Tony Stark, filled with rage and
frustration at being trapped in the Iron Man armor by his weakened
heart, throws a tantrum in his lab, destroying equipment with his
metal gauntlets. The noise is so frightening that Pepper Potts calls
in via intercom to see if he is in trouble but he angrily tells her
to mind her own business. Resigned to the weakened heart that may
kill him at any moment, Tony resolves to give up being Iron Man and
enjoy what time he has left. He leaves the lab and arranges a date
with a glamour girl, not noticing that Pepper is pining for him. The
Avengers call the office, looking for Iron Man to join him on a
mission but Tony tells them Iron Man is on a long vacation. Confused
and frustrated, the heroes carry on without him. While Tony and his
date are at a swanky supper club, an intruder breaks into the Stark
munitions factory; it is the Unicorn, whose helmet contains a horn
that casts a deadly beam. He begins destroying equipment, challenging
Iron Man to come fight him. Happy Hogan attempts to stop the villain
but he is tossed aside and blasted by the Unicorn, who then takes
Pepper as a hostage to ensure Iron Man’s coming after him. Tony is
contacted at the club and immediately hurries to the hospital,
regretting his lapse into selfishness. Meanwhile, the Unicorn fills
Pepper (and the reader) in on his background: he is a Communist
agent, given weapon-filled armor and the deadly horn by the Crimson
Dynamo (presumably Anton Vanko before he defected). The horn is able
to destroy, levitate objects, and create a protective force field
around the wearer—and he is assigned to destroy Anthony Stark’s
lab. Tony, meanwhile, suits up as Iron Man and uses a black light
projector to track the villain to his hideout. He bursts in and
quickly overpowers his foe, giving him time to fly off with Pepper.
But the Unicorn follows them back to the factory where he plants a
bomb set to detonate in fifteen minutes. He confronts Iron Man and
tells him of this new development, demanding he surrender and be
taken as a prisoner back to the Soviet Union. A violent superpowered
battle ensues as the clock is ticking down and Iron Man is unable to
overcome his enemy. He promises to allow Unicorn to take him on the
plane bound for the East and the villain stops the countdown. As the
plane heads across the skies toward Moscow, Iron Man casually
mentions that he agreed to board the plane but gave no guarantees for
what would happen afterward. The hero then destroys the plane,
watching the crew parachute to safety but there is no sign of the
Unicorn. Unseen by Iron Man the villain has used his own hidden
flight technology to make it safely away. The next day, Tony visits
Happy in the hospital and learns the big lug will recover. From
Pepper’s relief he begins to wonder if she really has feelings for
happy after all, and considers that a match of Happy and Pepper would
be best for all concerned….
“Pouf! [The
Atomizer Part Two]”
Writer: Unknown.
Artist: Unknown.
Synopsis: Continued from
last issue: Charlie keeps a thief from recovering the mystery atomizer he
stole from a government lab!
“The Watcher’s
Sacrifice!”
Writer: Larry
Lieber. Plot: Stan Lee. Pencils: Larry Lieber. Inks: George Roussos. Colors: ?
Letters: Artie Simek.
Synopsis: The
Watcher visits a world where a civilized nation has been invaded by a barbarian
tribe; he falls in love with the defenders’ Queen Kalthea. He bends his rule of
non-interference by showing himself to scare off the enemy. The Queen asks Uatu
to marry her and be king but his position requires him to rebuke her and
depart, breaking both their hearts. At that time on Earth, Johnny Storm is
thinking the Watcher has the easiest job in the universe, standing around and
doing nothing!