Issue(s): Tales Of Suspense #66 (Iron Man story only)
Cover Date: Jun 65
Title: "If I fail, a world is lost!"
Credits:
Stan Lee - Writer
Don Heck - Penciler
Mike Esposito - Inker

Review/plot:
Senator Byrd thinks Tony Stark is an irresponsible playboy with no business receiving military contracts.

He shows up at Stark Industries to watch a demo of an experimental one man submarine. Happy wants to pilot the sub during the demo in order to impress Pepper, but Stark won't let him, saying it is too dangerous and that only Iron Man can do it. Happy quits Stark Industries and leaves the country.

While demoing the sub, Iron Man sees Attuma, who has built a big cannon with a shell that uses a rare material called 'nautilium'.

Attuma says that the nautilium will change the atmosphere of the surface world, making it so that humans won't be able to breathe without the help of Atlantean technology. Iron Man rightly thinks that Attuma is crazy, but figures the gun "might work" so he'd better take him out. Attuma is a tough customer...

...and the only way for Iron Man to win is to use the experimental sub to ram the canon. However, he thinks no one will believe him about Attuma so he tells Senator Byrd that the experiment failed, and Byrd vows to make the Pentagon realize that they should cancel their contracts.

Byrd isn't played as an idiot. Stark at one point thinks to himself that Byrd is actually a good senator, and it only makes sense that Byrd thinks Stark is a playboy since that is the persona Stark deliberately projects to hide his identity as Iron Man.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 2

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• Happy is angsty because he thinks he only has his job because he saved Tony's life in his first appearance in Tales Of Suspense #45.
  
• Iron Man recognizes Attuma because of a report from Giant-Man of his encounter in Tales To Astonish #64.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Marvel's Greatest Comics #24