If a Man Be Stone!

Tony Stark returns to Stark Industries to find security on high alert. Someone had gassed one of the guards at the front gates and is now lurking somewhere inside. Leading a security team, Stark heads to his private lab where they find the intruder waiting for him. This man turns out to be Jasper Sitwell, an agent of SHIELD. He has been sent on the behest of Nick Fury to acts as additional security to Stark and his company as it seems that Iron Man can’t be around all the time. Tony is instantly annoyed by the talkative and verbose Sitwell but resigns to the fact that he will be around for the time being.

Meanwhile, the Grey Gargoyle has managed to escape from prison. Renting a room in his civilian identity of Paul Duval, the Gargoyle reads about Tony Stark’s new cobalt weapon. He decides to steal the device to use against his enemy Thor in order to steal Mjolnir, which Duval is convinced will give him immortality.[1]

Changing into the Grey Gargoyle once more, Duval attacks Stark Industries, using his powers to turn the guards into stone. Learning of the intruder, Jasper Sitwell heads out to confront him. This is a relief for Tony, who uses this opportunity to change into Iron Man and confront the intruder as well. Sitwell attempts to take out the Gargoyle with the knock out gas immitted from his spy-pen, but this has no effect on the villain. Iron Man then steps in to fight the Grey Gargoyle. This is difficult to begin with because any contact with his enemy causes Iron Man’s armor to turn into stone.

Realizing they need back-up, Sitwell rushes outside where he can get enough reception to call SHIELD for help. By this time, the Grey Gargoyle has overpowered Iron Man and turned him entirely into stone. Since his ability to do so only lasts an hour, the Grey Gargoyle carries Iron Man up onto the roof and throws him over the edge intending to dash Iron Man into bits on the ground.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Grey Gargoyle, Jasper Sitwell

Continuity Notes

1. The Grey Gargoyle has had a boner for Thor’s hammer since Journey into Mystery #107. What Duval doesn’t know is that even if he managed to get Thor’s hammer he wouldn’t be able to lift it because he’s not worthy, something that has been established since Journey into Mystery #83. Moreover, the hammer is not the source of Thor’s immortality. In fact, the Asgardians attribute their long lives to eating the golden apples of Idunn. See Thor #370.

A Time to Die — A Time to Live!

Captain America has stormed the hideout of a mobster named Gunner Gates. He fights with a ferocity unseen before and easily takes out Gunner’s goons. As he prepares to enter Gunner’s office, Captain America reflects back on why this will be his final mission….

Earlier that day, Steve Rogers gets a call from Agent 13 who is responding to his request that she contact him.[1] He tells her to get dressed up nice as he is taking her out to dinner. Although the pair admit that they are in love with one another when Steve mentions the idea of getting married Agent 13 has to turn him down because she is devoted to her duties as a SHIELD agent. This causes Steve to lose his appetite and he calls an end to the date shortly after. She apologizes for upsetting him, but promises Steve that once SHIELD no longer needs her, she would be happy to marry him. As he drives home, Steve grows tired of always putting aside his needs for the sake of duty. He bitterly remembers how it was this sense of duty that cost the life of his wartime partner, Bucky Barnes.[2] It was at this moment that Steve Rogers decided that his next mission as Captain America will be his last.

… Entering Gunner Gates’s office, Captain America makes short work of the mobster. With Gates taken down, Captain America officially calls his career over. Pulling off his mask, he declares that Captain America must die so that Steve Rogers can finally live. Soon, the revelation that Steve Rogers is retiring as Captain America becomes front-page news, shocking the entire nation. When word reaches SHIELD, Nick Fury tries to get ahold of Steve to learn why he has decided to quit but can’t get ahold of him. That’s when Agent 13 enters the room and asks if she can resign from her position. Realizing that this is why Cap quit, Fury tells her that SHIELD still needs her because they are short-staffed. However, the moment they can spare her, Fury promises to allow her to leave active duty.

While at Avengers Mansion, Tony Stark visits with Steve Rogers as he is being fitted for a new suit. Tony wonders if Steve is worried that his secret identity is now public knowledge. Rogers is certain that he’ll be fine and thanks Tony for all of his assistance. Unaware that Stark is actually Iron Man, Steve says that Tony would have made a good Avenger. Tony wishes the former Captain America the best of luck in his new life and leaves. With everyone gone, Steve wonders where life will take him next, however, all he can think of is all of the things he accomplished as Captain America.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, SHIELD (Sharon Carter (unidentified), Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan), Tony Stark

Continuity Notes

1. Sharon Carter is only identified as Agent 13 in this story. Her real name is not revealed until Captain America #103. In this tale, Steve states that he doesn’t know Sharon’s real name. This contradicts a later story in Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #1 which shows that Steve knew Sharon’s real name following the events of Tales of Suspense #94. While Sharon had revealed her real name, one could assume that she did so without SHIELD authorization and Steve is merely pretending not to know her name in case someone at SHIELD is listening.

2. At the time of this story, Steve believed that Bucky died in 1945 while trying to disarm a bomb on a drone plane. See Avengers #4. However, years later, he will learn that Bucky survived and was brainwashed into becoming a Russian assassin called the Winter Soldier. See Captain America (vol.5) #14.

Topical References

• Steve Rogers is depicted answering a rotary phone.

• Dum Dum Dugan suggests that Captain America could make a killing by appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show.