Iron Man

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Iron Man
Cover of Iron Man Vol. 4, Issue #6. Art by Adi Granov.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963)
Created by	Stan Lee Larry Lieber Don Heck Jack Kirby
In story information
Alter ego	Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark
Team affiliations	Stark Industries Avengers Mighty Avengers New Avengers West Coast Avengers Illuminati S.H.I.E.L.D. Department of Defense
Notable aliases	Iron Knight, The Golden Avenger, Shellhead
Abilities	Genius-level intellect Extensive monetary resources Cyberpathic link with powerful armored suit When using armored suit: Super-strength Energy blasts and regenerative life support Missile attacks, durability and flight at mach 2

Iron Man is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963), and was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. Anthony "Tony" Edward Stark, after suffering a severe heart injury and being kidnapped, was forced to build a devastating weapon. He instead created a suit of power armor to save his life and help protect the world as the superhero Iron Man. He is a wealthy industrialist and genius inventor (MIT alum) who created military weapons and whose metal suit is laden with technological devices that enable him to fight crime.

In the character's original incarnation, Iron Man was a vehicle for Stan Lee to explore Cold War themes, particularly the role of American technology and business in the fight against communism. Subsequent re-imaginings of Iron Man have gradually removed the Cold War themes, replacing them with more contemporary concerns such as corporate crime and terrorism.

Throughout most of his comics career, Iron Man has been a member of the superhero team the Avengers and has been featured in several incarnations of his own various comic book series. The character has been adapted for several animated TV shows, as well as for the 2008 live action film Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark.

Contents 1 Premiere 2 Thematic origins 3 Fictional character biography 3.1 Origins 3.2 Late 1980s and 1990s 3.3 2000s 4 Powers and abilities 4.1 Armor 4.2 Powers 4.3 Skills 5 Enemies 6 Other versions 7 In other media 8 Cultural impact 9 Bibliography 9.1 List of Iron Man titles 10 See also 11 Footnotes 12 References 13 External links

[edit] Premiere

Iron Man's premiere was a collaboration among editor and story-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, story-artist Don Heck, and Jack Kirby. In 1963, Lee had been toying with the idea of a businessman superhero.^[1] He set out to make the new character a rich, glamorous ladies' man, but one with a secret that would plague and torment him as well.^[2] Lee based this playboy's personality on Howard Hughes,^[3] explaining, "Howard Hughes was one of the most colorful men of our time. He was an inventor, an adventurer, a multi-billionaire, a ladies' man and finally a nutcase".^[4] While Lee intended to write the story himself, he eventually handed the premier issue over to Lieber, who fleshed out the story.^[2] The art, meanwhile, was split between Kirby and Heck. "He designed the costume", Heck said of Kirby, "because he was doing the cover. The covers were always done first. But I created the look of the characters, like Tony Stark and his secretary Pepper Potts".^{[3] [5]}

Iron Man first appeared in 13- to 18-page stories in Tales of Suspense, which featured anthology science fiction and supernatural stories. The character's original costume was a bulky grey armor, which later turned golden in his second story (issue #40, April 1963), and then redesigned again as a sleeker red-and-golden armor starting in issue #48 (Dec. 1963), drawn by Steve Ditko. In his premiere, Iron Man was an anti-communist hero, defeating various Vietnamese agents; Lee later regretted this early focus.^[1][6] Throughout the character’s comic book series, technological advancement and national defense were constant themes for Iron Man, but later issues developed Stark into a more complex and vulnerable character as they depicted his battle with alcoholism and other personal difficulties.

From issue #59 (Nov. 1964) to its final issue #99 (March 1968), the anthological science-fiction backup stories in Tales of Suspense were replaced by a feature starring the superhero Captain America. After issue #99 (March 1968), the book's title was changed to Captain America. Iron Man stories moved to the title Iron Man and Sub-Mariner in April 1968, before the "Golden Avenger"^[7] made his solo debut with The Invincible Iron Man #1 (May 1968).

