Of course, if I had my way, Iron Man and Tony Stark would look something like this:
There's Timothy Dalton as Tony Stark! That's fantastic {[] Love to see more of those pictures if any. Alex Ross art?
Yes, it is Alex Ross. This was a sketch he did when preparing his Marvels books and he explicitly stated Dalton was his inspiration. I don't think I've ever come across any other Dalton as Stark images but I'll check my Ross books tonight...
Of course, if I had my way, Iron Man and Tony Stark would look something like this:
There's Timothy Dalton as Tony Stark! That's fantastic {[] Love to see more of those pictures if any. Alex Ross art?
Yes, it is Alex Ross. This was a sketch he did when preparing his Marvels books and he explicitly stated Dalton was his inspiration. I don't think I've ever come across any other Dalton as Stark images but I'll check my Ross books tonight...
cheers Tony -{
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
Downey seems to know his comic book history and that's always a good thing. After reading about actor after actor who is embarrassed by the tights and funny costumes, it refreshing to hear somebody actually say these characters are cool just as they are. This is the first real positive sign for me about this movie; I really hope it turns out well.
I, too am feeling more at ease about this project.
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
edited November 2006
I'll be there on opening night B-)
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Here's a little something to tide over any Iron Man fans until the live action movie debuts (or give newbies a primer on the Golden Avenger): a new animated Iron Man movie:
This question is for the usual suspects, but how does Iron Man rank in comparison to other great Comic Book heroes?
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
This question is for the usual suspects, but how does Iron Man rank in comparison to other great Comic Book heroes?
Ranking his stature is somewhat subjective Dan so youre question is a little difficult to answer.
In terms of the character's age; he first appeared in comics around 1963, around the same time as most of Marvel's more high profile heroes (Spiderman, Fantastic Four, X-Men) made their debut. Still, some DC characters like Batman and Superman date all the way back to the late 1930's.
In terms of sales, Iron Man is nowhere near the top and numbers for his books often fall way below the big guns I mentioned above. In fact, Iron Man has gone thru many changes over the years in an effort to boost sales; at different points in time various people have been inside the suit and Tony Stark has been portrayed as everything from an alcaholic to a paraplegic to an angst-ridden teenager. He's been killed off several times and walked away from the superhero racket more often that I can count. They even made him a villain at one point.
In terms of coolness factor, this is subjective but I think the Iron Man from the 1970's and very early 1980's (when I was really into the books) is about as cool a character as you can get. Mix one part James Bond, one part Bruce Wayne billionaire playboy, add in a generous amount of high-tech gadgetry, and a rogues gallery of some very exotic and memorable villains, and you have a really interesting book. I also like the fact that Tony Stark was flawed both physically (he had a bad heart and the same suit that made him Iron Man could never be completely removed or he'd die) and emotionally (thru his bouts with alcoholism). He was often portrayed as a man living on borrowed time; and yet despite all these difficulties, he always found a way to prevail. He was also cool because he had an armor for practically every occasion: Stealth Armor, Hulk Busting Armor, Space Armor, Underwater Armor, etc. He basically built his armors to suit his needs so the look of the character rarely got stale.
Iron Man is probably my favorite Marvel superhero (Captain America is a close second). But of course all this is just my opinion. Now, have I thoroughly confused you?
The word rank was probably the wrong word. I was referring to what you thought about Iron Man in relation to other Comic Book heroes. However you answered my question so thanks.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
The word rank was probably the wrong word. I was referring towhat you thought about Iron Man in relation to other Comic Book heroes. However you answered my question so thanks.
As for myself, Dan, if you take out the only real run on his title for me(late 70s-early 80s), I really don't rank him high at all. To me he's too much of a famaliar road I've been down with a certain DC character?
In the Marvel Universe alone I could probably pick 8-9 heroes who I think have more appeal but as Tony has already stated - it's all subjective.
I mean there are some who may not care for Batman but I'm pretty sure that said people are clearly on some sort of illegal substance...
