| Iron Man | |
|---|---|
 Promotional art for The Invincible Iron Man vol. 5, #25 (second printing) (June 2010) by Salvador Larroca. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Larry Lieber Don Heck Jack Kirby |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Anthony Edward " Tony" Stark |
| Team affiliations | Stark Industries Avengers Mighty Avengers New Avengers West Coast Avengers Illuminati S.H.I.E.L.D. Department of Defense Force Works Thunderbolts Stark Resilient |
| Partnerships | Captain America Thor War Machine Rescue |
| Abilities |
|
| Iron Man | |
 | Cover for The Invincible Iron Man #1 (May 1968). Art byGene Colan and Mike Esposito. |
| Series publication information | |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | Superhero |
| Publication date | (vol. 1) May 1968 – September 1996 (vol. 2) November 1996 – November 1997 (vol. 3) February 1998 – December 2004 (vol. 4) January 2005 – May 2007 (vol. 5) July 2008 – February 2011 (vol. 1 cont.) March 2011 – Present |
| Number of issues | (vol. 1): 332 (vol. 2): 13 (vol. 3): 89 (vol. 4): 16 (vol. 5): 33 (vol. 1 cont.): 5 (as of June, 2011) |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | (vol. 1) Archie Goodwin, David Michelinie, John Byrne, Len Kaminski, Terry Kavanagh (vol. 2) Scott Lobdell (vol. 3) (vol. 4) Warren Ellis, Charles Knauf (vol. 5) Matt Fraction |
| Penciller(s) | (vol. 1) Gene Colan, Johnny Craig,George Tuska, John Romita, Jr., Bob Layton, Paul Ryan (vol. 2) Whilce Portacio, Ed Benes, Terry Shoemaker (vol. 3) Patrick Zircher, Sean Chen,Mike Grell (vol. 4) Adi Granov, Roberto De la Torre, Carlo Pagulayan (vol. 5) Salvador Larroca (vol. 1 cont.) Salvador Larroca |
| Inker(s) | (vol. 1) Bob Layton, Bob Wiacek (vol. 2) Scott Williams |
| Colorist(s) | (vol. 5, vol. 1 cont.) Frank D'Armata |
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the Marvel Comics Universe. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963).
A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer, Tony Stark suffers a severe chest injury during a kidnapping in which his captors attempt to force him to build a weapon of mass destruction. He instead creates a powered suit of armor to save his life and escape captivity. He later uses the suit to protect the world as Iron Man. Through his multinational corporation ― Stark Industries ― Tony has created many military weapons, some of which, along with other technological devices of his making, have been integrated into his suit, helping him fight crime. Initially, Iron Man was a vehicle for Stan Lee to explore Cold War themes, particularly the role of American technology and business in the fight againstcommunism. Subsequent re-imaginings of Iron Man have transitioned from Cold War themes to contemporary concerns, such as corporate crimeand terrorism.
Throughout most of the character's publication history, Iron Man has been a member of the superhero team the Avengers and has been featured in several incarnations of his own various comic book series. Iron Man has been adapted for several animated TV shows and films. The character is portrayed by Robert Downey, Jr. in the live action film Iron Man (2008), which was a critical and box office success. Downey has received much acclaim for his performance, reprised the role in the sequel, Iron Man 2 (2010), and also played the character in a cameo in The Incredible Hulk(2008). Downey also plays the role in the film The Avengers (2012) and the planned Iron Man 3 (2013). Iron Man was ranked 12th on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes in 2011.
Publication history
Premiere
Iron Man's premiere was a collaboration among editor and story-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, story-artist Don Heck, and cover-artist and character-designer Jack Kirby. In 1963, Lee had been toying with the idea of a businessman superhero.[1] He wanted to create the "quintessential capitalist", a character that would go against the spirit of the times and Marvel's readership.[2] Lee said, "I think I gave myself a dare. It was the height of the Cold War. The readers, the young readers, if there was one thing they hated, it was war, it was the military....So I got a hero who represented that to the hundredth degree. He was a weapons manufacturer, he was providing weapons for the Army, he was rich, he was an industrialist....I thought it would be fun to take the kind of character that nobody would like, none of our readers would like, and shove him down their throats and make them like him....And he became very popular."[3] He set out to make the new character a wealthy, glamorous ladies' man, but one with a secret that would plague and torment him as well.[4] Writer Gerry Conway said, "Here you have this character, who on the outside is invulnerable, I mean, just can't be touched, but inside is a wounded figure. Stan made it very much an in-your-face wound, you know, his heart was broken, you know, literally broken. But there's a metaphor going on there. And that's, I think, what made that character interesting."[3] Lee based this playboy's looks and personality on Howard Hughes,[5] explaining, "Howard Hughes was one of the most colorful men of our time. He was an inventor, an adventurer, a multi-billionaire, a ladies' man and finally a nutcase."[6] "Without being crazy, he was Howard Hughes," Lee said.[3]
While Lee intended to write the story himself,[4] a minor deadline emergency eventually forced him to hand over the premiere issue to Lieber, who fleshed out the story.[4] The art was split between Kirby and Heck. "He designed the costume," Heck said of Kirby, "because he was doing the cover. The covers were always done first. But I created the look of the characters, like Tony Stark and his secretary Pepper Potts."[5][7]
Iron Man first appeared in 13- to 18-page stories in Tales of Suspense, which featured anthology science fiction and supernatural stories. The character's original costume was a bulky gray armored suit, replaced by a golden version in the second story (issue #40, April 1963). It was redesigned as sleeker, red-and-golden armor in issue #48 (Dec. 1963); that issue's interior art is by Steve Ditko and its cover by Kirby. In his premiere, Iron Man was an anti-communist hero, defeating various Vietnamese agents. Lee later regretted this early focus.[1][8] Throughout the character’s comic book series, technological advancement and national defense were constant themes for Iron Man, but later issues developed Stark into a more complex and vulnerable character as they depicted his battle with alcoholism (as in the "Demon in a Bottle" storyline) and other personal difficulties.
From issue #59 (Nov. 1964) to its final issue #99 (March 1968), the anthological science-fiction backup stories in Tales of Suspense were replaced by a feature starring the superhero Captain America. After issue #99 (March 1968), the book's title was changed to Captain America. An Iron Man story appeared in the one-shot comic Iron Man and Sub-Mariner (April 1968), before the "Golden Avenger"[9] made his solo debut with The Invincible Iron Man #1 (May 1968).[10] Lee said that "of all the comic books we published at Marvel, we got more fan mail for Iron Man from women, from females, than any other title....We didn't get much fan mail from girls, but whenever we did, the letter was usually addressed to Iron Man."[3]
Writers have updated the war and locale in which Stark is injured. In the original 1963 story, it was theVietnam War. In the 1990s, it was updated to be the first Gulf War,[11] and later updated again to be the war in Afghanistan. However, Stark's time with the Asian Nobel Prize-winning scientist Ho Yinsen is consistent through nearly all incarnations of the Iron Man origin, depicting Stark and Yinsen building the original armor together. One exception is the direct-to-DVD animated feature film The Invincible Iron Man, in which the armor Stark uses to escape his captors is not the first Iron Man suit.
Themes
The original Iron Man title explored Cold War themes, as did other Stan Lee projects in the early years of Marvel Comics. Where The Fantastic Four and The Incredible Hulk respectively focused on American domestic and government responses to Communist threat, Iron Man explored industry's role in the struggle. Tony Stark's real-life model, Howard Hughes, was a significant defense contractor who helped develop new weapons technologies. At the same time Hughes was an icon both of American individualism and of the burdens of fame.[12]
Historian Robert Genter, in Journal of Pop Culture, writes that Tony Stark specifically presents an idealized portrait of the American inventor. Where earlier decades had seen important technological innovations come from famous individuals like Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Belland the Wright brothers, the 1960s saw new technology, including weapons, being developed mainly by corporate research teams. Little room remained in this environment for the inventor who wanted credit for, and control of, his or her own creations.
Issues of entrepreneurial autonomy, government supervision of research, and ultimate loyalty figured prominently in early Iron Man stories—and all were issues then affecting American scientists and engineers.[12] Tony Stark, writes Genter, is an inventor who finds motive in his emasculationas an autonomous creative individual. This blow is symbolized by his chest wound, inflicted at the moment he is forced to invent things for the purposes of others. Stark's transformation into Iron Man represents his effort to reclaim his autonomy, and thus his manhood. The character's pursuit of women in bed or in battle, writes Genter, represents another aspect of this effort. The pattern finds parallels in other works of 1960s popular fiction by authors such as "Ian Fleming, Mickey Spillane, and Norman Mailer who made unregulated sexuality a form of authenticity."[12]
Michelinie/Layton period
In 1978, artist Bob Layton reunited with writer David Michelinie, with Iron Man #116 (Nov. 1978). The two would establish Tony Stark's alcoholismwith the story "Demon in a Bottle", and introduce several supporting characters including Stark's personal pilot and confidant James Rhodes, who would later become the superhero War Machine; Stark's bodyguard girlfriend Bethany Cabe; and rival industrialist Justin Hammer, who was revealed to be the employer of numerous high-tech armed enemies Iron Man fought over the years. The duo also introduced the concept of Stark's specialized armors while also acquiring a dangerous vendetta with Doctor Doom. The team was together through #154, with Michelinie writing a couple of additional issues without Layton. They returned for a second lengthy run from #215-250 (Feb. 1987 - Dec. 1989).
Later volumes
This initial series ended with issue #332 (Sept. 1996). A second volume, written primarily by differing teams of the trio Jim Lee, Scott Lobdell, and Jeph Loeb, and drawn primarily by Whilce Portacio and Ryan Benjamin successively, took place in a parallel universe and ran 13 issues (Nov. 1996 - Nov. 1997).[13] Volume 3, whose first 25 issues were written by Kurt Busiek initially and then by Busiek and Roger Stern, ran 89 issues (Feb. 1998 - Dec. 2004). Later writers included Joe Quesada, Frank Tieri, Mike Grell, and John Jackson Miller. Issue #41 (June 2001) was additionally numbered #386, reflecting the start of dual numbering starting from the premiere issue of volume one in 1968. The final issue was dual-numbered as #434.[14] The next Iron Man series, The Invincible Iron Man vol. 4, debuted in early 2005 with the Warren Ellis-written storyline "Extremis", with artist Adi Granov.[15] It ran 35 issues (Jan. 2005 - Jan. 2009), with the cover logo simply Iron Man beginning with issue #13, and Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., beginning issue #15. On the final three issues, the cover logo was overwritten by "War Machine, Weapon Of S.H.I.E.L.D.",[16] which led to the launch of a War Machineongoing series.[17]
The Invincible Iron Man vol. 5, by writer Matt Fraction and artist Salvador Larroca, began with a premiere issue cover-dated July 2008.[18] For a seven-month overlap, Marvel published both Volume Four and Volume Five simultaneously.[16][19] Volume five jumped its numbering of issues from #33 to #500, published in January 2011, to reflect the start from the premiere issue of volume one in 1968.
Many Iron Man annuals, miniseries, and one-shot titles have been published through the years, such as Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man(Feb. 1996), Iron Man: The Iron Age #1-2 (Aug.-Sept. 1998), Iron Man: Bad Blood #1-4 (Sept.-Dec. 2000), Iron Man House of M #1-3 (Sept.-Nov. 2005),Fantastic Four / Iron Man: Big in Japan #1-4 (Dec. 2005 - March 2006), Iron Man: The Inevitable #1-6 (Feb.-July 2006), Iron Man / Captain America: Casualties of War (Feb. 2007), Iron Man: Hypervelocity #1-6 (March-Aug. 2007), Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin #1-6 (Nov. 2007 - April 2008), and Iron Man: Legacy of Doom (June-Sept. 2008). Publications have also included such spin-offs as the one-shot Iron Man 2020 (June 1994), featuring a different Iron Man in the future, and the animated TV series adaptations Marvel Action Hour, Featuring Iron Man #1-8 (Nov. 1994 - June 1995) and Marvel Adventures Iron Man #1-12 (July 2007 - June 2008).
Powers and abilities
[]Armor
See also: Iron Man's armor
Iron Man possesses
powered armor that gives him superhuman strength and durability, flight, and an array of weapons. The armor is invented and worn by Stark (with occasional short-term exceptions). Other people who have assumed the Iron Man identity include Stark's long-time partner and best friend James Rhodes; close associates Harold "Happy" Hogan; Eddie March; and (briefly) Michael O'Brien.
The weapons systems of the suit have changed over the years, but other than in early, archaic models of the armor, Iron Man's standard offensive weapons have always been the repulsor rays that are fired from the palms of his gauntlets. Other weapons built into various incarnations of the armor include: the uni-beam projector in its chest; pulse bolts (that pick up on kinetic energy along the way; so the farther they travel, the harder they hit); an electromagnetic pulse generator; and a defensive energy shield that can be extended up to 360 degrees. Other capabilities include: generating ultra-freon (i.e., a freeze-beam); creating and manipulating magnetic fields; emitting sonic blasts; and projecting 3-dimensional holograms (to create decoys).