Writers have updated the war in which Stark is injured. In the original 1963 story, it was Vietnam. Later, in the 1990s, it was updated to be the first Gulf War,^[8] and then updated again to be Afghanistan. However, his time with the Asian scientist Yin Sen is consistent through nearly all incarnations of the Iron Man origin, depicting Stark and Yin Sen building the original armor together. One exception is the direct-to-DVD animated feature film The Invincible Iron Man, in which the first armor Stark uses is not the first Iron Man suit.

[edit] Thematic origins

Like other Stan Lee creations in the early years of Marvel Comics, such as The Fantastic Four and The Incredible Hulk, the Iron Man story, in its original manifestations, was an exploration of Cold War themes. Where The Fantastic Four and The Incredible Hulk focused on the American domestic and government/bureaucratic responses to Cold War pressures, respectively, Iron Man looked to industry's role in the struggle against communism. Tony Stark's real-life model Howard Hughes was an archetype of American individualism as well as a significant defense contractor who helped develop new weapons technologies.^[9]

Tony Stark/Iron Man's reliance on technology and intelligence, rather than the chance transformations of many other superheroes, reinforced the American faith in technological solutions to the military, political and ideological problems of the Cold War. Stark is an idealized portrait of the American inventor. By the 1960s, military weapons development was firmly in the realm of Big Science, with little role for the lone inventor. Issues of autonomy and government intervention in research and questions of loyalty—which real-life American physicists and engineers were also facing, if less dramatically—are prominent themes in early Iron Man storyline.^[9]

According to historian Robert Genter, Stark is emasculated by his loss of autonomy as an inventor—a blow to his manhood symbolized by his chest wound—and "Iron Man centers on Stark's inability to reconcile with this wound to his masculinity."^[9] Stan Lee used the playboy side of Stark to restore the character's sense of masculinity. Stark conquers women—either romantically or physically, and with female supervillains frequently both—and, writes Genter, "follows the lead of other cultural and literary figures such as Ian Fleming, Mickey Spillane, and Norman Mailer who made unregulated sexuality a form of authenticity."^[9]

[edit] Fictional character biography

This article or section describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. Please rewrite this article or section to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective.

[edit] Origins

Anthony Stark was born on Long Island, the son of Howard Stark, a wealthy industrialist and head of Stark Industries, and Maria Stark. Tony is a boy genius, entering MIT at the age of 15 to study electrical engineering, and graduating summa cum laude. After his parents' accidental deaths in a car crash, he inherits his father's company.

While observing the effects of his experimental technologies on the American war effort, Stark is injured by a booby trap and captured by the enemy, who then orders him to design weapons for them. However, Stark's injuries are dire and shrapnel in his chest threatens to pierce his heart. His fellow prisoner, Ho Yinsen, a physicist whose work Stark had greatly admired during college, constructs a magnetic chest plate to keep the shrapnel from reaching Stark's heart, keeping him alive. Stark uses the workshop to design and construct in secret a suit of powered armor. Stark uses the armor to escape, although Yinsen dies during the attempt. Stark takes revenge on his kidnappers, then heads back to rejoin the American forces. Along the way he meets a wounded American Marine Corps helicopter pilot, James "Rhodey" Rhodes.