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
As for myself, Dan, if you take out the only real run on his title for me(late 70s-early 80s), I really don't rank him high at all. To me he's too much of a famaliar road I've been down with a certain DC character?
Gee, I wonder who you're talking about? BTW, out of curiosity, was Batman an inspiration for Iron Man?
I mean there are some who may not care for Batman but I'm pretty sure that said people are clearly on some sort of illegal substance...
Very true. )
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
As for myself, Dan, if you take out the only real run on his title for me(late 70s-early 80s), I really don't rank him high at all. To me he's too much of a famaliar road I've been down with a certain DC character?
Gee, I wonder who you're talking about? BTW, out of curiosity, was Batman an inspiration for Iron Man?
Who knows? Marvel has always emulated their creations from DC to begin with:
Green Arrow - Hawkeye
Aquaman - Namor
Darkseid - Thanos
Dr. Fate - Dr. Strange & I could go on...
Perhaps Tony or W.G. would know better about that; to me, Stark is too much like Wayne...minus the heart condition.
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Hate to tell you, Rogue, but Namor the Sub-Mariner came before Aquaman. Aquaman was designed as sort-of a "kinder and gentler" answer to the grumpy Subby. Ironic, considering DC later turned Aquaman into a grumpy, disfigured Sub-Mariner clone!
Vox clamantis in deserto
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
Hate to tell you, Rogue, but Namor the Sub-Mariner came before Aquaman. Aquaman was designed as sort-of a "kinder and gentler" answer to the grumpy Subby. Ironic, considering DC later turned Aquaman into a grumpy, disfigured Sub-Mariner clone!
Thanks, HB. It dawned on me after I looked over my last post on that example ;% . Namor originally debuted under the Timely Comics moniker.
I believe the rest of my examples are accurate though.
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
As for myself, Dan, if you take out the only real run on his title for me(late 70s-early 80s), I really don't rank him high at all. To me he's too much of a famaliar road I've been down with a certain DC character?
And just so we're clear, this is the era I'm talking about as well. During that run, Iron Man was No. 1 in my book; I really haven't kept up with the character lately but the few times I have taken a peek, I can't say that I cared much for what I saw. But back then, both his solo adventures and his team ups with Captain America and the Avengers were real rollicking stuff.
For me that period (1974 - 1980) was a real golden period for Marvel; I adored what they did with Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. The art was awesome and the stories were so imaginative. Back then I was a real Marvel fanboy and wouldn't touch DC's stuff at all. My, how times have changed.
Perhaps Tony or W.G. would know better about that; to me, Stark is too much like Wayne...minus the heart condition.
Actually Rogue, I never saw much of a similarity other than they were both filthy rich. Their reasons for donning their costumes were vastly different and Stark, unlike Wayne, actually enjoyed his partying. Iron Man also took part in some pretty cosmic adventures and many of his enemies were very high tech, a far cry from Batman's Rogues Gallery. Iron Man also wasn't nearly the loner that Batman was, regularly teaming up with the Avengers.
He's actually one of the few Marvel heros who I can't easily pidgeon-hole a DC counterpart for. But that's just my opinion.
Marvel has always emulated their creations from DC to begin with:
Green Arrow - Hawkeye
Aquaman - Namor
Darkseid - Thanos
Dr. Fate - Dr. Strange & I could go on...
During one of those atrocious Marvel vs. DC crossovers, I remember that certain characters were temporarily merged together to create original creations. It was an awful book but it addressed this idea that there were similar characters in each universe. Fortunately for my sanity, I've forgotten most of these Frankenstein creations except one: Iron Man and Green Lantern were merged to become The Iron Lantern.
Much to my horror, I actually found a Wikipedia page on the Amalgamated characters. Gaze upon it at your own peril...
And just so we're clear, this is the era I'm talking about as well. During that run, Iron Man was No. 1 in my book; I really haven't kept up with the character lately but the few times I have taken a peek, I can't say that I cared much for what I saw. But back then, both his solo adventures and his team ups with Captain America and the Avengers were real rollicking stuff.
