History Guy: Comics History
Iron Man (Debut: Tales of Suspense # 39)
Comics History Copyright © 1998-2008 Roger A. Lee and History Guy Media; Last Modified: 02.01.08--This copyright notice covers the written text and written analysis and historical descriptions on this page.
Iron Man- (Anthony Edward"Tony" Stark) --1st appearance: Tales of Suspense #39 (March, 1963).
Iron Man is an American superhero whose powers come from the advanced, high-tech suit of armor he wears as he battles a variety of enemies. He is a founding member of the superhero group "The Avengers," and has long been associated with the counterterrorism and intelligence agency known as SHIELD.
Iron Man # 1 (May, 1968)
While demostrating new weapons technology for the U.S. military, billionaire arms designer and manufacterer, Anthony "Tony" Stark suffers life-threatening injuries in an enemy ambush. Captured by an enemy warlord, Stark is forced to create a high-tech weapon for his captor. Instead, Tony Stark designs a powerful suit of advanced armor which he wears to effect his escape and, in doing so, becomes the Iron Man. (Tales of Suspense #39, March, 1963)
As with many superheroes, Tony Stark went to great lengths to hide his identity as Iron Man. As far as the public knew, Iron Man was an employee of Stark Enterprises whose job it was to act as Stark's bodyguard in an armored suite designed by Tony Stark. Over the years, Stark kept up this fiction; even claiming that he occassionally replaced one Iron Man employee with others. Eventually, Stark revealed his identity to the world.
At first, the new hero called Iron Man acted alone, battling spies, terrorists, and supervillians dedicated to harming America. Eventually, a day came when a foe appeared that required the powers and abilities of more than one hero to defeat. On that day, Iron Man joined with the Mighty Thor, the Incredible Hulk, the Ant-Man, and the Wasp to battle the mystical powers of Loki, the Norse God of Evil. After defeating Loki, the united heroes decided to stay together to face challenges too great for any one of them to deal with alone. Thus were born the Mighty Avengers (Avengers #1, Sept. 1963).
Soon after the Avengers formed, they discovered the frozen form of Captain America, revived him, and invited him to join the team.
Nicknames: Golden Avernger, "Shellhead" (usually used by the Thing)
"Iron Man" and all fictional characters mentioned on this page are the property of Marvel Enterprises.
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Lee, R. "Comicshistory: Iron Man"
http://www.historyguy.com/comicshistory/iron_man.html
Family
Howard Anthony Stark --Father; deceased
Maria Collins Carbonell Stark --Mother; deceased
Morgan Stark --Cousin
Associates, Colleagues, & Opponents
Friends & Allies
Enemies
The Avengers
The Fantastic Four
Thor
War Machine (Jim Rhodes)
Nick Fury
Hawkeye (former foe)
Black Widow (former foe)
Pepper Potts
The Mandarin
Crimson Dynamo
Titanium Man
Fin Fang Foom
Kang The Conqueror
Immortus
Justin Hammer
Madame Masque
MODOK
The Unicorn
Hydra
AIM
Links and Resources on Captain America
Marvel Universe Iron Man (Anthony Stark)--Official Marvel Universe Webpage.
Iron Man: The Many Loves of Tony Stark--A look at a few of the many women romanced by Tony Stark over the years.
The Religious Affiliation of Comic Book Character Tony Stark: Iron Man--An interesting analysis of the possible religious beliefs of Iron Man.
Significant Issues Affecting Iron Man/Tony Stark:
Co-founded The Avengers (Avengers # 1, 1963)
Red and gold armor debuted (Tales of Suspense #48, 1963)
Became an alcoholic (Iron Man #167-182, 1983-1984)
Jim Rhodes became Iron Man (Iron Man #169-199, 1983-1985)
Tony Stark returned as Iron Man in red & silver armor (Iron Man #200, 1985)
Iron Man fought the Armor Wars against armored villains and U.S. Government Guardsmen (Iron Man #225-231, 1987-1988)
James Rhodes took over as Iron Man again (Iron Man #284, 1992)
Tony Stark resumed role as Iron Man again (Iron Man #289, 1993)
Iron Man helped found Force Works (Force Works #1, 1994)
Iron Man armor became sentient, killed Whiplash (Iron Man #26-30, 2000)
Ultron took control of armor (Iron Man #46-49, 2001-2002)
Tony Stark appointed as U.S. Secretary of Defense (Iron Man #73-78, 2003)
Iron Man infiltrated the Thunderbolts disguised as Cobalt Man (Avengers/Thunderbolts #1-6, 2004)
Iron Man helped form the New Avengers (New Avengers #1, 2005)
Tony Stark appointed Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Civil War #7, 2007)
Source:Marvel Universe Iron Man (Anthony Stark)--Official Marvel Universe Webpage.