Tales of Suspense #61
In "The Death of Tony Stark!" from Tales of Suspense #61 (1965), a 12-cent Marvel classic, Tony Stark's sudden disappearance sends Pepper and Happy into a spiral of concern—leading them to resign from Stark Industries. As Happy investigates, he stumbles upon a chilling scene: Tony, in full Iron Man armor but without his helmet, hides in bed, trying to convince him everything is fine. With the Mandarin's space-laser tearing through the factory and Stark seemingly killed, the hero vanishes into the shadows, disguising himself as a bearded traveler bound for China to face the Mandarin’s deadly robot Koto. Written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Don Heck with inks by Dick Ayers, colors by Stan Goldberg, and letters by S. Rosen, the cover by Jack Kirby and Chic Stone captures the tension of a hero at his breaking point.
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Pepper and Happy, unsettled by Tony Stark's disappearance, go to Iron Man and tender their resignations. The following day, Happy, playing detective, breaks in to Stark's home. Tony is wearing his armor but not his helmet. He conceals his armor by jumping into bed. He assures Happy that all is well and that Iron Man should be trusted. The Mandarin uses his giant space-laser to destroy much of Stark's factory. He seemingly kills Stark. Stark as Iron Man disguises himself as a bearded man in a large coat, and boards a plane for China. He confronts Koto, the Mandarin's robot, and is defeated.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).