Back home, Stark discovers the shrapnel lodged in his chest cannot be removed without killing him, and he is forced to wear the armor's chestplate beneath his clothes to act as a regulator for his heart. He must also recharge the chestplate every day or else risk the shrapnel killing him. The cover for Iron Man is that he is Stark's bodyguard and corporate mascot. To that end, Iron Man fights threats to his company, Communist opponents such as the Black Widow, the Crimson Dynamo and the Titanium Man as well as independent villains like the Mandarin. No one suspects Stark of being Iron Man as he cultivates an image as a rich playboy and industrialist. Two notable members of Stark's supporting cast at this point are his personal chauffeur Harold "Happy" Hogan and secretary Virginia "Pepper" Potts, to both of whom he eventually reveals his dual identity. Meanwhile, Jim Rhodes would find his own niche as Stark's personal pilot of extraordinary skill and daring. The comic took an anti-Communist stance in its early years, which was softened as opposition rose to the Vietnam War^[1][6]. This change evolved in a series of stories with Stark profoundly reconsidering his political opinions and the morality of manufacturing weapons for the military. Stark, however, often shows himself to be occasionally arrogant and willing to let the ends justify the means^[10][11]. This leads to personal conflicts with the people around him, both in his civilian and superhero identities. Stark uses his personal fortune not only to outfit his own armor but to develop weapons for S.H.I.E.L.D. and other technologies such as the Quinjets used by the Avengers, and the image inducers used by the X-Men.

Eventually, Stark's heart condition is discovered by the public and cured with an artificial heart transplant. However, Stark also develops a serious dependency on alcohol. The first time it becomes a problem is when Stark discovers that the national security agency S.H.I.E.L.D. has been buying a controlling interest in his company in order to ensure Stark's continued weapons development for them. At the same time, Stark's business rival Justin Hammer hires several supervillains to attack Stark. At one point, the Iron Man armor is even taken over and used to murder a diplomat. Although Iron Man is not immediately under suspicion, Stark is forced to hand the armor over to the authorities. Eventually Stark and Rhodes, who is now his personal pilot and confidant, track down and defeat those responsible, although Hammer would return to bedevil Stark again. With the support of his then-girlfriend, Bethany Cabe, his friends and his employees, Stark pulls through these crises and overcomes his dependency on alcohol.

Some time later, a ruthless rival, Obadiah Stane, manipulates Stark emotionally into a serious relapse. As a result, Stark loses control of Stark International, becomes a homeless alcoholic vagrant and gives up his armored identity to Rhodes, who becomes the new Iron Man for a lengthy period of time. Eventually, Stark recovers and joins a new startup, Circuits Maximus. Stark concentrates on new technological designs, including building a new set of armor as part of his recuperative therapy. Rhodes continues to act as Iron Man but steadily grows more aggressive and paranoid, due to the armor not being calibrated properly for his use. Eventually Rhodes goes on a rampage, and Stark has to don the prototype silver centurion suit to stop him. When Circuits Maximus comes under assault from Stane, Stark uses the completed next-generation silver centurian armor to confront Stane in personal combat. Stark's skill proves superior over Stane's unpracticed use of his own variant suit (known as the Iron Monger) and Stark regains his company when Stane commits suicide rather than be captured.

[edit] Late 1980s and 1990s

In an attempt to stop other people from misusing his designs, Stark goes about disabling other armored heroes and villains who are using suits based on the Iron Man technology, the designs of which were stolen by his enemy Spymaster. His quest to destroy all instances of the stolen technology severely hurts his reputation as Iron Man. After attacking and disabling a series of minor villains such as Stilt-Man, he attacks and defeats the government operative known as Stingray. The situation worsens when Stark realizes that Stingray's armor does not incorporate any of his designs. He publicly "fires" Iron Man while covertly pursuing his agenda. He uses the cover story of wanting to help disable the rogue Iron Man to infiltrate and disable the armor of the S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives known as the Mandroids, and disabling the armor of the Guardsmen, in the process allowing some of the villains that they guard to escape. This leads the United States government to declare Iron Man a danger and an outlaw. Iron Man then travels to Russia where he inadvertently causes the death of the Soviet Titanium Man during a fight. Returning to the U.S he faces an enemy commissioned by the government named Firepower. Unable to defeat him head on, Stark fakes Iron Man's demise, intending to retire the suit forever. When Firepower goes rogue, Stark creates a new suit, claiming that a new person is in the armor.

