Marvel Comics Group · The Invincible Iron Man #3 · July 1968 · 12¢ · 36 pages
Grade: NM- 9.2
Cover by Gene Colan with inks by Frank Giacoia.
“The Fury of the Freak!” — penciled by Gene Colan, inked by Frank Giacoia, written by Archie Goodwin. Happy Hogan, Tony Stark's loyal chauffeur, has been exposed to a Enervator device originally designed to restore Tony's health, and the radiation warps him into the Freak: a massive, near-mindless brute with no memory of his former self. Tony has to contain the creature without revealing he's Iron Man and without letting Happy's condition become public — all while managing the usual tangle of keeping Pepper Potts out of danger and his heart condition out of the headlines. It's early Goodwin on the title, already threading character stakes through the action in a way the book hadn't fully managed before.
Colan's draftsmanship here is worth noting on its own terms. His Iron Man doesn't move like Kirby's figures — there's weight and torque to the armored body, a sense that the suit has mass. Giacoia's inks hold the shadows without muddying Colan's linework, and the result is some of the strongest visual storytelling in the early run.
The Freak would return — Happy Hogan's transformation recurs across the early run as one of the title's ongoing dramatic pressure points. Issue #3 is the setup, and Goodwin wastes none of it. This is three issues into Iron Man's first proper solo series, launched in May 1968 after years of Tales of Suspense. High-grade copies from this window are legitimately difficult to find; the book was a newsstand title, not specialty-distributed, and most surviving copies took damage accordingly.
Condition NM- 9.2 — .
We use what the scientists are calling artificial intelligence to research and write our descriptions — it gives us more time to add books to our website and provide you with a wider array of inventory. We think Klaatu would approve. Details are verified but the robot does slip up. We're not infallible. Every book is graded by a human collector who has actually held it. If anything ever looks off, reach on out at robopictocomics@gmail.com.
Marvel Comics Group · The Invincible Iron Man #3 · July 1968 · 12¢ · 36 pages
Grade: NM- 9.2
Cover by Gene Colan with inks by Frank Giacoia.
“The Fury of the Freak!” — penciled by Gene Colan, inked by Frank Giacoia, written by Archie Goodwin. Happy Hogan, Tony Stark's loyal chauffeur, has been exposed to a Enervator device originally designed to restore Tony's health, and the radiation warps him into the Freak: a massive, near-mindless brute with no memory of his former self. Tony has to contain the creature without revealing he's Iron Man and without letting Happy's condition become public — all while managing the usual tangle of keeping Pepper Potts out of danger and his heart condition out of the headlines. It's early Goodwin on the title, already threading character stakes through the action in a way the book hadn't fully managed before.
Colan's draftsmanship here is worth noting on its own terms. His Iron Man doesn't move like Kirby's figures — there's weight and torque to the armored body, a sense that the suit has mass. Giacoia's inks hold the shadows without muddying Colan's linework, and the result is some of the strongest visual storytelling in the early run.
The Freak would return — Happy Hogan's transformation recurs across the early run as one of the title's ongoing dramatic pressure points. Issue #3 is the setup, and Goodwin wastes none of it. This is three issues into Iron Man's first proper solo series, launched in May 1968 after years of Tales of Suspense. High-grade copies from this window are legitimately difficult to find; the book was a newsstand title, not specialty-distributed, and most surviving copies took damage accordingly.
Condition NM- 9.2 — .
We use what the scientists are calling artificial intelligence to research and write our descriptions — it gives us more time to add books to our website and provide you with a wider array of inventory. We think Klaatu would approve. Details are verified but the robot does slip up. We're not infallible. Every book is graded by a human collector who has actually held it. If anything ever looks off, reach on out at robopictocomics@gmail.com.
