George Tuska

Onward & Upward to...Mediocrity? Does anyone remember that scene from “Dirty Dancing” where the dorky grandson of the resort owner tells Patrick Swayze that he wants to change things for the big dance during the final evening?  Remember how Patrick Swayze’s character is bursting forth with a multitude of ideas only to have this schmuck swat them all down, instead wanting only the most insignificant of revisions to their musical number? I bring that up because in my mind, I en

Since the Book's Not Called "The Invincible Guardsman", We Can Guess Who Bought the Farm At the offices of Marvel Comics in late 1971, a conversation between incoming Editor-In-Chief Roy Thomas and writer Gary Friedrich… “Hey Gary, I need to talk with you about your script for Iron Man #46.” ”Sure Roy, what’s up?” ”It’s that Kevin O’Brien/Guardsman character.  You end this issue by having Tony Stark promise to cure him of the insanity brought on by that armor.  And you show t

My First Issue of Iron Man Has Tony Stark Popping the Question! They say that every issue is a first issue for someone. For me, it was tumbling into a rather complicated mess of a story where new writer Gary Friedrich, attempts to remove the wreckage left from the previous one. It's a task that will require one more issue to complete. In the meantime, the drama is amped up with protesting students, board room shenanigans, best buddy betrayals and ... Tony Stark proposing

Please Tell Me That We've Hit Rock Bottom! Are you happy now, Marvel?  After several years of treating this series as an afterthought, assigning inexperienced writers with little editorial oversight, Iron Man has been reduced to bi-monthly status with rumors of impending cancellation rampant. As it is, our hero's story is a scant thirteen pages - an abbreviated length due to the previous plan to pair his adventures with Daredevil.  The remainder of the book consists of a sill

Twenty-Five Cents for Iron Man to Fight David Bowie’s Little Brother? Welcome to August 1971! A month where Marvel upped the price of their comics from 15 to 25 cents! That's an entire dime! But this extra cost came with additional pages of story and art! Uh, except for two titles. Daredevil and - you guessed it - Iron Man. Y'see Timmy, both books were struggling in the sales department, leading Marvel to consider combining into a single title. Fortunately, that didn't

Happy Valentines Day, Tony Stark! Did you know you're dating a Demon Queen? There are any number of "red flags" that guys should look out for in the beginning of a new relationship. You know, what's her response when you want to hang out with your buddies? Or what's her opinion of your music? And of course, is she trying to change you in some way. Then there's, does she become a Demon-Queen and seek your destruction? That's the "red flag" Tony Stark faces with his new gi