Stark's health continues to deteriorate, and he discovers the armor's cybernetic interface is causing irreversible damage to his nervous system. His condition is aggravated by a failed attempt on his life by a mentally unbalanced former lover which injures his spine, paralyzing him. Stark has a nerve chip implanted into his spine to regain his mobility. Still, Stark's nervous system continues its slide towards failure, and he constructs a "skin" made up of artificial nerve circuitry to assist it. Stark also begins to pilot a remote-controlled Iron Man armor, but when faced with the Masters of Silence, the telepresence suit proves inadequate. Stark then designs a more heavily armed version of the suit to wear, the "Variable Threat Response Battle Suit", which becomes known as the War Machine armor. Ultimately, the damage to his nervous system becomes too extensive. Faking his death, Stark places himself in suspended animation to heal as Rhodes takes over the running of Stark Enterprises and the mantle of Iron Man using the War Machine armor. Stark ultimately makes a full recovery by using a chip to reprogram himself and reassumes the Iron Man identity. When Rhodes learns that Stark has manipulated his friends by faking his own death, he becomes enraged and the two friends part ways, Rhodes continuing as War Machine in a solo career.

The story arc "The Crossing" reveals Iron Man as a traitor among the Avengers' ranks, due to years of manipulation by the time-traveling dictator Kang the Conqueror. Stark, as a sleeper agent in Kang's thrall, kills Marilla, the nanny of Crystal and Quicksilver's daughter Luna, as well as Rita DeMara, the female Yellowjacket, then an ally of the Avengers. (The miniseries Avengers Forever later retcons these events as the work of a disguised Immortus, not Kang, and that the mental control had gone back only a few months).

Needing help to defeat both Stark and the ostensible Kang, the team travels back in time to recruit a teenaged Tony Stark from an alternate timeline to assist them. The young Stark steals an Iron Man suit in order to aid the Avengers against his older self. The sight of his younger self shocks the older Stark enough for him to regain momentary control of his actions, and he sacrifices his life to stop Kang. The young Stark later builds his own suit to become the new Iron Man, and, remaining in the present day, gains legal control of "his" company.

During the battle with the creature called Onslaught, the teenaged Stark dies, along with many other superheroes. However, Franklin Richards preserves these "dead" heroes in the "Heroes Reborn" pocket universe, in which Tony Stark is once again an adult hero; Franklin recreates the heroes in the pocket universe in the forms he is most familiar with rather than what they are at the present. The reborn adult Stark, upon returning to the normal Marvel Universe, merges with the original Stark, who had died during "The Crossing," but was resurrected by Franklin Richards. This new Tony Stark possesses the memories of both the original and teenage Tony Starks, and thus considers himself to be essentially both of them. With the aid of the law firm Nelson & Murdock, he successfully regains his fortune and, with Stark Enterprises having been sold to the Fujikawa Corporation following Stark's death, sets up a new company, Stark Solutions. He also returns from the pocket universe with a restored and healthy heart. After the Avengers reform, Stark demands a hearing be convened to look into his actions just prior to the Onslaught incident. Cleared of wrongdoing, he rejoins the Avengers.

[edit] 2000s

At one point, Stark's armor itself becomes sentient, despite fail-safes to prevent its increasingly sophisticated computer systems from doing so. Initially, Stark welcomes this "living" armor, as it has improved tactical abilities, but soon the armor's behavior begins to grow more aggressive, and it even kills. Eventually, the armor reaches the point where it wants to join with Stark and eventually replace him. Stark finds he cannot defeat the armor, but in the final confrontation on a desert island, Stark suffers another heart attack. To save its creator's life, the armor gives up part of its components to give Stark a new, artificial heart, sacrificing its own existence. The new heart solves Stark's health problems, but it does not have an internal power supply, so Stark becomes once again dependent on periodic recharging. The sentient armor incident so disturbs Stark that he goes back to using an early model version of his armor for a while, lacking the sophistication of the sentient version and thus unlikely to result in a repeat of the same problem. He also dabbles with using liquid metal circuitry known as S.K.I.N. that will form itself into a protective shell around his body, but eventually returns to more conventional hard metal armors.

