Marvel Masterworks #20

Tony Stark, the playboy industrialist and weapons designer, is wounded in Korea and taken prisoner by communist forces. While pretending to build a weapon for his captors, he secretly constructs a powered combat suit to keep his injured heart beating—and uses it to break free and confront the enemy commander.

Tony Stark takes his date Marion to the circus, where a sudden animal escape forces him into action as Iron Man—his grey armor startling the crowd. Inspired by Marion’s suggestion, he dons a golden suit and faces off against Gargantus, a colossal alien-built robot. The battle escalates as Iron Man uses magnetic projectiles to dismantle the machine, then redirects them at a fleeing alien spacecraft. The adventure ends with Tony back on solid ground, already planning his next date with Marion.

In "The Stronghold of Doctor Strange!", a criminally imprisoned scientist wields mind control to hijack Iron Man’s suit, using it to demand global domination or face annihilation. With the world at risk, Iron Man must overcome both the stolen technology and the scientist’s daughter, whose guilt may be the key to stopping the crisis—before it’s too late.

In "Trapped by the Red Barbarian," Iron Man faces a cunning Soviet operative who uses disguise and deception to steal the blueprints for his newest weapon. When the spy uncovers Iron Man’s secret identity, a tense game of cat and mouse unfolds—where loyalty, betrayal, and a well-placed trap could turn the tide of the Cold War.

In "Iron Man versus Kala, Queen of the Netherworld!", Iron Man finds himself captured by Kala, the ruler of a hidden underground realm, who demands his help to launch an invasion of the surface world. With his suit’s technology and sharp mind, Stark must convince the queen that the surface is no place for her people—before she learns the hard way how quickly her kind would wither in the open air.

In "The Mad Pharaoh!", a millennia-old pharaoh awakens to find the world changed, only to summon Tony Stark from the future to reignite his ancient vendetta against Cleopatra. As Iron Man, Stark must navigate a clash of empires and time, caught between a mad ruler’s vengeance and the legacy of a queen who once defied him.

In "The Icy Fingers of Jack Frost!", a down-on-his-luck boxer earns a second chance when he saves Tony Stark’s life, landing a job as his chauffeur. But when a disgruntled scientist, scorned by Stark, unleashes a freezing suit to exact revenge, Iron Man must step in before the icy threat turns deadly.

In "Iron Man Faces the Crimson Dynamo!", the Soviet-built war machine known as the Crimson Dynamo is sent to the U.S. to sabotage Tony Stark’s projects and eliminate Iron Man. With his suit pushed to the limit, Iron Man must outwit a relentless enemy whose power and purpose are as cold as the Cold War itself.

Iron Man Battles the Melter! sees Tony Stark’s past come back to haunt him when a former rival turns to crime as the Melter, targeting one of Stark’s industrial facilities. With the plant under siege and his armor no match for the villain’s heat-based attacks, Iron Man must think fast—turning to an unexpected solution to outwit a foe who can melt anything in his path.

In "The Mysterious Mr. Doll!", a sinister puppeteer known only as Mister Doll unleashes a wave of magical dolls to seize control of corporate empires. Iron Man races to stop him, donning a new suit of armor for the fight, but his tactics—testing Pepper’s feelings to distract the villain—leave her both furious and hurt.

In "The New Iron Man Meets the Angel!", a mysterious side effect of an atomic test at a Stark weapons facility leaves the Angel unstable and drawn toward the ranks of the Evil Mutants. With the X-Men in need of help, only Iron Man answers the call—leading to an uneasy alliance between the genius armored hero and the once-forgotten mutant.

In "The Hands of the Mandarin!", Iron Man is sent deep into red China on a high-stakes mission to uncover secrets about the feared Mandarin, a scientist whose power and influence strike fear even within the Communist regime. Facing off against the Mandarin’s deadly rings and masterful martial arts, Iron Man must fight his way through traps and terrors to escape the villain’s fortress alive.