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Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man
Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man, Vol. 2
Collects Tales of Suspense #51-65. See the return of Iron Man’s arch-nemesis, the Mandarin, and said vile villain’s origin. Then, witness the first appearance of the Avenger-to-be Hawkeye — but he’s teamed up with Black Widow against Iron Man! Plus, Iron Man must test his mettle against no less than Captain America and his own Iron Man armor.
240 pages, Paperback
First published September 26, 2012
16 people are currently reading
153 people want to read
About the author
Stan Lee
7,565 books2,336 followersStan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 14, 2023
Quite a few Black Widow/ Hawkeye villain team-ups against Shellhead in this volume, but my favorite stories were Tales of Suspense #61-62 versus the Mandarin featuring really dynamic pencils from Don Heck and solid inks from Dick Ayers and in the latter we get the origin of the Mandarin.
April 1, 2018
This is sort of an odd collection.
After Captain America's return to comics, I guess they still hadn't given him a solo. To be fair, technically, while Tales of Suspense because Iron Man's book, it was still called "Tales of Suspense" so he didn't have a solo either. But, what makes this odd is that the series becomes Tales of Suspense: Iron Man & Captain America but, with the exception of two issues, Cap and Iron Man don't interact. It's kind of a misleading title and it bums me out because I want more of them working together.
But, overall, this is much stronger than the first Marvel Masterwork's volume. Switching the plot and writing over to Stan Lee was the right idea. I still have significant issues with the way Pepper and pretty much all 3 female characters are written but overall, the writing is better. It's a lot more captivating, ridiculous villains aside (Doll Man? Scarecrow?). There's a lot of angst and introspection as Tony realizes his feelings for Pepper but he can never truly be with anyone because of his heart condition. He slowly becomes more machine as he goes from wearing the chestplate all the time to wearing the armor full time. It really is interesting that they gave such a tragic plight to this character so early on.
There are a few moments with Cap that just made me smile. Like the issue where he takes out several men trying to break in to the Avengers' mansion and he says "Gee, fellas, it sure was nice of you guys to help me while away a lonely evening. You're lucky the other Avengers were here because they're really tough." I love him :)
So, this is a soft recommend. There are some extremely bland moments and I got so, so tired of Happy Hogan by second issue here but there are some great moments. The stuff with the Mandarin (while suffering from a case of the 1960s as well) was pretty great (definitely better than what they did with him in Iron Man 3), the stuff with Cap and Iron Man was great and the introspection was wonderful.
After Captain America's return to comics, I guess they still hadn't given him a solo. To be fair, technically, while Tales of Suspense because Iron Man's book, it was still called "Tales of Suspense" so he didn't have a solo either. But, what makes this odd is that the series becomes Tales of Suspense: Iron Man & Captain America but, with the exception of two issues, Cap and Iron Man don't interact. It's kind of a misleading title and it bums me out because I want more of them working together.
But, overall, this is much stronger than the first Marvel Masterwork's volume. Switching the plot and writing over to Stan Lee was the right idea. I still have significant issues with the way Pepper and pretty much all 3 female characters are written but overall, the writing is better. It's a lot more captivating, ridiculous villains aside (Doll Man? Scarecrow?). There's a lot of angst and introspection as Tony realizes his feelings for Pepper but he can never truly be with anyone because of his heart condition. He slowly becomes more machine as he goes from wearing the chestplate all the time to wearing the armor full time. It really is interesting that they gave such a tragic plight to this character so early on.
There are a few moments with Cap that just made me smile. Like the issue where he takes out several men trying to break in to the Avengers' mansion and he says "Gee, fellas, it sure was nice of you guys to help me while away a lonely evening. You're lucky the other Avengers were here because they're really tough." I love him :)
So, this is a soft recommend. There are some extremely bland moments and I got so, so tired of Happy Hogan by second issue here but there are some great moments. The stuff with the Mandarin (while suffering from a case of the 1960s as well) was pretty great (definitely better than what they did with him in Iron Man 3), the stuff with Cap and Iron Man was great and the introspection was wonderful.
March 23, 2016
A volume containing Tales of Suspense numbers 51 through 65, featuring Iron Man. Captain America also begins starring in his own series of backup stories in issue 58, eventually showing his origin and recounting some of his World War II adventures. The Crimson Dynamo and the Mandarin return, but more notable are the first appearances of Black Widow (issue 52) and Hawkeye (issue 57), misguided villains who will eventually become Avengers. Black Widow is a Russian spy and is assisted by the lovesick former circus archer Hawkeye, making trouble for Iron Man over the course of several issues.