During this time, Stark engages in a romance with Rumiko Fujikawa, (first appearance in Iron Man vol. 3, #4), a wealthy heiress and daughter of the man who had taken over his company during the "Heroes Reborn" period. An intelligent and resourceful woman, she nonetheless begins the relationship in part to rebel against her stern father, who disapproves of Stark. Her relationship with Stark endures many highs and lows, including an infidelity with Stark's rival, Tiberius Stone, in part because the fun-loving Rumiko believes that Stark is too serious and dull. Their relationship ends with Rumiko's death at the hands of an Iron Man impostor in vol. 3, #87.

In Iron Man vol. 3, #55 (July 2002), Stark publicly reveals his dual identity as Iron Man, not realizing that by doing so, he has invalidated the agreements protecting his armor from government duplication (since those contracts state that the Iron Man armor would be used by an employee of Tony Stark, not by Stark himself). When he discovers that the United States military is again using his technology, Stark, rather than confront them as before, accepts a Presidential appointment as Secretary of Defense. In this way, he hopes to monitor and direct how his designs are used. He is forced to resign after launching into a tirade against the Latverian ambassador at the United Nations, being manipulated by the mentally imbalanced Scarlet Witch. Following this, the Scarlet Witch causes the destruction of the Avengers mansion and the death of several Avengers; Stark claims publicly that he will stand down as Iron Man. The "new" Iron Man remains Stark; however, the catastrophic events that preceded this, combined with Stark's assertion, convinces the public that Iron Man and Stark are now different people. Stark leaves the wreckage of Avengers Mansion as it is, and unveils Stark Tower, a state-of-the-art office building that becomes headquarters for the New Avengers team, of which he is a member.

The miniseries Iron Man: The Inevitable reintroduces the Ghost, the Living Laser and Spymaster. Presenting the change in status quo — the focus of Iron Man stories shifting from superhero-ism to political and industrial tales — as Iron Man having elevated himself to a new place in his life where he is "beyond" apprehending supervillains, the miniseries sees a resentful Spymaster conspire to drag Iron Man back to that plebeian level.

New Avengers: Illuminati #1 (June 2006) reveals that years before, in the wake of the Kree-Skrull War, Stark initiates a meeting at the palace of the Black Panther in Wakanda with Professor X, Mister Fantastic, Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, and Namor to form a clandestine, unnamed group (dubbed the "Illuminati" by Marvel) to devise strategy and policy regarding overarching menaces (Black Panther rejects membership and derides the other heroes for joining). Stark's original goal is to create a governing body for all superheroes in the world to answer to. However, the different beliefs and philosophies, besides the fact that many heroes choose to conceal their real identities, makes Stark's plan impractical. Despite this, the group agrees to share vital information.

Learning of the government's plans to instigate a Superhuman Registration Act that would force costumed, super-powered individuals to reveal their identities to the government and sign on as licensed agents, Iron Man at first seeks to defeat the proposal, even going to such lengths as to hire the Titanium Man to attack the hearing on the act as he testifies in order to manipulate opinion in his favor. However, at some point, Tony Stark's opinion of the Act changes, seeing it as a new means to achieve the goal that he had sought in forming the "Illuminati", and to tie the knots of friendship between ordinary humans and superheroes. He attempts to convince the other members of the clandestine group to support the new Act, stating that their input could prevent the Act from becoming too restrictive of superhuman activities, but all except Mr. Fantastic and Black Bolt reject the idea of registration. Stark becomes the figurehead of the Registration Act in the following Civil War storyline; Iron Man's forces and resistance led by Captain America clash in a climatic battle until Captain America, dismayed with the collateral damage and realizing his actions weren't bringing the end to the act any closer, stands down. Stark is then appointed the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D.^[12] He also revives the Avengers.

