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Quote1 A Nazi is not fazed by a setback! I shall continue to plague the yankee defense as the Fuehrer commanded! Quote2
Red Skull

Appearing in ""When Titans Clash""

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Synopsis for ""When Titans Clash""

The story begins with Tony Stark in his offices musing to himself about the impossibility of marrying Pepper Potts and the rightful happiness of his friend Happy Hogan as he informs them of his taking leave to demonstrate the company's new missile system at an out of town military test site. While away showing off the new Mangler missile capabilities, the Flushing, New York plant site finds its security breached by a brazen common burglar who goes by the name of Weasel Wills. In the process of rifling the after-hours offices he finds the left behind attaché case of Tony stark containing the latest Iron Man armor. The burglar discovers its contents immediately and their value and dons the armor himself whereby he walks out of the plant concealed in the armor and raising nary a notice from the security guards.
Out and away from the plant the criminal Wills learns about the functions of the armor and then sets to using them in a crime spree robbing banks and loot while securing himself and it away in a lair that the armor has allowed him to burrow underground. The audacity of the crimes and the figure involved as being the hero Iron Man stirs up vast attention in the press and by the authorities such that that it reaches the notice of Tony Stark away on his trip. Realizing the source of this new menace is his own armor mislaid and pilfered he speeds back to New York and dons his remaining Iron Man armor before he created the current Red and Yellow version. Determined but unaware of the actual identity of the armor's user the plan that Tony Stark sets to lure him out is to tap into the radio frequency of the Iron Man armors and transmit a threat and challenge to the thief to meet in an deserted plant at night.
Confident and curious as to what means might be used against him in the future the thief in armor gets the drop on the waiting Tony Stark pacing about in his old bulky yellow armor. Despite the speed and greater power of the new yellow and red armor the fight between the two armors that ensues turns on Tony Stark's knowledge, experience and ultimately a ploy to exhaust the power supply of the armor. Having cut all power access in the plant Stark gambles that he could goad on an attack that will leave his opponent drained while he conserves his. In victory Tony Stark is resigned that the police who are rushing to the scene will learn of his secret identity as Iron Man from the criminal but upon questioning about how Wills got the armor Wills undermines all of his credibility with claiming that he made it himself when he is known as being nothing more than a petty thief. The story ends with the secret of Iron Man secure and friends and authority relived that the real Iron Man hasn't turned bad.

Appearing in ""The Red Skull Strikes!""

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Synopsis for ""The Red Skull Strikes!""

One day Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes had dropped off Major Croy, an important officer in the US Army, who sends them back to base even after words of caution from Steve. That night, Croy is attacked by the Red Skull who uses a special gas on him that will make him lose his memory for months.

Investigating the scene of the crime, Rogers and Barnes leave the scene and change into Captain America and Bucky and begin tracking the Major's attacker. Bucky finds himself captured and taken to the Red Skull, however Cap manages to track them down and fight them off until they retreat.

The next morning back in his civilian guise, Steve witnesses the arrival of General Curtis with Mr. Maxon of the Maxon airplane corporation to view the test flight of a new plane. When the plane suddenly crashes, Maxon only cares about the plane and not the pilots lives that were lost in the crash, which arouses Rogers suspicion of him. Figuring that Curtis is next on the Red Skulls list, Captain America and Bucky go to Curtis' home to find the Red Skull there trying to knock out the house keeper. Fighting the Skull, they manage to unmask him and reveal him to be Maxon. Maxon manages to escape, but he leaves his hit list behind, revealing that Captain America and Bucky were next on his list.

Notes

Continuity Notes[]

  • The Captain America story is an adaptation of a story from Captain America Comics #1, The Riddle of the Red Skull; in the original account the Red Skull's name was George Maxon, the American owner of Maxon Aircraft Corporation, who betrayed his country by joining the Nazi Party. He was intended to be the original Red Skull by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, later retconned in Tales of Suspense #66 into being only an impersonator who acted with the authorization of the original Skull, Johann Schmidt.
  • In the original version of the story, George Maxon told his victims to look into his eyes and see death - but this was a ruse to inspire fear, in reality he injected them with poison from a hypodermic needle. In this version, he gases his victims to give them amnesia - this change was likely due to the Comics Code Authority which restricted depictions of death. The original Captain America story was pre-Code.
  • George Maxon escapes in a getaway car in this version, whereas in the original he committed suicide (or appeared to) by rolling on his poisoned needle.

Publication Notes[]

  • This issue contains a letters page, Mails of Suspense. Letters are published from Mrs. E. J. Schlee, James Caruthers, Eddie Bell and Tom Maves. The letters page also presents the Mighty Marvel Checklist.

Trivia

  • Jack Kirby, the artist of the Captain America story, had also been the artist of the original story published in Captain America Comics #1.
  • Jack Kirby's cover image of Bucky Barnes will later be used for the young hero's Series "A" Marvel Value Stamp.
  • In this issue, Stark Enterprises is noted to be located in the Flushing area of Long Island.

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