Hawkeye The Marksman!

Tales Of Suspense #57, September 1964.
(By Lee and Heck)

This is it, True Believers! You've waited long enough, and now, finally, today, we meet Hawkeye the Marksman! He's a crack shot with that bow, and I just bet a man with a bow, and arrow, and plenty of sassy attitude can give Iron Man a run for his money! Off we go...

Our tale begins with millionaire industrialist Tony Stark inadvertantly asking faithful secretary Pepper Potts out on a date. All that money, Tony, and you can't score a night out with someone who doesn't rely on you for her pay-check? Shame on you.

Anyway, Tony, multi-billionaire mogul who can, thanks to all that money of his, go pretty much anywhere at the drop of a hat, takes her to ... Coney Island. Verily, Tony, thou art the last of the big spenders.

(In Tony's defence, he's supposed to have been setting Pepper up with his chauffeur, and is only on this date due to his own incompetence, and even a billionaire doesn't want to spend too much money on a date he didn't want in the first place, but still, it seems a bit shabby.)

Tony and Pepper take in a few shows, including this exciting act:


Before Hawkeye can be booed off the stage by the restless crowd, Coney Island suffers one of its occasional disasters, as one of its rides goes wild and falls to bits in mid-spin. Iron Man to the rescue!


Yes, folks, while all others are impressed, Hawkeye is seething with envy over the acclaim that New Yorkers have for Iron Man (this month, at least - they'll turn on him soon enough). He reaches the obvious conclusion that if they dig the guy in power-armour, they're going to go wild for him, if he can just choose the right outfit.


In his nice new clothes, Hawkeye goes out seeking fame and fortune. Unfortunately for him, the writer has it in for him.


So far so good. Nothing establishes street cred like nabbing a ne'r do well in a checked shirt.


Not so good, the bad guy's getting away, but at least he left the loot behind.


Arse. Now, in his place, I'm fairly sure I'd wait for the cops to catch up, explain to them what had happened, and place my faith in the commonsense of the police. Unfortunately, this is the pre-Serpico NYPD, so Hawkeye pretty much knows he's going to jail if he hangs around. So he flees the scene, leaving the cops to return the loot, or pocket it, depending on their mood.

In the coincidence-filled world of Marvel, Hawkeye runs straight into the Black Widow, a Russian spy who's twice taken on Iron Man, lost both times, and is looking for a sucker to set against Shellhead. Roll up, roll up..!

At the Widow's urging, Hawkeye breaks into Stark Enterprises, blows some stuff up, and gains Iron Man's attention.


Yes, the power of Iron Man is nothing compared to the power of Rust! Stark is forced to ditch his armour and dig out a spare set, whilst Hawkeye, rather than pressing his advantage and hunting him down, chooses to steal some of his kit, for later analysis.


Wow, that transition from wannabe hero to wannabe world dominating supervillain was a bit sudden, wasn't it? That Black Widow must have something special going for her. Anyhoo, Iron Man chases down Hawkeye, blows up his car, and ... can barely hold his own against him.


Rust, rope, is there anything your multi-million pound suit can cope with, Tony? Bullets? Tickling sticks? Sharpened fruit?

By some miracle, Iron Man manages to overpower the man with the bow and arrow, but it's not over yet.


Now, that's just mean, Hawkeye. Of course, the questions it raises about his moral turpitude pale in comparison to the question of why, if you have a demolition blast arrow which can destroy Iron Man, you didn't just shoot him with it in the first place, you big dummy?!?


Oh, that's why. Because the demolition arrow just plain doesn't work. More research needed next time, Hawkeye, old man.

So, yes, hilariously, Hawkeye almost kills the Black Widow with the arrow designed by the Black Widow to kill Iron Man. Hawkeye and the Widow escape whilst Shellhead is too stunned to chase them, and, you know, I don't think we've seen the last of either of these villains.

Giant Man, The Big Bully

In retrospect, Janet probably should have seen it coming.

From Tales To Astonish #54, April 1964
(By Lee & Heck)

The Creature From Kosmos!

Tales To Astonish #44, June 1963
(By Lee, H.E. Huntley, Kirby, and Heck)

You may think that in the sixties, the Marvel Bullpen chose to focus all their efforts on their burgeoning line of superhero comics. You'd be wrong. Come with me, reader, as we witness the first appearance of the winsome Wasp!


Lonely widowed scientist-turned-superhero.


Mysterious visitor, and a beautiful girl!


Unpure thoughts!


"My dad's dead! Must find new daddy-figure!"


Thank god this was the 60s, or we'd really be worried for Janet.


Having rashly blown his secret identity, I wonder what old Hank'll if she says no.


* Insert your own cheap gag here.


Watch out for those giant scissors, Janet!