Shortly after the events of Civil War, Captain America is killed on the steps of the courthouse for his trial. Despite his fervent belief in the registration act, Tony Stark looks down on the body of Captain America stating that most of what he had done in the name of the law "wasn't worth it" stating later at Captain America's funeral that "it wasn't supposed to be this way".

After Tony Stark survives an encounter with Ultron taking over his body, he is confronted in the hospital by Spider-Woman, holding the corpse of a Skrull posing as Elektra. Becoming keenly aware of the upcoming invasion of the Skrulls, Tony gathers the Illuminati and reveals the corpse to them, declaring they're at war. After Black Bolt reveals himself as a Skrull and is killed by Namor, a squadron of Skrulls attack, forcing Tony to evacuate the other Illuminati members and destroy the area, killing all the Skrulls. Realizing they're incapable of trusting each other, the members all separate to form individual plans for the oncoming invasion.

Soon after, a "Venom virus" hits New York, causing New York citizens and superheroes to be covered in symbiotes. After the battle, Iron Man learns the virus came from Latveria and launches a full-scale assault on its monarch, Doctor Doom. During the battle, Doom, Iron Man, and the Sentry are transported through time via Doom's broken time platform. Doom and Stark form an alliance in an attempt to return to the proper time without being seen or causing any actions that could alter their future and try to find a way to get a hold of the time platform at the Fantastic Four's headquarters. Thanks to the Sentry's memory spell, which erased knowledge of his existence from the minds of the public, they are able to return to the present and later on capture Doom and send him to the Negative Zone prison. Soon after, all of Stark's technology was compromised by the Skrull empire as a part of their invasion causing Stark to rebuild his armor from scratch to fight back. Stark must also deal with the murderous yet genius Ezekiel Stane, son of Obadiah Stane.

While in the Savage Land with the Mighty Avengers, Iron Man's armor is compromised and he goes to the Mutate's base to build himself a new set of armor. While he is there, Spider-Woman shows up, praising Stark for his efforts and informing him that he is a Skrull sleeper agent named Kr'Ali. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen.^[13]

[edit] Powers and abilities

[edit] Armor

See also: Iron Man's armor

Iron Man possesses powered armor that gives him superhuman strength and durability, flight, and an array of weapons. The armor is invented and, with occasional short-term exceptions, worn by Stark. Other people who have assumed the Iron Man identity include long time partner and best friend James Rhodes, close associates Harold "Happy" Hogan, Eddie March, and (briefly) Michael O'Brien.

The weapons systems of the suit have evolved over the years, but Iron Man's standard offensive weapons have always been the repulsor rays that are fired from the palms of his gauntlets. Other weapons built into various incarnations of the armor include the uni-beam projector in its chest; pulse bolts that pick up kinetic energy, but not solar energy, along the way, so that they hit harder the farther they have to travel; an electromagnetic pulse generator and an energy shield. Other capabilities include generation of ultra-freon, creating and manipulating magnetic fields, sonic blasts and a holographic generator to create decoys.

In addition to the general-purpose model he wears, Stark has developed several specialized suits for space travel, deep-sea diving, stealth and other situations. Stark has modified suits like the Hulkbuster heavy armor, composed of add-ons to his so-called modular armor, designed to enhance its strength and durability to allow it to take on the Incredible Hulk. A later model designed for use against Thor is modeled on the Destroyer and uses a mystical power source. Stark also develops an electronics pack during the Armor Wars that, when attached to armors that use Stark technology, will burn out those components and render the suit useless. This pack is ineffective on later models, however.

[edit] Powers

For a time, due to an artificial nervous system installed after he suffered extensive damage to his nervous system, Stark had superhumanly acute sensory perceptions as well as extraordinary awareness of the physical processes within his own body. This is no longer a part of the character's powers.

