In these early issues, Stan tries hard to make the arrogant Tony Stark also be a nice guy. Like when another executive tries to bully Happy Hogan and Tony sticks up for him.
But of course that’s not the reason this is an important issue. This is:
Iron Man finally gets his first “iconic” villain, and Marvel offers its first major Asian villain, when Tony is asked by the military to investigate a rising foreign threat.
It’s too bad the character is from China and named Mandarin, but at least he’s cooler than Green Lantern. Mandarin has not one but four rings, each with a different magical power. Pretty neat idea.
But, yeah, the karate chop below is a bit much.
He’s apparently better at karate than Shang Chi.
It’s just a short story. There’s an old reprint and a Tales of the Watcher sharing space in this book.
P.S.: Mandarin was not this guy:
