I'm sick of being Iron Man! Sick of having to wear an electronic chest plate 24 hours a day! Sick of living on borrowed time... Never knowing which moment will be my last! 
Appearing in "The Uncanny Unicorn"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Stark Industries
- ⏴ Pepper Potts ⏵
- ⏴ Happy Hogan ⏵
- Unnamed employees
Antagonists:
- Unicorn ⏵ (First appearance) (Main story and flashback)
- Crimson Dynamo (Anton Vanko) (Only in flashback)
Other Characters:
- Avengers (Cameo)
- ⏴ Thor ⏵ (Cameo)
- ⏴ Giant-Man (Henry Pym) ⏵ (Cameo)
- ⏴ Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) ⏵ (Cameo)
- Pamela (First appearance)
- Unnamed Soviet agents
Locations:
- United States of America
- New York State
- New York City
- Long Island
- Queens
- Private estate at shore
- Unnamed hospital
- Long Island
- New York City
- New York State
- Soviet Union (Only in flashback)
Items:
- Iron Man Armor Model 2
- Iron Man's Briefcase
- Mjolnir (Cameo)
- Giant-Man's Suit
- Wasp's Suit
- Unicorn's Power Horn (First appearance) (Main story and flashback)
- Crimson Dynamo Armor Mark I (Only in flashback)
Synopsis for "The Uncanny Unicorn"
Lamenting about the state of his life, Iron Man trashes his lab in a fit of rage. He decides to stop being Iron Man and to spend what's left of his life focused on his millionaire playboy lifestyle. Tony starts arranging a date when the Avengers call Stark Industries looking for Iron Man to deal with a new threat that they were too busy to handle. However, Stark simply tells them that Iron Man was sent away for "a long vacation."
This threat was a new villain named the Unicorn, who attacked Stark Industries a moment after the Avengers had called. Meanwhile, Tony Stark is out on a date with a girl named Pamela. The Unicorn starts wreaking havoc on the plant, and in light of both Iron Man's and Stark's absence, Happy Hogan tries to fight off the villain. The villain proves to be a strong opponent, and beats Happy up. Pepper tries to call for help, but the Unicorn had ripped out the phone cables. Once he knocks out Happy, the Unicorn hears Pepper's scream, and kidnaps her, hoping that will lure Iron Man to him.
After the villain escapes, Happy is hospitalized. Tony Stark is notified of the events and leaves for the hospital, but Happy can't have visitors. Meanwhile, the Unicorn has taken Pepper to a private estate on the shore of Long Island, and tells her his origin.
The Unicorn had trained for years behind the Iron Curtain, mastering a costume with a power horn that had been built by the original Crimson Dynamo before his defection. The horn allows the Unicorn to repel objects with ease, project energy rays, and even shield himself from harm's way.
Back in Stark Industries, Tony Stark is scolding himself for having been so selfish. He suits up with his Iron Man armor and uses a black light add-on to track down the Unicorn's energy signature to his hideout. He crashes through the house's wall and confronts the Unicorn. Before the villain can activate his power horn, Iron Man dive-kicks him. But as soon as he recovers, the Unicorn strikes back with his bolt-ray. Using his own ray, Iron Man knocks out the Unicorn and flees with Pepper.
Iron Man doesn't suspect that the Unicorn has his own jet-assisted flight, and the criminal follows him to Stark Industries. Once the villain gets to the factory, he places a time-bomb with enough charge to blow up the entire plant. The Unicorn subsequently calls out Iron Man, and informs him of the bomb that will explode in fifteen minutes. The only way for Iron Man to prevent that would be to surrender himself, and let the Unicorn take him to the Soviet Union. Iron Man tries to find the bomb using his suit's sensors, but there's too much background noise to track it down. Tony decides that he can't jeopardize the lives of Pepper and the other employees, and surrenders with only sixty seconds left. The Unicorn recovers the explosive and disarms it.
Minutes later, they take off in the Unicorn's plane. When the Unicorn gloats that he has defeated Iron Man by making him keep a promise that he can't break, the Golden Avenger reminds him that his promise only involved surrendering and letting the Unicorn take him on a plane bound for his homeland. Whatever happened after that was not arranged. Iron Man starts tearing up the plane, causing it to plummet to the ground. Iron Man catches a glance of the three Soviet agents that jump from the plane, and wonders if the Unicorn had taken off and disguised himself as one of his assistants. The villain had instead escaped using his flight ability.
The next day, after the Soviet agents have been imprisoned, Tony arrives at Stark Industries and Pepper informs him that Happy is off the critical list. They visit him, and Pepper is particularly attentive toward Happy. Tony wonders whether she has grown fond of Happy, or if she's trying to make him jealous. Tony ultimately concludes that Pepper is better off with Happy, considering that he himself can't lead a normal life.
Appearing in "Pouf"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Pouf"
- Synopsis not yet written
Appearing in "The Watcher's Sacrifice"
Featured Characters:
Other Characters:
- Queen Kalthea (First appearance)
- Fantastic Four
Races and Species:
Locations:
Synopsis for "The Watcher's Sacrifice"
While the Watcher is watching a faraway planet split in two, he is distracted by a new crisis: a deadly battle in another galaxy. He observes the battle and notes the bravery and beauty of that location's queen, Kathlea. He instantly falls in love. As she is about to be killed, he appears and while he doesn't act, his mere appearance frightens away the opposing soldiers, and thus he is able to save the queen without breaking his vow never to interfere. The Queen feels the same way about the Watcher as he feels about her, but the Watcher is not allowed to partake in normal relationships, so he says some very hurtful things to the Queen, in order to make her hate him, reasoning that it would be better for her to feel hatred than to feel the unrequited love which he will feel forever. Ironically, the Human Torch is at that moment flipping through an old FF scrapbook and thinking that the Watcher must have it made.
Notes
Continuity Notes[]
- Iron Man last appeared in Journey Into Mystery #105; He appears next in Avengers #7.
- The Unicorn appears next in Fantastic Four Annual #3.
- Thor last appeared in Journey Into Mystery #106; He appears next in Avengers #7.
- Giant-Man and the Wasp last appeared in Tales to Astonish #58; They both appear next in Avengers #7.
Continuity Errors[]
The Uncanny Unicorn
- The Unicorn initially referred to the factory, inventions, employees, and secretary as Tony Stark's and then later (on pages 13-15) said that they are Iron Man's. This appeared to incorrectly imply that the Unicorn knew Iron Man's secret identity, when in fact he still believed the cover story that Iron Man is simply Tony Stark's bodyguard.
Publication Notes[]
- Iron Man story (Sequence I) is Job #X-716
- Sequence II is a one page text piece: "Pouf" (G-542). This concludes the story "The Atomizer" which began last issue: Tales of Suspense #55.
- Sequence III story is --"The Watcher"-- Job #X-714
