View source for Tales of Suspense

{{Short description|Comic}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}} {{Use American English|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox comic book title|  <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics--> 
| image = TalesOfSuspense1.jpg
| caption = ''Tales of Suspense'' #1 (January 1959).<br>Cover art by [[Don Heck]]
| schedule = Monthly
| format = Ongoing 
| publisher = [[Marvel Comics]]
| date = January 1959 – March 1968 <small>(becomes ''[[Captain America (comic book)|Captain America]]'')</small>
| issues = 99
| main_char_team = [[Iron Man]]<br>The [[Watcher (comics)|Watcher]]<br>[[Captain America]]
| writers = {{collapsible list|[[Robert Bernstein (comics)|Robert Bernstein]]<br>[[Larry Lieber]]<br>[[Stan Lee]] }}
| artists = 
| pencillers = {{collapsible list|[[Jack Kirby]]<br>[[Paul Reinman]]<br>[[Carl Burgos]]<br>[[Steve Ditko]]<br>[[Dick Ayers]]<br>Larry Lieber<br>[[Don Heck]]<br>[[George Tuska]]<br>[[Gene Colan]] }}
| inkers = {{collapsible list|Dick Ayers<br>[[Chic Stone]]<br>[[Mike Esposito (comics)|Mike Esposito]]<br>[[Jack Abel]]<br>[[Dan Adkins]]<br>[[Frank Giacoia]]<br>[[Joe Sinnott]]}}
| colorists = {{collapsible list|[[Stan Goldberg]] }}
| creative_team_month = 
| creative_team_year = 
| creators = 
}}

'''''Tales of Suspense''''' is the name of an American [[comic book]] [[comics anthology|anthology]] series, and two [[One-shot (comics)|one-shot comics]], all published by [[Marvel Comics]]. The first, which ran from 1959 to 1968, began as a [[science-fiction]] anthology that served as a showcase for such artists as [[Jack Kirby]], [[Steve Ditko]], and [[Don Heck]], then featured [[superhero]]es [[Captain America]] and [[Iron Man]] during the [[Silver Age of Comic Books]] before changing its title to ''[[Captain America (comic book)|Captain America]]'' with issue #100 ([[cover-date]]d April 1968). Its sister title was ''[[Tales to Astonish]]''. Following the launch of [[Marvel Legacy]] in 2017, ''Tales of Suspense'' was once again resurrected at issue #100, featuring the Winter Soldier and Hawkeye in a story called "The Red Ledger".

==Publication history==
{| class="wikitable floatright" border="1" cellpadding="2"
|+ '''Reported circulation'''<ref>Average monthly data from publisher's annual "Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation", as compiled at [http://www.comichron.com/ The Comics Chronicles]. Circulation data first included in Statements for 1960. Title became ''Captain America'' in early 1968.</ref>
! scope="col" width="50px" | Year
! scope="col" width="84px" | Circulation
|-
| 1960  || 148,929
|-
| 1961  || 184,735
|-
| 1962  || 126,140
|-
| 1963  || 188,110
|-
| 1964  || 207,065
|-
| 1965  || 222,060
|-
| 1966  || 252,239 
|-
| 1967  || 257,342
|}

===Science-fiction anthology===
''Tales of Suspense'' and its sister publication ''Tales to Astonish'' were both launched with a January 1959 [[cover date]].<ref>{{cite book|last1 = Brevoort|first1 = Tom|author-link1 = Tom Brevoort|last2= Gilbert|first2= Laura, ed.|chapter= 1950s|title = Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History|publisher = [[Dorling Kindersley]]|year = 2008|location= London, United Kingdom|page = 72|isbn =978-0756641238|quote= January [1959] saw the birth of two titles that would each have a place of importance in the coming age - ''Tales of Suspense'' and ''Tales to Astonish''.}}</ref> Initially published under [[Atlas Comics (1950s)|Atlas Comics]], the 1950s forerunner of Marvel,<ref name=gcd>{{gcdb series|id= 1442|title= ''Tales of Suspense''}}</ref> it fell under the Marvel banner with issue #19 (July 1961), the first with a cover sporting the early "MC" box.<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/16351/ Cover, ''Tales of Suspense'' #19] at the Grand Comics Database</ref> It contained science-fiction [[mystery fiction|mystery]]/suspense stories written primarily by editor-in-chief [[Stan Lee]] and his brother, [[Larry Lieber]], with artists including [[Jack Kirby]], [[Steve Ditko]], and [[Don Heck]]. Issue #9 (May 1960) introduced [[Chondu the Mystic]] as an anthological-story character; he would be reintroduced as a supervillain in the 1970s.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix4/chonduthemystichm.htm|title= Chondu the Mystic|first= Jeff|last= Christiansen|date= November 17, 2006|publisher= The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130409051339/http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix4/chonduthemystichm.htm|archive-date= April 9, 2013|url-status= live|access-date= March 5, 2013}}</ref>

===Iron Man and the Watcher===
Issue #39 (March 1963) introduced the superhero [[Iron Man]], created by editor and plotter Lee, Lee’s brother scripter Lieber, and artists Heck and Jack Kirby.<ref>[[Tom DeFalco|DeFalco, Tom]] "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 91: "Set against the background of the Vietnam War, Iron Man signaled the end of Marvel's monster/suspense line when he debuted in ''Tales of Suspense'' #39...[Stan] Lee discussed the general outline for Iron Man with Larry Lieber, who later wrote a full script for the origin story. Don Heck...designed the new character."</ref> He starred in generally 13-page but occasionally 18-page adventures, with the rest of ''Tales of Suspense'' devoted to the anthological science fiction and fantasy stories the comic normally ran.

After debuting with bulky gray armor, Iron Man was redesigned with similar but golden armor in his second story (issue #40, April 1963). The first iteration of the modern, sleek red-and-golden armor appeared in #48 (Dec. 1963), drawn by Ditko (though whether he or Kirby, singly or in collaboration, designed it, is uncertain). From #53-58 (May-Oct. 1964), the cover logo was "Tales of Suspense featuring The Power of Iron Man". Two months before the debut of the sorcerer-hero [[Doctor Strange]], Lee, Kirby and scripter [[Robert Bernstein (comics)|Robert Bernstein]], under the [[pseudonym]] "R. Berns", introduced a same-name criminal scientist and [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]], Carl Strange. Making his sole appearance in the Iron Man story "The Stronghold of Dr. Strange" in ''Tales of Suspense'' #41 (May 1963), the character gained mental powers in a freak lightning strike.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/drstrng2.htm|title= Doctor Strange|first= Jeff|last= Christiansen|date= May 11, 2002|publisher= The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130304072554/http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/drstrng2.htm|archive-date= March 4, 2013|url-status= live|access-date= March 3, 2013}}</ref> The [[Mandarin (comics)|Mandarin]] debuted in issue #50 (Feb. 1964) and would become one of Iron Man's major enemies.<ref>DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 99: "Following the tradition of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu and Atlas' own Yellow Claw, the Mandarin first appeared in ''Tales of Suspense'' #50 in a story written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Don Heck."</ref> The [[Black Widow (Natalia Romanova)|Black Widow]] first appeared in #52 (April 1964)<ref>DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 100: "The Black Widow was a Russian spy assigned to capture American industrialist Tony Stark...Her story was plotted by Stan Lee, written by...Don Rico, and drawn by Don Heck."</ref> and [[Hawkeye (Clint Barton)|Hawkeye]] followed five issues later.<ref>DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 101: "A case of mistaken identity led the police to assume {Hawkeye] was part of [a criminal] gang. The Black Widow saved him from capture but also tricked him into fighting Iron Man"</ref>

The first Marvel superhero work by future company editor-in-chief [[Roy Thomas]] was his scripting the Iron Man story "My Life for Yours" in #73 (Jan. 1966), working from a plot by editor Lee as well as a plot assist from Marvel secretary-receptionist [[Flo Steinberg]].

From #49–58 (Jan.–Oct. 1964), one anthological story each issue acquired a [[framing sequence]] and ran as "Tales of the [[Uatu|Watcher]]," narrated by the namesake cosmic witness introduced in ''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|The Fantastic Four]]'' #13 <!--"The" used in FF title through issue #15--> and used as a [[Marvel Universe]] supporting character since. The final "Tales of the Watcher" story introduced veteran artist [[George Tuska]] as a Marvel regular. Four years later, Tuska would become one of Iron Man's signature artists.
[[Image:TalesOfSuspense58.jpg|thumb|left|''Tales of Suspense'' #58 (Oct. 1964). Cover art by [[Jack Kirby]] and [[Chic Stone]].]]

