9:05 PM
Brad
Cover Date: May 1963
Plot Overview: Tony Stark has donated $100,000 to a local hospital and has set up Iron Man to do a demonstration at the local children's hospital. Tony's date asks why he can't get married and Tony explains all of his scientific ventures to her. Tony also thinks about how he can't because he's also Iron Man and must always wear the armor over his chest to keep his heart beating.
Iron Man arrives at the children's hospital and the people are wowed by the many feats he performs. The announcer's mention a Dr. Strange and the scene shifts to a local prison. Dr. Strange has a plan to take over Iron Man and use him for his escape. Strange explains that he was struck by lightning several months ago and it's made him extremely intelligent.
Strange turns on his machine and Iron Man is compelled to release him from prison. As they make their escape, Dr. Strange thinks about his daughter and how he'll make her a queen of the world. Strange escapes and later arrives on an island with a makeshift army of dictators and thugs. His daughter is disgusted at what he's doing.
Meanwhile, Iron Man finds out what he did and is really upset about it. The police let him off on his word. Dr. Strange explodes a giant bomb in outer space and then tells the world to surrender or he'll set off more bombs. Iron Man offers to take him down. He has a submarine fire him under the water. Iron Man digs towards Dr. Strange's lab and destroys his generator.
Iron Man is left powerless from this act and Dr. Strange gloats at him. Strange explains that his daughter will rule the world once he conquers it. Strange's daughter tells him that she wants no part of his scheme and throws Iron Man a flashlight. Iron Man uses the flash light to recharge himself and Dr. Strange flees the scene. The issue ends with Iron Man saying that Dr. Strange's daughter was his greatest contribution to the world.
My Take: Two family based villains in back to back issues was a little much for me. In fairness, they were very different stories. This one was more about how Dr. Strange loved his daughter and couldn't show her in a normal way. It was an interesting little dynamic that they had going on between them. I wish the story could've been longer to explore them as people.
I found it funny that the woman in the first several pages was never referred to by name. Tony called her "baby", "honey" or other numerous things like that.
The story itself felt rushed. The setup was literally 9 pages of the story and the actual resolution was the last 3 pages with Iron Man. They really tiptoed around for the first 5 or 6 pages and ran out of room. You, HAVE, to get to the point in a 13 page story. You can't take a few pages and deal with things that aren't a central part of the story. This issue just kind of fell on it's face because you realize on page 10 that they have 3 pages to completely resolve a story that has 50% done at that point.
The art was very good in this issue. Tony wasn't doing weird and awkward looking things in his big bulky looking armor. They kept his actions pretty stiff, slow and plodding. It just looked right this time.
I'd give this ** out of *****.
Notes: This is the first appearance of Dr. Strange. Not the Dr. Strange we all know and love though. Just some random villain that they gave that name to. I guess they weren't thinking too far ahead at this point as the real Dr. Strange makes his first appearance in another few months.
Next Issue: Amazing Spider-Man #2
Posted in: Iron Man,Tales of Suspense
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