Let Freedom Kick @$$

Long before Tony Stark became the most hated provocative character in comics, he was an honest-to-gosh hero who protected innocents without violating anyone’s civil rights.

Wild, eh?

Since it’s Friday, and everyone knows that tonight’s alright for fighting, your friendly neighborhood Fortress Keeper will highlight one of Tony’s greatest moments - his epic battle against the Titanium Man from Tales Of Suspense #71.

(Which also happens to be one of our 50 favorite super-hero stories! Don’t you love it when a plan comes together?)

This Stan Lee/Don Heck/Wally Wood classic starts off in the best way possible, with The Man promising to what has gone before in two mere word balloons.

And, of course, Stan proceeds to do just that!

So, to review: The Commie Titanium Man has kicked Iron Man’s butt to next Tuesday in front of a worldwide television audience. The faithful Happy Hogan intervened, and was nearly killed for his efforts!

(Yeah, yeah … he gets better eventually. Just go with the flow for now …)

Iron Man is ticked off, and it is officially ON!

Iron Man is so angry that not only does he teach T.M. a thing or two about political science, he also hits the guy hard enough to knock the sound effect off the page!

In response, the desperate Titanium Man launches a guided missile at Tony …

… but it doesn’t really work.

Unfortunately for Titanium Man, that was all he had left in his dirty Communist bag of tricks. Needless to say, the rest of the fight isn’t very pretty.

Since this is a Marvel comic, however, Tony’s victory is bittersweet. His best friend is near death (for a little while, at least) and Pepper Potts - our hero’s one true love (yeah, right) - hates Stark’s guts.

Tony tries to tell himself it’s all for the best, and resolves to make his heart as cold as the armor he wears to battle.

Of course, once such decisions are reached it’s only a few short steps toward manipulating a civil war among your fellow heroes and taking over the world.

But that’s another story …

We love this particular Iron Man tale because it portrays the hero in his natural environment: a cold warrior determined to triumph over the tyranny of Communism through guts and good, old American know-how.

It’s a set-up that positively doesn’t work in these far more cynical times, which is why recent writers can’t think of anything better to do with poor Tony than make him a helpless alcoholic or an utter bastard.

We also miss the damaged heart gimmick and the love triangle between Stark, Pepper and Happy. Those soap opera elements humanized the protagonist, at least as much as a billionaire munitions inventor can be humanized.

At any rate, this is the Iron Man the Keeper knew and loved. Will he ever return to the pages of a mainstream Marvel comic?