===Captain America===
Beginning with issue #59 (Nov. 1964), Iron Man began sharing the now "split book" with [[Captain America]], who had guest-starred in the Iron Man feature the previous issue.<ref>DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 103</ref> [[Jack Kirby]], Captain America's co-creator during the 1940s [[Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age of comic books]], had drawn the character as part of the superhero team the [[Avengers (comics)|Avengers]] earlier that year, and was now illustrating his hero's solo adventures for the first time since 1941.<ref>{{cite book|last = Daniels|first = Les|author-link = Les Daniels|title = Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics|publisher = [[Abrams Books|Harry N. Abrams]]|year = 1991|location= New York, New York|page = 120|isbn = 9780810938212|quote= Jack Kirby threw himself enthusiastically into Cap's new adventures, including an action-packed series of stories that flashed back to World War II.}}</ref> Issue #63 (March 1965), in which editor-scripter [[Stan Lee]] retold Captain America's origin, through #71 (Nov. 1965) featured period stories set during [[World War II]], and co-starred Captain America's Golden Age sidekick, [[Bucky Barnes|James Buchanan Barnes]] aka [[Bucky (Marvel Comics)|Bucky]]. [[Sharon Carter]] was introduced in issue #75 (March 1966) and later became a love interest for Captain America.<ref>DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 115: "Sharon Carter became an agent of SHIELD...Code-named Agent 13, she specialized in undercover work. She and Captain America were often paired together and eventually fell in love"</ref> The [[Red Skull]], Captain America's major nemesis in the World War II era, was revived in the present day in issue #79 (July 1966).<ref>DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 116: "Stan Lee and Jack Kirby decided to resurrect the original Red Skull in this issue, after having featured him in Cap's recent World War II series in ''Tales of Suspense''."</ref> [[MODOK]] first appeared in #94 (Oct. 1967).<ref>DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 124: "MODOK, the 'Mental/Mobile/Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing' could use his brain to control or destroy anyone. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, MODOK was used as a guinea pig for a human/computer hybrid by the subversive organization called AIM."</ref>

Kirby drew all but two stories, for which [[Gil Kane]] and [[John Romita Sr.]] each filled-in. Several stories were finished by penciler-inker [[George Tuska]] over Kirby layouts, with one finished by Romita Sr. and another by penciler [[Dick Ayers]] and inker [[John Tartaglione]]. Kirby's regular inkers on the series were [[Frank Giacoia]] (as "Frank Ray") and [[Joe Sinnott]], though [[Don Heck]] and Golden Age Captain America artist [[Syd Shores]] inked one story each.

''Tales of Suspense'' became ''[[Captain America (comic book)|Captain America]]'' with #100 (April 1968).<ref>DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 128: "Hailing 1968 as the beginning of the 'Second Age of Marvel Comics,' and with more titles to play with, editor Stan Lee discarded his split books and gave more characters their own titles: ''Tales of Suspense'' #99 was followed by ''Captain America'' #100."</ref> Iron Man appeared in the one-shot ''[[Iron Man and Sub-Mariner]]'' #1 (April 1968), and then debuted in his own title with ''[[Iron Man (comic book)|Iron Man]]'' #1 (May 1968).

==Revival==
A ''Tales of Suspense'' [[one-shot (comics)|one-shot]] (Jan. 1995) which had a cover with a clear plastic overlay, featured Captain America and Iron Man in a single story written by [[James Robinson (writer)|James Robinson]] and drawn by [[Colin MacNeil]].<ref>{{gcdb series|id= 12130|title= ''Tales of Suspense'' one-shot}}</ref> Another one-shot, ''Tales of Suspense: Captain America and Iron Man Commemorative Edition'' (Feb. 2005) reprinted the previous month's ''Captain America'' vol. 5 #1 and ''Iron Man'' vol. 4 #1.<ref>{{gcdb series|id= 35914|title= ''Tales of Suspense: Captain America & Iron Man #1 Commemorative Edition''}}</ref>

==Collected editions==
* ''[[Marvel Masterworks]]: Atlas Era Tales of Suspense''
** Vol. 1 collects ''Tales of Suspense'' #1–10, 272 pages, October 2006, {{ISBN|978-0785123538}}
** Vol. 2 collects ''Tales of Suspense'' #11–20, 272 pages, June 2008, {{ISBN|978-0785129592}}
** Vol. 3 collects ''Tales of Suspense'' #21–31, 304 pages, August 2010, {{ISBN|978-0785141945}}
** Vol. 4 collects ''Tales of Suspense'' #32–48, 50-54, 304 pages, September 2012, {{ISBN|978-0785158677}}

===Iron Man===
* ''[[Marvel Fireside Books|Son of Origins of Marvel Comics]]'' includes Iron Man stories from ''Tales of Suspense'' #39 and 97, 249 pages, October 1975, [[Simon & Schuster]], {{ISBN|978-0671221669}}
* ''Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man''
** Vol. 1 collects Iron Man stories from ''Tales of Suspense'' #39–50, 197 pages, September 1992, {{ISBN|978-0785111863}}
** Vol. 2 collects Iron Man stories from ''Tales of Suspense'' #51–65, 240 pages, May 2005, {{ISBN|978-0785117711}} 
** Vol. 3 collects Iron Man stories from ''Tales of Suspense'' #66–83, 256 pages, August 2006, {{ISBN|978-0785120674}}
** Vol. 4 collects Iron Man stories from ''Tales of Suspense'' #84–99, 256 pages, April 2007, {{ISBN|978-0785126782}}
* ''[[Essential Marvel|Essential Iron Man]]'' 
** Vol. 1 collects Iron Man stories from ''Tales of Suspense'' #39–72, 512 pages, September 2000, {{ISBN|978-0785134640}} 
** Vol. 2 includes Iron Man stories from ''Tales of Suspense'' #73–99, 608 pages, November 2004, {{ISBN|978-0785114871}}
* ''Marvel's Greatest Superhero Battles'' includes Iron Man stories from ''Tales of Suspense'' #79–80, 253 pages, November 1978, Simon & Schuster, {{ISBN|978-0671243913}}

===Watcher===
* ''Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Rarities'': Vol. 1 collects Watcher stories from ''Tales of Suspense'' #49–58, 344 pages, August 2014, {{ISBN|978-0785188094}}

===Captain America===
* ''Marvel Masterworks: Captain America''
** Vol. 1 collects Captain America stories from ''Tales of Suspense'' #59–81, 272 pages, October 1990, {{ISBN|978-0785111764}}
** Vol. 2 collects Captain America stories from ''Tales of Suspense'' #82–99, 240 pages, June 2005, {{ISBN|978-0785117858}}
* ''Essential Captain America'' Vol. 1 collects Captain America stories from ''Tales of Suspense'' #59–99, 528 pages, March 2000, {{ISBN|978-1439500293}}
* ''Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty'' (1979) includes Captain America stories from ''Tales of Suspense'' #59, 63, 79–81 128 pages, October 1979, Simon & Schuster, {{ISBN|978-0671252328}}
* ''Bring on the Bad Guys: Origins of the Marvel Comics Villains'' includes Captain America stories from ''Tales of Suspense'' #66–68, 253 pages, October 1976, Simon & Schuster, {{ISBN|978-0671223557}}
* ''Marvel Epic''
** Vol. 1 ''Captain America Lives Again'' collects Captain America stories from ''Strange Tales'' #114, ''Avengers'' #4, ''Tales of Suspense'' #58–96, November 2014 {{ISBN|978-0785188360}}
** Vol. 2 ''The Coming of...the Falcon'' collects Captain America stories from ''Tales of Suspense'' #97–99, ''Captain America'' #100–119 and material from ''Not Brand Echh'' #3, 12, September 2016 {{ISBN|978-1302900076}}

==In other media==
*An episode of ''[[The Super Hero Squad Show]]'' shares the same name along with the title card being a homage to Tales of Suspense #39 and the bank teller's exclamation "Iron Man! He lives! He walks! He conquers!" referencing the text on the cover itself
*In "[[The Lady in the Lake (Agent Carter)|The Lady in the Lake]]", the premiere episode of the [[Agent Carter season 2|second season]] of ''[[Agent Carter (TV series)|Agent Carter]]'', [[Madame Masque|Whitney Frost]] appears in the movie ''Tales of Suspense'' which is a reference to the comic book series where the character first appeared.<ref>{{cite episode|title= The Lady in the Lake|episode-link = The Lady in the Lake (Agent Carter)|series= Agent Carter|series-link= Agent Carter season 2|credits= Englestein, Brant (writer); [[Lawrence Trilling|Trilling, Lawrence]] (director)|network= [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]|air-date = January 19, 2016|season= 2|number= 1}}</ref>

==See also==
*''[[Amazing Adventures]]''
*''[[Journey into Mystery]]''
*''[[Strange Tales]]''
*''[[Strange World (TV series)|Strange Worlds]]''
*''[[World of Fantasy]]''
*''[[Tales to Astonish]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{comicbookdb|type=title|id=807|title=''Tales of Suspense''}}
* [http://www.maelmill-insi.de/UHBMCC/talesusp.htm#S594 ''Tales of Suspense''] at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators

{{Captain America}}
{{Jack Kirby}}
{{Steve Ditko}}

[[Category:1959 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1968 comics endings]]
[[Category:Atlas Comics titles]]
[[Category:Captain America titles]]
[[Category:Comics anthologies]]
[[Category:Comics by Archie Goodwin (comics)]]
[[Category:Comics by Jack Kirby]]
[[Category:Comics by Roy Thomas]]
[[Category:Comics by Stan Lee]]
[[Category:Comics by Steve Ditko]]
[[Category:Defunct American comics]]
[[Category:Fantasy comics]]
[[Category:Iron Man titles]]
[[Category:Marvel Comics one-shots]]
[[Category:Marvel Comics titles]]
[[Category:Science fiction comics]]