For me that period (1974 - 1980) was a real golden period for Marvel; I adored what they did with Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. The art was awesome and the stories were so imaginative. Back then I was a real Marvel fanboy and wouldn't touch DC's stuff at all. My, how times have changed.
Testify, brother, testify! I'm a child of the '70s myself, and I was a real superhero nut (I had a big Mego action figure collection that would probably be worth some money today ). I still look back on those old comics, with their pulpy paper and naive social consciousness, as real treasures. Today, though--eh. Granted, they're very slick and often brilliantly illustrated; but I dislike the Manga influence you see in so many comic books today, and--in the wake of Watchmen--so many heroes have just become dour, screwed-up headcases. Also, the few times I've looked through modern comic books, I've found myself wondering, "What the hell is going on here?" I saw in a recent Spidey comic that Spider-Man unmasked himself at a press conference, and I see most issues now have "Spider-Man Unmasked!" at the top. So, does everyone now know who he is? Why? What's the point? I can't see Stan Lee approving a radical change like that!
The thing about those stories from the 1970s is that they were so memorable. I lost those books decades ago but I remember them like they were today...
Iron Man faces off against the Melter and when his suit is destroyed, he must resort to desperate means to defeat him.
The Fantastic Four chase the Silver Surfer into the Microverse so that he can be brought back and find a world for Galactus to devour before he can destroy the Earth.
Captain America and the Falcon race against time to stop Red Skull's plans to detonate Mad Bombs that will render America insane, on the date of the Bicentennial, no less.
I could go on and on and on. These days I'm subjected to cloned Scarlet Spiders, teenaged Tony Starks, manga'd Spidermen, and Sue Storm usually looks like a hooker. Oh the humanity.
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
As for myself, Dan, if you take out the only real run on his title for me(late 70s-early 80s), I really don't rank him high at all. To me he's too much of a famaliar road I've been down with a certain DC character?
And just so we're clear, this is the era I'm talking about as well. During that run, Iron Man was No. 1 in my book; I really haven't kept up with the character lately but the few times I have taken a peek, I can't say that I cared much for what I saw. But back then, both his solo adventures and his team ups with Captain America and the Avengers were real rollicking stuff.
The only reason why I fell in love with the Iron Man comics in the late 70s is owed to the AWESOME art of John Romita, Jr. at the time. Along sharing duties with Bob Layton had me buying this title with my allowance every month.
I'm still waiting on my 7-8th grade teacher to give this one back for reading it in class.
I, Tony, have never been a Marvel fanboy so to speak; I cherished what they brought to the table though and I always will especially the 70s with titles like Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and The Avengers.
I was into the DC 100-pagers of the 70s and when my big sister got me a subscription to BATMAN for a year, I was sold.
My kid thinks that Marvel can do no wrong in his eyes as do alot of his peers. I've pretty much summed it up as this:
Marvel fanboys = MTV Generation
DC Followers = VHI Generation. )
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
I, Tony, have never been a Marvel fanboy so to speak; I cherished what they brought to the table though and I always will especially the 70s with titles like Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and The Avengers.
I think my preference for Marvel in those days started with the simple fact that they were the first characters I was exposed to, even before Superman or any of the other DC people. And for whatever reason, my comics collection in those days ended up being about 98% Marvel. Ironically enough, one of the few DC books I bought was a Flash title (probably because I saw him on the Superfrieds) where he goes to Earth II with Green Lantern. Needless to say, being dropped into the middle of that storyline with all those new characters left me a little confused. Also, oddly enough, the artwork was so different; much cleaner and less hectic. My eight year old brain had a tough time appreciating the difference, but even then, I did think that the guy with the green suit and weird ring was kind of cool...
My kid thinks that Marvel can do no wrong in his eyes as do alot of his peers. I've pretty much summed it up as this:
If he insists on reading Marvel, you should get him some compilations of those books from the 1970's if they're available. At least he'll have good stories instead of the souped up WWE that Marvel seems to have turned into.
Either that, or it's time for some tough love.
