I: Feature Story: "Iron Man Versus Gargantus!"

Job Number: X-131

Pages: 13

Plot: Stan Lee
Script: Robert Bernstein
Pencils: Jack Kirby
Inks: Don Heck
Letters: John D'Agostino (credited as Duffi)

First Appearance: Gargantus, "Gargantus" aliens, Jeanne, Marion

Villain: Gargantus, space aliens

Guest Appearance: Jeanne, Marion

Origin: Gargantus

Marvel Milestones: Tony Stark unveils gold Iron Man suit

Iron Man Tech: transistor-powered drill, accessory belt, public address speakers, Iron Man's electric charge aura

Setting: Granville

Synopsis: Tony Stark travels the world, collecting awards for his scientific achievements, impressing military brass with his new inventions, and wowing the ladies with his sexy good looks and power. However, he has to constantly remove himself from social situations in order to go back to his quarters and recharge his iron chest plate, the life-saving apparatus which keeps the shrapnel away from his heart. While taking his girlfriend, Marion, on a date to the circus, the big cats break loose and start terrorizing the crowd. Tony steals away to a private corner and changes into Iron Man. His hulking, gray, metal figure saunters into the big top arena and he corrals all the cats into a big group and then shocks them into submission.

Iron Man changes back into Tony Stark and returns to Marion, who declares that Iron Man would be much less terrifying looking if he wasn't in such dull, gray armor. She suggests he would look more like a "knight in shining armor" if he was in gold armor. This inspires Tony to change the color of Iron Man's armor from dull gray to bright and shiny gold. While Marion goes on a trip to Granville, Tony takes the opportunity to change the color of his armor. Then, the following Saturday night, he goes to pick Marion up at the airport, but she is not on the airplane when it arrives. He's informed by a cop that the whole city of Granville is shut down and locked up tight, and nobody knows why.

Iron Man heads out to Granville and sees that a wall has been built entirely around the city limits, with armed guards watching from the rim. The local national guard cannot bust in because "the town has the legal right to put up a wall". Iron Man decides to take matters into his own hands and digs a hole underneath the wall, popping up on the other side. He addresses some townspeople, who warn him they cannot speak to him for fear of disobeying Gargantus! In fact, the people are in such fear that they throw cans and bottles at Iron Man to shoo him away from the city. Iron Man evacuates himself from the scene, and when he turns the corner he sees townspeople erecting a massive statue of what appears to be a giant neanderthal man. They all bow to him in prayer. The crowd begins to chase after him again, and thinking he needs to shock them from some kind of spell they must be under, Iron Man pushes a sixteen-wheel truck into the statue, breaking it into tiny pieces. Yet, the people still worship the rubble.

Iron Man flies away from the marauding townspeople and goes to the top of a tall building. He plays a message through the tiny public address speakers located in his belt challenging Gargantus to a fight. In seconds flat, the barbaric giant, wielding a club, springs into action atop the roof that Iron Man is standing on. He stares down Iron Man, who sees his eyes glowing brightly as if they were "mirrors reflecting the sun". Strangely, there is a thick, dark cloud hovering over the sky, which provides an inspiration to Iron Man. He grabs a flag and holds it up in the air, seeing it ripple in the breeze. Iron Man thinks he has finally solved the mystery of Gargantus, and instead of facing him directly in combat, gets him to chase him down to the ground.

Iron Man spots his girlfriend Marion while moving towards the city square, where Gargantus remains in hot pursuit. But now, with plenty of room to move, Iron Man launches three transistor-powered magnets on each side of Gargantus, and they begin to use their extraordinary magnetic power to pull him completely apart. He disintegrates into a pile of gears, tubes and motors: he's a robot!!! Iron Man shines the search light from his chest plate skyward, penetrating the dark cloud and revealing a hovering flying saucer. A citizen of Granville, now free from his hypnotic state, fills in Iron Man that he remembers the flying saucer appearing over the city skies, and then Gargantus dropping from the saucer and hypnotizing everyone. Iron Man knew he was onto something when the monster's eyes were shining, since they couldn't reflect sunlight when there was no sun! And the amount of wind blowing should have blown any normal cloud out of the way, but that dark cloud remained!

Iron Man hurls some magnets up towards the flying saucer, and they begin to retreat. They are upset that the planet Earth has changed since their ancestors explored it 80,000 years previously, when it was inhabited by people just like Gargantus! Thus, their plan to dominate neanderthal man with a "super-neanderthal" has been foiled. Down on the ground, Iron Man helps restore normalcy to Granville, and makes up with his date Marion.

--synopsis by Gormuu

Issues Reprinted
Iron Man from
Tales of Suspense #39-50

Click on cover image to learn more about each issue.