Issue(s): Tales Of Suspense #46
Published Date: Oct 63
Title: "The Crimson Dynamo!"
Credits:
Stan Lee - Plot
Robert Bernstein - Script
Don Heck - Penciler
Don Heck - Inker

Review/plot: A dynamo is an electric generator. I had to look that up.

A Soviet scientist builds a suit of armor and heads off to defeat Iron Man.

Meanwhile, Happy and Pepper continue the bickering.

The Crimson Dynamo is destroying SI plants, and the Pentagon is threatening to take away Stark's contracts and also wondering if he is deliberately sabotaging his own plants because he has turned communist. Eventually Iron Man and the Crimson Dynamo face each other.

While they are fighting, Iron Man takes advantage of the fact that "all commies are chronically suspicious of each other" and fakes a message that shows that the Kremlin was going to have Dynamo killed after he defeated Iron Man and returned home (in fact this was what the Kremlin planned to do). After Dynamo surrenders, Iron Man plays him the message, and the scientist defects to the US and goes to work for Stark. Yeah, that'll keep the Pentagon from thinking you're a commie.

Also in this issue, an anthropologist discovers that African gargoyles are real, but can't get anyone to believe him because of the vast African gargoyle conspiracy, and a bored, incompetent reporter misses an opportunity to receive a flashlight that transports him to other worlds.

Quality Rating: D+

Historical Significance Rating: 4 - first Crimson Dynamo, first Senator Byrd

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References: N/A

Cross-over: N/A

Continuity Implant? N

Reprinted In: N/A

Stark was particularly rotten in this one. his ruse to trick the Dy-NAM-o was as dirty as the "commies" he claims to be better than.

To be fair, if Tony HADN'T pulled a ruse and the Dynamo's bosses had killed him as a result, everyone would be saying that Tony was an idiot for being honest in this situation.

ok, but tony didnt know that the "commies" intended to kill him. he was just straight up lying to keep the DyNAmo in the US. If somebody claims to be a hero they need to draw the line somewhere. If you act just like the other side then you are no better.
but thats one of the things i like about Iron Man. Hes a jerk as often as he's a hero.

are those supposed to be freckles on Pepper's face or tribal tattoos?

i enjoyed Iron Man and Crimson Dynamo's initial "fight" where they both stood there fiddling with the dials on their suits. nerds.

I demand that "Comrade K" be given a Characters appearance. He shows up a few more times, I think. Although undoubtedly a "topical reference", I hold out for a chance he'll make another appearance at some time.

I don't normally tag appearances of real historic figures (exception: Hitler/Hate Monger) due to sliding timescale concerns, as you note.

But one day when i submit my explanation for all these cold war era villains to Fanfix (the explanation, naturally, hinges on my Red Planet theory), we can introduce Comrade K, clearly a clone of Khrushchev, to work alongside Comrade X.

I can't wait;)

In contrast to a previous comment, I think that the freckles are befitting Pepper. Yeah it's not the Gweneth Paltrow version but for the comic Pepper [and I think that one of the animated Peppers at least had them too] it fits.

The good: The Crimson Dynamo is a good character, far better that Iron Man's previous foes; the story is pretty good; the depiction of the Soviet leader (Krushkev?) is hilarious and over the top.
The bad: "Everyone knows all commies are tracherous backstabbers"; the ending was perhaps a bit too neat, the way the Crimson Dynamo fell for Iron Man's ruse.
And yes, Iron Man couldn't have known that Red Dynamo's boss was planning to ice him, so it was indeed a dirty trick by Mr. Stark. Even so, this is one of the better early Iron Man stories. 3/5. I'd give it a 4 if I liked the art a bit better.