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
My kid thinks that Marvel can do no wrong in his eyes as do alot of his peers. I've pretty much summed it up as this:
If he insists on reading Marvel, you should get him some compilations of those books from the 1970's if they're available. At least he'll have good stories instead of the souped up WWE that Marvel seems to have turned into.
Either that, or it's time for some tough love.
Hey, Tony, I've willed my massive collection of comics to him already; what he does with them after that is out of my hands.
I've let him see a few of my Marvel titles but he understands how important they are to me and decides not to bother them.
He's really not into the old artists and stories, besides being in awe of something that old ) , because he thinks that they come off a little "corny" as opposed to what's put in books now. I guess the same could be said of anything by generation of father to son...
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
You're right, stuff like this does get to be very generational. The reverse is true as well though; I look at some of these new stories (especially in the Marvel books) and as Hardyboy said, I end up wondering what the hell is going on and what all the fuss is about.
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
edited November 2006
One has to understand that the comic genre is in competition with all the other ventures of entertainment for your kid's affections so it has to up the ante.
We, well at least- I- was not fortunate enough to have an Atari joystick much less a console where as today children have cable tv with even the most "adult" situations on a cartoon channel, Xbox, PS2s, etc.
Comics for me at a young age was one of the few escapisms that could be afforded at the time. Children today just have alot more choices. Just imagine how high the bar will be by the time my son has kids. )
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
how does Iron Man rank in comparison to other great Comic Book heroes?
Ive never seen these late70s issues folks speak of
what I know of Iron Man is the early silver age stories, mostly ones Ive found reprinted in issues of Marvel Collector Item Classics
at that early point, he was definitely one of those characters Stan Lee came up with in the wake of FF's sucess but had no clue what to do with (like the original XMen, the early Thor stories, the Human Torchs solo series...)
usually written by Larry Lieber and drawn by Don Heck it was one of the weakest Silver Age Marvel comics
Ive seen it criticised for its Cold War setup in an era of 60s counterculture values, but 40 years later thats actually one of the aspects that sets it apart
but those early stories lack Stan Lees dialog and either of the defintive Silver Age Marvel artists
I was into the DC 100-pagers of the 70s and when my big sister got me a subscription to BATMAN for a year, I was sold.
those 100pg SuperSpectaculars were the first superhero comics I bought too, specifically the SHAZAM! issues
best comics value ever, a few years ago I acquired most of those 100pg issues and they now sell for a lot more than 60c!
as a child I actually preferred the reprints whenever I could find them
I had Jules Feiffers book The Great Comic Book Heroes before I ever bought a comic book, that was a very early collection of Golden Age comics
and I had both Origins of Marvel Comics and Son of Origins before I started buying Marvel Comics off the stands
I generally preferred the earlier stories to the contemporary ones, so much more seemed to happen in less than 10 pages!
I can remember trying to get into the 1970s XMen shortly after they started (apporx issue 100) and not being able to cuz there was not a single character from the origin story I already knew and I could not figure out what was supposed to be going on!
Ive never seen these late70s issues folks speak of
what I know of Iron Man is the early silver age stories, mostly ones Ive found reprinted in issues of Marvel Collector Item Classics
at that early point, he was definitely one of those characters Stan Lee came up with in the wake of FF's sucess but had no clue what to do with (like the original XMen, the early Thor stories, the Human Torchs solo series...)
usually written by Larry Lieber and drawn by Don Heck it was one of the weakest Silver Age Marvel comics
Ive seen it criticised for its Cold War setup in an era of 60s counterculture values, but 40 years later thats actually one of the aspects that sets it apart
but those early stories lack Stan Lees dialog and either of the defintive Silver Age Marvel artists
Some of Iron Man's story arcs from the 1970s and early 1980s (like the Armor Wars storyline) have been compiled into newstand trade editions; a good comics shop would probably have some for you to peruse. I'd strongly recommend you check some Iron Man stuff from that period out as it has, IMHO, some of his best stories.
Getting back to the movie, here's a short Iron Man related interview with Robert Downey Jr. courtesy of Access Hollywood's website. Not much new information although it does give a broad overview of the plot. Downey once again sounds very enthusiastic about going into production.
