Tales of Suspense #68
If a Man Be Mad!
Happy Hogan has returned to his job at Stark Industries, much to the delight of Pepper Potts.[1] Tony is glad to see the couple reunited even though it hurts to see Pepper love another man. That’s when Pepper hands Tony a letter sent by his cousin, Morgan Stark. Tony is not happy to hear from his cousin, who is the black sheep of the family that is always getting himself into trouble. In Monte Carlo, Morgan Stark is confronted by Count Nefaria over his gambling debts. Seeking to destroy Tony Stark, Nigeria decides to forgive Morgan’s debts if he helps him achieve this goal. Seeing this as an opportunity to take over the family business and fortune, Morgan agrees to help. A few days later, Morgan is back in the United States and pays a visit to Tony and his staff. Pepper is suspicious of Morgan and wonders what he is up to.
A day later, Tony Stark is heading home from work when he suddenly sees what appears to be an alien ship that has landed on the side of the road. This is a prop set up by Morgan, who is watching from the bushes. At first, Tony thinks about contacting the CIA about the ship but decides to come back and investigate it as Iron Man. Tricked into thinking the ship is armed with a thermonuclear bomb, he goes and gets the bomb squad as Tony Stark. However, when they arrive, the ship has disappeared without a trace. Insisting that there was a ship, Tony then spots what appears to be an alien creature and has the police go looking for it in the woods. However, they find nothing and people start suspecting that Stark might be cracking up. This is all going according to Morgan’s plan to make people doubt his cousin’s sanity. Returning home, Tony charges up his batteries and spends part of the next morning combing the area as Iron Man. Once again, the search turns up nothing.
When Tony arrives at the office, Pepper and Happy have already heard about the incident from the night before and suggest that he go on vacation. Tony rejects this suggestion, insisting that he is fine. Retreating to his office, Tony spots an alien ship hoving outside his window and calls in Happy and the throng of reporters that have come to get the scoop on Tony’s apparent lapses of sanity. When they enter the office, the ship is gone, adding more doubt over Stark’s sanity. The story becomes front-page news, leading Senator Harrington Byrd to question if the government should continue to give defense contracts to Stark Industries.
That night, Iron Man returns to the site of the first alien ship with a scanning device to prove that it was there once and for all. This time, when Morgan attempts to create more illusions, a real alien ship lands on the planet. It is carrying an invasion force of aliens who have set up a staging ground on Earth’s moon.[2] After battling with Iron Man, the aliens are forced to flee after being blinded by the spotlight built into Iron Man’s chest plate. As the aliens flee to their ship, they expose Morgan Stark’s hiding place. After the alien ship has left, Iron Man calls the authorities. This time, there is actually evidence of alien invaders and Morgan is forced to corroborate the story. This exonerates Tony Stark, who suspects that his cousin had something to do with things. As “thanks” for clearing his name, Tony decides to send Morgan back to Monte Carlo. There, Morgan has to face the music for failing Count Nefaria.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Count Nefaria, Forma, Morgan Stark, Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts
Continuity Notes
Happy quit his job at Stark Industries in Tales of Suspense #66 in protest over being sidelined by Iron Man all the time. Happy was convinced by Pepper to come back last issue.
The aliens here are identified as the Forma in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #4. The Forma are stated to have come from the moon here. However, the moon was just a staging ground for their invasion of Earth. In reality, the Forma comes from the planet Chize.
The Sentinel and the Spy!
Captain America has been brainwashed by the Red Skull and ordered to assassinate the supreme commander of the Allied Forces. Luckily, Captain America snaps out of this mind control at the last minute and begins fighting back against the Nazis that have accompanied him. He is joined by Bucky who disguised himself as one of the Nazis in an effort to free Cap and the youth is happy to see his partner is back to normal. Soon, the Nazi assassins are subdued and turned over to the military police. Captain America quickly explains what happened to the supreme commander is grateful that Captain America was able to snap out of his mind control before it was too late. Meanwhile, news of the failed plot reaches the Red Skull who decides to execute his next scheme. This next plot is to have one of his operatives steal Project Vanish, a new weapon being held in Northern England.
At a prisoner of war camp, the Red Skull’s operative has one of his fellow prisoners try to make an escape. This is so the escapee gets shot so the operative is taken on a supply truck the next morning. Guarding the prisoner on the supply run are Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. The Red Skull’s operative suddenly opens a capsule of knock out gas that knocks Steve and Bucky out, allowing the operative to escape.
When they recover from the gas attack, Steve and Bucky follow the prisoner’s trail and discover that he has found the base where Operation Vanish is being kept and has used more gas to knock out the soldiers on guard there. Steve and Bucky are then attacked by the Nazi operative, who has find Operation Vanish, a disintegration ray. Evading the weapon’s rays, Steve changes into Captain America and tries to stop his foe. However, the Nazi continues to try and disintegrate him. Deciding to turn the weapon against his foe, Captain America warns the Nazi not to turn the weapon to full power. This bit of reverse psychology works, and the Red Skull’s operative does just that. This causes the disintegration ray to overload and explodes, knocking out the spy.
When other officers arrive on the scene, Bucky covers Captain America so he can change back into Steve Rogers. Seeing that Rogers was injured, Sargeant Mike Duffy orders immediate medical attention, sarcastically suggesting that they won’t win the war unless Rogers isn’t in full health.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Bucky, Nazis, Red Skull, Mike Duffy
