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119-539: The first volume, published between 2005 and 2006, was a five-part miniseries depicting the early life and origins of Tony Stark , and was drawn by Andy Kubert . The second volume is also a five-part miniseries and had its first issue released on December 12, 2007. This volume follows directly on from the first series and depicts the early uses of the Iron Man armour, art by Pasqual Ferry and Dave McCaig . Mark Millar 's Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates retconned

238-492: A futurist . Marvel restarted Iron Man's comic book run with Invincible Iron Man in 2008, written by Matt Fraction and drawn by Salvador Larroca . This series launched around the same time as the film Iron Man premiered, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe developed while this run was in publication. The Iron Man series reverted to the original numbering in 2011, when the overall 500th issue

357-399: A March 1963 cover date . Though the Iron Man armor was gray in its first appearance, Marvel changed it to gold because of issues with printing. Lee initially delegated the writing duties to other creators at Marvel, but he felt their work was substandard; as with his other characters, Lee reclaimed control of Iron Man so he could write the stories himself. Once Marvel's distributor allowed

476-460: A battle with Diablo , after which the team received a new Baxter Building, courtesy of Reed's former professor Noah Baxter. This Baxter Building was constructed in Earth's orbit and teleported into the vacant lot formerly occupied by the original Baxter Building and Four Freedoms Plaza. The current Baxter Building's ground floor is used as a Fantastic Four gift shop and museum open to the public. In

595-579: A bid to murder the Fantastic Four. It was replaced by Four Freedoms Plaza , built upon the same site. After the Fantastic Four and other costumed heroes were presumed dead in the wake of their battle with Onslaught , Four Freedoms Plaza was stripped clean of all the FF's equipment by Vernard and Reed Richards' father Nathaniel , who sent it into the Negative Zone to keep it out of the hands of

714-417: A broader trend by Marvel Comics to substitute its main characters with a diverse cast of original characters in the 2010s, Iron Man was temporarily replaced by Ironheart , a teenaged African-American girl who reverse-engineered the Iron Man armor, in 2016. At the same time, the series Infamous Iron Man began publication with Dr. Doom as Iron Man. The series Tony Stark: Iron Man premiered in 2018 with

833-478: A businessman, Iron Man stories often invoke themes of economic competition , seeing him face characters who try to develop better versions of the Iron Man armor. Many of Iron Man's challenges involve corrupt business rivals and corporate espionage . Technology and its influence on society are common themes in Iron Man stories, and various writers have portrayed him as a technological marvel since his earliest appearances. The character's use of technology, both as

952-463: A car crash. Developing equipment for the U.S. military, he travels to a war zone to conduct a weapons test when he triggers a booby trap. His heart is critically injured by shrapnel, and he is captured by the communist Wong-Chu , who demands Stark build him a weapon. Stark instead builds a suit of armor that sustains his heart, becoming Iron Man. The war zone Stark visited was changed retroactively multiple times by different writers to correspond with

1071-588: A clean slate for new story arcs in a traditional superhero setting. The character was relaunched again in 2022 with Invincible Iron Man , written by Gerry Duggan and illustrated by Juan Frigeri . A new volume was launched in October 2024, written by Spencer Ackerman and illustrated by Julius Ohta . Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark was born in Long Island, New York . As a child, he inherited his family's business, Stark Industries when his parents were killed in

1190-452: A cliff, but Iron Man catches him as terrorists arrive on the scene. Iron Man flees, but follows them as they take Obadiah to Loni, and their hideout. Iron Man breaks into the compound and Loni floods it with poison gas trying to kill him, abandoning Obadiah. Iron Man saves Obadiah, but Howard and Nifara are taken captive by Loni. After killing Nifara and the guards, (she wants no witnesses) Loni confesses that all she has ever wanted from life

1309-628: A founding member of the New Avengers . Iron Man volume four began in 2005, with Warren Ellis as the writer and Adi Granov as the artist. Its first story arc, " Extremis ", saw Iron Man upgrade his body directly through the Extremis virus, giving him direct control over a biological armor. The volume's first 14 issues carried the Iron Man title, while issues #15–32 (2007–2008) were titled Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Iron Man led

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1428-618: A founding member of the superhero team, the Avengers , alongside Thor , Ant-Man , the Wasp , and the Hulk . Iron Man stories, individually and with the Avengers, have been published consistently since the character's creation. Iron Man is the superhero persona of Anthony Edward " Tony " Stark , a businessman and engineer who runs the weapons manufacturing company Stark Industries . When Stark

1547-525: A full-length dedicated series in 1968. Marvel combined the final issues of Tales of Suspense and the Sub-Mariner 's Tales to Astonish into a one-shot special, Iron Man and Sub-Mariner . Iron Man then began its run under writer Archie Goodwin . Goodwin reintroduced political themes slowly over the following years, with a focus on domestic issues like racial conflict and environmentalism rather than geopolitics. George Tuska started drawing

1666-663: A missile, ultimately killing Loki in the Midwest of America. The smashed remnants of the building still contain many secrets, which attract people from entirely other galaxies. Peter Quill hopes to use these secrets to save what is left of the galaxy. In the Spider-Verse storyline, The Baxter Building of Earth-802 is the main office of Jennix of the Inheritors and houses their cloning facility (which they use to resurrect themselves in case of death). The universe's version of

1785-607: A new reversed personality. A new Invincible Iron Man run written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by David Marquez began in 2015. A simultaneous Iron Man series, International Iron Man , ran for seven issues in 2016 under Marvel's All-New, All-Different Marvel branding, also by Bendis. This series was meant to ensure Iron Man's status as a major character as All-New, All-Different developed. A second Civil War event in 2016 portrayed Iron Man as an advocate of free will against Captain Marvel 's determinism . As part of

