He's Tony Stark, a cool exec with a heart of steel. He's a founding Avenger, often called the Golden Avenger. He debuted in Tales of Suspense 39, cover-dated March 1963. Today he's arguably considered an A-lister, largely thanks to the trilogy of Iron Man movies starring Robert Downey Junior, as well as being a major part of the two Avengers movies (Avengers 2: Age of Ultron in theatres now - shameless plugs dept.). In the comics themselves, he may not have been the biggest star, but he's consistently been a cornerstone of the Marvel Universe for decades.
This reading project will cover the Iron Man stories featured in Tales of Suspense 39-99.
Tags:
TALES OF SUSPENSE 56 (AUGUST 1964)
Not only will my bomb destroy your entire factory, your entire life's work ... but what about the people inside?? People such as your lovely secretary?? She is not wearing armor such as you and I are!
I strongly suspect that Stan didn't intend to have it appear that the Unicorn really knew that Iron Man and Tony Stark were one and the same but that is exactly what the dialogue indicates. I wonder if any astute readers at the time noted that and if Stan came up with an explanation to wriggle out of that gaff. I suppose if there had been much positive reader response to the Unicorn he would have been back to face off against Shellhead again much sooner but at least when he finally did come back he got a much better costume, even if it still didn't boost him into serious consideration for the Super-Villain Hall of Fame.
Bit of an irony for Tony in that he still had the reputation as the great ladies man but due to the chest plate he had to wear at all times he couldn't seriously woo any woman and at any rate he was most interested in Pepper but felt she would be better off with his chauffeur. Yep, Stan was remembering that he wanted readers to feel some sympathy for the poor armored filthy rich arms manufacturer with the bad heart.
John Dunbar said:
Happy confronts the armored villain but the Unicorn casually tosses him aside. Happy regroups and attacks again, angering the Unicorn, and he ends up injuring Happy severely.
We are shown the Unicorn blasting tanks and concrete fortifications the same way he blasted Happy. Since Happy wasn’t torn apart, I assume he can adjust his blast power level.
Tony races to the hospital and tells the doctor to give Happy everything he needs, hang the cost. The doctor upbraids Tony, telling him they do everything they can for every patient, and all his money can't help Happy now.
That’s almost funny. They’re not planning on sending a bill? That's not the American Way!
He claims his suit is more powerful than Iron Man's armor. The power horn on his head fires a ray that can destroy anything, it can raise anything magnetically regardless of weight, and can generate a defensive energy field that can withstand the force of one thousand tons of TNT.
I had forgotten all of the things he could do. And he keeps secret the fact that he can fly. Yet fans lump him in with several of Iron Man’s early foes as being lame. Sounds like later stories didn’t take advantage of his formidability.
He uses a new invention he calls a black light tracer to track the Unicorn's movements.
Just as magical as his transistors
"Not only will my bomb destroy your entire factory, your entire life's work ... but what about the people inside?? People such as your lovely secretary?? She is not wearing armor such as you and I are!"
The phrasing makes it sound like he knows Stark is Iron Man. I think it’s just a scripting or lettering error. He should have said “Stark’s lovely secretary.”
The Unicorn makes him promise to let him take him on a plane bound for the Iron Curtain, and Iron Man agrees.
A couple of times in the story, the Unicorn refers to the Iron Curtain. I’m pretty sure the Soviet Bloc countries didn’t use Winston Churchill’s phrase.
Tony's pity party at the beginning is uncharacteristic but wholly believable.
As Fred noted, he’s a playboy who can never take off his shirt.
Iron Man has a couple of new gadgets added to his armor's repertoire, but the part I enjoyed the most was Tony using his brain to prevent the bomb from destroying his factory. He followed his promise strictly to the letter - he gave his word he would get on the plane but never promised to stay on it
They both keep their promises. Iron Man could have reneged immediately upon the defusing of the bomb and proceeded to whip Unicorn’s butt. I can see that getting him away from the factory was a better idea. Unicorn, on the other hand, could have had a second bomb in the factory. Capturing Iron Man AND destroying the factory would have been a two-fer.
Kirby draws both a powerful Iron Man as well as the Unicorn. The only weakness of the cover is that Kirby here could not match Heck when it comes to drawing Pepper.
Looking at the cover after all this time, I didn’t even realize that was supposed to be Pepper. In general, Kirby’s women were not his strong suit.
If not an abandoned idea as I theorized, then definitely a mistake ... and if so, I wonder how it was explained away, if indeed it was. Any solutions, Legionairres?
Fred W. Hill said:
I strongly suspect that Stan didn't intend to have it appear that the Unicorn really knew that Iron Man and Tony Stark were one and the same but that is exactly what the dialogue indicates. I wonder if any astute readers at the time noted that and if Stan came up with an explanation to wriggle out of that gaff. I suppose if there had been much positive reader response to the Unicorn he would have been back to face off against Shellhead again much sooner but at least when he finally did come back he got a much better costume, even if it still didn't boost him into serious consideration for the Super-Villain Hall of Fame.
Bit of an irony for Tony in that he still had the reputation as the great ladies man but due to the chest plate he had to wear at all times he couldn't seriously woo any woman and at any rate he was most interested in Pepper but felt she would be better off with his chauffeur. Yep, Stan was remembering that he wanted readers to feel some sympathy for the poor armored filthy rich arms manufacturer with the bad heart.
