Tales of Suspense #42 (1963)

Communist agents think they've stolen an atom bomb from the United States government, but as they prepare to load their cargo on a ship, Iron Man bursts out of the container! The agents pull their guns and fire at Iron Man, who uses his transistors to magnetize a crane, attracting the guns and pulling the agents high into the air. Iron Man then helps a pair of FBI agents arrest the spies. Iron Man heads home to recharge his chest plate. Later that day, Anthony Stark demonstrates his new disintegrator ray to a group of military officers by vaporizing a tank, then a section of thick concrete wall. Elsewhere, in the Soviet Union, an overbearingly large man called the Red Barbarian feasts on a leg of lamb. He abuses his soldiers who make vague reports about Tony Stark and the new weapon he is working on. The Red Barbarian demands better information! After he chases them away with shots from his pistol, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev enters the room! For a moment, the Red Barbarian is shaken, but “Khrushchev" removes his disguise, revealing himself to be the Actor, a master of make-up and impersonation. The pair devises a plan to infiltrate Stark's laboratories, with the Actor disguised as Anthony Stark. The Actor arrives in the United States, disguised as a famous actor returning from a trip to Italy. He passes himself off in Washington DC as a Senator and sends a telegram to Tony Stark requesting an audience with him. The Actor then meets with a group of communist double-agents, all disguised as military officers and, disguised as Tony Stark, sets off for Stark's secret labs. While Stark is off on a wild-goose chase to attend the non-existent meeting with the US Senator, the Actor rummages through his private files, where he finds spare components of Iron Man's armor and deduces that Iron Man and Tony Stark must be one and the same! His Communist partners soon discover the plans for the disintegrator ray. The Actor soon departs for Russia with the plans, while his double agents remain behind to assassinate Tony Stark. As Tony Stark returns from the phony meeting, the double agents lay in wait. They ambush him, but his metal chest plate acts like a bullet-proof vest, causing their bullets to bounce off. Stark turns the lights out and quickly changes into his Iron Man armor, then easily dispatches his assailants. The agents squeal on the Actor’s plan, including the Red Barbarian’s involvement, telling Iron Man everything they know. Iron Man sets out to recover the disintegrator ray plans. He travels to the Soviet Union using an experimental rocket, arriving ahead of the Actor. Iron Man then ambushes the Actor outside of the airport, upturning his car and recovering the stolen disintegrator plans. He gags the Actor and leaves him behind. Iron Man arrives at the Red Barbarian's compound, walking proudly in with a briefcase and telling the Red Barbarian that he is really the Actor posing as Iron Man, and that the briefcase contains Stark’s plans for the disintegrator ray. However, he explains, the case has a four-hour time lock on it that cannot be opened setting off a mini A-bomb booby trap. Iron Man then excuses himself and says he will return in four hours to open the case. The Red Barbarian, excited about having the disintegrator plans delivered to him, lets him go. Iron Man returns to the site where he left the Actor and releases him, then flies to the nearest European country on the other side of the Iron Curtain. The Actor returns to the Red Barbarian’s headquarters and apologizes for letting Iron Man outwit him, and tells the Red Barbarian that he has learned some very valuable information for him (the identity of Iron Man!) The Red Barbarian, having no idea what the Actor is talking about, assumes he is trying to deceive him with his impersonations. He orders his men to shoot and kill the Actor, who is gunned down before he can reveal Iron Man's secret identity.