Issue(s): Marvel Super Heroes #2 (Iron Man, Speedball, Tigra, & Falcon stories)
Cover Date: Jul 90 / Summer 90

Iron Man
Title: "Cold feelings"
Credits:
Bob DeNatale - Writer
Larry Alexander - Penciler
Christopher Ivy - Inker

Speedball
Title: "The price of their toys"
Credits:
Hollis Bright - Script
Steve Ditko - Plot
Steve Ditko - Penciler
Mike DeCarlo - Inker

Tigra
Title: "Storm warning"
Credits:
D.G. Chichester & Margaret Clark - Script
Dennis Mallonee - Plot
Chuck Patton - Penciler
Mike DeCarlo - Inker

Falcon
Title: "The greater good!"
Credits:
Danny Fingeroth - Writer
Javier Saltares - Penciler
Javier Saltares - Inker

Mark Gruenwald - Editor

Review/plot:
Iron Man:

Tony Stark is launching a new space shuttle. Someone from the Pentagon wants the shuttle's engine for military purposes, but Stark won't give it up. So the Defense Department guy, who has paid off one of Stark's guards, sneaks into Stark's facility and sabotages the engine. Except that the sabotage causes an immediate explosion of Stark's new coolant system, and the Defense guy, after seeing a vision (of Death?)...

...is frozen solid and killed.

Some of the art in this story feels like it is straight out of a Bill Everett story from the late Golden Age.

Speedball:
I swear, Steve Ditko must have been possessed by a demon or something, forced to draw endless Speedball stories, kind of like automatic writing. I imagine him watching television, reading books, making himself sandwiches, for days and days, all while his pencil arm just drew and drew. This one is a bizarre story where two boys had a falling out over a toy gun called, awesomely, the Evilizer.

Years later, the two now-adults get back together and kill each other over the gun. Speedball watches.

Tigra:
Tigra goes to Chicago where her father is dying. It's obviously been a few years since they last met.

The father is then attacked by some goons. Tigra goes wild defending him.

It turns out that her father is dying of a mysterious disease. It's suspected that the disease was created by the owner of her father's company, with the goal of killing off employees that might testify about the company's wrongdoings. Tigra goes to investigate the company, and it turns out that the attack was really bait. The company owner wants a genetic sample from her to bring himself to peak condition. In the meantime, he's been experimenting on his employees.

Her cells also allow a cure for her father's disease to be created. Tigra escapes with the cure, leaving the company owner to die.

Falcon:
Falcon is at a fundraiser for a drug rehab center when a group of armored goons bust through.

They have a bomb that they intend to use to ransom the government. Falcon chases after them. He's followed by two brothers, that argue about whether or not the Falcon is a hero or a sell-out and a show-off. The kid that thinks he's a sell-out winds up sacrificing himself to save the Falcon, and he's killed.

And that turns the other kid against him.

Quality Rating: D

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The Rogue and Daredevil stories from this issue have been placed in separate entries. If we're going to place the rest of the stories near publication date, the Tigra story has to take place after Avengers Spotlight #38, when she's restored to humanoid form.

References:

• The armored goons that fight the Falcon used to work for Obadiah Stane. They were test pilots for the Iron Monger suit used in Iron Man #200.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

"Oh, Dad... I am different. I'm part woman, part cat..."

He... definitely takes that surprisingly well, doesn't he?

You posted that image of Iron Man saving his employees twice. Guess those guys just can't stay out of trouble, huh?

Man, oh, man... I said that the Brother Voodoo story was something different. Then I come across the duel between Guardian and Phantom. Say what you want about Dikto during this period, especially about possibly trying to mimic the silver age too hard, that part is just perfection.

Iron Trinity's existence is proof that Abe Zimmer's tapeworm wasn't successful in putting the Starktech genie back in the bottle.
Fnord, a note about Red Wolf- in Marvel Comics Presents 72, it's confirmed that Lobo was killed during the Bengal's attack and in that issue Red Wolf gets a new Lobo. So either the Red Wolf story takes place before Marvel Comics Presents 15 or it's Will Talltree's second Lobo appearing here.

Fixed the Iron Man image, thanks Max_Spider. And Michael, thanks for the tip on Lobo.

Fnord, Jeph York at the MCP just did a post on the chronology of the Lobos:
http://www.chronologyproject.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10508
He makes a good case that this is Talltrees's second Lobo. In any case, he points out that in Doctor Strange 25,Talltrees's second Lobo is said to be staying home since he's not ready yet, so you need to either add the Red Wolf story in Marvel Comics Presents 72 to next week's mini-update or make sure you review the Red Wolf story before Doctor Strange 25.

Thanks, Michael. I've split the Red Wolf story into a separate entry and i'll cover Marvel Comics Presents #72 before Doctor Strange #25.