Tales of Suspense #62
The Origin of the Mandarin!
The Mandarin has Iron Man and his prisoner and decides to tell his life story to his foe before killing him.
The Mandarin claims that his father was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan who foolishly married a highborn English woman. On the day the Mandarin was born there was a terrible storm that caused a statue to fall on his father and kill him. This was seen as a sign of the gods expressing their displeasure with this union. As a baby, the Mandarin was raised by his aunt. Being one of the wealthiest families in China at the time, the aunt hated the newborn child because he prevented her from inheriting the family fortune. Instead, she decided to teach the Mandarin to hate everything and everyone.
When the Mandarin was an adult, the government came and seized the family wealth.[1] Suddenly becoming poor and homeless killed his aunt leaving the Mandarin alone. Finding the idea of working for a living to be beneath him the Mandarin wandered across China instead. He ignored warnings and traveled into the so-called Valley of Spirits, so named because it was said to be haunted. A storm forced him to take cover in a cave where he found the ancient skeleton of a dragon. He later stumbled upon an alien ship and through a thought transfer helmet learns that the dragon from the cave is actually an alien explorer named Axonn-Karr. Axonn-Karr crash-landed on Earth centuries ago and was slaughtered by Chinese peasants, apparently creating the legend of dragons.[2]
The Mandarin then sought the power source for the alien ship and that was when he discovered the ten rings he now wears. Taking them, the Mandarin learned that each one could channel a different power. He used the rings as well as the knowledge he learned from the alien ship to forge his kingdom.
With his story now over, the Mandarin decides that it is time for Iron Man to die just like Tony Stark before him.[3] Iron Man has been tied to a massive wheel and the Mandarin sets it spinning intending to spin his foe to death and leaves. Before going, he tells Iron Man he intends on tricking the Chinese government into triggering a world war. Iron Man quickly cuts on of the titanium wires and plugs it into one of his wrist gauntlets, using the wheel as a make-shift generator to recharge his batteries. As he gets full power, Iron Man makes the wheel spin even faster until the gears shatter under the stress, freeing him.
Using his onboard sonar system, Iron Man is able to locate the Chinese rocket site. He quickly causes the rocket to crash on the base, making the Chinese believe the Mandarin had betrayed them. When the Mandarin flees the scene, Iron Man stops him and the pair fight it out. When the Mandarin uses each of his power rings, Iron Man has some kind of counter. This continues until the army arrives and begins firing on both men, forcing them to flee in different directions. Exhausted by his ordeal, Iron Man flees China and takes an American plane back home. Meanwhile, the Mandarin returns to his palace and begins plotting his next scheme to get revenge against Iron Man.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Mandarin, Axonn-Karr (flashback)
Continuity Notes
Later stories reveal that the Mandarin is probably full of shit and a lot of the facts he states here are made up or embellishments of true stories as he has told different accounts.
Iron Man #274 recounts the discovery of the Mandarin’s rings. It is mostly the same as the account above. However, in this telling the Mandarin states that after he found the rings he had them examined by Ho Yinsen, the man who later helped Tony Stark build his first suit of Iron Man armor circa Tales of Suspense #39. This apparently happened before Yinsen became a prisoner of Wong-Chu.
In Marvel Comics Presents #169, the Mandarin is forced to relive some of his memories of the past when trying to obtain the Heart of Darkness from the ruin of Yin’s castle. These images support some of the details above with regards to his birth. However, in this accounting, it states that Mandarin grew to become a bureaucrat before discovering the alien ship in the Valley of Spirits. One could assume that the Heart of Darkness was mocking him with his fabricated past rather than revealing true events.
What the Mandarin omits here is that at sometime during this period he sired a son named Temugin, as revealed in Iron Man (vol. 3) #54. He left the boy in the care of monks, who raised the child.
In Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin #1, the Mandarin’s inner monologue tells a similar account of events as detailed above. The story shows a slightly different series of events where the Mandarin discovers the alien ship and its rings. It suggests it found Axonn-Karr’s body inside the ship. This story also states the events those events took place in 1952. See below for more on this.
