Tales of Suspense #86
Death Duel for the Life of Happy Hogan!
Happy Hogan has been captured by the Mandarin, prompting Iron Man to come to his rescue. The Mandarin thinks can easily defeat Iron Man this time, unaware that Tony Stark built a brand new suit of armor that is more powerful than the previous model.[1] Iron Man is able to withstand a blast from one of the Mandarin’s rings and his martial arts skills. When the Mandarin attempts to freeze Iron Man, the Golden Avenger activates his internal heaters to rapidly melt his way to freedom. Realizing that a direct conflict is not working, the Mandarin races to his control room and quickly seals Iron Man in a room and causes the walls to start closing in.
Iron Man braces his arms against the closing walls and while the metallic walls are strong enough to resist him the stone floor and ceiling buckle allowing him to break free. Forcing his way into the Mandarin’s control room, Iron Man knocks his foe aside long enough to shut down his control panel. Then, removing his iron gauntlets, he challenges the Mandarin to a fair fight. The hero’s armor protects him from the Mandarin’s strongest blows. It turns out that even with his martial arts skill, the Mandarin has a glass jaw when struck with an old fashioned American right hook.
Finding Happy in the dungeon again, Iron Man overhears the Mandarin’s goons talking about how their master had launched a test missile for the Chinese government. In reality, this missile is actually targeted at an American military base in order to trigger a war between the two nations. Iron Man ambushes the guards and frees Happy. In order to get his friend to safety, Iron Man programs the armor that Happy is wearing to take him to the American base in Okinawa. He then uses his onboard equipment to hack the missile and change its target to the Mandarin’s castle.
By this time, the Mandarin has recovered from Iron Man’s punch and tires to ambush the hero. However, there is no time to renew this fight so Iron Man retreats. Moments later the missile strikes the Mandarin’s castle destroying it. Flying away from the scene, Iron Man hopes that this is the last he will see of the Mandarin.[2]
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Mandarin, Happy Hogan
Continuity Notes
In case you haven’t been keeping up here are a couple of facts about this story: Happy knows Tony Stark is Iron Man having figured out his secret in Tales of Suspense #70. When the press was coming close to figuring out Stark was Iron Man, Happy posed as Iron Man in issue #84 and that’s how he was captured by the Mandarin.
It’s not. The Mandarin survives and will resurface again in Avengers Annual #1.
Topical References
This story has dated Cold War references, primarily referring to the Chinese government as “the Reds”.
The capital city of China is referred to as Peking in this story. Peking is the Romanized name for Bejing. Calling the capital Peking has fallen out of common usage.
The Secret!
Captain America has managed to infiltrate a Chinese weapons research center on the island of Yashonka. He has come to recover Agent 60, a SHIELD agent who has been working in secret on the island. The Star-Spangled Avenger makes the mistake of attacking two Chinese soldiers as this alerts more to join the fight, including one that is wearing a massive mech suit. Realizing that he has bitten off more than he can chew, Captain America grabs a nearby capsule of napalm and uses it to put a wall of fire between himself and the soldiers.
Ducking into a maintenance shaft, Captain America crawls to the lab where he finds Kuro Chin, the man SHIELD calls Agent 60. Captain Ameria explains that he has come at the request of a female agent who has grown concerned about Kuro’s safety after her recent run-in with Batroc the Leaper.[1] He was also sent on orders from Nick Fury to come and collect the plans for the Chinese army’s newest weapon the Z-Ray. Handing over the plans, Kuro Chin quickly hides Captain America when guards come into the lab looking for him. Although Kuro manages to convince them that the Avenger is not there, they decide to activate their “Beeper-Dogs”, a team of robotic bloodhounds to look for the intruder.
When Captain America suggests that they both flee the scene, Kuro Chin is too afraid to help after being so close to death for so long. Realizing that there is no convincing Chin into helping, Captain America goes out alone. He is instantly found by the Beeper-Dogs and finds himself in a literal firefight when he has to face soldiers armed with flame throwers. During the fight, Kuro Chin finds his nerve again and begins providing Captain America with cover fire. This allows Cap to commandeer an enemy hovercraft armed with atomic missiles. However, Kuro Chin is fatally shot but at least he dies knowing that the Z-Ray will no longer be a secret.
Piloting the ship, Captain America is able to outfly enemy missiles until he reaches the Z-Ray facility and uses the crafts atomic missiles to destroy the prototype weapon. With his mission a success, Captain America flys for home. Along the way, he calls Nick Fury and asks to speak with the female agent that he has fallen in love with. Unfortunately, Fury has sent her on a top-secret mission leaving Captain America to wonder if he’s finally found the woman he loves only to lose her again.
Recurring Characters
Captain America
Continuity Notes
The female agent, Sharon Carter, is not mentioned by name here. Her real name is revealed in Captain America #103. Sharon was captured by Batroc last issue.
Topical References
Asia is referred to as the “Orient” in this story. The use of this phrase should be considered topical as it has fallen out of common use and depending on the connotation could be considered racist.
As you’d expect from a story from this era it also uses a lot of dated Cold War references, particularly referring to the Chinese army as a the “Reds”.
