Heading:
Author:
Title: TALES OF SUSPENSE No. 39
Place Published:
Publisher:Marvel [Indicia: Eastern Color Printing Co.]
Date Published: March, 1963
Description:

CGC certified: Good+ (2.5). Purple Label (Restoration: C-1). "Restoration includes small amount of glue on cover & interior, tape on interior cover." Off-white pages. Cover: Jack Kirby, Don Heck. Stories and art: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, Gene Colan, Steve Ditko. Origin and 1st appearance: Iron Man. GPAnalysis: Purple Label. Most recent comparable Purple Label results: $4263 for 2.5 (C) in July 2021; $5100 for 2.5 (B-1) in April 2021.

Former horror hack Don Heck turns in a career highlight with Iron Man's debut, in which an injured weapons-maker creates a suit of transistorized armor to keep his bum ticker going. Stan Lee based Tony Stark on eccentric tycoon Howard Hughes. Later in life, Hughes's OCD turned him into a recluse, a development seemingly anticipated by Stark's reliance on his armor suit, an ambulatory isolation chamber that became an insurmountable obstacle to physical and emotional intimacy.

"An unconventional story about millionaire arms manufacturer Tony Stark being captured by the Vietcong and forced to turn a pile of junk into a transistor-powered weapon. With a piece of shrapnel lodged near his heart, Stark builds a battle suit and pacemaker and uses it to destroy his communist captors." — Ronan Ro, Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and the American Comic Book Revolution. Bloomsbury: 2004, p. 77.

A limited edition of 150 softcover and 15 hardcover catalogues is available. 400 lots, fully illustrated. Fun reference, great keepsake. Softcover $30, deluxe hardcover with dust jacket and limitation plate $200. Ten of the 15 hardcovers are pre-ordered and the rest will go quickly, so reserve yours now. To order, contact ivan@pbagalleries.com.

Consignments welcome for PBA's December 2021 Comic Book sale. Top prices for Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age, Silver Age, original art and ephemera. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com.