After being critically injured during a battle with the Extremis-enhanced Mallen, Stark injects his nervous system with a modified techno-organic virus (the Extremis process) that not only saves his life, it gives him the ability to store the inner layers of the Iron Man armor in the hollows of his bones as well as control it through direct brain impulses. Stark can control the layer of the armor underneath his skin and make it emerge from numerous exit points around his limbs as a gold-colored neural interface under-sheath. While in this form, Stark has technopathic control of the armor and can suit up at any time, calling the larger components to him. Furthermore, the Extremis process has increased his body's recuperative and healing abilities. He is also able to connect remotely to external communications systems such as satellites, cellular phones, and computers throughout the world. Because the armor's operating system is now directly connected to Stark's nervous system, its response time has been significantly improved.

[edit] Skills

Stark is a genius who graduated with an advanced degree in physics and engineering at 21^[14] and further developed his knowledge ranging from Artificial Intelligence to Quantum Mechanics as time progressed.

In addition, Stark possesses great business and political acumen. On multiple occasions he reacquired control of his companies after losing them, and leading corporate takeovers.^[15]

Stark received hand to hand combat training from Happy Hogan (a professional Boxer), James Rhodes (a Marine) and Captain America himself.

[edit] Enemies

Main article: List of Iron Man enemies

[edit] Other versions

Main article: Alternate versions of Iron Man

In addition to his mainstream incarnation, Iron Man has been depicted in other fictional universes.

[edit] In other media

Main article: Iron Man in other media

Apart from comic books, Iron Man and War Machine both appear in Capcom's "Marvel vs." video games including Marvel Super Heroes, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. Most of their move sets include abilities originally shown in the comic book.

Iron Man is a playable character in the 1991 arcade game Captain America and the Avengers, Iron Man, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, as well as being featured as an unlockable character in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse and Tony Hawk's Underground. ^[16]

Iron Man appears regularly in Twisted Toyfare Theater, a photographic comic strip made using toys and Adobe Photoshop that appears monthly in the magazine ToyFare. He is depicted as constantly intoxicated and usually has a beer in hand. His drinking usually gets him in trouble. In one issue, he bet on a wrestling match between two versions of Spider-Man and lost Stark Industries to Boss Hogg. In another, he resolves to quit drinking after being given an ultimatum to sober up or be kicked out of the Avengers, until the Incredible Hulk brings over a bunch of Party of Five episodes. After Iron Man drinks until he passes out with his head in the refrigerator, the Hulk takes his suit to impersonate him at the Avengers meeting, but ends up at The Hall of Justice instead. Due to licensing issues with DC Comics, this was later changed to the X-Mansion when the comic was reprinted in a collected volume. One story involved him attempting to reinstate Prohibition after successfully going to rehab. However, in the end he reverts to his alcoholic state.

[edit] Cultural impact

The rapper Ghostface Killah, a member of Wu-Tang Clan, titled his 1996 debut solo album Ironman, and has since continued to use lyrics related to the Iron Man comics and samples from the animated TV shows on his records. He has also adopted the nickname Tony Starks (cq) as one of his numerous alter-egos.

Paul McCartney's song "Magneto and Titanium Man" was inspired by the X-Men's arch-nemesis and the original version of the Iron Man villain. Another Iron Man villain, the Crimson Dynamo, is mentioned in the lyrics to this song. The British band Razorlight mentions Tony Stark in a verse of their song, "Hang By, Hang By".

"Iron Man" is a song by the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. It was later retconned into the source of Iron Man's name, as it was a young Tony Stark's favorite song.^{[issue # needed]}An abridged version of the Sabbath song is played over the closing credits of the 2008 movie^[17], as well as several of its previews.