1904-431: A normal human due to his decentralized brain tissue and increase his chances of alcoholism. He later says that while he was intoxicated, it was the first time in his life he was not in chronic pain. After Howard's incarceration, Tony takes control of his father's company. It's at this point where two prototype variations of the suit are shown. One is roughly 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, designed for more practical testings, while

2023-409: A profit-sharing agreement. Lee and Liefeld were given charge of the " Heroes Reborn " branding that renumbered Marvel's long-running periodicals at issue #1. This new Iron Man series, labeled volume two, was set in an alternate universe created during the " Onslaught " event. It ran for 13 issues, written by Lee and Scott Lobdell and drawn by Whilce Portacio . The following year, Marvel introduced

2142-419: A run by Mike Friedrich , in which corporate reform of Stark Industries was a recurring subplot. Iron Man was one of several Marvel characters who declined in popularity during the 1970s, and the series went a period of time without a dedicated writer until Bill Mantlo took over in 1977. The following year, David Michelinie and Bob Layton took charge of the series, beginning with issue #116. While inking

2261-430: A separate bomb will go off, destroying the nuke and plane. War Machine goes to Dolores' mansion, only to find him dead. Someone booby trapped his piano, and it blew up in his face while he was playing. Tony flies the plane low enough to the water for Obadiah to jump off. He then gets his nanobots to disarm the nuke and set off the smaller bomb while he attempts to jump off the plane. They realize that another arms dealer

2380-535: A single being when he rewrites reality . Stark's company was bought out at this point, so he started a consulting firm, Stark Solutions. His secret identity is revealed to the public shortly afterwards. He is then appointed Secretary of Defense until the Scarlet Witch alters his mind, causing him to behave drunkenly at the United Nations and leave in disgrace. When Mallen becomes a threat through

2499-466: A space technology company, Stark Enterprises. When Iron Man learns Justin Hammer had acquired the Iron Man armor's technology, he seeks out all the other armors. The resulting fights leave Iron Man a fugitive, leading him to fake his death and then describe himself as a new Iron Man. When Iron Man is shot in the spine and paralyzed, he develops a new prosthesis that grants him mobility. This prosthesis

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2618-422: A suit that closely resembles a traditional Iron Man suit, with Rhodes and Nifara helping him develop it. Ultimate Iron Man #5 shows that shortly after Howard's arrest based on planted evidence (by Obadiah) at the gruesome murder of his enemy Zebediah Stane, Tony gets his first taste of champagne at a party held by his father. Tony was warned against alcohol by his father because it would affect his brain more than

2737-676: A superhero and as a civilian, engaging in courageous and selfless acts as Iron Man but morally ambiguous behavior as Stark. The character represents a traditional understanding of American masculinity as a businessman and a playboy, particularly as it was seen in the Cold War. This characterization also manifests in negative traits that were prominent in early Iron Man stories, including belligerence, negligence, and misogyny. Stark has several character flaws emerging from his impulsivity and arrogance, engaging in vices that include excessive drinking, partying, and womanizing. Iron Man's heart injury

2856-529: A technological component, giving this power to a man who created it himself in a transcendental fashion. Iron Man does not have any superhuman abilities. Instead, he derives his strength from a powered armor of his own design. The armor is equipped with various weapons, which include "repulsor rays" in each palm that project particle beams as well as a stronger "unibeam" on his chest. As of 2010, Marvel described Iron Man's armor as being able to lift 100 tons and to fly at Mach 8 . Marvel initially depicted

2975-429: A trap for their mutual enemy Feilong. We really thought about how we needed to give him a weakness. It wasn't hip to have him running out of energy and looking for a light socket every few pages, or having a heart attack every time Ultimo was fighting him. So we discussed it and we thought that we would give him the corporate man's disease [alcoholism]. Something that would always haunt him. Bob Layton Iron Man

3094-399: A weapons manufacturer and as Iron Man, explores problems that arise from progress and advancement, including misuse of technology and the implications of cybernetics . Iron Man's position within the suit allows for discussion regarding automation versus human oversight of technology, and it reflects the debate on how new technologies are incorporated into public and military use, including

3213-615: A wee bit more dramatic." Located at 42nd Street and Madison Avenue in New York City , it had been built in 1949 by the Leland Baxter Paper Company. Originally designed as a high-rise industrial site to accommodate pulp recycling machinery to serve the mid-Manhattan area, each floor height is 24 feet (7.3 m). The top five floors of the 35-story building were purchased outright by the Fantastic Four. The building's steel frame construction utilized

3332-430: Is a businessman and entrepreneur who seeks to innovate and improve his technology, both for society's benefit and his own. Iron Man is one of many Marvel heroes with a genius-level intellect, but his focus on societal application alongside hard science distinguishes him from other heroes. The character is a futurist, and he works to identify solutions for problems that have yet to emerge. This preemptive problem-solving

3451-441: Is also a leading character in the company-wide stories Civil War (2006–2007), Dark Reign (2008–2009), and Civil War II (2016). Additional superhero characters have emerged from Iron Man's supporting cast, including James Rhodes as War Machine and Riri Williams as Ironheart , as well as reformed villains, Natasha Romanova as Black Widow and Clint Barton as Hawkeye . Iron Man's list of enemies includes his archenemy ,

3570-507: Is developing a prototype power-armor. Not the most popular student at his school, he is constantly picked on and bullied. Seeing that he, also, is the victim of his classmates, Tony eventually befriends fellow student James Rhodes . Ultimate Iron Man #4 follows Tony Stark, shortly after befriending Rhodes, getting in a scuffle with bullies where they try to force Tony, feet first, into a lit furnace (having been lied to earlier that Tony would not be harmed by this action) that burns and destroys

