''Iron Man and Sub-Mariner'' is a

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

in 1968. It is notable for being the first Marvel title to be intentionally published for only one issue, as it existed to use up two half-length stories left over after Marvel began its expansion and the characters were to be given their own solo titles. ''Iron Man and Sub-Mariner'' does not feature a team-up of the title characters, nor a complete story for either. The

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...

tale is continued from ''

Tales of Suspense ''Tales of Suspense'' is the name of an American comic book anthology series and two one-shot comics published by Marvel Comics. The first, which ran from 1959 to 1968, began as a science-fiction anthology that served as a showcase for such arti ...

'' #99 (

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

d March 1968) and continues in ''Iron Man'' #1 (May 1968). The Sub-Mariner story continues from ''

Tales to Astonish ''Tales to Astonish'' is the name of two American comic book series and a One-shot (comics), one-shot comic published by Marvel Comics. The primary title bearing that name was published from January 1959 to March 1968. It began as a science-fic ...

'' #101 (March 1968), and continues in ''Sub-Mariner'' #1 (May 1968). The cover-logo

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...

uses "and" while the

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

ed title noted in the postal indicia uses an ampersand. The stories were: an 11-page Iron Man tale, "The Torrent Without, The Tumult Within", written by Archie Goodwin, with art by

penciler A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...

Gene Colan Eugene Jules Colan (; September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011)Eugene Colan
at the Social Security Death Index via ...

and

inker The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. The penciller creates a drawing, the inker outlines, interprets, finalizes, retraces this drawing by using a pencil ...

Johnny Craig John Thomas Alexis Craig (April 25, 1926 – September 13, 2001),John T. Craig
at the ...

, a former

EC Comics Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-195 ...

mainstay; and an 11-page Sub-Mariner story, "Call Him Destiny, or Call Him Death", written by

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...

, with art by Colan and inker

Frank Giacoia Frank Giacoia (July 6, 1924 – February 4, 1988) was an American comics artist known primarily as an inker. He sometimes worked under the name Frank Ray, and to a lesser extent Phil Zupa, and the single moniker Espoia, the latter used for collab ...

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

was the editor for both stories. The latter tale retold the Sub-Mariner's origin and introduced the

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are oft ...

Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

.''Iron Man & Sub-Mariner'' #1
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

At least one previous Marvel title had lasted only one issue, though unintentionally. ''

Red Raven Comics ''Red Raven Comics'' was a title of Timely Comics (the predecessor of Marvel Comics). Only a single issue was published, cover-dated August 1940. It was replaced by the title ''The Human Torch'', which began with issue #2 (Fall 1940), continuing t ...

'' #1 (Aug. 1940), from Marvel predecessor company

Timely Comics Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...

, became ''

The Human Torch The Human Torch (Jonathan "Johnny" Storm) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He is writer Stan Lee's and artist Jack Kirby's reinvention of a si ...

'' with issue #2, dropping all features from the debut issue. The

notes of the first and only issue, "No blurbs at the end of the stories in this issue indicate that there will be a ''Red Raven Comics'' #2. Instead they all advertise either ''

Marvel Mystery Comics ''Marvel Mystery Comics'' (first issue titled simply ''Marvel Comics'') is an American comic book series published during the 1930s–1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books. It was the first publication of Mar ...

'' or in one case ''

Mystic Comics ''Mystic Comics'' is the name of three comic book series published by the company that eventually became Marvel Comics. The first two series were superhero anthologies published by Marvel's 1930-1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, during what fans an ...

'', suggesting that perhaps ''Red Raven Comics'' was cancelled even before it went to press."''Red Raven Comics'' #1
at the Grand Comics Database

Reprints

''Iron Man & Sub-Mariner'' #1 has been reprinted in two ''

Essential Marvel ''Essential Marvel'' was a Line (comics), line published by Marvel Comics from 1996 - 2013 that reprints vintage comic book material in paperback format. Each black-and-white volume reprints approximately 20-30 issues of a classic Marvel title (mos ...

'' collections, ''Iron Man'' vol. 2 (2004, ) and ''Sub-Mariner'' vol. 1 (2009, ).

References

1968 comics debuts Comics by Archie Goodwin (comics) Comics by Roy Thomas Defunct American comics Iron Man titles Marvel Comics one-shots {{Marvel-title-stub