Iron Man #56
Rasputin’s Revenge!
Iron Man has returned to New York City after vacationing on the west coast. Riding through the city on his rocket powered skates, he decides to pay a visit to Avengers Mansion so he can tell them about his encounter with Thanos, and show off the new upgrades to his armor. When he arrives, Iron Man discovers that only Jarvis is home and is disappointed that everyone is gone.[1] Since nobody is around, Iron Man retreats to Tony Stark’s quarters to make adjustments to his armor.
Meanwhile, in Central Park, a robed man calling himself Rasputin warns a gathered crowd that his enchanted Tavi stick will summon demons that will devour them all because they are all sinners.[2] The crowd is amused by this whack job at first but they quickly go weary on him and chase Rasputin off.
By this time, Tony Stark is feeling cooped up and decides to change out of his armor and go for a walk in the park. As he leaves, he takes the briefcase he uses to store his Iron Man armor and is amused how habit forming this has become. When he arrives in Central Park he comes across an art installation created by Fival Fuvnik that is to be unveiled later that day. As TV crews set up equipment to document the event, Rasputin arrives and begins warning everyone of their impending doom. This annoys the producer of the TV show and when he tries to remove Rasputin, the crack-pot’s Tavi stick strikes a television camera and breaks it. The rest of the crew have to pull the producer off Rasputin who once again flees from the scene.
Once he is safely away, Rasputin fumes over the fact that nobody has ever taken him seriously. He recalls how he used to be a school teacher that tried to teach his students about occultism. When the administration found this out, he ended up getting fired from his job. Becoming obsessed with Tavi, Rasputin began working on trying to create his Tavi stick. Instead, he caused an explosion and went to jail for the damage he caused. There he continued studying his obsession. After he was released, he ended up going bankrupt to pay for the damages he caused to his apartment building and began living on the street where he became a doomsayer in the park. Looking at his improvised Tavi stick, Rasputin notices that it is now beginning to glow and believes its contact with the television camera finally unlocked its mystical powers.
Later that day, Fival Fuvnik unveils his statue, a massive demonic figure called Fangor that is the embodiment of all human evil. The unveiling is interrupted by Rasputin who then recites a magic spell that — fantastically — causes the Tavi stick to bring Fangor to life. As the monster goes on a rampage, Tony Stark slips into some bushes to change into Iron Man. As the hero battles Fangor, Rasputin gets caught in the conflagration resulting in his Tavi stick getting broken in the process. No longer able to control his creation, Rasputin flees the scene only to be struck by a car. He’s not seriously injured but he becomes annoyed when two police officers come to his aid.
Meanwhile, Iron Man decides to use his unstable-freon mini-bomb against the monster.[3] Sure enough, the chemical causes Fangor to quickly become frozen and brittle. Iron Man then flies through the monster at full speed, shattering it to bits. In the aftermath of the battle, Iron Man wonders if the Rasputin character he encountered earlier was somehow responsible, but dismisses the idea as ridiculious.
By this time, Rasputin has retreated to a bar to drown his misery. Finding a patron to talk to, the amateur sorcerer complains about how much of his life he has wasted on magic. The person who he is talking to turns out to be none other than Doctor Strange, Earth’s sorcerer supreme. He tells Rasputin to keep his chin up because there’s always tomorrow. At that same moment, Iron Man has returned to Avengers Mansion to find the team has not yet returned. So exhausted after his ordeal, Iron Man struggles to stay away while he waits for his friends to come back.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Edwin Jarvis, Doctor Strange
Continuity Notes
This story takes place between Avengers #119 and Captain Marvel #27, two stories featuring the Avengers which include Iron Man. As such, one could presume the team are off on personal business at the time of this story.
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #1 reveals that Rasputin’s first name is Ichabod.
A footnote here reminds readers that Iron Man last used their weapon against the Titanium Man in Tales of Suspense #82.
Topical References
The TV producer makes a point of saying that Rasputin wrecked a colour TV camera here. That’s because colour television was still a relatively new technology when this story was published in 1973. Someone complaining about a wrecked camera wouldn’t specify that it shot in colour since that has long since been the norm. The specification here should be considered topical.
