COMIC DETAILS
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Comic Description:
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Tales of Suspense 53 Universal
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Grade:
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9.6
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Page Quality:
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WHITE
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Pedigree:
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Pacific Coast
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Certification #:
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3834117001
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Owner:
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Mississippi Mudcats
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SET DETAILS
Owner's Description
Issue #53 features the second appearance of the Black Widow.
In the story, Natasha who is still hiding in the US arranges a date with Tony, who seemingly falls for Natasha's charm, and shows her an anti-gravity device. After a little demonstration, Natasha uses a paralysing gas on Tony, and runs away with the anti-gravity machine. Tony suits up as Iron Man and goes looking for Black Widow.
After using the anti-gravity device to steal jewelry, Black Widow calls to Moscow and asks Khrushchev if she's forgiven. Khrushchev forgives her, and sends his men to track down Black Widow's call to help her. Meanwhile in Washington, a senator is interviewed by the press regarding the theft of Stark's invention, and he states Stark's behavior was borderline criminal negligence, generating negative press about Stark's loyalty to his country.
Back in his lab, Tony gives up on trying to recreate his invention and gets back to looking for the Black Widow. The villainess attacks Stark's factories, causing objects to float and destroy the facility. Iron Man returns to his plant and repairs the damage, but the Black Widow has already targeted another facility.
Later that night, the Black Widow is surprised by the arrival of three fellow agents who had been sent to help her. One of them is eager to try Stark's invention, and uses it on a car. The floating car catches Iron Man's attention, and he picks up the car and throws it at the origin of the anti-grav ray. He easily takes care of Black Widow's fellow agents, but she uses a reverse mechanism in the anti-grav ray to pin him down while she escapes, and then raises the building and lets it fall, crushing Iron Man beneath it. In the time it takes for Iron Man to escape from the rubble, Black Widow and her agents travel to Fort Knox.
She then uses the device to lift an entire mountain, and neutralize the tanks and army forces charging at her. Iron Man arrives and slows the descent of the tanks, before moving on to Black Widow. He uses a proton electronic charge that destroys the ray's output, rendering the anti-grav device useless. With the ray out of action, the mountain begins to fall, and Black Widow takes her chance to escape, while Iron Man rescues her fellow agents that were about to be crushed.
Minutes later, Iron Man debriefs two soldiers about the fate of the anti-grav ray, and the two military men thank him for "correcting" Tony Stark's "bumbling mistakes."
Our WP 9.6 comes from the legendary Pacific Coast Collection and is tied for second highest graded trailing a single 9.8. The Pacific Coast Collection is considered to be the greatest Silver Age collection to ever surface. It was brought to market by Robert Roter after he discovered portions of it for sale on eBay in 1999. The books were marketed through PCE over the next several years and contained over 7,000 comics and magazines that included Marvel, DC, and Gold Key among others, covering a time span between 1961 and 1977. Many of the highest graded Marvel and DC issues from the early '60s hail from this collection with exceptional page quality. The books do not exhibit any distinguishing markings.
We acquired the book from the 2/25/2021 CL Auction.
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