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Iron Man #6

Oct 1968

Archie Goodwin, George Tuska

Story Name:

Vengeance! Cries the Crusher

Synopsis

Iron Man #6 synopsis by T Vernon

Rating:

Having been buried alive in TALES OF SUSPENSE #91, the super-strong Crusher bursts to the surface in Florida, where he vows revenge against Iron Man. He tracks down his Caribbean comrades and forces them to take him on a fishing boat back to Long Island….
Meanwhile, Tony Stark, obsessed with Janice Cord though love or guilt, keeps sending her flowers but she is uncertain how to respond, since Tony is indirectly responsible for her father’s death (see issue #2).
As the Crusher nears his goal, he recalls (for the readers’ benefit) how he escaped his grim fate: made much heavier by Tony Stark’s Centrifugal Force Ray the brute fell through the floor and into a cavern, where he transformed back into his normal body , causing the effects of the ray to wear off. Searching for an exit, the scientist discovered the underground kingdom of Tyrannus; coming to a laboratory, he recreated the Crusher formula and was able to change back into his monstrous form. Now, off the coast of Long Island, Crusher sinks the boat and heads for shore. Inside the lab, Jasper Sitwell is observing Iron Man as he tests the new Rocket Ram—by letting it hit him and calibrating the results. Jasper is worried that his girlfriend Whitney Frost is late. Turns out it is because, in her other identity as Maggia crime cartel leader the Big M she is disciplining a hood who questions her leadership, as they plan a raid on Stark Enterprises to hijack its advanced weaponry. Back at the lab, Crusher smashes through the wall and Iron Man engages him in battle. The plant is evacuated just as Whitney Frost arrives and she can’t pass up the chance to head for the weapons vault. The monster is demanding the Centrifugal Force Ray to turn the tables on his enemy, and Iron Man can barely contain the villain. In the chaos, Crusher captures Whitney and holds her hostage; Jasper goes berserk and tries to assault the villain so Shellhead has to knock him out to save his life. Iron Man then turns the ray device over to the Crusher to get him to free Whitney. The huge villain marches the Avenger out into the courtyard so there will be witnesses to his doom—but he discovers that his fingers are too large to manipulate the controls. As he presses on it in frustration, the device explodes in his face, distracting him long enough for Iron Man to seize him and lift him high into the sky where the thinner atmosphere will knock him out. Crusher slugs Iron Man forcing the hero to drop him into the ocean. As expected, Crusher’s extreme density protects him from harm as he hits the water’s surface—what he failed to reckon with is that his great weight pulls him so deep into the ocean that he is unable to swim back to the surface before he drowns…. Whitney is moved at Jasper’s willingness to sacrifice himself for her, while the young Agent is bitter that Iron Man humiliated him in front of Whitney….

Review / Commentaries

Iron Man #6 Review by T Vernon (September 25, 2012)

Review: So the Crusher is back—with a new goofy look courtesy of George Tuska (seriously, what’s wrong with the dude’s eyes?)—and what do we end up with? A racist Hulk. The racism is fairly clear: he is a Latino who speaks in a Speedy Gonzales dialect despite being a highly educated man—it weel annoy you, Gringo. The Hulk part? Brilliant scientist turns into gigantic muscled smashing machine—and loses his brains. The Crusher is apparently unable to do anything but punch; if he had retained his intellect (which both stories suggest he did) and used it, he would have been Bane before Batman ever heard of him but no, the potential for this character was wasted. That said, the issue is fairly cool, with Tuska’s art doing well by the hero and the general storytelling, featuring a fate for the villain that impressed me when I was a kid. Yeah, they get a bit too much soap opera in the story with Tony and Janice Cord agonizing over each other and now Jasper fuming because he got dissed in front of his babe—who is wringing her hands about whether love or supervillainy is more important to life. But it was Marvel in the 60s. Excelsior!

Comments: Sequel to TALES OF SUSPENSE #91. The Crusher fell through the floor of the Stark lab on Long Island but comes up to the surface in Florida; why did he walk so far in those tunnels in his ordinary form? The next issue note promises a new villain in “The Night of the Drums;” this story was postponed until issue #14.

Iron Man #6 Review by Rob Johnson (September 30, 2012)

Crusher's 2nd appearance is also his last. But his body is retrieved in Daredevil #119, and a scientist deduces how to turn someone into a new Crusher.

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This comic is in the following collection:

Collecting IRON MAN (1968) #1-25, and material from TALES OF SUSPENSE (1959) #84-99 and IRON MAN AND THE SUB-MARINER #1.

Excelsioring your collection:

Marvel Iron Man MARK7 Statue ARTFX 1/6 Statue

Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Main/1st Story Full Credits

Archie Goodwin

George Tuska

Johnny Craig

Unknown

George Tuska (Cover Penciler)
Frank Giacoia (Cover Inker)

Additional Credits

Letterer: Sam Rosen.
Editor: Stan Lee.

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Iron Man
(Anthony Stark)

Jasper Sitwell

Plus: Janice Cord, Crusher, Maggia, Whitney Frost.

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