Boy, 60s women really went for those stuffy scientist-types, didn't they? Was Marvel Comics sponsored by NASA?


"My wife's dead! Must find new, strangely similar, wife!"


Aw, how sweet. I bet they live happily ever after!

The Voice Of Doom!

Tales To Astonish #42, April 1963
(by Lee, Lieber and Heck)

Not all super-villains are motivated by an insane desire to conquer the world, or by the need to seek revenge on the nearest hero to hand. Some, like today's villain, are spurred on by arrogance. Come meet The Voice!

His tale begins as he arrives in New York, armed with a dangerous soap-box, and proceeds to demonstrate his hypnotic voice.


And the origin of The Voice's powers? Our old friend radiation, transmitted into a struggling radio announcer's throat from a nearby atomic laboratory, giving him the power to convince anyone of anything. Some power, huh? Bet if you had such abilities, you'd use them to, say, have yourself declared Emperor of the World or something, right? Not our boy, though...


So, anyway, in a world populated by such titans as Thor, the Hulk, and Iron Man, the Voice decides to prove his mettle by picking a fight with the guy who makes himself very small and talks to insects.


With a go-getter attitude like that, it's no wonder this fellow, wouldn't be seen again for over twenty years. So, the good people of New York quickly form a lynch-mob, to hunt Ant-Man down. Unfortunately, he can make himself small, so they can't find him, but in the process of fleeing, Ant-Man loses his trusty cyber-helmet thing, which was the only reason that the Voice couldn't hypnotise him in the first place. D'oh.


You cad, sir! However can the Ant-Man get out of this calamity?

Answer: he can't. At least, not without help.


Not yet thwarted, the Voice decides to get himself some tv coverage, showing up at a news studio to make a broadcast to the world. Finally he's wising up, and can use his powers to conquer the world, right?

Wrong.


Yes, he's still determined to fix that pesky Ant-Man once and for all. Fortunately, this is America, and, unable to think of any other way to beat him, Hank Pym makes a quick stop at the Quik-Stop and picks gets himself a gun.


No sooner has the Voice retracted his statement, then he starts to lose his voice, and Ant-Man reveals that he's exposed him to a virus which causes laryngitis. Poor old Voice tries again to turn people against Ant-Man, but with his voice all croaky, no-one falls for it, and he's run out of town on a rail. And good riddance!

Iron Man Is Born!

Tales Of Suspense #39, March 1963
(Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Don Heck)

So, we've done radiation-enhanced heroes, chemical-enhanced heroes, gods. What else do we need? Ah yes, battle-suited heroes. Bring on Iron Man!


Like the origin of the Incredible Hulk, our tale today begins with a scientist hired by the government to produce a new type of weapon for the army. In this case, millionaire industrialist Tony Stark has been hired to produce his miniature transistors to help win the war in Vietnam (younger readers, look it up to learn how that particular escapade turned out). Stark's transistor can turn an ordinary magnet into a super-magnet! Watch.


Stark is whisked off to Southeast Asia, to demonstrate his ingenuity. See, the army want him to build miniature bombs, to help them take on Charlie. Accompanying some of America's finest on a mission into the jungle, Tony watches with admiration as the American troops bomb the crap out of their communist opponents. So filled with glee is Mr Stark that he makes a potentially fatal blunder.


Damn those reds and their filthy traps! Anyway, as you may have guessed, Tony Stark survives the bomb, and finds himself a prisoner of local warlord, Wong-Chu, who plans to use Stark's talents for his own evil purposes.


Stark agrees to Wong-Chu's demands, in order to save his own sorry life. Fortuitously, Stark is joined in his prison laboratory by Asia's greatest non-communist scientist, Professor Yinsen. Yinsen and Stark agree to work together, to thwart Wong-Chu's plans, and the race is on to to build Stark's greatest design - an iron man!

p6 panel 2
And make no mistake, it is a race, for there is a piece of shrapnel making its way slowly towards Tony Stark's heart. It's only a matter of time before he succumbs to a fatal heart attack. Better work quickly, boys!


No sooner is Stark esconsced in his life-preserver, than Dr Yinsen nobly sacrifices his life in order to distract Wong-Chu and his guards. Whilst Yinsen is being chased and killed, Tony gets used to wearing his new armour.


No time for boo-hoos, Tony, because here come the reds. Get' em!


Wong-Chu is no pushover, however, and what's more he's got a filing cabinet filled with rocks, which he keeps for occasions such as this.


Needless to say, rock-filled stationery is not enough to stop the invincible Iron Man, who blows up the warlord, frees the prisoners, and heads back to civilisation.


So there you have it. Another hero joins the pantheon of the Marvel Universe. I wonder how many months it'll be before he starts behaving like a dick...