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Tales of Suspense #95: Review

Nov 1967
Stan Lee, Gene Colan

Story Name:

If a Man Be Stone!

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Tales of Suspense #95 Review by (February 15, 2010)
Steve Rogers quits as Captain America for the first time. First of a two-part story.


Tales of Suspense #95 Review by (July 31, 2012)
Review (Iron Man): Grey Gargoyle makes a cool villain for this issue and Colan’s terrific art helps us overlook quite a few absurdities: Jasper Sitwell has to knock out only one guard to have free reign of Stark Enterprises? The GG was in his stone form in jail? He can now turn people to stone with any part of his body and not just his right hand where the hole in his glove is? The big event is the introduction of Jasper Sitwell, giving Tony a supporting cast which he has been lacking since Pepper and Happy dropped out. Wonder if Stan had any idea this nerd-agent would still be fighting crime in 2012 (he’s in the WINTER SOLDIER series, supporting Bucky, whom no one would have believed would be alive again). Jasper will get some character development in the next story arc.

Comments (Iron Man): First full appearance of Jasper Sitwell. This is the Grey Gargoyle’s fourth appearance: his first two were in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #107 and #113 and then he showed up at Reed and Sue’s wedding in FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #3.

Aaaah! Free *rein* not free *reign*! This is an embarrassment for people like me who like to mock other people's misuse of the language! I'll never show my face around here again! (Not that I have to show my face to leave comments.)




 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Tales of Suspense #95 Synopsis by T Vernon

Tony Stark returns from Vietnam and his battle with Titanium Man to find his Long Island plant in turmoil. The guards are scrambling because an intruder has gotten into the facility; Tony joins them in their search for the potential terrorist and they discover him in Stark’s office. To everyone’s surprise, he is a clean-cut, boyish, bespectacled young man. He introduces himself as Jasper Sitwell, a SHIELD agent assigned by Nick Fury to add security to the vulnerable factory. He immediately annoys Tony with his earnest manner and his habit of talking too much….

Meanwhile, the Grey Gargoyle escapes from prison by means of his restored wings and immediately begins plotting once more to steal Thor’s hammer and the secret of immortality. He reads how Stark Enterprises has developed a new cobalt weapon and decides that it would be the perfect device to defeat the God of Thunder. He resumes his stone form once more and heads to the Stark plant, vaulting a wall and turning all the guards he encounters to stone. Tony and Jasper are in his lab when the villain arrives. Jasper heads out to confront the Gargoyle but finds his gas weapon has no effect on the petrified bad guy. This, however, gave Tony the time to don his Iron Man armor and confront the Gargoyle. In the battle Iron Man accidentally touches his foe and first his right hand, then his left arm turn to stone. The Grey Gargoyle seizes the opportunity to turn the hero entirely to stone. He then carries Iron Man to the roof and hurls him off, expecting him to shatter on the ground below….



Story #2

A Time to Die...a Time to Live!

Writer: Stan Lee. Penciler: Jack Kirby. Inker: Joe Sinnott. Colorist: ?.

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

As the story opens, Captain America is breaking down the door of the hideout of fugitive gang leader "Gunner" Gates. He moves swiftly through the rooms, taking down a succession of hoods, determined to capture Gates himself…but why? The answer lies in what happened a few hours earlier. Steve Rogers took Agent Thirteen out to dinner, revealing his real face to her for the first time. At the restaurant, Steve proposed marriage…but the lovely agent turned him down, citing her oath to SHIELD. She assured him that she loves only him, but their devotion to duty will keep them apart. Steve vowed that his next mission as Captain America would be his last. Now Cap has cornered Gates in his lair, evades the trap that was set, and defeats the gangster. Cap then unmasks to reveal his secret identity—and his retirement—to the world. The public is stunned; Nick Fury figures there must be an angle he can’t see, but Agent Thirteen reveals the real reason, and Fury promises to release her from the service once her work is done. Meanwhile, Steve assures his pal Tony Stark that he knows what he’s doing. When Steve finally gets some time alone, countless memories whirl through his brain, as he wonders if he can ever walk away from his past.


Gene Colan
Frank Giacoia
?
Gene Colan (Cover Penciler)
Frank Giacoia (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Captain America
Captain America

(Steve Rogers)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Tony Stark)
Thor
Thor

(Odinson)

Plus: Jasper Sitwell.

> Tales of Suspense: Book info and issue index

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