Tales of Suspense #43

July 1963
Writers: Stan Lee and R. Berns
Artist: Jack Kirby
Inker: Don Heck

Our story begins at one of Tony Stark's scientific research laboratories.  Something goes horribly wrong with an experimental wind tunnel.  Stark is quickly informed and Iron Man comes to the rescue.  After disaster is averted, Iron Man disappears and Stark arrives on the scene (quite the coincidence).  During the clean up efforts, one of the workers suddenly turns invisible and seemingly disintegrates.  A second man vanishes in a blast of light.  And finally, Stark himself is surrounded by a crystalline lattice and dragged down through the floor.

Stark and the others find themselves in a strange underground world.  Stark is greeted by Nala, Queen of the Netherworld.  She reveals that the first two abductions were accidents and that Stark was the true target.  Nala demands that Stark help them discover a way to transport their war machines to the surface world so that they may rule the entire planet.  He tries to dissuade her from her course of action by touting the feats of the Earth's very own champion: Iron Man!

However, she is undeterred.  Stark shocks the other men by deciding to help Nala.  All he needs is a laboratory and isolation.  Readers of Tales of Suspense #39 can probably figure out what Stark is going to do.  For the rest of you, Stark uses the lab to secretly build himself new Iron Man armor, which he then dons and uses to attack Nala's henchmen. 

Nala and her men turn their war machines on Iron Man, but one-by-one he defeats and dismantles the equipment.  Playing a hunch, Iron Man grabs Nala and blasts his way upwards to the surface.  Once there, Nala suddenly ages to an old woman, while Iron Man explains that the difference in "atmosphere" on the surface has caused the aging and that this would happen to all of the underworlders if they tried to attack the surface.  Iron Man returns the distraught Nala to her underworld palace (and she regains her youth almost immediately).

Nala tells her people that the planned invasion is planned no longer.  They will continue to live under the surface in the paradise that they have built.

I'm not sure what the moral of this story is, but I feel like there's one somewhere in here...

Next: Iron Man and Cleopatra???