As MNL so astutely pointed out in another thread, it's a slow newsday today. So, after scraping the bottom of the barrel, I give you the teaser logo for the new Iron Man movie. It looks like the uni-beam projecter on his chest plate and since it's round it might suggest the final version of the suit will resemble the 1970's Romita and Colan versions (I'm grasping at straws here, I know).
Come to think of it, if you took the red bits and made them green, it would make a pretty spiffy teaser for a Green Lantern movie.
It looks like the uni-beam projecter on his chest plate and since it's round it might suggest the final version of the suit will resemble the 1970's Romita and Colan versions (I'm grasping at straws here, I know).
Well my fingers are crossed on it.
Come to think of it, if you took the red bits and made them green, it would make a pretty spiffy teaser for a Green Lantern movie.
) Not in this decade I'm afraid. I don't think that they have any idea on how to approach it to be honest. Believe me when I say it's long overdue...
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
Here's a trailer for the new animated movie set to debut on DVD January 23rd. Not crazy about the style of how it's drawn but hey, it's Iron Man. Enjoy:
Thanks for the link Rogue; I'm not sure about the art style either (I never cared much for those elongated character designs) but the different armors look interesting and art style notwithstanding, its a big improvement over those crude animated TV shows. I really wish they'd have done it all in CGI (Iron Man would be a natural for that) but all things considered, I just might pick this one up.
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
Yeah, Tony I'll be picking it up more than likely.
I keep holding out hope that the '70s costume will make a comeback though... )
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Comments
There's Timothy Dalton as Tony Stark! That's fantastic {[] Love to see more of those pictures if any. Alex Ross art?
I really like those. cheers for the link.
Yes, it is Alex Ross. This was a sketch he did when preparing his Marvels books and he explicitly stated Dalton was his inspiration. I don't think I've ever come across any other Dalton as Stark images but I'll check my Ross books tonight...
cheers Tony -{
I, too am feeling more at ease about this project.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
http://dvd.ign.com/articles/745/745302p1.html
It looks like they've changed his origin quite a bit from the original 1960's comics; but that's to be expected given the passage of time.
Ranking his stature is somewhat subjective Dan so youre question is a little difficult to answer.
In terms of the character's age; he first appeared in comics around 1963, around the same time as most of Marvel's more high profile heroes (Spiderman, Fantastic Four, X-Men) made their debut. Still, some DC characters like Batman and Superman date all the way back to the late 1930's.
In terms of sales, Iron Man is nowhere near the top and numbers for his books often fall way below the big guns I mentioned above. In fact, Iron Man has gone thru many changes over the years in an effort to boost sales; at different points in time various people have been inside the suit and Tony Stark has been portrayed as everything from an alcaholic to a paraplegic to an angst-ridden teenager. He's been killed off several times and walked away from the superhero racket more often that I can count. They even made him a villain at one point.
In terms of coolness factor, this is subjective but I think the Iron Man from the 1970's and very early 1980's (when I was really into the books) is about as cool a character as you can get. Mix one part James Bond, one part Bruce Wayne billionaire playboy, add in a generous amount of high-tech gadgetry, and a rogues gallery of some very exotic and memorable villains, and you have a really interesting book. I also like the fact that Tony Stark was flawed both physically (he had a bad heart and the same suit that made him Iron Man could never be completely removed or he'd die) and emotionally (thru his bouts with alcoholism). He was often portrayed as a man living on borrowed time; and yet despite all these difficulties, he always found a way to prevail. He was also cool because he had an armor for practically every occasion: Stealth Armor, Hulk Busting Armor, Space Armor, Underwater Armor, etc. He basically built his armors to suit his needs so the look of the character rarely got stale.
Iron Man is probably my favorite Marvel superhero (Captain America is a close second). But of course all this is just my opinion. Now, have I thoroughly confused you?
As for myself, Dan, if you take out the only real run on his title for me(late 70s-early 80s), I really don't rank him high at all. To me he's too much of a famaliar road I've been down with a certain DC character?
