Tales of Suspense #77
Ultimo Lives!
The Mandarin has kidnapped Tony Stark in a bid to lure Iron Man out. He then unveils his latest creation, a massive android called Ultimo. The Mandarin explains that he created Ultimo using by combing the secrets of the far east and the sciences from the west.[1] As Ultimo emerges from the volcano it has been incubating him, the Mandarin decides to demonstrate Ultimo’s power by having the android attack some Chinese soldiers who had the audacity to order him to work for their government. The only person who can stop Ultimo is Iron Man, which poses a problem since the Mandarin tossed Tony’s attaché case out a window upon his arrival.
Tony takes a gamble and begins inching toward the exit. The Mandarin sees this and blasts Stark with one of his power rings. This is blunted thanks to his armored chest plate and Tony rolls with the impact and tumbles down the stairs outside and dives the moat where his briefcase landed.
Meanwhile, Ultimo has found the Chinese soldiers and prepares to attack. When they try shooting the massive android, the bullets bounce harmlessly off its blue skin. It then responds by unleashing powerfully destructive eye beams and sends boulders tumbling upon them. By this time, Tony has managed to change into Iron Man and appears to confront Ultimo. Unfortunately, the android is incredibly fast, putting Iron Man on the defensive as he avoids Ultimo’s deadly eyebeams.
While back in Washington, DC, Senator Harrington Byrd is fed up with Tony Stark ducking his demands that he reveal Iron Man’s true identity to congress. Unaware that Tony had been kidnapped, Byrd has decided that his recent disappearance is the final straw and uses the legal powers of Congress to shut down Stark Industries, seize all of Stark’s access, and put out a warrant for Tony’s arrest. He issues these orders unaware of the fact that Stark — as Iron Man — is in a fight for his life with a deadly android.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Mandarin, Ultimo, Harrington Byrd
Continuity Notes
Although the Mandarin claims that he created Ultimo all by himself. This is a lie, as we’ll learn in Iron Man (vol. 3) #24 reveals that Ultimo was actually created by an alien race for the purpose of committing genocide. The Mandarin merely recovered the robot and reprogrammed it to suit his needs. This is not uncommon for the Mandarin, who has lied about his own origins as we’ve seen in Invincible Iron Man Annual #1.
If a Hostage Should Die!
Hoping to catch a glimpse of the girl from his past, Steve Rogers has tuned in to a televised documentary about Captain America’s involvement in the liberation of Nazi-occupied France during World War II.[1] The cameraman that was present during that day captured Captain America’s dramatic victory over the Nazis. It also captured the crowd celebrating the victory over later. Although Captain America appears to be in a panic while people hoist him up and carry him off in celebration, the camera does not capture who Captain America was trying to reach. Watching this many decades later, Steve is upset because he was hoping to see the woman he fell in love with during the war, whom he never saw again. He views this as his most tragic loss during the War next to the death of his partner Bucky.[2]
His attempts to find her have turned up nothing and he can’t find any information on what happened to the love of his life after the war.[3] As a storm rages outside, Steve Rogers thinks back to that final battle in France…
At the time, Captain America was assisting the French resistance fight back against the Nazis. The woman he loved was a member of this resistance. On the evening before France was liberated the resistance and Captain America took out a unit of Nazi soldiers. In the aftermath of the battle, Steve and the woman repledged their love for one another and vowed that no matter what happens next they will always be together. As the coming battles will become more and more dangerous, Captain America tries to convince her to leave the resistance, saying it’s not a woman’s work. However, his lover refuses to sit by and do nothing.[5] Before Cap can argue this any further, a soldier arrives by motorcycle and gives him orders to return to headquarters. Captain America has to follow orders. His lover then tells him that she intends to be in Paris helping the resistance there, despite how dangerous it might be.
Unfortunately, the members of the resistance — including Cap’s love — get captured by the Gestapo when they arrive in Paris. While her compatriots are lined up for the firing squad, the Nazis try to get her to tell them their secrets. The woman refuses to reveal anything, even under the threat of being tortured. That’s when the rest of the resistance starts attacking in an effort to save their comrades. Learning what happened, Captain America also arrives on the scene with American troops. This leads to the moment of victory that was captured on film by one of the American soldiers documenting the battle. As Captain America is being carried off a cheering crowd, he is carried further and further away from the woman he loves. Unknown to Captain America at the time, his lover was caught in a blast during the fighting and had been stricken with amnesia.[5] No longer remembering who she was or what she was doing there, she wandered off the battlefield.[6]
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Peggy Carter (flashback, unidentified), Nazis (flashback)
Continuity Notes
Captain America’s love interest goes unnamed in this story. She is later revealed to be Peggy Carter in Captain America #162.
At the time of this story, everyone thought Bucky Barnes died in 1945 when he attempted to disarm an explosive drone. See Avengers #4. However, years later, Steve will learn that Bucky survived and was transformed by the Russians into an assassin called the Winter Soldier. See Captain America (vol. 5) #8.
Peggy survived the war and will resurface in the modern age, as we’ll see in Captain America #161-163.
This story states suggests that Captain America and Peggy Carter’s romance only lasted during the liberation of France circa 1944 and that she did not know Captain America’s true identity. These accounts have been refuted elsewhere.
First of all, Captain America and the First Thirteen #1 and Operation S.I.N #1 both state that Captain America and Peggy had known each other as early as 1943.
Peggy not knowing that Captain American was Steve Rogers is refuted in Peggy’s first appearance in Tales of Suspense #75, which depicted Peggy with Steve when he was out of costume. Other stories have also confirmed that she knew Steve Roger’s real name.
These discrepancies can be chalked up to Captain America’s memories being hazy or muddled since he was revived in Avengers #4. This was first mentioned by Cap himself in Tales of Suspense #75. Captain America #253 lays the blame at false memory implants, see issue #247.
From here, Peggy has since been depicted returning to America and serving her country in the 1950s in Operation S.I.N #1-5. She is later depicted as an agent of SHIELD dating back to 1966 in Agent Carter: SHIELD 50th Anniversary #1. This puts it at odds with Captain America #162 that states that Peggy was found by her family where she eventually overcame her amnesia due to her love for Captain America. However, when she learned about his “death” in 1945, she shut down and was institutionalized until the modern age. There are some issues with that, they are discussed here.
Topical References
Captain America is depicted watching the documentary on an old black-and-white television.
This story states that World War II ended 20 years prior to this story. This should be considered a topical reference relative to the date of publication. Due to the Sliding Timescale, the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe is constantly pushed forward. As such, the length of time between the end of World War II and Captain America’s revival in the Modern Age grows larger and larger. More details can be found here.