3689-572: Is finally "free." Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee , developed by scripter Larry Lieber , and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby , the character first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39 in 1962 ( cover dated March 1963) and received his own title with Iron Man #1 in 1968. Shortly after his creation, Iron Man became

Ultimate Iron Man - Misplaced Pages Continue

3808-504: Is framed for murder. These stresses cause him to begin drinking, and he develops alcoholism . Though he gets sober, he relapses due to a plot orchestrated by his business rival Obadiah Stane . Iron Man briefly loses his company to Stane, passes the Iron Man mantle to his ally James Rhodes , and becomes homeless. After Stark recovers, Stane adopts an armored suit and becomes the Iron Monger before being defeated. Iron Man then founds

3927-508: Is hacked and controlled remotely, causing neurological damage that appears for a time to kill him. Rhodes temporarily becomes Stark's chosen successor as Iron Man. After returning, Immortus places Stark under his control and turns him evil. The Avengers bring an alternate Tony Stark from another reality to help defeat him. Iron Man is killed and the alternate Tony Stark becomes the new Iron Man, but Franklin Richards merges both versions into

4046-401: Is key to his heroism, unlike other heroes who use engineering to supplement superhuman abilities. This makes it more plausible that something like Iron Man could exist in the real world, as it is only technological advancement that separates Iron Man from reality. Iron Man's power of flight is especially significant in the technology's symbolism, as it associates traditional heroic imagery with

4165-452: Is that we felt we'd done everything with it that we'd set out to do." Through the 1980s, writers for Iron Man focused on the character's role as a businessman, reflecting the economic changes associated with Reaganomics , and many of his challenges involved threats to his company. Denny O'Neil was put in charge of Iron Man beginning with issue #158 (1982). His run explored Stark's psychology, having him relapse into alcoholism and suffer at

4284-437: Is unable to maintain romantic relationships despite his wealth and talents. Writer Dennis O'Neil described the Iron Man armor as "a psychological crutch preventing him from dealing with his own inner demons". He identifies with the Iron Man armor as an extension of himself, believing the image it presents is his own image, and he considers himself responsible any time someone uses the technology. Iron Man behaves differently as

4403-406: Is what I plan to do. Bill Mantlo , Iron Man #100 When Goodwin became Marvel's editor-in-chief, he assigned Gerry Conway as the writer for Iron Man . Conway was the first of several writers in a four-year effort to reform Iron Man, beginning in 1971, with stories that directly addressed the character's history as a weapons manufacturer. These stories were especially prominent during

4522-518: Is working with a man named Dolores, who is responsible for the terrorist attack on the Stark building. Dolores convinces him to try to murder Howard. Obadiah drugs a prison guard with a "hypnotizing" bio-drug, and the guard tries to kill Howard. He fails, though Howard gets shot in the process and is in ICU. Tony sends one of his "robots" to protect his father in the hospital. Tony goes to Obadiah's house in

4641-493: The Cold War . The character's role as a weapons manufacturer proved controversial, and Marvel moved away from geopolitics by the 1970s. Instead, the stories began exploring themes such as civil unrest, technological advancement, corporate espionage, alcoholism, and governmental authority. Major Iron Man stories include " Demon in a Bottle " (1979), " Armor Wars " (1987–1988), " Extremis " (2005), and " Iron Man 2020 " (2020). He

4760-487: The Fresh Start branding, written by Dan Slott and drawn by Valerio Schiti . In 2020, Iron Man was relaunched in a new series, written by Christopher Cantwell and illustrated by CAFU, following the " Iron Man 2020 " event. This series moved away from the developments and deviations made to Stark's character introduced over the previous years—including the more extravagant science fiction and soap opera plots—creating

4879-796: The Human Torch is the head of security. The Scarlet Spiders infiltrated the building and became the site of battle with Jennix in which Ben Reilly sacrificed his life to destroy the building ending the Inheritors' only working cloning facility. In the Ultimate Marvel universe, the Baxter Foundation is a US government think tank , where exceptionally gifted children are offered government positions to use their intelligence to serve their country. The government contacted Reed Richards because of his experiments in teleportation ; they had found small toy cars that he had sent into

Ultimate Iron Man - Misplaced Pages Continue

4998-631: The Mandarin , various supervillains of communist origin, and many of Stark's business rivals. Robert Downey Jr. portrayed Tony Stark in Iron Man (2008), the first film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe , and continued to portray the character until his final appearance in Avengers: Endgame (2019). Downey's portrayal popularized the character, elevating Iron Man into one of Marvel's most recognizable superheroes. Other adaptations of

5117-625: The N-Zone . At the Baxter Building, Reed meets Professor Franklin Storm ; Storm's two children, Susan and Johnny ; as well as Victor Van Damme ( Doctor Doom ). The building is overseen by General "Thunderbolt" Ross . Security duties are overseen by the soldier Willie Lumpkin . In this version, the Mole Man is originally Dr. Molekevic, a former employee of the Baxter Building. His service

5236-510: The Shi'ar Imperial Guard . Reed stated that even with the reinforced structure, it should not be possible otherwise.). The buffer-zone is the interface between the top five floors and the lower levels. It provides a rapid-disconnect between upper and lower segments of building. It contains an array of large oil-rams to dampen any oscillations between the five upper levels and the base of the building. The buffer-zone contains some support equipment for