This was a fairly entertaining volume that's given some variation with the addition of Captain America. Most of the villains are still melodramatic cardboard cutouts that will be fleshed out greatly in the coming decades, though the multi-part story featuring the Mandarin was a big step in the right direction. The Iron Man suit, while now less bulky and given some upgrades, still runs on transistors and needs to be plugged into the wall to keep Tony Stark alive. The Tony/Pepper/Happy love triangle feels even more forced in this volume as Tony struggles to hide his identity from everyone. Very interesting to see these versions of Black Widow and Hawkeye, which are simple antagonists and extremely far from their modern versions and those that will be seen in the upcoming Avengers movie. Best of all, it feels like Iron Man became more sympathetic and iconic in these issues as the threats he faced became more serious and overwhelming.
This was a fairly entertaining volume that's given some variation with the addition of Captain America. Most of the villains are still melodramatic cardboard cutouts that will be fleshed out greatly in the coming decades, though the multi-part story featuring the Mandarin was a big step in the right direction. The Iron Man suit, while now less bulky and given some upgrades, still runs on transistors and needs to be plugged into the wall to keep Tony Stark alive. The Tony/Pepper/Happy love triangle feels even more forced in this volume as Tony struggles to hide his identity from everyone. Very interesting to see these versions of Black Widow and Hawkeye, which are simple antagonists and extremely far from their modern versions and those that will be seen in the upcoming Avengers movie. Best of all, it feels like Iron Man became more sympathetic and iconic in these issues as the threats he faced became more serious and overwhelming.
April 3, 2013
I was a little underwhelmed by the first Marvel Masterworks: Iron Man collection. In those first 12 issues, the writing team was still trying to get a feel for the character, the artwork was uneven, and some of the stories were a little too silly or boring for my taste. But I’m happy to report that things pick up during the 15 issues included in this collection, originally published from 1964 to 1965. The stories are both more interesting and more serialized, including a five-issue arc where poor Tony is trapped in his Iron suit.
Other highlights include the origin of the Mandarin, a mix-up that leads to a duel with Captain America, and the first (but certainly not the last) Iron Man v. Iron Man showdown. Both the Black Widow and Hawkeye make their Marvel debuts in this collection, and help liven up a rogue’s gallery that was pretty uninspired through the first 12 issues.
Overall, I thought the series made a pretty big leap from its humble, commie-busting origins. Well, Tony Stark still spends plenty of time sticking it to the Soviets (it was 1965 after all), but of all the early-to-mid ‘60s series featuring Avengers or ex-Avengers (Thor, Giant-Man, Captain America, and the Hulk), Iron Man gets my vote for the best of the bunch. With entertaining stories and some great art by Don Heck, fans of the early Marvel style will get a kick out of this collection. 3 stars, recommended!
Other highlights include the origin of the Mandarin, a mix-up that leads to a duel with Captain America, and the first (but certainly not the last) Iron Man v. Iron Man showdown. Both the Black Widow and Hawkeye make their Marvel debuts in this collection, and help liven up a rogue’s gallery that was pretty uninspired through the first 12 issues.
Overall, I thought the series made a pretty big leap from its humble, commie-busting origins. Well, Tony Stark still spends plenty of time sticking it to the Soviets (it was 1965 after all), but of all the early-to-mid ‘60s series featuring Avengers or ex-Avengers (Thor, Giant-Man, Captain America, and the Hulk), Iron Man gets my vote for the best of the bunch. With entertaining stories and some great art by Don Heck, fans of the early Marvel style will get a kick out of this collection. 3 stars, recommended!
January 13, 2021
Marvel's golden avenger from Marvel's golden age, stories about the 2nd best armored hero in the Marvel Universe.
December 3, 2018
This is a pretty great collection of Iron Man stories, and in it, Tony officially becomes the most interesting of the then-extant triumvirate of square-jawed Marvel heroes (including also Thor and Ant-Man/Giant-Man; I haven't gotten to Captain America's solo adventures yet, so I can't rate him). Even though Stark's insistence on keeping his double life as a super-hero is completely senseless outside of the paradigm of "It's-the-60s-so-I-need-a-secret-identity," Stan and Don excel here at making us feel the consequences of it--feeling that he can't pursue his feelings for Pepper Potts, jealous at Happy Hogan's chances with her, concerned about his delicate health and its implications for his business, his career as an adventurer and the country/democracy.
