In a remote area of China, the powerful
potentate known as the Mandarin receives a delegation of officers
from the Red Army at his castle stronghold. The frightened officials
humbly request the Mandarin to share his knowledge of atomic power
with the government; the arrogant autocrat refuses to serve any
agenda but his own and drives the officials out from his presence.
In America, the US military asks Iron
Man to investigate the Mandarin to determine whether he is a threat
to national security. Heading off on his mission Shellhead stops by
the lab as Tony Stark to put some business in order. He first must
beg off as guest of honor at an employee dinner, asking Happy to go
in his place. This offends the staff rep Bill who criticizes Tony for
his supposed arrogance. Happy punches Bill and is rebuked by Tony,
who encourages honesty among his employees. Then Pepper Potts loses
her temper at the two men who haven’t noticed her new glamorous
makeover (since it’s all about her). With this out of the way…
An unmarked jet drops Iron Man over Red
China; Shellhead drops to the ground so that any observers will
believe his parachute failed to open and he was killed. He soon
locates the Mandarin’s castle and, after disposing of some guards,
flies over the wall. The Mandarin observes him on a viewscreen and
uses a massive magnet to trap the hero and drop him into a chamber of
doom. Iron Man escapes by crashing through a vent and uses his
ultra-beam to fend off the villain’s paralysis ray. But the
Mandarin has ten power rings and nullifies the hero’s sonic blasts
and hurls it back, quickly following up with a paralyzer ray to
overcome Iron Man. The two then engage in a martial arts battle in an
electrified chamber. The Mandarin is a master of karate but Iron Man
uses his built-in slide rule to calculate the perfect countermove
which causes the villain to collapse in pain when he lands a blow on
the hero. He then makes his getaway back to the States where he has
time to attend the employees’ party. Pepper, miffed at having to
attend escorted by Happy, now worries that Tony will think they are a
couple and avoid dating her. Because it’s still all about her.
Meanwhile, Tony is worried about the Mandarin….
“Them!”
Writer: Larry
Lieber. Plot: Stan Lee. Pencils: Larry Lieber. Inks: George Roussos. Colors: ?
Letters: Sam Rosen.
Synopsis:
Terrified, Adam Bentley runs to the police, claiming that he has discovered
that fictional characters are real and exist in another dimension and they are
chasing him because he discovered their secret. The police lock him up as a
madman but he vanishes from a locked cell. Meanwhile, Larry Lieber tosses the
script for this story in the trash—protecting Their secret!
“Journey’s End!”
Writer: Larry
Lieber. Plot: Stan Lee. Pencils: Larry Lieber. Inks: Sol Brodsky. Colors: ?
Letters: Artie Simek.
Synopsis: The
Watcher relates a tale: Meek, bullied space pilot Wilbur volunteers for a
suicide mission to study a distant cloud of cosmic dust; it transforms him into
a strong handsome man and he joins the creators of the dust who wanted to
attract only Earth’s bravest to their planet!