Tales of Suspense #94
The Tragedy and the Triumph
Revived by the scientist known as Half-Face, Titanium Man has just defeated Iron Man in battle.[1] Now, Half-Face plans on having Titanium Man to attack a nearby village so that its destruction is blamed on passing American fighter jets. Hearing all of this, Iron Man wonders how he can stop this from happening as his batteries are almost completely drained. When his two foes leave the room, Iron Man looks around and finds a generator and uses his cable adaptor to super-charge his armor, restoring him to full strength. Fighting past the castle guards, Iron Man then uses his onboard sonar to locate the village. He arrives just as Titanium Man begins his attack.
Meanwhile, back at Stark Industries, a mysterious man arrives at the front gate to see Tony Stark for the second time in days. The guard once again tells the man that Mr. Stark hasn’t returned yet. Instead of going away like last time, the mystery man gasses the guard and goes inside.[2]
Back in Vietnam, Iron Man arrives in the village and begins saving the people being threatened by the Titanium Man. Seeing Iron Man in action, the villagers decide to stay and watch that will determine their fate. That’s when Half-Face realizes that his wife and son now live in this village. He tries to convince them to leave, but they refuse to abandon the other villagers. By this time, Iron Man has lured Titanium Man onto a nearby birdge. The Russian proves to be too heavy and the bridge collapses sending him falling into the shallow river below.
As the crowd cheers, nobody sees the Titanium Man get back up and prepare to shoot Iron Man in the back with a distinto-ray. However, by this time Half-Face has realized the errors of his ways and uses his control panel to shut down Titanium Man’s armor, incapacitating him. Half-Face tells Iron Man that he now renounces the military forces trying to claim the region. This is good enough for Iron Man who will report that both Titanium Man and Half-Face are gone.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Titanium Man, Half-Face, Jasper Sitwell (unidentified), Lý Chiêu Tuan (unidentified), Kiem Tuan (unidentified)
Continuity Notes
Half-Face’s real name is not identified in this story. He is later identified as Trung Tuan in Iron Manual Mark 3 #1. His wife and child are identified as Lý Chiêu Tuan and Kiem Tuan in the same publication. While this story states that Trung is working for the Viet Cong, per History of the Marvel Universe #2 this has since changed to the Sin-Cong army. (see below)
This mystery man visited Stark Industries last issue. He is revealed as Jasper Sitwell, an agent of SHIELD next issue.
Topical Reference
This story is framed as taking place during the Vietnam War and featured a lot of dated references to that conflict. The enemy army is called the Viet Cong, Reds, and other Cold War terms. Per the Sliding Timescale, all Modern Age references to the Vietnam War made in the present tense have been changed to the Sin-Cong Conflict. See this for more information.
If this Be… MODOK!
Captain America has been sent on a mission to rescue Agent 13 from AIM’s submarine headquarters.[1] Struck with a paralysis ray, Captain America was powerless to stop AIM from delivering Agent 13 to their leader, the mysterious entity known as MODOK.[2] Now, one of the rogue scientists is pointing a gun at his head intending to end the Avenger’s life. However, he is stopped at the last minute when his colleagues warn him against acting without MODOK’s approval. This leads to an argument over if they should continue following MODOK, since they created the creature that now has forced them to obey. Pretty soon, they all agree to stage a mutiny by sending Captain America down into MODOK’s chamber to battle their creation.
Captain America is then sent through the platform into MODOK’s chamber. There, the Star-Spangled Avenger is struck by a mental blast from the creature. MODOK turns out to be a man with a massive head who requires a cybernetic hoverchair to move around. However, MODOK is far from harmless as he can channel various types of blasts from his headband. Captain America braces himself against MODOK’s mind-beams, stun-shock blasts, and a heat ray.
As Captain America fights for his life, the AIM scientists split into two groups. On group prepares an escape submarine while the other half go down into MODOK’s chamber to ensure the creature is destroyed. While MODOK is busy fighting Captain America, the AIM scientists all open fire on their former master, shattering his hoverchair. When they later try to kill Captain America and Agent 13, the pair easily take them down. They then race to the escape sub and force the remaining scientists to take them on board. As they flee the massive AIM headquarters, MODOK uses his mental powers to set off the base’s self-destruct sequence, seemingly destroying himself in the process.[3]
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Sharon Carter (unidentified), AIM, MODOK (voice only)
Continuity Notes
Agent 13’s name is not revealed here. She is identified as Sharon Carter in Captain America #103.
The AIM scientists here mention how MODOK was created to serve them but in turn took over the organization. His origins are told in Captain America #120 and 133. He was once a technician named George Tarleton who joined up with AIM. They experimented on him and turned him into a cyborg they called the Mental Organism Designed Only for Computing, or MODOC for short. Tarleton proved to have a stronger will and took over AIM instead changing his name to MODOK, the K standing for “Killing”.
MODOK survives to Only Kill another day and will menace Captain America again in Captain America #117-120. His survival is explained in issue #119 of that series.
