Tales of Suspense #56
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeTales of Suspense #56 is the first appearance of the Unicorn (Milos Masaryk), a Cold War Soviet operative whose Crimson Dynamo-derived technology made him one of the earliest recurring adversaries in Iron Man's Silver Age rogues' gallery. The issue also marks a pivotal moment in Tony Stark's characterization: the story opens with Iron Man furiously declaring he is 'sick of being Iron Man,' one of the earliest extended explorations of the psychological and physical toll his heart condition places on him — a thread that would define the character for decades. Within the same story, Iron Man self-identifies using two nicknames that would become enduring shorthand for the character throughout Marvel history. As a structural milestone, this issue represents the point at which the Tales of Suspense anthology fully shed its sci-fi filler backups, devoting the entire lead slot to an expanded Iron Man adventure in what Marvel Genesis describes as the moment 'the Marvel Age of Comics has taken hold.'
In "The Uncanny Unicorn!", a Soviet agent clad in high-tech armor known as the Crimson Dynamo launches a daring mission to capture Iron Man in 1964. With Pepper in his grasp and Happy injured, he forces Iron Man into a deadly game—surrender or watch Stark's factory go up in flames. When Iron Man boards the enemy's plane, the stakes rise even higher, but the real danger may lie not in the attack, but in the past.
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The Iron Man story 'The Uncanny Unicorn!' was written by Stan Lee and drawn by Don Heck, with lettering by Sam Rosen — the regular creative team on the Iron Man feature at the time. The cover was penciled by Jack Kirby and inked by Dick Ayers, following the standard Marvel practice of the period in which Kirby designed covers for anthology titles he did not draw interiors for. The issue was on sale May 12, 1964 with an August 1964 cover date, and falls in the brief run (issues #53–58) during which the cover logo read 'Tales of Suspense featuring The Power of Iron Man.' A secondary backup story, 'The Watcher's Sacrifice!,' was plotted by Stan Lee, scripted by Larry Lieber, with pencils by Lieber and inks by George Roussos.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance and origin of the Unicorn (real name Milos Masaryk), a Soviet intelligence agent equipped with an energy-projecting helmet built from technology designed by the defected Crimson Dynamo (Anton Vanko).
- Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Don Heck; cover penciled by Jack Kirby, inked by Dick Ayers.
- On sale May 12, 1964; cover-dated August 1964; published under the temporary logo 'Tales of Suspense featuring The Power of Iron Man' (used on issues #53–58).
- The lead Iron Man story was expanded to 18 pages as the anthology's non-superhero science-fiction filler segments were retired, leaving the book fully devoted to superhero features going forward.
- Iron Man uses the self-referential nicknames 'Golden Avenger' and 'Shellhead' within this story — at least one close reader has flagged this as a very early if not first use of both monikers.
- Thor (as Don Blake), Giant-Man (Hank Pym), and Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) appear in cameo as fellow Avengers who attempt — and fail — to reach Iron Man, with the story's events feeding into the continuity of Avengers #7.
- The Unicorn's next appearance after this issue is a cameo in Fantastic Four Annual #3 (1965), and the character went on to fight the X-Men in X-Men #22 (1966).
- The Iron Man story was reprinted in Marvel Collectors' Item Classics #14 (April 1968), in the British anthology Fantastic! #31–32 (September 1967, split across two issues in black and white), in Spider-Man Comics Weekly (Marvel UK, 1973 series) #82–83, and has since been collected in the Invincible Iron Man Omnibus Vol. 1, Iron Man Epic Collection Vol. 1, and Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man Vol. 2.
Cast · 8 characters
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Mystic #39 (1955), Strange Tales #123 (1964), Tales to Astonish #58 (1964)
Reprinted in Fantastic! #31 (1967), Fantastic! #32 (1967), Terrific! #34 (1967), Marvel Collectors' Item Classics #14 (1968), Marvel Collectors' Item Classics #21 (1969), I Fantastici Quattro #61 (1973), Spider-Man Comics Weekly #82 (1974), Spider-Man Comics Weekly #83 (1974), Die ruhmreichen Rächer #55 (1977), Die ruhmreichen Rächer #56 (1977), Captain America #7 (1979), Strange Spécial Origines #196 (1986), Essential Iron Man #1 (2000), Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man #2 (2005), The Invincible Iron Man Omnibus #1 (2008), Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man #2 (2012), Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Rarities #1 (2014), Iron Man Epic Collection #1 (2014), Marvel Gold. Los 4 Fantásticos #1 (2016), The Invincible Iron Man Omnibus #1 [Second Edition] (2023), Marvel Origins #19 (2024)
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