Stan likes to bill a lot of things as "epic" that aren't epic at all (though to be fair, when he got it right, he got it way right); such is the case with this collection's "epic" battle with the Black Knight, which amounted to a fairly awkward aerial slapfest--*but* it did lead into the first truly gripping and interesting multi-issue Iron Man arc, wherein Tony Stark is believed dead, Iron Man is trapped in his armor, and he has to navigate the suspicions of his friends, the public, and his enemies. There was a lot of potential here, potential that this formative era of comics couldn't quite tease out, but it's an impressive little story nonetheless. (I super wish that an issue of the Avengers would have addressed the negative tide of public sentiment against Iron Man--or that the tide had had longer-enduring after-effects--but alas.)
Don Heck's art remains more enjoyable than I used to give it credit for. He does give Tony Stark a great 60s debonair look. I can't say I approve of the helmet redesign from my beloved, Art Deco points to the smooth-round-riveted look that would define Shellhead for decades, though.
BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: The Mandarin returns and cements his position as Tony's arch-foe. The Crimson Dynamo is back, too, as a friend rather than a foe, and allows Stan to demonstrate that he *can* be somewhat nuanced about the Reds; same thing when we get to the debut of the Black Widow, who is depicted as at least somewhat conflicted about her Communist masters--which will stand her in good stead when she ultimately joins the side of the angels. Ditto for Hawkeye, one of my favorite Avengers, but her a stooge for the Widow, and speaking in awfully stilted 60s villain-speak most of the time (and whose mostly blue and slightly purple costume design is jarring). The Scarecrow debuts and fails to make much of an impression with his origin as a vaudeville tumbler and his trained ravens that can do way more than my suspension of disbelief can handle. A random crook steals Tony's armor-hiding attache case in one of the least plausible stories around, but it offers a neat match-up between him in the modern armor and Tony in his bulky original suit. My favorite new menace is the Phantom, who also lends some nuance to the identities of possible industrial saboteurs (spoiler alert: he's not a foreigner), and actually poses a credible threat: his dangerous sabotages rile up the union, leading to a potential strike, which would result in missing quotas, resulting in a loss of government contracts and the ultimate demise of Stark's business. I applaud Stan and Don for playing with that rather complex chain of cause-and-effect.
LADYWATCH: Pepper Potts continues to be toward the head of the pack of female characters in this era of Marvel. (For the record, I look forward to the time I'll be able to drop this aspect of the Read--but when, oh when, shall that be?) She's spunky and smart and brave, and though she moons over Tony, her additional attraction to Happy acknowledges that there can be some complexity in human affections. I noted the arrival of the Black Widow above; aside from being a Commie spy and saboteur, she's hyper-competent, uses sexiness as a weapon (shades of Thor's Enchantress), and recognizes the flaws in her homeland's system. I would also like to give a shout-out to the Mandarin's aunt, seen in flashback during his origin, who was a true give-no-fucks badass who hated Baby Mandarin and so, rather than getting rid of him or something, instead raised him explicitly to be a badass supervillain with major entitlement issues.
SUPERHERO TEAMUP: I may have cited the crook-steals-Tony's-briefcase as the most laughable story in this collection above, but the Iron Man vs. Captain America feature that was used as an intro to Cap's own ongoing series in the same mag comes a very, very close second. This has got to be the very apotheosis of the pointless superhero battle story, with neither hero stopping for one damn second to question the other's odd behavior. (It's also a nice feature for Spider-Man's first super-menace, the Chameleon, and an embarrassing one for Kraven the Hunter, whose immediate knockout is the hinge of the story.
CONTINUITY NOTES: Iron Man's "personal troubles" around his dead alter ego was cited in an issue of the Avengers in the first collection of that title; sadly it's not addressed subsequently. As has been the case a time or two before, I encountered villain Kraven the Hunter here before reading his first appearance in the pages of Spider-Man, which will be in the next collection I read.
Stan likes to bill a lot of things as "epic" that aren't epic at all (though to be fair, when he got it right, he got it way right); such is the case with this collection's "epic" battle with the Black Knight, which amounted to a fairly awkward aerial slapfest--*but* it did lead into the first truly gripping and interesting multi-issue Iron Man arc, wherein Tony Stark is believed dead, Iron Man is trapped in his armor, and he has to navigate the suspicions of his friends, the public, and his enemies. There was a lot of potential here, potential that this formative era of comics couldn't quite tease out, but it's an impressive little story nonetheless. (I super wish that an issue of the Avengers would have addressed the negative tide of public sentiment against Iron Man--or that the tide had had longer-enduring after-effects--but alas.)
Don Heck's art remains more enjoyable than I used to give it credit for. He does give Tony Stark a great 60s debonair look. I can't say I approve of the helmet redesign from my beloved, Art Deco points to the smooth-round-riveted look that would define Shellhead for decades, though.
BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: The Mandarin returns and cements his position as Tony's arch-foe. The Crimson Dynamo is back, too, as a friend rather than a foe, and allows Stan to demonstrate that he *can* be somewhat nuanced about the Reds; same thing when we get to the debut of the Black Widow, who is depicted as at least somewhat conflicted about her Communist masters--which will stand her in good stead when she ultimately joins the side of the angels. Ditto for Hawkeye, one of my favorite Avengers, but her a stooge for the Widow, and speaking in awfully stilted 60s villain-speak most of the time (and whose mostly blue and slightly purple costume design is jarring). The Scarecrow debuts and fails to make much of an impression with his origin as a vaudeville tumbler and his trained ravens that can do way more than my suspension of disbelief can handle. A random crook steals Tony's armor-hiding attache case in one of the least plausible stories around, but it offers a neat match-up between him in the modern armor and Tony in his bulky original suit. My favorite new menace is the Phantom, who also lends some nuance to the identities of possible industrial saboteurs (spoiler alert: he's not a foreigner), and actually poses a credible threat: his dangerous sabotages rile up the union, leading to a potential strike, which would result in missing quotas, resulting in a loss of government contracts and the ultimate demise of Stark's business. I applaud Stan and Don for playing with that rather complex chain of cause-and-effect.
LADYWATCH: Pepper Potts continues to be toward the head of the pack of female characters in this era of Marvel. (For the record, I look forward to the time I'll be able to drop this aspect of the Read--but when, oh when, shall that be?) She's spunky and smart and brave, and though she moons over Tony, her additional attraction to Happy acknowledges that there can be some complexity in human affections. I noted the arrival of the Black Widow above; aside from being a Commie spy and saboteur, she's hyper-competent, uses sexiness as a weapon (shades of Thor's Enchantress), and recognizes the flaws in her homeland's system. I would also like to give a shout-out to the Mandarin's aunt, seen in flashback during his origin, who was a true give-no-fucks badass who hated Baby Mandarin and so, rather than getting rid of him or something, instead raised him explicitly to be a badass supervillain with major entitlement issues.
SUPERHERO TEAMUP: I may have cited the crook-steals-Tony's-briefcase as the most laughable story in this collection above, but the Iron Man vs. Captain America feature that was used as an intro to Cap's own ongoing series in the same mag comes a very, very close second. This has got to be the very apotheosis of the pointless superhero battle story, with neither hero stopping for one damn second to question the other's odd behavior. (It's also a nice feature for Spider-Man's first super-menace, the Chameleon, and an embarrassing one for Kraven the Hunter, whose immediate knockout is the hinge of the story.
CONTINUITY NOTES: Iron Man's "personal troubles" around his dead alter ego was cited in an issue of the Avengers in the first collection of that title; sadly it's not addressed subsequently. As has been the case a time or two before, I encountered villain Kraven the Hunter here before reading his first appearance in the pages of Spider-Man, which will be in the next collection I read.
December 23, 2017
Loved all the stories in this volume! It was great to see some of the original appearance of some of these characters that have become so famous! However, there is always something that keeps the hero from being able to express his true feelings to the girl that he loves! Overall, love these Iron Man stories and would love to read more!
June 3, 2025
After the first year plus of Iron Man went through multiple writers and artists, it settled down into a consistent run with Lee and Heck (sometimes inked by Dick Ayers, sometimes by himself).
Somewhere in there, Iron Man lets us know in a thought balloon that he can't reveal his secret identity of Tony Stark to the world because if he did, his enemies would constantly be attacking his factories and using his friends to get to him. In the course of this book, Stark factories are sabotaged or invaded close to a dozen times, and Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan are repeatedly held as hostages. No wonder when they did the movie, Iron Man simply announced his true identity.
The first few appearances of the Black Widow and soon thereafter Hawkeye are the most notable features of this book. When Madame Natasha was introduced, she was a femme fatale spy from the Soviet Union, but they gave her some weapons and a costume (with a mask modeled after her beloved Hawkeye) to turn her into a super villain. Hawkeye wanted to be a good guy, but he kept doing bad things because he loved Natasha.
Stan Lee tried to insert some of the tragic elements Steve Ditko brought to Spider-Man, but the love triangle between Stark, Potts, and Hogan never rang true. And the few issues when Iron Man could not remove his armor without causing his heart to fail mostly made me wonder how he was going to the toilet.
Iron Man was never one of Marvel's best features, but I retain a soft spot for this run of stories when he was still developing his weapons and his villains were almost all communist bad guys who gave Khrushchev fits for their failures.