In addition to the general-purpose model he wears, Stark has developed several specialized suits for space travel, deep-sea diving, stealth, and other special purposes. Stark has modified suits, like the Hulkbuster heavy armor. The Hulkbuster armor is composed of add-ons to his so-called modular armor, designed to enhance its strength and durability enough to engage the Incredible Hulk in a fight. A later model, designed for use against Thor, is modeled on the Destroyer and uses a mystical power source. Stark also develops an electronics pack during the Armor Wars that, when attached to armors that use Stark technologies, will burn out those components, rendering the suit useless. This pack is ineffective on later models, however. While it is typically associated with James Rhodes, the War Machine armor also began as one of Stark's specialty armors.
The most recent models of Stark's armor, beginning with the Extremis Armor, are now stored in the hollow portions of Stark's bones, and the personal area networking implement used to control it is implanted in his forearm, and connected directly to his central nervous system.
Powers
For a time, due to an artificial nervous system installed after he suffered extensive damage to his natural one, Stark had super-humanly acute sensory perceptions as well as extraordinary awareness of the physical processes within his own body.[volume & issue needed]
After being critically injured during a battle with the Extremis-enhanced Mallen, Stark injects his nervous system with a modified techno-organic virus-like body restructuring machines (the Extremis process).[volume & issue needed] By rewriting his own biology, Stark is able to save his life, gain an enhanced healing factor, and partially merge with the Iron Man armor, superseding the need for bulky, AI-controlled armors in favor of lighter designs, technopathically controlled by his own brain. His enhanced technopathy extends to every piece of technology, limitless and effortlessly due to his ability to interface with communication satellites and wireless connections to increase his "range". Some components of the armor-sheath are now stored in Tony's body, able to be recalled, and extruded from his own skin, at will.
During the "Secret Invasion" storyline the Extremis package is catastrophically shutdown by a virus,[volume & issue needed] forcing him again to rely on the previous iteration of his armor, and restoring his previous limitations.[volume & issue needed] Furthermore, Osborn's takeover of the few remaining Starktech factories (with Ezekiel Stane systematically crippling the others) limits Tony to the use of lesser, older and weaker armors.[volume & issue needed]
After being forced to "wipe out" his brain to prevent Norman Osborn from gaining his information, Tony Stark is forced to have a new arc reactor, of Rand design installed in his chest. The process greatly improves his strength, stamina and intellect. However, the procedure left him with virtually no autonomic functions: as his brain was stripped of every biological function, Tony is forced to rely on a digital backup of his memories (leaving him with severe gaps and lapses in his long-term memory) and on software routine in the arc reactor for basic stimuli reaction, such as blinking and breathing.[49] However, the Bleeding Edge package of armor and physical enhancement is now equal in power, if not a more advanced, version of the old Extremis tech.[46]
Skills
Tony Stark is an inventive genius whose expertise in the fields of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computer science rivals that of Reed Richards, Hank Pym, and Bruce Banner, and his expertise in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering surpasses even theirs. He is regarded as one of the most intelligent characters in the Marvel Universe. He graduated with advanced degrees in physics and engineering at the age of 21 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)[50] and further developed his knowledge ranging from artificial intelligence to quantum mechanics as time progressed. His expertise extends to his ingenuity in dealing with difficult situations, such as difficult foes and deathtraps, in which he is capable of using available tools, including his suit, in unorthodox but effective ways. He is well respected in the business world, able to command people's attention when he speaks on economic matters, having over the years built up several multi-million dollar companies from virtually nothing. He is also noted for the loyalty he commands from and returns to those who work for him, as well as for his business ethics. Thus he immediately fired an employee who made profitable, but illegal, sales to Doctor Doom.[volume & issue needed] He also strives to be environmentally responsible in his businesses.
At a time when Stark was unable to use his armor for a period, he received some combat training from Captain America and has become physically formidable on his own when the situation demands it.[volume & issue needed] He received further hand-to-hand combat training from Happy Hogan (a professional boxer) and James Rhodes (a United States Air Force Combat Pilot).[volume & issue needed]
In addition, Stark possesses great business and political acumen. On multiple occasions he reacquired control of his companies after losing them amid corporate takeovers.[51]
Due to his membership in the Illuminati, Iron Man was given the Space Infinity Gem to safeguard.[52] It allows the user to exist in any location (or all locations), move any object anywhere throughout the universe and warp or rearrange space. Iron Man has not used it on any occasion, even after the Secret Invasion and his fugitive status.
Posting Komentar