Tales of Suspense #73
My Life for Yours!
Iron Man has arrived at the hospital where Happy Hogan has been treated after being injured during Iron Man’s battle with Titanium Man.[1] Arriving in Happy’s room, his finds police checking the place for clues because somehow Hogan disappeared from his room, even though it is on the third floor and under guard. Looking around the room himself, Iron Man spots the hoofprint of a horse and suspects that his foe the Black Knight was responsible for the kidnapping. Keeping this to himself, Iron Man leaves the police to their investigation and begins trying to find more clues near the hospital. The Black Knight has left a series of clues that lead Iron Man back to an ancient castle that imported to America from the United Kingdom.
Entering the castle, Iron Man searches for the Black Knight. When he finally finds his foe, the Knight uses a series of illusions to prompt Iron Man into wasting power on useless attacks. Worse, the Knight begins blasting with an ionic blaster built into his lance. This begins rapidly draining Iron Man’s batteries and causing the shrapnel in his body to push closer to his heart. Falling to the ground, Iron Man is scooped up by his foe who uses his flying horse to take the Avenger high above the castle. Here, the Black Knight intends on dropping Iron Man to his death. However, Iron Man still has some fight left in him the two struggle until the Black Knight’s saddle breaks. This sends both men falling to the ground below. Luckily, Iron Man manages to land in a nearby lake, breaking his fall.
Meanwhile, at Stark Industries, Senator Harrington Byrd has arrived and demands an audience with Tony Stark. When Pepper Potts tells the senator that Tony is not in, he becomes annoyed. He warns her that if Stark doesn’t make himself available to reveal Iron Man’s secret identity, he will return with a subpoena. Pepper assumes that her boss is out being a playboy while poor Happy is missing.
By this time, Iron Man has pulled himself out of the lake, but his power levels are rapidly dwindling. He finds the Black Knight’s cape but no sign of the villain.[2] Iron Man returns to the castle and finds Happy, who is still in a coma. He then uses his radio to summon the authorities to rescue his friend. Unfortunately, Iron Man isn’t seen and is left behind and unable to recharge his batteries.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Black Knight, Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts, Harrington Byrd, Elendil
Continuity Notes
The battle between Iron Man and Titanium Man in Tales of Suspense #69-71.
The fate of the Black Knight is revealed in Avengers #47-48. He survives long enough to be found by his nephew, Dane Whitman, but dies soon after. Dane will go on to become the next, heroic, Black Knight. His Horse is unnamed here. It is identified as Elendil in Pet Avengers Handbook #1.
Topical References
A reporter is depicted using a camera with a telescoping lense and a flashbulb.
Where Walks the Sleeper!
Captain America has been attempting to stop “Der Tag” the day when the Red Skull’s Sleeper robots will be reactivated and continue where the Nazis left off. He was too late to stop the first robot from being activated and now follows it as it goes on a rampage across the German countryside. Everything the Star-Spangled Avenger tries has no effect on the robot. Remembering that there is a NATO base nearby, Captain America commandeers a motorcycle and races there to warn them about the robot.
Meanwhile, in the forests of Telbeck, an operative named Erica Wolfman has a team digging up the ground where the second Sleeper is located. When they uncover a massive knob like object in the ground, she orders them to strike it with their strongest shovel. In doing so, there is a massive explosion that kills them all. From the blast emerges the second Sleeper, a massive flying ship that resembles a manta-ray. Captain America hears the blast and races to its location. However, when crossing a chasm, the log he is driving on snaps in two, forcing him to bail out on his motorcycle. Pulling himself to safety, Captain America is determined to keep pressing on.
Running into Telbeck, Cap notices that the second Sleeper is able to generate gale-face winds that trash the town. Swept up in these winds, Captain America manages to grab onto the second Sleeper. It's here that he notices there is a strange cradle on top of the robot for some unknown purpose. Soon, the two Sleeper robots cross paths and Captain America watches helplessly as the two robots merge into one. Cap is left to wonder what the third and final Sleeper robot looks like and what it can do.
At that moment, an operative named Schlag has recovered an object he left in a pawnshop years earlier. Knowing Schalg’s Nazi history, the shopkeeper gives him the item — a box with a turnkey — and orders him to get out of his shop. This device will allow him to awaken the final Sleeper. Meanwhile, NATO jets have caught up with the first two Sleepers and begin opening fire on them. When this doesn’t work, they switch to dropping bombs, forcing Captain America to bail out before he is blown to smitherines.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Sleeper robots, Erica Wolfman, Schlag
Continuity Notes
Because of the Sliding Timescale, the idea that the Red Skull would still have operatives waiting for Der Tag since World War II becomes increasingly impossible without some means of slowing or completely stopping the aging process. While the Nazi’s of the Marvel Universe did have access to such technologies, the Sleepers entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #10 is somewhat vague. It simply states that the people that wake up the Sleepers are either the Red Skull’s “chosen agents or successors”
Topical References
References to World War II ending 20 years prior to this story should be considered topical. Due to the Sliding Timescale, the length of time between World War II and the Modern Age gets longer and longer.
