For most people, Marvel’s Silver Age is focused entirely on two comics: Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four. Yet alongside a host of talented artists, Stan Lee worked on far more than just those characters. In particular, he created Iron Man as a way to do more fun science-fiction stories, only featuring a businessman who just happens to be forced into becoming a superhero.
For most of the Silver Age, Iron Man exists solely in the pages of Tales of Suspense. Right up until the start of the 1970s, though, Iron Man has a remarkable number of incredible comics that make it easy to see how he maintained his popularity. His books offered the right mix of superhero adventure, romance, and vulnerability to sell people in a world where Spider-Man was quickly becoming the most popular hero.
10
Iron Man #1 Is The Perfect First Issue
After years of sharing a book with Captain America, in 1968 Iron Man finally got his own comic. With that came the arrival of a new writer, Archie Goodwin. While Stan Lee had been great with the personal drama of Tony Stark’s own life, Goodwin offered more sci-fi and pulp adventures from minute one.
The first issue sees Iron Man just narrowly escaping the Maggia, only to wind up in the hands of A.I.M., another of Marvel’s many evil secret groups. A.I.M. attempts to clone Iron Man’s armor. Still, A.I.M. quickly discovers there’s only one Iron Man, as he both outsmarts them in battle and ensures they can’t copy his armor anymore. This issue only ranks last because it’s clear Goodwin is wrapping up Stan Lee’s plots before starting his own.
9
Tales of Suspense #73 Features Some Of The Best Silver Age Iron Man Artwork
After years of Stan Lee and Don Heck, this issue of Tales of Suspense offers a creative shake-up. This time it’s Gene Colan, under the pen name Adam Austin, handling art chores. The shift in art is immediately noticeable and makes up a large part of why this issue is so great. Colan’s incredible usage of shadows creates an eerie setting that works perfectly for the battle between Iron Man and the Black Knight.
The story begins with Tony going after the Black Knight for kidnapping Happy Hogan. With the Black Knight out for revenge, he’s willing to go to any lengths if it means finally being rid of Iron Man. While Stark is able to outsmart the villain, he quickly finds another challenge with his armor running out of power.
8
Iron Man #11 Has Mandarin Nearly Figure Out Stark’s Identity
After years of Iron Man’s greatest enemy being gone, he makes his return in a three-part story that caps off in Iron Man #11. It starts with the Mandarin using a clone of the Hulk to attack Iron Man, leading to him realizing Iron Man and Stark are the same person. In the second issue, Mandarin tries to frame Stark as a traitor to America, using false photos to prove Stark was in meetings with the nation’s enemies.
Finally, issue #11 features Stark coming up with the perfect plan to shut down his longtime enemy’s plan. He pretends to be someone else and allows himself to be unmasked, all while using an LMD to pretend to be him elsewhere. It’s a fun issue, one that even ends with a bittersweet finish after Janice Cord’s budding romance inspires the Mandarin’s fiancée to save Iron Man’s life.
7
Tales of Suspense #83 Presents A Rematch Of Armored Characters
The rematch between Iron Man and Titanium Man is almost as good as the original battle. While on the way to Washington D.C., to handle a legal battle that forces him to reveal his identity, Iron Man gets attacked by the Titanium Man. Though a good chunk of the fight takes place in the prior issue, much of the best drama takes place in Tales of Suspense #83.
After just narrowly escaping the Titanium Man’s powerful paralyzer ray, Tony instead finds himself trying to think of a way to save Pepper after she gets in the way. Once he has, Titanium Man is left to suffer Tony’s full rage, as he completely cuts loose. It’s a great battle, complete with a classic-style ending for the cruel Boris Bullski, who’s abandoned by his comrades for his failures.
6
Tales of Suspense #70 Sees Two Ideologies Fighting One Another
The early Tales of Suspense comics featured a lot of capitalism vs. communism stuff that reads pretty poorly in the modern era. Yet very rarely, Stan Lee would use that to create something perfectly tailored for superhero comics. Like having the Titanium Man very publicly challenge Iron Man to a fight to decide which nation was more powerful.
It feels like something out of Rocky IV, only a few decades earlier. The issue sees both armored characters battling it out, pulling out various tricks to get the edge on one another. It’s even got the perfect ending, with Tony just narrowly being saved thanks to Happy’s sacrifice, and heading off to defeat Titanium Man for good.
5
Iron Man #2 Has Some Awesome Fight Scenes
Iron Man #2 doesn’t let up on the action, introducing a scientific and corporate rival to Tony Stark in Drexel Cord. A man driven mad by his inability to match up to Stark, Cord constructs the ultimate weapon: The Demolisher. A giant behemoth programmed with knowledge of Iron Man’s every move, the Demolisher goes after Iron Man with ruthless efficiency.
With Iron Man #2, another new member joins the creative team in Johnny Craig. While Gene Colan’s work is missed, Craig brings something else sorely missing from Iron Man’s comics: a dynamic sense of action. Everything from the way Iron Man and the Demolisher swoop around at each other to Iron Man performing a rolling midair punch adds an excitement to the fight scenes that simply wasn’t there before.
4
Tales of Suspense #86 Sees Iron Man Give Mandarin A True Beatdown
Iron Man had a rough time in the last few issues of the Tales of Suspense era. Every issue saw him just barely surviving from issue to issue before going on to his next big story. However, Tales of Suspense #86 finally gave Iron Man one of his best victories against one of his most dangerous enemies.
When Mandarin kidnaps Happy Hogan while he’s wearing the Iron Man armor, it forces Tony to build a new, upgraded suit to save the day. The upgrade turns out to be everything he needs to hand out a much-deserved loss to the Mandarin. Special points for Tony finishing the job by taking off his gloves and beating Mandarin in hand-to-hand combat.
3
Iron Man #8 Provides The Origin Of One Of Tony Stark’s Best Villains
The second part of a two-part story, Iron Man #8 is one of the most monumental issues of the early parts of Iron Man. It features a fairly dull main enemy for Iron Man himself, as Gladiator has one of the worst designs for a supervillain ever. That said, it’s far from what captures the attention.
Iron Man #8 features the secret origin of Whitney Frost, formerly a rich socialite who’s forced to become the leader of the Maggia after she learns of her true history. Getting to see that history at the same time as Iron Man finishing off the surprisingly formidable Gladiator makes this book. Plus, it’s capped off by SHIELD agent Jasper Sitwell being forced to confront the truth about his relationship with Frost, creating a classically tragic story all around.
2
Iron Man #12 Provides The Creepy Introduction Of The Controller
It’s surprising, yet directly after the events of Iron Man #11, Goodwin and Tuska put out an even better issue. It’s a testament to just how packed each issue was back then that it was possible to handle the fallout of a major arc before moving on to another major story. With Iron Man #12, they introduce another one of Iron Man’s most iconic enemies: The Controller.
The Controller’s introduction was built up for several issues, starting with the appearance of his brother, Vincent Sandhurst. Yet it’s here, in a story that’s as creepy as it is fantastic, that readers get Basil Sandhurst’s actual origin. It all builds to an exciting showdown between him and Iron Man, one that leaves both Janice Cord and Stark at the mercy of the Controller’s control discs.
1
Iron Man #17 Causes Stark To Lose Everything
Iron Man #17 is the beginning of the storyline, “The Beginning of the End”. Normally, for major arcs, it’s the finale that tends to be the best part. However, Archie Goodwin and George Tuska set up such an incredible problem for Stark to tackle that it stands out as the most memorable issue.
It all begins when the very Life-Model Decoy that saved Stark against the Mandarin re-awakens, downloading all of Stark’s memories in an attempt to take his place. With both his armor and Stark’s appearance, he has the real Tony Stark thrown out of his own business. In short order, he’s left with no resources and no allies to count on. This is the perfect Silver Age issue for Iron Man, and it leads to one of the biggest changes in Iron Man history.
- Release Date
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April 30, 2008
- Runtime
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126 minutes
- Director
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Jon Favreau
- Writers
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Mark Fergus, Matt Holloway, Art Marcum, Hawk Ostby
- Producers
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Avi Arad, Kevin Feige
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Robert Downey Jr.
Tony Stark
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