Tales of Suspense #66: Review

Jun 1965

Stan Lee, Don Heck

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Story Name:

If I Fail, a World is Lost!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Tales of Suspense #66 Review by Peter Silvestro (February 15, 2010)

First Silver Age appearance of the real Red Skull, who originally appeared in CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #7, October 1941. This is the famous one. First of a three part story.

Tales of Suspense #66 Review by T Vernon (April 21, 2012)

Review (Iron Man): Attuma! Undersea conqueror! The very name causes us to shiver in terror—at least until we realize he’s wearing monster bunny ears! He’s an unlikely enemy for Iron Man—heck (not Don), he’s an unlikely enemy for anyone but the Sub-Mariner—which makes this tale goofy in an offbeat sort of way. It’s another issue-long slug-fest, this time underwater, and pretty cool. As an aside, the tale makes a point that Senator Byrd is a dedicated public servant who wants to ensure that America is getting the best from Tony Stark and that the casual playboy image, rather than being a helpful disguise (as it is for Bruce Wayne), is a liability sometimes, leading up to the downbeat ending and that poignant final shot. The ish was better than it appeared on the surface (pun intended).

Comments (Iron Man): A new helmet design removes the rivets from the face. Attuma was introduced as a foe of the Sub-Mariner in FANTASTIC FOUR #33 and most recently appeared as one of the Worthy in FEAR ITSELF: THE DEEP.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Tales of Suspense #66 Synopsis by T Vernon

Having to recharge his chestplate makes Tony Stark late for an appointment with Senator Byrd. The Senator, who considers Stark a mere irresponsible playboy, is there to witness the demonstration of Stark’s new mini-sub. Happy Hogan, feeling useless and wanting to impress Pepper, volunteers to pilot the sub and when Tony refuses, Happy quits. Down at the docks, Iron Man takes the sub down for maneuvers, reminding himself that Byrd’s gruff manner comes from his dedication to his country. At a deep part of the ocean, Iron Man comes across the army of the undersea conqueror Attuma readying a massive gun to fire at the surface. As the warlord conveniently explains to his men, the nautilium shell will explode in Earth’s atmosphere, making the air so moist that the Atlanteans could survive there and render the humans unable to breathe without helmets. Attuma will then conquer the surface world. Iron Man is spotted by sentries and escapes a pincer tank and soldiers armed with advanced weaponry. Iron Man lures Attuma into attacking him personally, thus delaying the firing of the cannon. Instead the villain lures the hero into a cave where he is trapped by radiation beams like bars in a cage. But Shellhead uses a reflector to turn the power against itself and escape. As his oxygen is nearly out, his only recourse is to crash the mini-sub into the gun’s barrel, leaping to safety at the last minute. The gun explodes on firing and Iron man, realizing no one would believe the truth, tell Senator Byrd that the craft malfunctioned. Byrd announces he is cutting government funding for the project and vows to make the Pentagon realize that Stark can’t be trusted. Then Pepper arrives with word that Happy is missing….

Story #2

The Fantastic Origin of the Red Skull

Writer: Stan Lee. Penciler: Jack Kirby. Inker: Chic Stone.

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

By Peter Silvestro

On a mission into Germany to locate the Red Skull, Captain America has succeeded all too well: as the story opens he is being tortured in a Nazi dungeon. The Red Skull enters—the real one, not the imitation from last issue—sends his minions out and sits down to tell Cap his story…he was Johann Schmidt, an orphan and a thief, victim of all bullies and vagrant. When the Nazis came to power he came to envy Hitler, the opposite of all he was. Working as a hotel bellboy, he met Hitler who, disgusted by his bungling officers, bet that he could make the bellboy into a better Nazi servant. Seeing the depth of hatred in Schmidt’s eyes, Hitler is inspired to turn Schmidt into the perfect Nazi, training him personally, and when he is finished, giving him the identity of the Red Skull. As the super-Nazi, the Red Skull leads a wave of terror across Europe, establishing his own power base and threatening the world, so that now even Hitler fears him. Cap leaps up to attack the Skull but finds himself strangely weak. The Red Skull reveals his scheme: the account of his origin was a ruse to distract Cap while a hypnotic drug took effect. When Captain America awakens, he is completely in control of the Nazi villain and set for a mission to assassinate the Allied Supreme Commander.

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