Somewhere in there, Iron Man lets us know in a thought balloon that he can't reveal his secret identity of Tony Stark to the world because if he did, his enemies would constantly be attacking his factories and using his friends to get to him. In the course of this book, Stark factories are sabotaged or invaded close to a dozen times, and Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan are repeatedly held as hostages. No wonder when they did the movie, Iron Man simply announced his true identity.
The first few appearances of the Black Widow and soon thereafter Hawkeye are the most notable features of this book. When Madame Natasha was introduced, she was a femme fatale spy from the Soviet Union, but they gave her some weapons and a costume (with a mask modeled after her beloved Hawkeye) to turn her into a super villain. Hawkeye wanted to be a good guy, but he kept doing bad things because he loved Natasha.
Stan Lee tried to insert some of the tragic elements Steve Ditko brought to Spider-Man, but the love triangle between Stark, Potts, and Hogan never rang true. And the few issues when Iron Man could not remove his armor without causing his heart to fail mostly made me wonder how he was going to the toilet.
Iron Man was never one of Marvel's best features, but I retain a soft spot for this run of stories when he was still developing his weapons and his villains were almost all communist bad guys who gave Khrushchev fits for their failures.
March 9, 2021
While The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and The Avengers received top billing in the early days of Marvel comics, Iron Man started out as B movie support in the pages of Tales of Suspense. The stories collected in this Marvel Masterworks second volume are still limited by the shorter format but are an improvement over the previous volume, perhaps due to Stan Lee's more direct involvement with the scripts.
February 23, 2019
I’m sick of these goddamn trite love triangles!! And how did Stark go from not having any real thoughts about Pepper to being suddenly besotted in issue #54 (the “I’d like to be with Pepper always” thought balloon came out of nowhere)? What’s the point of adding a love story if you’re not even gonna commit to making it marginally interesting?
September 30, 2023
Great stuff.
Good color artwork. The origin of the Hawkeye as a villain. The origin of black white widow, A dark haired Villainess. The origin of Mandarin, a villain. The golden avenger recruits pepper Potts and happy hogan.
Good color artwork. The origin of the Hawkeye as a villain. The origin of black white widow, A dark haired Villainess. The origin of Mandarin, a villain. The golden avenger recruits pepper Potts and happy hogan.
October 21, 2017
It's nice to see some new characters appearing and it's obvious this title is getting more attention than it was, but it's still not great.
January 15, 2024
Stark tries to bring Pepper and Happy together, makes his heart gizmo better, fights some in his old gold suit
May 9, 2020
Boris and Natasha... hee hee.
January 9, 2016
I'm something of a sucker for Silver Age reprints, though I tend to prefer them in black and white since the coloring processes of the time actually take away from the pencil work of artists like Heck. Now, granted, you do have to put up with outdated ideas on sex and race when you read stuff this old, but they do have a super creative charm often missing from modern comics.
This volume features, among other things, the first appearances of Hawkeye and Black Widow, the origin of the Mandarin, and guest appearances by the Avengers as well as regular Spider-Man foes Kraven and the Chameleon.
This volume features, among other things, the first appearances of Hawkeye and Black Widow, the origin of the Mandarin, and guest appearances by the Avengers as well as regular Spider-Man foes Kraven and the Chameleon.
January 11, 2015
I loved learning about the early days of the Armored Avenger. Kinda made me uncomfortable how casually racist and sexist it was though. (I realize that it was typical of the period, but it still bothered me a bit.)
Also I got to read about the origins of my favorite superhero- HAWKEYE! Stubborn and bull-headed as ever, but still full of heart and incredibly skilled at what he does.
Sighs happily....
<---ignore my fan-girling....
Also I got to read about the origins of my favorite superhero- HAWKEYE! Stubborn and bull-headed as ever, but still full of heart and incredibly skilled at what he does.
May 30, 2014
A big improvement on the first volume, but Lee is still not as good as he was with Spider-Man, The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, or The Incredible Hulk (in that order). The Avengers titles are overall cornier and more old-fashioned than the aforementioned.
May 8, 2015
Featuring the Iron man stories from 'Tales Of Suspense' 51 to 65, this is a vaste improvement on volume one, featuring more familair villains such as Black Widow and Hawkeye before they turned good, plus fights with Captain America and... Iron Man?
February 14, 2016
The Marvel Masterworks volumes are fantastic reprints of the early years of Marvel comics. A fantastic resource to allow these hard to find issues to be read by everyone. Very recommended to everyone and Highly recommended to any comic fan.
May 7, 2015
I definitely would not have appreciated (or even understood) these in 1964, but I sure like them now.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews