Tales of Suspense #41
The Stronghold of Doctor Strange!
Tony Stark attends a hospital charity dance where he donates a large sum of money and intends to have Iron Man to entertain the children in the morning. His date is really impressive and suggests that they spend some alone time in his car. There, she asks him when Tony will consider settling down and getting married. Tony tells her that he doesn’t get married because he is focused entirely on his work and wouldn’t have time for a family. In reality, the reason why Tony won’t get into a serious relationship is because of his double life as Iron Man. This is particularly an issue since Tony needs to wear Iron Man’s chest plate at all times and regularly recharge it so it can keep his heart beating.[1]
The following day, Iron Man puts on his display for the children at the hospital.[2] A news reporter comments that Iron Man’s power could rival that of the evil genius known as Doctor Strange, who is luckily incarcerated at that time.[3] However, Doctor Strange is watching this from a television kept in his jail cell. Strange has only allowed himself to remain incarcerated only until he had come up with his latest scheme of global domination. Strange intends to have Iron Man free him from prison and has cannibalized parts from radios and televisions to make a device to pull that off. Strange then pretends to have a fainting spell and is taken back to his cell. There he uses the device to put Iron Man under his hypnotic control and compels the hero to break him out of prison. The guards are ill-prepared to stop Iron Man and he succeeds in breaking Doctor Strange out of prison. When Iron Man finally snaps out of Doctor Strange’s hypnotic control he is found standing in the middle of the road by highway patrol with no memory of what happened since he left the children’s hospital.
A week later, Doctor Strange and his daughter Carla return to his private island where he has gathered mad scientists and would by tyrants alike.[4] Carla gives her father the silent treatment, but he is certain that she will turn around once he has taken over the world. Later, Strange detonates a 200 megaton bomb in Earth orbit as a warning to world leaders to surrender to him or face annihilation. When this is responded with by military action, Doctor Strange’s island is protected by an impenetrable forcefield. However, this is just a cover for a submarine to fire Iron Man at the island through a torpedo tube. Iron Man then uses his boring tool to dig his way up to the island’s surface.
Iron Man ends up interrupting an argument between Doctor Strange and his daughter. As it turns out, Carla wants nothing to do with her father’s tyranny. When Iron Man announces his presence he destroys the generators to Strange’s island. However, this also drains almost all of the power in Iron Man’s armor, putting him near death. Luckily, Carla tosses him a flashlight and he uses the batteries to jump-start his armor’s power supply. Although he cannot believe his daughter would betray him, Doctor Strange tells his daughter that he forgives her and then retreats. Soon the military take control of the island and Strange’s minions are taken into custody. When Iron Man asks Carla Strange what she plans on doing next, she tells him how she plans to find her father and prevent him from carrying out any more evil schemes.[5]
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Exiles
Continuity Notes
Tony Stark accidentally tripped an explosive and ended up with shrapnel in his heart, as seen in Tales of Suspense #39.
The scene where Iron Man crushes cannonballs with his bare hands was photographed by Peter Parker as we’ll learn in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #1.4
This Doctor Strange is obviously not Stephen Strange, the future Sorcerer Supreme. This Doctor Strange’s first name is later revealed as Carlo in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3.
Doctor Strange’s minions are later confirmed to be the Exiles, a group that later allies itself with the Red Skull in Captain America #102. This is confirmed in the Official Index to the Marvel Universe #1 entry for Tales of Suspense #41.
We later learn in The Marvels #3-12, that Strange was mentored by Nathaniel Richards. He was also involved with Lady Lotus and her plans for the nation of Sin Cong in the Pre-Modern Age. Following his defeat here, Carlo’s activities are mostly unknown until he resurfaced many years later only to be murdered by the Punisher before he could abscond with important plans that could threaten the world.
Topical References
The amount Tony Stark donates to charity if $10,000. This isn’t a lot of money by today’s standard, but adjusting for inflation that would be worth $84,578.76 in 2020 money, which is still kind of cheap for our time.
Tony is also referred to as a millionaire in this story. His actual wealth should be considered topical since a millionaire was impressive back then for an arms manufacturer. By comparison, the CEO of Lockheed Martin was worth $95 million dollars in 2020. Back in 2011, Forbes wrote an article that theorizes that if Tony Stark and his company were real, they’d be worth 20.3 Billion. Adjusting for inflation he’d be worth about 23 billion in 2020 money.
In a flashback showing Iron Man trying to stop communist operatives from escaping from an airport, a runway staircase is depicted in the scene. These were common at airports until the advent of concourses that could allow passengers to enter a plane from the gate without going outside became commonplace.
Doctor Strange is depicted using a black-and-white television to watch the news.
The President of the United States is depicted as John F. Kennedy and the leader of Russia is identified as Nikita Khrushchev. These should both be topical references since both guys are no longer leader and both very dead.