5355-624: The Tiannamen Square Massacre in 1989. The absence of Cold War politics was not immediately replaced by another theme, and post-Cold War Iron Man stories often explored different ideas regarding technology for a short time before moving on. When terrorism became more prominent in the public mind, writers shifted Iron Man's symbolism from anti-communism to anti-terrorism. As part of a company-wide reorganization in 1996, Marvel's major characters, including Iron Man, were given to former Marvel writers Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld in

5474-474: The "Heroes Return" event to bring the characters back from the alternate universe, which again reset characters such as Iron Man to issue #1. Kurt Busiek became the writer for volume three while Sean Chen was the artist. When the Ultimate Marvel imprint was created with reimagined versions of Marvel's characters, an alternate Iron Man appeared in 2002 with the Ultimates , the imprint's adaptation of

5593-563: The Avengers. Marvel released a five-issue limited series, Ultimate Iron Man , featuring this character in 2005. Iron Man represented an attempt to define what a superhero was in the 21st century, following the September 11 attacks , implicitly likening the fear of terrorism to the fear of unregulated super-powered beings. In 2004, Iron Man was a major character in the Avengers Disassembled event and subsequently became

5712-424: The Baxter Building are completely airtight; all doors are airlocks. Complete environmental support (including atmosphere) is provided by the area between elevators 2, 3, and 4 on all floors. The building's steel-alloy framework is rigid enough to be stood on one corner and not collapse (It was suggested that the Baxter Building did not collapse under its own weight due to the use of tactile telekinesis by Gladiator of

5831-690: The Extremis project, Iron Man has Maya Hansen inject him with the Extremis virus, giving him a biological armor he can control with his mind. Iron Man serves as the Superhero Registration Act's enforcer upon its enactment, creating a schism between superheroes, with Iron Man leading proponents of registration against a group of resistors led by Captain America . After the conflict, Iron Man becomes head of S.H.I.E.L.D. The government dismantles S.H.I.E.L.D. after it fails to prevent an alien invasion , but Iron Man refuses to turn over

5950-437: The Fantastic Four is along strictly utilitarian lines, except for apartments and public areas. All aspects of the design are constantly being improved, including security. For example, windows are 2 ft (0.61 m) thick composites of various glasses and plastics which are mirrored on the outside. Solid, armored, exterior walls are also mirror-clad and are indistinguishable from transparent sections. The top five sections of

6069-399: The Iron Man armor and confronts him on setting up his father and sending him to prison. Obadiah says it was all Dolores' idea, and sets up a meeting with Dolores and Tony. Obadiah also figures out that the armor is not a robot, and that Tony is actually inside, a fact he shares with Dolores before he meets with Tony. Dolores and Tony make a deal. Dolores will give Tony the information about

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6188-456: The Starks so their biological son could be hidden from an alien threat. While fighting Red Skull , a spell cast by Victor von Doom and the Scarlet Witch temporarily inverts the personalities of several heroes. The new morally corrupt Iron Man protects himself from the counterspell and takes over San Francisco to augment the residents with Extremis. When a man is discovered who can see

6307-578: The United States and becomes a superhero, convincing the public Iron Man is Stark's bodyguard. When he is called to stop the Hulk and learns Loki is behind the Hulk's attack, he joins forces with the Hulk, Thor , Ant-Man , and the Wasp to defeat Loki, and they agree to form a superhero team, the Avengers. He also helps found the intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. , providing the organization with equipment. Iron Man then undergoes surgery to replace

6426-590: The United States military. Upon their return, the Fantastic Four could not move back into Four Freedoms Plaza, as it had been destroyed by the Thunderbolts , shortly after the revelation that they were actually the Avengers ' longtime foes, the Masters of Evil . Thus, the Fantastic Four moved into a retrofitted warehouse along the Hudson River which they named Pier 4. The warehouse was destroyed during

6545-451: The accident from the minute he was born was an extreme dermal sensitivity, making even the sensation of air on his skin feel like severe burns due to the overstimulation of neural cells in his skin. Howard Stark, a master inventor and owner and CEO of his own billion dollar tech company, used a newly invented liquid, biological armor to ease Tony's agony; a buffer allowing him to interact with the world normally, but one he would have to wear for

6664-470: The actor Errol Flynn 's physical appearance in the design. When first designing the character, Lee wanted to create a modernized Arthurian knight . Kirby initially drew the Iron Man armor as a "round and clunky gray heap", and Heck modified the design to incorporate gadgets such as jets, drills, and suction cups. The Iron Man character was created at a time when comic book characters were first depicted struggling with real-life problems, and his heart injury

6783-754: The aftermath of the collapse of the multiverse , the Fantastic Four have disbanded as the Richards' family have gone on to reconstruct the multiverse, leaving the Thing to join the Guardians of the Galaxy , while the Torch is working as an ambassador for the Inhumans and a member of the Avengers Unity Squad . As a result, the deserted Baxter Building was up for auction, until it was purchased to serve as

6902-413: The armor as powered by transistors , but this was replaced with integrated circuits as real-world technology advanced. New designs have further miniaturized the technology, ultimately incorporating nanotechnology . Developments in the armor's design often reflect real-world advances in technology and trends in science fiction. The changing nature of the armor allows artists to make frequent changes to

7021-419: The armor did not work correctly for normal humans), kidnaps and tortures Tony by washing off the armor with antibacterial soap causing Tony to scream in agony when his unprotected skin hit the air. In issue #3, Howard arrives with a SWAT team and arrests Zebediah. During the skirmish, the toes on one of Tony's feet are severed (which, after a time, grow back due to Tony's regenerative capabilities, highlighting

