iFanboy Video Podcast
Show Notes
The golden Avenger, Iron Man (also known as Tony Stark) is one of the oldest and most important Marvel Comics characters. With all the recent attention with the hyper-successful movie franchise, we thought it would be a good time to review the history of Iron Man through some of our favorite stories.
Iron Man: The Character
Iron Man first appeared in the pages of Tales of Suspense #39 in 1963, created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby and Don Heck, he’s the wealthy industrialist Tony Stark. A founding member of The Avengers, Iron Man has become one of the biggest players in the Marvel Universe, especially in the past 5 years after the outcome of Civil War.
Iron Man: Demon In a Bottle
The classic story of Tony Stark’s battle against alcoholism, “Demon In a Bottle.” Published in 1978 with art by John Romita Jr. and Bob Layton, “Demon in a Bottle” tells the tale of Iron Man, his double life as playboy Tony Stark and the dangers of alcohol and provides for some very amusing Bronze Age comics fun.
Iron Man: Armor Wars
One of the stories that influenced the movie, Iron Man 2, is “Armor Wars.” Told in the mid-1980s, Tony Stark deals with the fact that his technology has been stolen and armored villains are popping up everywhere, forcing Tony back into the lab to forge a NEW Iron Man suit.
The Invincible Iron Man
More recently, after the first Iron Man movie was released, Matt Fraction and Salvador Larocca’s run on The Invincible Iron Man has defined Tony Stark in the 21st century. Collected in one omnibus edition, it’s the perfect book for a new Iron Man reader
Iron Man: The Movies
Directed by Jon Favreau and starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwenyth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, and now Don Cheadle, Iron Man has jumped from the comic book to the movie screen to become one of the biggest movies of all time.
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i enjoyed this even though i have like zero interest in iron man.
unknown pleasures….
The Omnibus is like the way the oversized HC use to be… cheaper than the sum of the ind. issues, Hopefully this will continue.
Other good Iron Man books to look for would be Doomquest, The Inevitable (Frazier Irving really doesn’t but Joe Casey does a good story), and Enter the Mandarin.
*Irving really doesn’t fit
And if Marvel ever releases the Obadiah Stane Saga, I’d recommend that emphatically.
haha, when Conor mentions Thor, he has no idea how close to right he is.
what’s interesting about those silver age anthology titles is that it wasn’t a matter of the characters needing to prove themselves as Marvel was limited to how many titles they could distribute (I think 8 a month was the number, which is why there were also a lot of bi-monthly titles). I’m fudging the details, but DC basically owned the distribution company. so once that deal went by the wayside, that’s when all the characters got their own titles, not necessarily due to an increase in popularity. Tales to Astonish featured a Hulk story and a Namor story, and Tales of Suspense featured Iron Man and Captain America. Astonish was renamed Incredible Hulk and Suspense was renamed Captain America.
but, Marvel still had half-sized stories for both Iron Man and Namor left over, alas a single issue of Iron Man and Sub-Mariner was published before each character was given their own respective #1 issues.
I have to disagree that Iron Man’s never really had superpowers. the Extremis enhancement he received in Ellis’ story gave him superpowers which he had until he mind-wiped himself. as that issue #25 described, his internal organs were basically mechanized, and I’d call that having superpowers, but I suppose it’s open to interpretation.
and just to round out this post, a favorite classic Iron Man story of mine is Tales of Suspense #69-71, where the Titanium Man challenges Iron Man to a public fight and Happy Hogan really proves himself as a hero in his own right. I really love the classic love triangle between Tony/Iron Man, Happy, and Pepper. it’s standard silver age stan lee drama, but still great.
Haven’t seen the new movie yet, there’s no spoilers right?
@Cutty no spoilers whatsoever
Oh my god, how did Conor do that thing with his chest?
Thanks Ron. Really looking forward to watching this, I only have a vague memory of Armor Wars and never read Demon in a Bottle
Awesome! Gonna go see Iron Man 2 once again, that movie is such a perfect sequel! Kind of surprised with you guys really supporting Invincible Iron Man sicne on the audio podcasts, I beleive Ron dropped the book & all that stuff b/c of Larrocca’s art. Does this mean that you guys are back on the book?
Nevermind, I know now. Should have waited till the credits at the end.
Doomquest and Recurring Knightmare! How can you talk about awesome Iron Man reading without talking about the craziest Iron Man stuff ever. I love recommending that book to people who think it’s going to be an old fashioned slug fest between Iron Man and Dr. Doom.
I second the Doom vs Iron Man feud!
3 great trades of fantastic action/adventure. Time travel, Dr. Doom, Iron Man Knight suit? All gold.
and even if you don’t like that Iron Man/Doom stuff, just go back to that Civil War: The Confession issue and find that double-page Alex Maleev spread that represents that story and soak it in for a day or so. you’ll get the point.
It’s about time, you guys never give Shellhead any cred.
Why is it that a comic about iron man gives me zero interest but him as a supporting character just works? I dunno. I guess Tony is like candy. He’s only good in small portions.
Great Video cast! Its awsome that Iron Man is getting some love : )
Another great episode! Picked up the IIM omni, though thought the storyline in the first movie was a little weak and will probably wait for IM2 to come out in blu-ray (honestly, is is worth the $7 matinee price anymore?)
Awesome video. Season 2 of the Iron Man 2 TV show is what made me initally like Iron Man. Nothing is as cool as a man with mullet fighting crime.
To answer the question of how Iron man bends his arms and legs: the armor is not actually a solid piece of armor. it is millions of individual specks of metal held together by a force field that stabilizes it.