Tony Stark is supervising construction of a new factory to replace the one destroyed by the Mole Man (issues #87-88). Senator Byrd stops by to tell Tony that he has dropped his plans to have Tony testify before his Senate Committee revealing the secrets of Iron Man’s armor since they would be dangerous were they to fall into the wrong hands. Pepper and Happy also drop by; a crane carrying a load of rocks malfunctions and drops debris on them. Happy is buried alive but quickly rescued and Pepper’s reaction to his peril convinces Tony that she truly loves happy and he can put her behind him. To forget, he goes back to his old playboy lifestyle, dating a string of glamorous socialites and models….
Meanwhile in prison, the Melter has plans to escape: his cellmate has been smuggling machine parts to him in exchange for taking him along. When the villain finally assembled his new melting ray gun he burns his way through the bars and knocks out his duped partner. His plan: forcing Tony Stark to build him a better, more advanced gun….
Melter arrives at the newly-completed Stark factory to be met by Iron Man (Tony had been in the process of testing some new devices on the armor). The hero has a hard time dodging the Melter’s dangerous beams and when the villain destroys a tall crane where workmen are standing, he must stop to rescue the unfortunate employees. Iron Man hurries back to his lab where he changes into Tony Stark. The Melter confronts him, demanding that the industrialist create a smaller, more easily concealable version of the gun. Tony is caught in a dilemma: help a criminal, or risk death by trying to stop him as Iron Man….
Story #2Back From The Dead!
Writer:
Stan Lee. Penciler/Inker:
Gil KaneSynopsis
…the
Red Skull, who was able to survive being trapped on the ocean floor by the residual power of the
Cosmic Cube. Now he has taken over this long-forgotten Nazi base to threaten the world with his plastic bubbles. The Skull drops the bubble with
Captain America into a basement where Cap battles and destroys a huge robot, eludes a miniature missile, and is brought face-to-face with…
Bucky. His former partner, long thought dead, is embittered against the
Avenger, accusing Cap of failing to rescue him through envy. Now Bucky is a willing servant of the Red Skull and determined to take his vengeance out on Cap. Cap however realizes that his "ex-partner" is a robot and manages to wreck it in combat. The Red Skull, disappointed that his deception didn’t succeed, throws a switch causing the wall to slowly close in on Captain America....