Tales of Suspense #85
Tales of Suspense #85 is a showcase of the dual-feature format that defined the title through its final years — pairing two distinct Silver Age storytelling modes in a single package. The Captain America half, 'The Blitzkrieg of Batroc!', is particularly notable for early development of Batroc the Leaper's honorable-mercenary persona: his refusal to let Hydra shoot Cap from behind, and his subsequent alliance with the hero against their common enemy, established a moral complexity that has distinguished the character from standard villains ever since. The Iron Man story advances a multi-part Mandarin arc while using the Happy Hogan impersonation device to dramatize the dangers of Tony Stark's secret-identity deception. Together, the two stories represent Stan Lee and his two principal artistic collaborators of the era — Gene Colan on Iron Man, Jack Kirby on Captain America — operating in peak Silver Age form within the same issue.
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Both stories in this issue were written and edited by Stan Lee, with pencils on the Iron Man half by Gene Colan (inked by Frank Giacoia, lettered by Artie Simek) and pencils on the Captain America half by Jack Kirby (also inked by Giacoia, lettered by Sam Rosen). The cover was drawn by Colan and inked by Giacoia, with colors by Stan Goldberg. The issue shipped with a January 1967 cover date (on-sale October 1966, per the copyright registration recorded in the Catalog of Copyright Entries). The Iron Man story continues a multi-issue arc from the previous issue, while the Captain America story is a self-contained chapter within the ongoing Sharon Carter–Hydra subplot that Lee and Kirby were threading through the title at the time.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Contains two stories: Iron Man in 'Into the Jaws of Death!' (12 pages, Stan Lee/Gene Colan) and Captain America in 'The Blitzkrieg of Batroc!' (10 pages, Stan Lee/Jack Kirby); both inked by Frank Giacoia.
- Iron Man story: Happy Hogan, impersonating Iron Man to protect Tony Stark's secret identity, is teleported to the Mandarin's castle, where the Mandarin — believing Happy to be the real Iron Man — takes him prisoner; Tony then builds an upgraded suit of armor to mount a rescue.
- A note in the 2008 'Iron Manual' erroneously identifies this issue as the debut of Iron Man's Model 4 armor; the Marvel Database clarifies it actually depicts an upgrade to the Model 3 (an unofficial Model 3 Mk II designation), with the true Model 4 first appearing in Iron Man #85.
- Captain America story: Batroc the Leaper has been hired by Hydra to destroy Cap, using a kidnapped Sharon Carter (Agent 13) as bait; when Hydra attempts a cowardly ambush mid-fight, Batroc is offended by their dishonor and switches sides, helping Cap defeat the Hydra agents and free Agent 13 before departing.
- The Mandarin appears under the alias Gene Kahn in the comics continuity (confirmed by Marvel.com and the Marvel Directory) — an alternate identity he uses to infiltrate Stark's world in later stories.
- The Captain America story was reprinted in Marvel Double Feature #9 (April 1975) and The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #5 (October 1974); the Iron Man story was reprinted in Marvel Double Feature #2 (February 1974).
- Both stories have been collected in multiple trade editions including Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 2, Captain America Epic Collection: Captain America Lives Again, the Captain America Omnibus, and Iron Man Epic Collection Vol. 2: By Force of Arms.
Cast · 12 characters
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Cap fights Batroc the Leaper, who has been hired by Hydra to kill him.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).