In Invincible Iron Man Annual #1, it is uncovered that the Mandarin’s mother was a prostitute who worked in an opium den that accidentally got knocked up. Her keepers allowed her to have the baby because she was their last caucasian girl. He then murdered his mother and the man who worked her and took over the opium den. During the rise of communism, the Mandarin fled when the government shut down the opium den. While he was a fugitive on the run he discovered the Makkulan ship. In this version of events, Axonn-Karr was still alive and tried to stop the Mandarin from stealing the rings but he murdered the alien creature.
While this story suggests that all dragons are aliens the answer to this is somewhat mirky. However, some are actually aliens. This race of alien dragons are identified as the Makluans in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #6. Other stories, such as New Excalibur #12, suggest that all dragons in history were actually Makluas, or at least the ones that existed during the time of Camelot as well as the ones found in ancient China.
The Mandarin believes he killed Tony Stark after firing a death-ray into Stark’s home last issue.
Topical References
The Mandarin’s plot to trigger World War III is to redirect a Chinese missile test so it passes over the nation of Formosa. This is a topical reference. The island of Formosa is now known Taiwan. The island was the location of a US military base until 1979. Modern readers could assume that the Mandarin intends to send the missile to another American outpost (maybe in Japan or South Korea, for example)
Are Parts of the Mandarin’s Origins Topical? Probably Not.
In this story, the Mandarin’s riches to rags story suggests that it took place during the communist revolution sometime between 1945 and 1950. Typically, a story like this would be considered topical. However, both Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin #1 (published in 2007) and Invincible Iron Man Annual #1 (published in 2010) both tie the Mandarin’s origins to the communist revolution, even the the “true” events about him being the son of an opium den whore. It is very difficult to just take these specific references and dismiss them as topical references. This would suggest that the Mandarin’s aging process has been slowed either by the rings or some other Makkulan technology. At the time of this writing (February 2021) the last profile for the Mandarin was included in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #7 confirms that the Mandarin was born in 1920. It does not, however, implicitly make any reference to the Mandarin’s aging process. Since he’s still depicted as being in his relative prime, one could assume that this is likely an omission of fact.
Break-Out in Cell Block 10!
Captain America has been called to Ryker’s Island to demonstrate how he would stop a prison break. However, the whole time something seems off to Captain America. Such as the mock prisoners using live rounds of ammunition and some of the prison guards looking unkempt. Superintendent Deacon assures Captain America that everything is fine.
That is until they go on a tour of the maximum-security wing of the prison. Suddenly, the guards leave their cell and swarm Captain America. As it turns out, the prisoners have taken control of the prison. However, the front gate is closed with a magnetic lock. Duncan has theorized that the magnetic attachments added to Captain America’s shield by Tony Stark will allow them to crack the lock and free themselves.[1] After they lock Captain America in a cell with the real superintendent, they try to open the main gate.
Unfortunately, no matter what they try, the prisoners can’t seem to open the main gate. Captain America gets free and attacks the crooks. As the battle rages, the Star-Spangled Avenger tries to convince them that he since removed the magnetic devices from his shield because they threw off the weapon’’s balance whenever Cap threw it. Duncan and his goons don’t believe it and continue fighting but they all soon fall under the might of Captain America.
After the guards retake the prison, Captain America learns that the gate can only be opened if someone uses the right vocal command by saying “Captain America”.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Deacon, Thumper Morgan
Continuity Notes
Tony Stark added magnetic devices in Captain America’s shield and gloves to making him call back his shield with magnetic attraction. See Avenges #6.
Topical References
The prisoners in this story are depicted wearing grey outfits, which was common at the time this story was published in 1965. However, prisoner outfits have since been changed to bright orange after a rocket scientist realized bright outfits would be easier to spot if a criminal escaped.
Technical Issues
In this story, the prison superintendent of the prison states that saying the words “Captain America” makes the doors open. However, earlier, Duncan says Captain America in front of the door and it doesn’t open. Clearly, there is some kind of voiceprint identification involved so it couldn’t be opened by just anyone who knew the password.
