Tales of Suspense #40
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeTales of Suspense #40 marks Iron Man's second-ever appearance and delivers the single most consequential visual upgrade in the character's early history: the transition from the original dull-grey armor to a gleaming gold suit — a redesign that set the visual template for every Iron Man armor evolution to follow. The gold look itself was driven not merely by aesthetics but by an in-story logic that would characterize Tony Stark's entire arc: the armor must inspire, not terrify. Gargantus, the towering alien robot who serves as the issue's villain, also makes his first and only appearance here, establishing the Cold War–era science-fiction flavor that defined Iron Man's early rogues' gallery. Together, the armor redesign and the alien-robot threat cemented the direction Marvel's armored Avenger would take throughout the Silver Age.
In "Iron Man versus Gargantus!", Tony Stark takes his date Marion to the circus, where chaos erupts when the animals escape—prompting him to suit up as Iron Man in his grey armor, much to the crowd’s alarm. Inspired by Marion’s suggestion, he dons a golden version of his suit and faces off against Gargantus, a towering alien robot, using magnetic force to dismantle the machine. The battle ends with the aliens fleeing in their saucer, and Tony returns to his life—just in time for another date with Marion. Written by Stan Lee and R. Berns, with dynamic art by Jack Kirby and Don Heck, and colored by Stan Goldberg, this 1963 classic showcases Iron Man’s ingenuity and the early charm of his evolving legend.
In "Iron Man versus Gargantus!", Tony Stark takes his date Marion to the circus, where a sudden animal escape forces him into his Iron Man armor—his grey suit frightening the crowd. Inspired by Marion’s suggestion, he dons a golden version of the suit, only to face off against Gargantus, a colossal robot built by aliens. With a clever use of magnets, Iron Man dismantles the mechanical giant, then sends the magnets flying at a nearby alien spacecraft, driving the invaders away. The next day, Tony’s date with Marion continues—just as things start to heat up.
In a tale of eerie ambition, the struggling artist Frans Ridderkerk becomes obsessed with uncovering the secret behind his rival Henrick Rammp’s uncanny realism. When Ridderkerk demands the truth, Rammp’s brushstroke becomes a doorway—pulling Ridderkerk into a world he never imagined, trapped within the very canvas that holds his masterpiece.
In a tense showdown at the United Nations, a man from the future named Charlie arrives with a chilling ultimatum: hand over 100 million dollars or face global chaos. His plan unravels when Secretary General Joe reveals a startling truth—he, too, is from the future, part of a hidden network of agents tasked with preserving the timeline.
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The issue went on sale January 10, 1963, carrying an April 1963 cover date, just one month after Iron Man's debut in Tales of Suspense #39. Stan Lee plotted the lead story but handed scripting duties to Robert Bernstein — a veteran who had revived Aquaman at DC and introduced General Zod in Superboy — working here under the pen name 'R. Berns,' which he used for all his Marvel assignments. Jack Kirby handled the 13-page lead's pencils with Don Heck on inks (the inverse of their roles on #39), and Kirby also drew the cover. The gold armor itself originated from an editorial decision: Lee, dissatisfied with colorist Stan Goldberg's rendering of the grey suit, directed that the armor be recolored, and the creative team wove that real-world change directly into the story's plot.
Trivia · 8 facts
- 2nd overall appearance of Iron Man (Tony Stark), following his debut in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963).
- 1st appearance of the gold Iron Man armor — the direct predecessor to the red-and-gold suit introduced in Tales of Suspense #48 (December 1963).
- 1st and only appearance of Gargantus, revealed to be an alien-built robot resembling a Neanderthal, sent to hypnotize a small American town as part of an extraterrestrial invasion scheme.
- Stan Lee provided the plot; Robert Bernstein scripted under the pseudonym 'R. Berns' — one of the earliest writing credits on a Marvel superhero story given to someone outside Lee and his brother Larry Lieber.
- Pencils on the lead story by Jack Kirby; inks by Don Heck; cover also by Kirby and Heck. Stan Goldberg colored; John Duffy lettered the lead.
- The in-story reason for the armor color change: Tony's date Marion tells him the grey suit is frightening rather than heroic, prompting Stark to repaint the armor gold — an early example of Marvel's character-driven narrative logic applied to a visual redesign.
- Issue also includes a backup prose text story ('Wrong Number') and a second illustrated story ('Work of Art!') scripted by Larry Lieber with art by Lieber and inks by Sol Brodsky.
- The lead Iron Man story has been widely reprinted, including in Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man Vol. 1 (2003), Essential Iron Man Vol. 1 (2000), and The Invincible Iron Man Omnibus Vol. 1 (2008 and 2023 second edition).
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Uncanny Tales #39 (1956)
Reprinted in Weird Planets #1 (1962), Spellbound #43 (1964), Marvel Collectors' Item Classics #3 (1966), Fantastic! #3 (1967), Fantastic! #4 (1967), Fantastic! #11 (1967), Fakkelen og Jernmannen #1/1968 (1968), Fantastic Annual #1969 (1968), Demonen #3/1968 (1968), Demonen #4/1968 (1968), Demonen #7/1968 (1968), Uncanny Tales #83 (1971), El Hombre de Hierro #21 (1972), Eclipso #21 (1972), Spider-Man Comics Weekly #51 (1974), Spider-Man Comics Weekly #52 (1974), Der Eiserne #2 (1975), Das Monster von Frankenstein #25 (1976), Captain America #[2] (1979), Titan Pocket Book #1 (1980), The Marvel Saga the Official History of the Marvel Universe #8 (1986), Marvel Masterworks #20 (1992), Essential Iron Man #1 (2000), Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man #1 (2003) + 14 more
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