“Tales of Suspense 55 p 4” (July 1964)
by Don Heck (1929-1995)
13 x 22 in., ink on paper
Coppola Collection

Fifty years ago!

To me and my generation, this will always be the core Marvel Comics experience. Everything was new, and the creation of new was higher than it has ever been. The needs for marketing and sales have reduced so much of comic book story-telling to the safe center of the road.

Once the Mandarin reaches a chamber where the two observer missiles he had stolen are being held to check if Stark was in the room, a light signal flashes in the villain’s computer, altering him that the American military was preparing to launch another observer missile. Iron Man waits for the Mandarin to reveal the means with which he has intercepted the missiles, an interceptor ray that catches objects and brings it to the Mandarin’s castle, and then attacks the villain.