American comic-book superhero Iron Man first appeared in 1963 in Tales of Suspense, no. 39. He quickly became a mainstay of Marvel Comics. Since his debut, Iron Man has appeared as the star of his own comic-book series and as a regular guest in other popular comics. The character has also been featured in animated films and television series and in live-action motion pictures.
Iron Man’s creation is officially credited to four people. Writer and editor Stan Lee plotted the first story. His brother Larry Lieber scripted it. Artist Don Heck drew the first story. And artist Jack Kirby designed Iron Man’s original armored battlesuit.
Iron Man’s alter ego was Tony Stark, a wealthy playboy inventor, the owner of Stark International, and an international arms manufacturer. Stark was partly based on the real-life wealthy inventor, business mogul, and defense contractor Howard Hughes.
In Marvel’s early days, much was made of the company’s creation of “heroes with problems.” Stark’s problem was potentially fatal: while demonstrating some new weapons in the jungles of Vietnam, he is injured by a bomb and captured by a Viet Cong warlord. With his life ebbing away, Stark is forced to work for his captors, creating new weapons. However, unknown to them, he secretly builds himself a high-tech suit of armor that will both keep him alive and make him a walking arsenal. Once in the gray clanking suit, Stark defeats the warlord and returns to the United States to assume the role of a superhero. His tragedy is that he can never remove the chest plate that keeps him alive.
Iron Man was one of the charter members of the Avengers and has maintained a regular presence in that group. Stark’s wealth funded the Avengers’ mansion, and his technical wizardry led to the creation of a virtual wardrobe of armored suits. His original hulking gray costume was replaced with a succession of ever-sleeker designs that generally adhered to a red-and- gold color scheme. Though Iron Man faced off against numerous villains, his archenemy was the Mandarin. The Mandarin was a sinister mastermind who rivaled Stark in scientific genius and who wielded 10 rings of alien origin that granted him an array of powers.
In the 1990s, as the Vietnam War became an increasingly distant historical event, Iron Man’s origin was reimagined to have taken place during the Persian Gulf War. In the early stories of the 21st century, Tony Stark publicly revealed his identity as Iron Man and even served as U.S. secretary of defense. Stark played a major role in Marvel Comics’ Civil War (2006–07) event—a story that pitted hero against hero, with Stark serving as the primary antagonist. Fan backlash in the wake of Civil War led to the rebooting of the Iron Man franchise. Writer Matt Fraction and artist Salvador Larroca redefined the character with their award-winning run on Invincible Iron Man (2008–12).
Animated versions of Iron Man have appeared on television in The Marvel Super Heroes (1966), Iron Man (1994–96), Iron Man: Armored Adventures (2008–12), and The Super Hero Squad Show (2009–11). Direct-to-video animated films include Ultimate Avengers (2006) and The Invincible Iron Man (2007). Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures released the live-action Iron Man in 2008. The film, an enormous commercial and critical success, was directed by Jon Favreau. It starred Robert Downey, Jr., who proved adept at capturing Tony Stark’s personality, brilliance, and charisma. Favreau and Downey returned for the sequel Iron Man 2 (2010). Downey reprised his role of Iron Man for The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
