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Explore the world of the Invincible Iron Man! Comics | Films | Cartoons | Characters | Villains |
CharacterAnthony Edward "Tony" Stark, generally referred to as just Tony Stark, is the real name of the costumed superhero known as Iron Man. Although he is not the only comic book character to utilize the name, Tony is the principal character featured in the Iron Man family of comic titles, films and video games. The character was created by writers Stan Lee and Larry Lieber and artist Don Heck in March, 1963 and first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39. In the film series, he is played by actor Robert Downey, Jr. and also appears in The Avengers feature film. PersonalityTony Stark is the epitome of the classic spoiled rich kid. He is one of the wealthiest men in the world, and as such, has the arrogance, poise, charm and aloofness befitting a man of his station. He is outspoken, gregarious and fun and even a bit of a womanizer, but when it comes to matters of running a multi-billion dollar corporation or maintaining the security of the free world - he is all business. Tony Stark was not born a superhero however. His best virtues developed through conscience choice and happenstance. At his best he could be considered opportunistic and at his worst, a drunk and a war profiteer. Like many men in positions of power, Tony has fallen victim to his vices - in his case - alcoholism. Though he has fallen off the wagon several times, Tony has always found the fortitude to overcome his addiction with the help of his closest friends. |
Overview Iron Man is the name of a fictional character as well as a series of comic book titles about said character published by Marvel Comics. Iron Man is the code name used by a costumed superhero whose real name is Anthony "Tony" Stark, a billionaire playboy who invents an extraordinary suit of armor capable of independent flight, enhanced durability and various onboard offensive weaponry. The character has showcased several volumes of his own comic book title and has played a major role in other titles such as the Avengers and Force Works. He has also appeared in several animated television projects as well as two feature length films and is one of the main characters in the 2012 film The Avengers. |
Publication historyThe character of Iron Man was created by Marvel Comics pioneer Stan Lee, his brother Larry Lieber and artist Don Heck. He first appeared in issue #39 of the anthology title Tales of Suspense, which was published in March of 1963. Iron Man proved popular enough that he was given a serial in the series and remained one of the featured characters in the title until's it's discontinuation with issue #99 in March, 1968. From there, Iron Man made one more brief team-up appearance in the Iron Man and Sub-Mariner one-shot before branching off into his own ongoing comic book series, Iron Man, which was published from 1968 to September, 1996 totalling 332 issues. The series was later revived under it's original numbering sequence.  Cover to Iron Man v.2 #1. A second volume of Iron Man was published in 1996-1997, totalling thirteen issues. This series was published under the "Heroes Reborn" banner, and chronicled the lives of Marvel's flagship characters (minus Spider-Man and the X-Men) in an alternate reality. Following the discontinuation of the "Heroes Reborn" titles, all of the characters involved in those volumes were returned to the mainstream Marvel Universe (often referred to as the Earth-616 reality). A third Iron Man ongoing comic book series began publication after the "Heroes Reborn" line concluded and began in February, 1998 and lasted until December of 2004 with a total 89 issues. The series was cancelled and then re-booted yet again that same year, taking a more hard-science approach to the character, as well as making another in a long line of upgrades to his trademark armor. This series also introduced the Extremis plot device, which created a complex fusion between man and machine, effectively turning Tony Stark into a cyborg - a literal "Iron Man". This series also crossed over into Marvel's 2006-2007 company-wide crossover event "Civil War". With issue number 16, the title of the series was slightly altered to Invincible Iron Man for the following twelve issues before being changed again to Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. with issue #29. Up until issue #35, the series also focused heavily on the supporting character of James "Rhodey" Rhodes, who also goes by the armored code name of War Machine. This volume was discontinued with issue #35. In 2008, a second ongoing series title Invincible Iron Man went into production at the same time that Iron Man, Volume 4 was still being published. This series went on for 33 issues before resuming the numbering sequence of the original Iron Man volume, beginning with issue #500. The landmark issue is the total of all of the numbers from all five Iron Man ongoing titles combined. In addition to the regular volumes, there have also been scores of Iron Man related miniseries, one-shots, graphic novels as well as an alternate reality counterpart called Ultimate Iron Man (which boasted two five-issue miniseries). ComicsOngoing seriesDoes not include Annuals and King-Size Specials; see individual titles for these issues associated with a particular volume.
Limited series
One-shotsIncludes graphic novels, but not TPB collections.
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The World of Iron Man
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- ↑ Issue numbering rebooted following issue #33 of Invincible Iron Man
- ↑ Series title becomes Invincible Iron Man for issues #17-28. It becomes Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. from issues #29-35, with a substitute cover copy heading of War Machine: Weapon of S.H.I.E.L.D. with issues #33-35.
- ↑ Numbering reverts back to Volume 1 numbering format following this series.
- ↑ Co-published between Marvel Comics and Acclaim.
- ↑ Series was discontinued before completion.
- ↑ Directo-to-video animated movie.