7140-437: The armor would eat it, making it a perfect fit. Another secondary problem was that, initially, the liquid armor turned his skin a bright blue hue, making socialization and the idea of going to a normal school more difficult. In Ultimate Iron Man #2, young Tony Stark is shown covered in the blue skin-armor developed by his father in issue #1. Attempting to learn how to manufacture the bio-armor, Zebediah Stane (not knowing that

7259-926: The armor, trusting only a few close allies. In the 2008 story "The Five Nightmares", Iron Man narrates his five greatest fears: relapse into alcoholism, reproduction of the Iron Man technology, other people becoming Iron Man, the technology becoming disposable, and that someone else would be distributing this technology. Besides the danger such scenarios pose, they all represent fear of losing power over himself or his technology. Iron Man finds machines easier to interact with than humans, believing machines can be more easily controlled and repaired. This leads him to engage in self-destructive behavior, giving his relationships as Tony Stark lower priority and failing to be accountable for his creations as Iron Man. His isolation comes to him from two directions, with both his celebrity status and his role as Iron Man making personal relationships difficult. Through both poor decisions and bad luck, he

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7378-532: The attack and were all of genius-level intelligence, into the Baxter Building program, a school for above genius intelligence. Also enrolled in the school is Obadiah Stane , the son of Zebediah. Shortly after their arrival, Stark witnesses Obadiah murder a pair of students and then make it look like an accident, but is unable to prove it. This incident hardens Stark's resolve to improve his armor and punish Obadiah. At this point, he has already begun to build

7497-401: The bomb prematurely and completely destroy the suit. Tony is also injured, but due to his physiology, bounces back quickly. Despite surviving being blown up in his prototype armor, Tony has other problems to address. Howard is still wrongly imprisoned for the murder of rival Zebediah Stane, and teenage Tony is forced to run Stark Enterprises in his stead. After seeing the prototype armor in use,

7616-591: The building first appeared in Fantastic Four #3 (March 1962). The construction is depicted in Manhattan , and its five upper floors house the Fantastic Four 's headquarters. The Baxter Building first appeared in Fantastic Four #3 (March 1962) and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby . The Baxter Building was the first comic-book superhero lair to be well known to the general public in

7735-476: The character anyway. Iron Man was created in the years after a permanent arms industry developed in the United States , and this was incorporated into the character's backstory. The character was introduced as an active player in the Vietnam War . Lee described the national mood toward Vietnam during Iron Man's creation as "a time when most of us genuinely felt that the conflict in that tortured land really

7854-449: The character appear in animated direct-to-video films, television series, and video games. Following the success of the Fantastic Four in 1961 and the subsequent revival of American comic books featuring superheroes , Marvel Comics created new superhero characters. Stan Lee developed the initial concept for Iron Man. He wanted to design a character who should be unpalatable to his generally anti-war readers but to make them like

7973-432: The character in Iron Man #5 (1968) and intermittently served as artist for much of the 1970s. In total, he drew over one hundred issues for the character. I don't feel Tony Stark is a dinosaur, a creature unable to change before the weight of time crushes him aside. Yeah, it is hard in 1977 to praise a millionaire industrialist, playboy and former munitions-manufacturer—but it isn't impossible to change that image. Which

8092-498: The character's age, which is explained by a "sliding scale of continuity" in which the timing of significant events in the world of Marvel may change. This conflict was the Vietnam War for the first decades of Iron Man's publication history. This was changed to an unnamed Southeast Asian country in the 1990s, and a conflict in the fictional country Siancong was ultimately created to justify the inconsistency. Iron Man returns to

8211-510: The character's appearance without controversy. Iron Man has also created specialized models for specific purposes, including space armor, stealth armor, and deep sea armor, as well as the Hulkbuster armor to engage in combat with the Hulk. Prior to Iron Man's surgery, the armor's primary function was to produce a magnetic field that protected his heart from the shrapnel in his body. His efforts to keep it charged and to keep it secret drove

8330-520: The character's primary image. Iron Man's recurring nemesis, the Mandarin , first appeared shortly after in Tales of Suspense #50 (1964). By this time, the science-fiction and horror stories were phased out from Tales of Suspense , and the series ran only Iron Man and Captain America stories. Gene Colan became the artist for Iron Man in January 1966, bringing with him an expressionist style. For

8449-422: The character's superhero and businessman aspects more directly when Stark sought legal recourse against his rivals. Michelinie and Layton returned to the series with issue #215 (1988) through issue #232 (1989). Again, they experimented with variations on the Iron Man armor and focused on down to Earth stories with realistic situations. In 1990, Michelinie and Layton handed the series over to John Byrne , one of

8568-656: The chest, threatening to shoot him again if he doesn't take the suit off. Tony takes off his armor, and Loni shoots him in the head, not knowing of his body's self-healing capabilities. Tony fights Loni, beats her, and tends to his father. Unnoticed by anyone else, Loni reaches for a gun, but Obadiah appears, angry that his mother almost killed him with the poison gas, and kills her. However, he decides not to attack Tony, conceding that Tony had saved his life several times, but declares that they are now "even." Howard, Tony, and Obadiah are all picked up by federal authorities and returned home. Obadiah muses that, with his mother dead, he

8687-401: The company more monthly releases, The Avengers (1963) was developed as a new comic book series. Iron Man was one of the five characters who formed the titular superhero team . By 1965, the difficulty of maintaining continuity between The Avengers and the members' solo titles prompted Lee to temporarily write the original cast out of The Avengers , including Iron Man. Heck continued as

8806-405: The damaged portions of his heart, eliminating the need for his prosthetic chest plate. As he came to regret his involvement in weapons manufacturing, Stark Industries is changed to Stark International, an electronics company that emphasizes environmentalism and ending world hunger . S.H.I.E.L.D. attempts to take over the business and return it to weapons manufacturing. At the same time, Iron Man

8925-463: The entire building into outer space. The attacks made things difficult not only for the Four, but for the other tenants in the lower floors as well. Eventually, Reed Richards decided to invoke a clause of the rental agreement and bought the entire building to avoid eviction . Eventually, the building was destroyed by Doctor Doom's adopted son Kristoff Vernard , who shot it into space and exploded it in

9044-426: The examination of both the perspective of an individual inventor and that of the bureaucracy of governments and corporations, respectively. His business Stark Industries is depicted as a force for good that advances scientific knowledge through capitalist innovation. The Iron Man persona itself, as well as the technology Iron Man uses, are proprietary assets owned by Stark Industries. Reflecting his characterization as

9163-503: The extent of this ability). After the incident, a transparent version of the armor is developed, and, no longer blue, Tony begins attending a prep school. The story then fast forwards to an older Stark. His father has lost ownership of his corporation to Zebediah's now-wife Loni (who was Stark's first wife, before Maria) and they now live a middle class existence in a normal home. Tony is trying to follow in Howard's footsteps as an inventor and

9282-492: The fictional world. The Baxter Building is destroyed in Fantastic Four #278 (May 1985), written and drawn by John Byrne . Explaining why he chose to destroy the iconic structure, Byrne said, "The FF's HQ building had long been established as 35 stories in height. Quite impressive in 1962, but not so much in 1980, when I came to the book. It didn't seem like I could just start referring to the building as taller than all those previous stories had made it, so I decided on something

9401-488: The first application of "K bracing" in the world and is one of the strongest structures of its kind. The Baxter Building is located a few city blocks from the United Nations Building. Reed Richards has applied for many land-use zone variations to allow massive reconstruction of the top five floors for the installation of a heavily silenced silo, with a muffled rocket . The design of the headquarters of

9520-466: The first five years of publication, Iron Man represented the United States in Cold War allegories. Growing opposition to the American involvement in Vietnam prompted a shift in Iron Man's characterization, which was part of a larger push by Marvel in the late 1960s to be more apolitical. Over the years, the letters to the editor column in several issues saw extensive political debate. Lee shifted

9639-496: The future, the superhero community undergoes another schism , and Iron Man leads a team of heroes opposed to a predetermined justice system based on his ability. The battle ends with Iron Man in a coma. A reformed Victor von Doom becomes Iron Man, while an artificial intelligence backup of Stark's mind guides a new armored superhero, Ironheart. Stark resumes his work as Iron Man after the technology in his body allows him to heal. He then allies with Emma Frost and marries her to set

9758-470: The hands of business rival Obadiah Stane . O'Neil wrote Stark out of the role entirely beginning with issue #170 (1983), having him temporarily retire as Iron Man and replacing him with his ally James Rhodes . Stark was relegated as a side character until he returned to heroism in Iron Man #200 (1985). The 1987 " Armor Wars " story arc followed Iron Man as he reclaimed his technology, which Justin Hammer distributed to several villains. This story blended

9877-480: The lesser of two evils, whereas Captain America held an idealist approach, and both held these positions at great personal cost. While Marvel was neutral between the characters, readers overwhelmingly saw Iron Man as the villain, being the stronger force that the underdog had to overcome. Iron Man appeared with the Mighty Avengers in 2007, and his characterization in this era leaned into his identity as

9996-409: The list of registered heroes to its corrupt successor agency H.A.M.M.E.R. This agency is dismantled as well, and Iron Man organizes the Avengers to replace these agencies. He founds a clean energy company, Stark Resilient, and fakes his death so his enemies will not threaten it. He joins the Guardians of the Galaxy for a time, and upon returning to Earth, he discovers he had actually been adopted by

10115-579: The lower half of his body and nearly leaves him dead. The altercation is interrupted by Tony's friends, causing the bullies to run away. Normally an injury like that would kill a human, but his friends watch, stunned, as Tony's body begins to regrow itself (and eventually regrows completely back to normal as if it never happened). Discovering that the bullies were following orders from an unknown individual, Stark's father decides, for their own protection and to put their skills to better use, to enroll Stark, Rhodes, and Nifara (another of Tony's friends), who witnessed

10234-515: The military wish to use the armor themselves. Convincing the military that the armors are in fact robots, both Tony and Jim Rhodes ( Ultimate War Machine ) suit up and go on the mission masquerading as robots. They complete the mission, and find a map that leads them to believe there are nukes in New York. Tony begins trying to find a way to release his father from jail and find out who the terrorists were that tried to blow up his building. Obadiah

10353-417: The most highly regarded comic book writers at the time. He wrote three story arcs across 20 issues: "Armor Wars II" (which had already been announced by Michelinie and Layton), "The Dragon Seed Saga", and "War Games". Byrne revisited Iron Man's opposition to communism but portrayed it as less of a threat, and he rewrote Iron Man's origin to remove references to communism and the Vietnam War. He lost interest in

10472-432: The past. Iron Man's use of his vast resources as a protector was reframed as a cautionary tale, in which these resources could be co-opted to do harm. His motivation for providing weapons to the government was retroactively changed so Stark only got involved because he believed it would end the war more quickly. Over time, writers portrayed Iron Man as a philanthropist . The dual role of Iron Man and Tony Stark allows for

10591-513: The portal. The building then went missing, having been sent one year into the future by Reed in an act of desperation. In the Marvel 1602 miniseries The Fantastick Four , Sir Richard Reed and Susan Storm are renting a manor house from Lord Baxter. Sir Richard has equipped it with an observatory and chemical laboratory. In the Old Man Logan timeline, the Baxter Building is used as

