included” options, have you?

NOT HAPPY!
So! It appears Happy has figured out that Stark is Iron Man! As he speeds down the road to assist the superhero bodyguard, his thoughts hint that he’s finally put it all together. Maybe Stark being Iron Man is not actually as “nutty” as he thinks! Well done, Happy! It’s always frustrating to me, reading these comics, or watching movies and TV, when characters cannot wrap their minds around what is so painfully obvious to us readers or viewers. I’ve been anxiously waiting for someone, anyone, to come to this oh so obvious realization.

AND YET…as soon as we get confirmation that Happy indeed knows that Stark is Iron Man…guess what? He dies.

WHAT??

Okay, one thing at a time. First: I don’t believe it. I refuse to believe it. Happy cannot be dead. Surely there will be some reprieve in the next issue.

AND YET…what a dramatic soap opera development! He risks his life to help his romantic rival, then with his dying breath declares “It was WORTH it!” simply because he’s convinced himself that Pepper loves him more than the boss. Really folks, does it get any better than this?

AND YET…let’s go back to what just happened. Happy is dead. Or…is he? If he survives, and I predict he will, I also predict his memory will somehow be wiped clean of this recent revelation—in much the same way minor villain Second-Story Sam was deprived of his memory of Giant-Man’s identity when Hank Pym administered a “memory-loss serum.” (See TTA 62, – Helpful Chrissy.)

So now I’m anxiously awaiting the next issue for more than just the absence of a death certificate. Where do we go from here? This, my friends, is the way to sell comics!

POLITICS AS USUAL
Senator Byrd shows up at the televised competition between Iron Man and Titanium Man, and is only concerned about Iron Man’s impending defeat as a way to prove his point about Tony Stark. Like a true politician, he easily twists every event to suit his own agenda. As one of our own recent politicians used to say so often: “Disgraceful!”

AND YET…when Pepper faints, it’s Byrd who draws everyone’s attention to her lying on the ground. Okay, he doesn’t actually appear to do anything to help her, other than exclaim, “Give her air! Give her room!” but at least he’s showing more humanity and compassion than anyone else in the crowd. “Let’s get back to the screens!” someone shouts. I guess that guy’s not going to win any awards for chivalry (though he might run for a political office; he seems to have just the personality for it…).

THE NITPICKING GRAMMARIAN
Okay, here I am again, nitpicking about language. Early on, Iron Man recognizes that Titanium Man is “stronger than I.” Wait. Doesn’t he mean, “stronger than me?” Why would he use such incorrect grammar? Who is making this mistake? Iron Man? Stark? Or perhaps Stan Lee?

If Stan Lee, is he knowingly making this mistake? Is this the way Stan talked? Or is this only the way he imagines Tony Stark would talk? (Because, of course, cultured people would never use such a plebian word as “me.”)

AND YET… I guess there’s an argument that the “am” is implied (“stronger than I am”). But if so, why was “am” cut off? It couldn’t have been a decision by “mumbled and jumbled” letterer Sam Rosen, because the thought balloon clearly has room enough for an additional two more letters. In fact, it would have looked better with the word “am.” So this is one of those non-important issues that totally baffles me, when I really should be paying more attention to other aspects of the story.

FIGHTING ENSUED
But maybe I was looking for something, even something trivial, to grab my attention because, as I talked about in my last feature, there was a lot of “Fighting Ensued” to deal with, in this story. From the cover and the splash (“Iron Man vs. Titanium Man, what more need we say?!!”), I immediately recognized that this was bound to be a lollapalooza of rock-em sock-em robots.

AND YET…before I was done, my expectation that this might turn out a big, fat “NOT” was twisted around to become extremely “HOT!” The splash implies that there was nothing “more” important going on here than the battle between Iron and Titanium, but in fact, so much “more” happens. Stan is usually the superb showman who easily identifies the most compelling reason to buy the book. But in this case, he missed the boat.

FLIP THE SCRIPT
Finally, at one point, Titanium Man accuses Iron Man of having “weak American compassion.” I chuckle at that phrase, because it reminds me of that old standard interview question, when you’re asked to discuss one of your weaknesses. At that moment, you are “maybe a bit of a workaholic,” or “too detail-oriented.” To Titanium Man’s Commie brain, compassion is a weakness.

AND YET…we decent people know that honorable qualities like integrity, courage and compassion are what separates the super-heroes from the super-villains. So, it’s another bite of delicious irony in these topsy-turvy 1960’s.

I guess by this time you’ve caught on to what I’m doing. Good, bad, hot, not…and I’m not done yet! Moving right along to the Captain America story, we find much of the same. For instance…

GOOD AS GOLD
Artist George Tuska is introduced as “one of the giants of the great Golden Age of comics.” The art was good. I enjoyed it.

AND YET…it was not particularly great. I had high hopes for those creative page layouts I saw a while back when I read some comics from the Golden Age but, alas…

Does the artist not make those decisions? Is Tuska the kind of artist who doesn’t like to bleed out of the frame? Or is the Marvel Bullpen telling him, “Look, we don’t have time for any of that fancy-shmancy artsy stuff, just give us some clean images, and give ’em to us by Tuesday!”

Still, I wouldn’t mind seeing more Tuska art.

BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER
I always love a melodramatic “I beg of you!” and Sister Celia gets off a good one when she implores Cedric to “divorce” himself from “the whole shameful plot.” At first I’m thinking, “Why do the Nazis allow her to talk like that and LIVE?” But it’s quickly revealed Major Uberhart indeed wants to “silence” Celia, but cannot because, as per Red Skull, Cedric is in charge.

In the end, Cedric finally comes out clearly for Team Celia, which now puts him much more firmly in my Plus Column…right?

AND YET… perhaps it was too little, too late. Because it wasn’t until the Nazis suddenly began behaving towards him like…well, Nazis, threatening both of them with death, that Cedric experiences this change of heart. So! Is blood thicker than water, after all? Or is it only preferable once you realize the water you’ve been swimming in all this time is toxic, deadly and shark-infested?

SLOW ON THE UPTAKE
Early in the story, Cap reveals he is aware that going to the castle is likely to be a trap, with Bucky as bait.

AND YET… when he arrives and sees Bucky facing the door, he acts like he’s suddenly figured it out! I’m a little concerned about Cap’s thought processes. Is too much going on for him to keep up with current events?

SUPER!
The Nazi Major is Uberhart. I don’t know much German, but I do know that “uber” means “super” and when I look up the word, the definition is pretty much what it appears to be: “super heart.”

AND YET… this character is anything but kind-hearted or caring. So why does he have this name? Will there be further character development to look forward to? Will he eventually grow into his name? Or is IRONY the whole point?

CONCLUSION
I guess the concept of “irony” is a good place to end my observations. This book started with the surprise of getting a lot more than I expected, and overall, each story is loaded with the delicious irony of multi-faceted situations, open-ended questions, and nothing being quite what I expected.

To which I say: Keep ’em comin’!