The character of Nathan Stark on the television show Eureka is inspired by Tony Stark.^[18]

Forbes has ranked Iron Man among the wealthiest fictional characters on their annual ranking.^[19] BusinessWeek has also ranked Iron Man as one of the top ten most intelligent fictional characters in American comics.^[20]

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] List of Iron Man titles

• Tales of Suspense #39-99 (March 1963 - March 1968)
• Iron Man and the Sub-Mariner (April 1968)
• Iron Man Vol. 1, #1-332 (May 1968 - Sept. 1996)
• Iron Man Annual #1-15 (1970-1994)
• Iron Man Annual '98-2001
• Giant-Size Iron Man (1975)
• Iron Man: Crash (1988)
• Iron Manual (1993)
• Iron Man 2020 (Aug. 1994)
• Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man (Feb. 1996)
• Iron Man Vol. 2, #1-13 (Nov. 1996 - Nov. 1997)
• Iron Man Vol. 3, #1-89 (Feb. 1998 - Dec. 2004)
• Iron Man: The Iron Age #1-2 (Aug.- Sept. 1998)
• Iron Man: Bad Blood #1-4 (Sept.- Dec. 2000)
• Iron Man Vol. 4, #1 -  (Jan. 2005 - Present) (this series was officially titled as The Invincible Iron Man for issues #17-28 in the comic's legal indicia; Retitled Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. from issue 15 onwards on covers only; the comic book would not officially be retitled until issue 29 (July 2008) in the comic's legal indicia).^[21]
• Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Annual #1 (Jan. 2008)
• Invincible Iron Man #1 - (July 2008 - Present)
• Ultimate Iron Man Vol. 1: #1-5 (Mar. 2005 - Dec. 2005)
• Ultimate Iron Man Vol. 2: #1-5 (Dec. 2007 - Apr. 2008)
• Iron Man: The Inevitable #1-6 (Feb. 2006 - July 2006)
• Iron Man: Hypervelocity #1-6 (March 2007 - Aug. 2007)
• Marvel Adventures: Iron Man #1- (May 2007- Present
• Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin #1-6 (Sep. 2007 - March 2008)
• Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas #1 - (May 2008 - Present)
• Iron Man: Legacy Of Doom #1 - (April 2008 - Present)

[edit] See also

• Futurism
• Iron Man (film)
• Transhumanism

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• Defalco, Tom (October 31, 2005). Avengers: The Ultimate Guide. DK CHILDREN. ISBN 0-756-61461-9.
• Marvel.com: Anthony Stark
• The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
• The Grand Comic-Book Database
• Marvel Animation Age: Iron Man: The Animated Series (1994-1995)
• Toymania: Iron Man Figure Archive
• The Iron Man Armory (fan site)
• Advanced Iron (fanzine)

[edit] External links

• Iron Man's Comic Appearances at ComicBookDB.com
• Iron Man Movie to Comic Armor comparison
• Comic-Covers.com: Iron Man
• Iron Man Blog
• All covers from the 1st series of Iron Man comics
• Official Become Tony Stark for a Weekend Contest Page
• Fabulous Life of Tony Stark Webisode
• MADE:Tony Stark Webisode

v • d • e Iron Man Creators Don Heck · Stan Lee · Larry Lieber · Jack Kirby Supporting characters Bethany Cabe · Guardsman · Rumiko Fujikawa · Happy Hogan · Edwin Jarvis · Pepper Potts · War Machine · Ho Yinsen Villains Blizzard · Blacklash · Controller · Crimson Dynamo · Dreadknight · Fin Fang Foom · Firebrand · Ghost · Iron Monger · Justin Hammer · Living Laser · Madame Masque · Mandarin · Melter · M.O.D.O.K. · Spymaster · Temugin · Titanium Man · Unicorn · Ultimo Storylines Armor Wars · Ultimate Iron Man In other media The Marvel Superheroes (television, 1966) · Iron Man (television, 1994) · Iron Man / X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal (video game, 1996) · The Invincible Iron Man (animated film, 2007) · Iron Man (live-action film, 2008) · Iron Man (video game, 2008) · Iron Man: Armored Adventures (television, 2009) Miscellanea Alternate versions of Iron Man · Arc reactor · Avengers Mansion · Iron Man and Sub-Mariner · Iron Man's armor · Roxxon · Stark Industries · Stark Tower