10710-580: The press and politicians, whose attempts to keep him accountable hamper his efforts as a superhero. He is conflicted between his support for the rule of law and his moral beliefs in doing what he feels must be done for the greater good. When he engages in unsanctioned attacks against those who co-opted his technology in the "Armor Wars" story, he describes it as "a tough decision; perhaps the toughest in my life". The character's morally ambiguous nature can make him more accessible to readers relative to other superheroes who are more inherently virtuous. Iron Man

10829-399: The primary Iron Man artist until 1965, as Kirby had obligations to other Marvel properties. As part of a shuffling to match artists with the characters they were most suited for, Steve Ditko briefly became the artist for Iron Man. He was responsible for only three issues in late 1963, but in this time he redesigned Iron Man's suit from fully gold to the red and gold color scheme that became

10948-550: The pro-registration faction during the 2006 Civil War crossover event by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven . In an allegory for the Patriot Act and government surveillance , Iron Man's pro-registration faction represented conservative support for government surveillance in the name of security and stood against Captain America's anti-registration faction that represented individualism and liberal opposition to government surveillance. Iron Man believed in pragmatically choosing

11067-421: The rest of his life. Despite the pain, he is endowed with regenerative capabilities due to the same mutation that caused the neural cells to differentiate all over his body, allowing him to completely regenerate whole body parts if necessary. The biotechnology armor he wears is constructed out of genetically modified bacteria that are able to group together to dissipate kinetic energy when impacted upon, allowing

11186-451: The robot isn't walking smoothly and is clumsy, and Tony is skeptical because the feds found a nuke but no terrorists with it, and the deal was for both the nuke and the terrorists. Dolores's men plan to kill the feds who delivered them the robot, but Ultimate War Machine shows up to save them. Tony then realizes that Dolores is no longer on the plane, and upon breaking into the cockpit he sees another nuke. He can't disable it, because then

11305-410: The second is a large suit at least 20 feet (6.1 m) tall, for designing any additions to the traditional suit before including them to the more restricted design. The suit doesn't fly, but hovers or bounces and is not completely stable. Stark is forced to use the 20-foot (6.1 m) prototype to foil a terrorist plot to destroy his building. Though Tony is successful, the terrorists manage to detonate

11424-542: The series by 1992 as his collaborators John Romita Jr. and Howard Mackie had moved on to other projects. Iron Man's supporting character War Machine was spun off into his own comic book series in 1994. The Iron Man series rejected broader ideological themes by the 1990s, and individualist values replaced Stark's allegiance to American democracy for its own sake. He remained anti-communist , reiterating his support for democracy and refusing to do business in China following

11543-473: The series so it was actually the origin for an anime cartoon in the Ultimate Universe due to the miniseries' poor reception. Ultimate Iron Man #1 reveals that Tony Stark's genius is the result of an accident his mother (brilliant scientist Maria Cerrera , who is the second wife of Tony Stark's father, Howard, and works for him in research and development before Tony was born) suffered while she

11662-400: The series' run: they removed Iron Man's romantic interest Whitney Frost and Stark's robotic Life Model Decoy doubles, and they had Stark move to a different home. They introduced Iron Man's new romantic interest, Bethany Cabe , as a feminist character who worked as his bodyguard. Their goal was to push the character toward a more grounded, realistic portrayal. The largest change they made

11781-501: The series, Layton used issues of GQ , Playboy , and electronics catalogues as visual references, which he and Michelinie used to stay informed on developments in real world technology so the Iron Man armor would always be a more advanced version of what existed. Layton was inspired by the vast collection of specialized outfits used by Batman when designing Iron Man's various armors. In Iron Man #117 and #118 (1978), Michelinie and Layton replaced many elements that developed over

11900-417: The stories' focus to espionage and domestic crime, incorporating Marvel's fictional intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. He also incorporated the villains of other Marvel heroes, avoiding Iron Man's primarily communist rogues' gallery and rewriting some of Iron Man's communist villains to have personal motivations independent of their communist allegiances. Iron Man was one of several characters whom Marvel gave

12019-481: The story's plot. From its first appearance, Stark has controlled the armor by linking it to his brainwaves, and he must calibrate it to any allies who use it. The armor is often shown to have some method of shrinking it down to make it portable when not being used. Baxter Building#Ultimate Marvel The Baxter Building is a fictional 35-story office building appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby ,

12138-474: The temporary headquarters of Parker Industries , much to the initial dismay of the Human Torch. However, Peter Parker explained to the Torch that he outbid Alchemax , Hammer Industries, and Roxxon for the ownership of the building simply to keep it out of their hands, and will give the Baxter Building back when the Fantastic Four reunites. Witnessing a large sculpture of the FF in the entrance hall that

12257-411: The terrorists with nukes who plan to bomb the city, and Tony will give Dolores one of his "robots". Tony, knowing that Dolores knows he wears the armor personally decides to trick him and actually bring an Iron Man suit that is remote controlled. Dolores and Tony meet on a place together, holding each other hostage while their friends confirm each others's end of the bargain. Dolores is skeptical because

12376-522: The upper levels, but mostly it is the " mechanical floor ", which provides heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and elevator support equipment for the lower 30 stories. A running gag for years in the title was that the landlord , Walter Collins, was initially eager to rent out to a superhero team for the publicity and prestige, but he soon regretted his decision, as the building became a constant target for numerous attacks by supervillains starting with Fantastic Four #6 in which Doctor Doom launched

