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First Appearance of Iron Man in Tales of Suspense #39, Up for Auction

Published Thu, 03 Nov 2022 12:27:11 -0500

Tales of Suspense #39 featuring the first appearance of Iron Man is one of my favorite Silver Age Marvel comic book keys based on the fascinating way it reflects its moment in time. Everyone knows that Tony Stark is based on real-life Billionaire industrialist Howard Hughes — even the USAF mentioned it when they discussed their involvement in the development of the first Iron Man movie. Part of the reason that Iron Man is more popular than ever is that inside that sophisticated armor shell, the character is grounded in some fascinating real-world dynamics and history. As one of the central figures of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man's stature as a character has risen dramatically since 2009. Along with that, the popularity and price of his origin and first appearance has exploded over the past decade. You can get a solid mid-grade copy of Tales of Suspense #39 (Marvel, 1963) CGC VG/FN 5.0 Off-white pages up for auction in the 2022 November 6-7 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122245 at Heritage Auctions.

The fundamental elements of the Iron Man mythos which are grounded in Howard Hughes' and other real history go significantly beyond Tony Stark. To name one example, the character Happy Hogan, a washed-up boxer with a heart of gold who became Tony Stark's closest assistant and friend after a chance meeting at a hotel, is pretty obviously based on Gordon Margulis, a washed-up boxer with a heart of gold who became Howard Hughes' closest assistant and friend after a chance meeting at a hotel. Even Tony's absence from the world at large while he had been captured and forced to create weapons at the behest of a powerful warlord (in Vietnam, in the original Tales of Suspense story) has a sliver of reality to it. Hughes, one of the most famous men in the world, and at the time the wealthiest — had dropped off the face of the Earth for a while, at just the time Iron Man's first appearance and origin in Tales of Suspense #39 was being developed. Of course, Hughes did not reemerge with cybernetic armor, although rumors abounded over the years as to what exactly he was up to inside a secretive facility in Long Beach, California during this period.

Even the notion of the technology itself was a concept that had entered the public zeitgeist. Cybernetics pioneer Norbert Wiener's research and theories were making their way into the mainstream. Just a few months prior to the release of Tales of Suspense #39, the head of a CIA task force on the development of Soviet Cybernetics had given a presentation on the matter to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. The CIA was trying to sound the alarm about what they saw as "Soviet commitment to a fundamental cybernetic strategy". Such concerns have obvious parallels with the path that the Tales of Suspense storyline would subsequently take.

A core inspiration for the most successful entertainment franchise in the world at present, there's a Tales of Suspense #39 (Marvel, 1963) CGC VG/FN 5.0 Off-white pages up for auction in the 2022 November 6-7 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122245 at Heritage Auctions. If you've never bid at Heritage Auctions before, you can get further information, you can check out their FAQ on the bidding process and related matters.

Tales of Suspense #39 (Marvel, 1963) CGC VG/FN 5.0 Off-white pages. The origin and first appearance of Tony Stark/Iron Man, and the first appearance of Wong Chu. First appearance and death of Professor Yinsen. Jack Kirby and Don Heck cover. Heck, Steve Ditko, and Gene Colan art. Currently tied for #9 on Overstreet's list of Top 50 Silver Age Comics. Overstreet 2022 VG 4.0 value = $6,400; FN 6.0 value = $11,200. CGC census 10/22: 153 in 5.0, 586 higher.