Richard Willis said:
John Dunbar said:
Happy confronts the armored villain but the Unicorn casually tosses him aside. Happy regroups and attacks again, angering the Unicorn, and he ends up injuring Happy severely.
We are shown the Unicorn blasting tanks and concrete fortifications the same way he blasted Happy. Since Happy wasn’t torn apart, I assume he can adjust his blast power level.
Tony races to the hospital and tells the doctor to give Happy everything he needs, hang the cost. The doctor upbraids Tony, telling him they do everything they can for every patient, and all his money can't help Happy now.
That’s almost funny. They’re not planning on sending a bill? That's not the American Way!
I suspect that even in the 1960's that was an idealized version of health care. But Happy would have died without an operation, so there was no question whether or not one would take place. Tony's money would come in handy in the recovery, and we see a sign of that on the last page - a large private room.
He claims his suit is more powerful than Iron Man's armor. The power horn on his head fires a ray that can destroy anything, it can raise anything magnetically regardless of weight, and can generate a defensive energy field that can withstand the force of one thousand tons of TNT.
I had forgotten all of the things he could do. And he keeps secret the fact that he can fly. Yet fans lump him in with several of Iron Man’s early foes as being lame. Sounds like later stories didn’t take advantage of his formidability.
I think he gets lumped in as being lame for a few reasons. As I said, it takes years for him to have a rematch with Iron Man, and in subsequent appearances he's usually a henchman or a pawn, as well there's the whole mental breakdown thing. Plus in the last 35 years or so, "Unicorn" is going to evoke thoughts of My Little Pony. And then there's that eyesore of a costume, an ugly monstrosity similar to the Melter's first outfit; it doesn't look like an armored suit to me at all.
He uses a new invention he calls a black light tracer to track the Unicorn's movements.
Just as magical as his transistors
"Not only will my bomb destroy your entire factory, your entire life's work ... but what about the people inside?? People such as your lovely secretary?? She is not wearing armor such as you and I are!"
The phrasing makes it sound like he knows Stark is Iron Man. I think it’s just a scripting or lettering error. He should have said “Stark’s lovely secretary.”
He also refers to the plant as "your entire factory, your entire life's work" - that would be a reference to Tony as well.
The Unicorn makes him promise to let him take him on a plane bound for the Iron Curtain, and Iron Man agrees.
A couple of times in the story, the Unicorn refers to the Iron Curtain. I’m pretty sure the Soviet Bloc countries didn’t use Winston Churchill’s phrase.
Tony's pity party at the beginning is uncharacteristic but wholly believable.
As Fred noted, he’s a playboy who can never take off his shirt.
Iron Man has a couple of new gadgets added to his armor's repertoire, but the part I enjoyed the most was Tony using his brain to prevent the bomb from destroying his factory. He followed his promise strictly to the letter - he gave his word he would get on the plane but never promised to stay on it
They both keep their promises. Iron Man could have reneged immediately upon the defusing of the bomb and proceeded to whip Unicorn’s butt. I can see that getting him away from the factory was a better idea. Unicorn, on the other hand, could have had a second bomb in the factory. Capturing Iron Man AND destroying the factory would have been a two-fer.
Kirby draws both a powerful Iron Man as well as the Unicorn. The only weakness of the cover is that Kirby here could not match Heck when it comes to drawing Pepper.
Looking at the cover after all this time, I didn’t even realize that was supposed to be Pepper. In general, Kirby’s women were not his strong suit.
Kirby's Pepper looks a lot like his version of Jane Foster to me.
John Dunbar said:I think he gets lumped in as being lame for a few reasons. As I said, it takes years for him to have a rematch with Iron Man, and in subsequent appearances he's usually a henchman or a pawn, as well there's the whole mental breakdown thing. Plus in the last 35 years or so, "Unicorn" is going to evoke thoughts of My Little Pony. And then there's that eyesore of a costume, an ugly monstrosity similar to the Melter's first outfit; it doesn't look like an armored suit to me at all.
One further thing about the name "Unicorn" - from the Super Mega Monkey site, in the discussion of this issue, a commentator named Omar Karindu said:
The whole "unicorns are pretty and friendly" idea is of relatively recent vintage; until modern times, the legend was that the unicorn was an untamable beast, sort of a wild Bronco that could also stab you to death with its horn. The idea was that only a "pure" (virgin) maiden could induce a unicorn to calm down, allowing the big strong men to kill it.
Certainly in concept, I never considered the Unicorn lame and when I first heard of him in the early '70s he seemed to have potential but in execution he was a pawn of the Mandarin with serious health issues and oddly Mandy & the Unicorn were paralleled by the Leader & the Rhino over in the Hulk of that same period. Eventually, the Unicorn's health recovered, as is the norm for most baddies, but he never rose above grade C status, either as a flunky for more upper status baddies or in plots of his own that Shellhead would unravel within one issue.
John Dunbar (the mod of maple) said:
The whole "unicorns are pretty and friendly" idea is of relatively recent vintage; until modern times, the legend was that the unicorn was an untamable beast, sort of a wild Bronco that could also stab you to death with its horn. The idea was that only a "pure" (virgin) maiden could induce a unicorn to calm down, allowing the big strong men to kill it.
The unicorn story that will never leave my mind is this one, which is posted here in its entirely
No flame wars. No trolls. But a lot of really smart people.The Captain Comics Round Table tries to be the friendliest and most accurate comics website on the Internet.
SOME ESSENTIALS:
FOLLOW US:
OUR COLUMNISTS: