This one-off issue of Tales of Suspense honors the title in which Iron Man debuted in 1962 and in which Captain America had his first modern-age solo stories starting in 1964. They shared the title until 1968 when it changed to Captain America with issue #100 and Iron Man got his own shiny #1 (after a one-off split comic with Namor). Similar issues of Tales to Astonish, featuring Hank Pym, the Wasp, and the Hulk, and Strange Tales, featuring Dr. Strange, the Human Torch, and the Thing, were released around the same time with the same format; all three were collected here, albeit without the nifty clear mylar covers containing the logos, which when lifted up reveal the “virgin” covers underneath.
Appropriately, our heroes’ tale begins in a “split-screen” format, with the two heroes enjoying their own adventures simultaneously, eventually dovetailing into the same mission (with a little help from SHIELD).
Well, maybe “enjoying” is the wrong word.
I should mention that the timeframe of this story is ambiguous, taking place since late 1990 (after the fall of the Berlin Wall, mentioned by Nick Fury) but definitely before Cap’s current physical problems that were confirmed in Captain America #425. (The story does reference disagreements between our two heroes, but that hardly narrows it down much!)
We see Cap fighting Batroc and Tony taking on the Fixer, neither a significant threat…
…but giving us a chance to see our heroes in parallel action (with Cap in particular putting away his foe with élan, as Batroc might say).
After they’re done, our heroes indulge in a bit of reflection, Tony on his heart and his age, and Cap on the lack of his “old-fashioned” code of honor among the newest crop of heroes and his refusal to fall in line with them.
Each is called by a different Agent of SHIELD and informed about a terrorist faction of the former East German secret police called DANTE who have carried out several indiscriminate assassinations, taking out entire hotels or airplanes to hit their specific targets, and are now believed to be targeting a president (perhaps the American one). Dum Dum Dugan tells Tony they’re using a variant of his technology, while Nick tells Cap about an aspect of their work that is very familiar to him.
Cap recognizes the name, but don’t worry if you don’t: Emil is a new addition to the Marvel Universe.
Cap and Iron Man each pursues DANTE in his own way, unaware of their shared goal (which was intentional on Nick’s part, both to generate separate lines of attack and to avoid any brotherly infighting). But eventually they do run into each other, and the reunion is not exactly cordial.
Once they have a chance to talk, their dialogue is interwoven with contrasting internal monologue, a technique used to good effect later in Jeph Loeb’s writing on Superman/Batman, another case of longtime friends with contrasting approaches to what they do. While outwardly they make reference to past difficulties and put them aside, each man inwardly reflects on his impressions of the other, with Tony feeling inferior to the Living Legend of World War II and Cap envying Tony’s technological capacity for helping the world.
Cap’s thoughts turn to himself and his status as a “man out of time,” adding the fact that his moral standards are not shared by all of his younger colleagues to his admiration of Tony’s technological wizardry in light of his memories of the early 1940s. For his part, Tony feels he is a small man inside a metal shell, not comparable to Cap’s sheer heroism.
After Nick briefs both of them together on the impending threat on the U.S. president during a trade conference with representatives from Japan, they go to Washington. Tony sticks close to the Japanese delegation while Batman Cap keeps an eye out from above, lamenting how the U.S. capital has changed over the years.
After an explosion hits the building Cap is perched upon, he wakes up in the DANTE airship as their agents attack the city in Stark armor. Face-to-face with his captive, Emil Stein goes full Bond villain, explaining that—mwa ha ha—it was never the U.S. president he was after, but one of the Japanese delegates.
The assassin is named Beck—”yes, the Beck,” says Stein, as if he’s talking about him (or him)—and is powered by Sleeper and Stark technology. (He explains this in the midst of almost three pages of dialogue, during which I hope Cap got a rejuvenating nap.)
After Stein leaves (and, more important, shuts up), Cap decides he’s heard enough and decides to break free, relying on his silent resolve and strength.
Check out that final panel: might Cap smash?
If he does, it will be with some help from an exo-skeleton and weapons that he found in the DANTE airship before lighting a match and flying away.
He arrives in the field of battle just in time to save Tony, who defeated the DANTE agents by unleashing a computer virus that knocked out all of their armor (including his).
Cap hopes his new technological capabilities will allow him to defeat the enhanced assassin Beck…
…but it just limits his movement while still leaving him open to attack.
To add insult to injury, Beck quotes Ol’ Blue Eyes to Cap.
Bringing both heroes’ earlier concerns full circle, Cap realizes he has a better chance of defeating Beck with any technological help, at the same time that Tony realizes he doesn’t need his armor to defeat Stein. (“This story has been brought to you by the Luddites…”)
Despite their best efforts, Cap and Tony both watch as their foes die…
…and saying one word each, they regroup…
…and walk away, friends once again (for the time being).
ISSUE DETAILS
Tales of Suspense (vol. 2) #1, January 1995: James Robinson (writer), Colin MacNeil (art), Richard Starkings (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in: Captain America Epic Collection: Twilight’s Last Gleaming and Avengers: Tales to Astonish.
ALSO THIS MONTH: Captain America #435, Avengers #382 and Marvel Double Feature #382, and Namor the Sub-Mariner #58 (January 1995)
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 
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