Iron Man (1968) 19

What Price Life?!
By Archie Goodwin, George Tuska, Johnny Craig
Nov 1969

. Tony dreams of fighting a slew of his rogues gallery all at the same time: Mandarin, Mole Man, Unicorn, Whiplash, Attuma, Titanium Man, and more; in the real world he is in the hospital recovering from an operation to heal his heart and save his life while outside people he knows (Janice Cord, Alex Niven, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan) and many more he does not wonder about his fate
. Tony wakes up from his nightmare much healthier and is soon discharged from the hospital; after a two page demonstration of his armor to the reader; he changes out of his armor only to be gassed once again by Madame Masque; she takes him back to Midas' Aegean island
. Midas still thinks Tony is a doppelgänger but Tony quickly disabuses him of that notion and soon thereafter is locked up without his briefcase full of armor; Madame Masque pays him a visit; she has decided to help him although her reasons are a bit muddled considering that she claims to longer be susceptible to his charms; when she removes her mask Tony recognizes that she is Whitney Frost, although her face is not shown; after she releases him he gets back to wooing her as he takes her in his arms for a kiss
. After a little smooching Masque and Stark attempt to escape the island; they seek out Tony's briefcase only to be caught in a trap; but now that they have the briefcase Tony changes into the armor; neither Masque nor Midas seems to grok that Tony is really Iron Man
. Once he has the armor on Tony breaks them out of the laser beams that are closing in on them; Tony battles Midas while Masque goes looking for a way off the island; Midas almost beats Tony; he is still recovering from heart surgery and is trying to avoid pushing himself too hard; in the end he finds the wherewithal to beat Midas and irreparably damage his throne; without the throne Midas is unable to move very far; the weapons systems in the throne explode and Midas seems to have been killed
. Tony and Masque escape in a hydrofoil; Masque kisses Tony who has passed out from exhaustion after the fight; she dives off the side of the boat not wanting to burden Tony with her criminal past

. In the midst of the fight with Midas Tony pulls out the Image Reproducer, last seen in TOS 98 when he was fighting Whiplash; it doesn't prove to be very effective in this fight because Midas has a heat seeking antenna which tells him exactly which Iron Man is not an illusion

Iron Man (1968) 18

Even Heroes Die!
By Archie Goodwin, George Tuska, Johnny Craig
Oct 1969

. Tony Stark LMD teams up with Captain America and Nick Fury; it continues to impersonate Tony and Shellhead and has everyone, except the original, fooled
. The real Tony is now the captive of Midas, who thinks he is an imposter; Tony agrees to work with Madame Masque and Midas; after training with Madame Masque and making a pass at her, the two go on a mission to infiltrate Stark Industries HQ; Madame Masque tells Tony that her face was disfigured in a plane crash and that she was a criminal before that
. Brief one-page interlude featuring Janet Cord and Alex; he's definitely making moves on her but what is he after?
. Stark and Masque's mission is interrupted by LMD Iron Man; Masque's orders are to kill Stark if the mission has to be aborted but as she thinks about how he has been talking to her and the thought that he cares for her, she cannot bring herself to shoot him
. Tony gets into his Golden Armor and dukes it out with fake Shellhead; the Golden armor is less technologically advanced but Tony knows the armored suits better than his LMD; although his heart is about to give out Tony manages to defeat the LMD and knock him into a cauldron of molten steel
. The security guards called the Avengers (Vision, Wasp, Yellowjacket, Goliath) who show up just as the fight is ending and Tony Stark removes his helmet and collapses; apparently the Avengers, at least these Avengers, don't know Iron Man's secret identity; it looks as if he may have died but the Avengers take him back to Avengers Mansion hoping that the Ultra-Rejuvenator can be save him
. Madame Masque returns to Midas who is disappointed that the mission failed; the final panel, as Midas speeds away, a tear rolls down Madame Masque's face as she thinks of Tony believing him to be dead

. Not as much Madame Masque as I was hoping there would be
. Love the various arrangements of panels

Iron Man (1968) 17

The Beginning of the End!
By Archie Goodwin, George Tuska, and Johnny Craig
Sep 1969

. Iron Man is caught in a vicious lightning storm which at least in part manmade; he tries to stay aloft but is struck by too many bolts of lightning, crashes to the earth, and is knocked senseless
. The same aircraft that was partly responsible for the lighting storm lands near Stark Industries old HQ; a masked woman emerges from the flying craft; she runs into one of the buildings but quickly exits; the building explodes in her wake
. After returning to Midas HQ she confronts Howard Stark, Tony's ne'er do well cousin; he seems to have developed a case of cold feet or a nervous stomach because he no longer seems to be as eager to take down his rich cousin; after accusing him of holding back information Madame Masque takes him to see Midas
. Midas is more offended than Madame Masque; he explains his plan to become the richest man in the world to Stark; he backs him up to the edge of a cliff, pushes him off the edge and then catches him at the last second because as he explains Stark is part of his plan to get Tony's wealth
. This part of the story is wonderfully illustrated; the angles and facial expressions really add a lot to the visual presentation of the confrontation between Midas and Stark; at first glance Midas seems like a goofy sort of villain but the way this scene is depicted makes him so much more than that
. Eventually Iron Man awakes and returns to Stark Industries as Tony Stark only to discover that a Life Model Decoy of his has taken his place in his absence; he fights with the LMD which has donned a suit of armor and defeats the Tony; the LMD then has him ejected from the premises; with his clothes in tatters Tony discovers that the LMD has cancelled his credit cards and changed his bank account and even made inroads at Avengers Mansion as Jarvis turns him away without a second thought
. Desperate and with nowhere left to turn Tony is easy prey for Madame Masque who knocks him out with sleeping gas and then whisks him away in her helicopter

. A lot of fun; much better, much more complex than I expected it to be; loved all the twists and turns
. At first I was confused by the appearance of the LMD early in the chapter because I didn't realize it wasn't Tony, but by the end all was made clear

10/7