12495-485: The use of exoskeletons and battle suits. These technological themes are explored through a modern lens during the "Extremis" story arc, which incorporates the idea of human enhancement through biotechnology . Depictions of technology in Iron Man stories have often endorsed its use to alter the natural world. This is in contrast with Silver Age Marvel stories, where radiation and other technological advancements were portrayed as dangerous. Iron Man's engineering talent

12614-497: The wearer to withstand tremendous blows and is able to dissolve any metal that can be oxidized. The two disadvantages of this biotech armor, which made it unmarketable, are that it can be easily neutralized by being washed off with antibacterial soap and water and, more importantly, that it will dissolve a normal human's skin after a few hours if not thoroughly washed off. This "side effect" worked well with Tony's regenerative capabilities, seeing as how his skin would regenerate as fast as

12733-472: Was a driving force in his organization of the Avengers and later in his support for the Superhero Registration Act during the Civil War event. Stark's intelligence and engineering skills allowed him to construct the Iron Man armor, and he believes this justifies his authority over the armor and who uses it. While Iron Man sometimes develops equipment for other superheroes, he is selective about who can use

12852-407: Was a simple matter of good versus evil". Larry Lieber developed Iron Man's origin and wrote the first Iron Man story, while Jack Kirby and Don Heck were responsible for the initial design. Lee modeled Iron Man after businessman Howard Hughes , invoking his physical appearance, his image as a businessman, and his reputation as an arrogant playboy. Kirby and Heck then incorporated elements of

12971-500: Was an early example of a superhero with a physical disability. Iron Man's earliest stories were published in the monster-themed anthology series Tales of Suspense . Marvel premiered several superheroes this way in the 1960s as superhero comics became more popular than traditional science-fiction and horror comics. Iron Man's first appearance, "Iron Man is Born!", appeared in Tales of Suspense #39, released in December 1962 with

13090-451: Was captured in a war zone and sustained a severe heart wound, he built his Iron Man armor and escaped his captors. Iron Man's suits of armor grant him superhuman strength, flight, energy projection, and other abilities. The character was created in response to the Vietnam War as Lee's attempt to create a likeable pro-war character. Since his creation, Iron Man has been used to explore political themes, with early Iron Man stories being set in

13209-406: Was carrying him in her womb. The accident changed the genetic structure of both her and her unborn child, but culminated in her death during childbirth. The child, named Antonio (Tony for short), developed neural tissue normally found only in the brain all throughout his body, causing his entire body to act as one massive brain, giving him tremendous mental capacity. However, one of the side effects of

13328-458: Was created by Alicia Masters, the Torch reflects that he is glad that the building is staying with family. But when Parker Industries was destroyed during Secret Empire , it was sold out to an anonymous buyer and was shortly the headquarters of The Fantastix. With the creation of a powerful portal through time and space, the building was once again destroyed by the Griever in an attempt to steal

13447-418: Was more overtly political than other Silver Age Marvel characters. Lee wrote the character to represent liberal capitalism , fighting against communism and other anti-democratic forces. Though anti-communist sentiments were present throughout Marvel Comics, they appeared most prominently in Iron Man stories. After Marvel shifted away from addressing foreign conflicts toward the end of the 1960s, Iron Man

13566-589: Was out to kill everyone (Dolores, Obadiah, and Tony). Meanwhile, Howard is recovered enough to go to prison, but the guards sent to escort him were not sent by the Police Department. He fights them off and escapes. Tony meets with him, and says that he thinks Loni, Howard's first wife and Obadiah's mother, is the mastermind behind the scenes trying to kill them. Tony, Howard, War Machine, and Obadiah set off to Utah to find Loni. They arrive and their chopper explodes, injuring War Machine. Obadiah falls off

13685-403: Was portrayed as a liberal who was skeptical of the U.S. government, yet also opposed radicalism ; at the time associated with 1960s counterculture . Marvel portrayed Iron Man as more self-doubting, questioning when the use of force is justified against communism. By 1975, Iron Man opposed the Vietnam War, which gave the character a new motivation in making up for his promotion of violence in

13804-446: Was power, and her only interest in men has been finding one who would help her acquire it. Howard, she laments, was smart enough to be able to conquer the world, but lacked the ambition to do so; Zebediah, her second husband, was the other way around (ambitious, but stupid); Obadiah, on the other hand, is both smart and ambitious, but unfortunately his loyalty to her can no longer be relied on. Iron Man shows up, and Loni shoots Howard in

13923-590: Was prominent in his early characterization, causing him to isolate himself so as not to reveal his injury or his secret identity . This weakness was a threat to his autonomy and his masculinity. As real-world medical technology made heart injuries less fatal, writers introduced neurological damage and alcoholism as other medical weaknesses. Despite this, Iron Man considers himself lucky and believes he lives "a good life", attributing this to his money, friendships, engineering skills, and recovering health. Iron Man's belief in progress sometimes manifests as opposition to

14042-596: Was published as Iron Man #500. A concurrent series, Iron Man Legacy by Fred Van Lente , was launched in 2010 leading up to the release of the film Iron Man 2 . Iron Man was then one of several characters whose series was relaunched at issue #1 with the Marvel Now! branding following the 2012 Avengers vs. X-Men event, written by Kieron Gillen . The 2014 " AXIS " event led into the Superior Iron Man series by Tom Taylor , featuring Iron Man with

14161-427: Was to make Iron Man an alcoholic , an unprecedented move for a major comic book hero, which led to the " Demon in a Bottle " story arc that ran from issues #120 to #128 (1979). At the same time, they introduced the character Justin Hammer , who provided financial backing for several Iron Man villains. Michelinie and Layton remained on the series until Iron Man #153 (1981). Michelinie later said, "The reason I quit

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