In the Marvel Universe alone I could probably pick 8-9 heroes who I think have more appeal but as Tony has already stated - it's all subjective.
I mean there are some who may not care for Batman but I'm pretty sure that said people are clearly on some sort of illegal substance...
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Very true.
Who knows? Marvel has always emulated their creations from DC to begin with:
Green Arrow - Hawkeye
Aquaman - Namor
Darkseid - Thanos
Dr. Fate - Dr. Strange & I could go on...
Perhaps Tony or W.G. would know better about that; to me, Stark is too much like Wayne...minus the heart condition.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Thanks, HB. It dawned on me after I looked over my last post on that example ;% . Namor originally debuted under the Timely Comics moniker.
I believe the rest of my examples are accurate though.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
And just so we're clear, this is the era I'm talking about as well. During that run, Iron Man was No. 1 in my book; I really haven't kept up with the character lately but the few times I have taken a peek, I can't say that I cared much for what I saw. But back then, both his solo adventures and his team ups with Captain America and the Avengers were real rollicking stuff.
For me that period (1974 - 1980) was a real golden period for Marvel; I adored what they did with Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. The art was awesome and the stories were so imaginative. Back then I was a real Marvel fanboy and wouldn't touch DC's stuff at all. My, how times have changed.
Actually Rogue, I never saw much of a similarity other than they were both filthy rich. Their reasons for donning their costumes were vastly different and Stark, unlike Wayne, actually enjoyed his partying. Iron Man also took part in some pretty cosmic adventures and many of his enemies were very high tech, a far cry from Batman's Rogues Gallery. Iron Man also wasn't nearly the loner that Batman was, regularly teaming up with the Avengers.
He's actually one of the few Marvel heros who I can't easily pidgeon-hole a DC counterpart for. But that's just my opinion.
During one of those atrocious Marvel vs. DC crossovers, I remember that certain characters were temporarily merged together to create original creations. It was an awful book but it addressed this idea that there were similar characters in each universe. Fortunately for my sanity, I've forgotten most of these Frankenstein creations except one: Iron Man and Green Lantern were merged to become The Iron Lantern.
Much to my horror, I actually found a Wikipedia page on the Amalgamated characters. Gaze upon it at your own peril...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Amalgam_Comics_characters
Testify, brother, testify! I'm a child of the '70s myself, and I was a real superhero nut (I had a big Mego action figure collection that would probably be worth some money today
The thing about those stories from the 1970s is that they were so memorable. I lost those books decades ago but I remember them like they were today...
Iron Man faces off against the Melter and when his suit is destroyed, he must resort to desperate means to defeat him.
The Fantastic Four chase the Silver Surfer into the Microverse so that he can be brought back and find a world for Galactus to devour before he can destroy the Earth.
Captain America and the Falcon race against time to stop Red Skull's plans to detonate Mad Bombs that will render America insane, on the date of the Bicentennial, no less.
I could go on and on and on. These days I'm subjected to cloned Scarlet Spiders, teenaged Tony Starks, manga'd Spidermen, and Sue Storm usually looks like a hooker. Oh the humanity.
The only reason why I fell in love with the Iron Man comics in the late 70s is owed to the AWESOME art of John Romita, Jr. at the time. Along sharing duties with Bob Layton had me buying this title with my allowance every month.
I'm still waiting on my 7-8th grade teacher to give this one back for reading it in class.
I, Tony, have never been a Marvel fanboy so to speak; I cherished what they brought to the table though and I always will especially the 70s with titles like Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and The Avengers.
I was into the DC 100-pagers of the 70s and when my big sister got me a subscription to BATMAN for a year, I was sold.
My kid thinks that Marvel can do no wrong in his eyes as do alot of his peers. I've pretty much summed it up as this:
Marvel fanboys = MTV Generation
DC Followers = VHI Generation.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
I think my preference for Marvel in those days started with the simple fact that they were the first characters I was exposed to, even before Superman or any of the other DC people. And for whatever reason, my comics collection in those days ended up being about 98% Marvel. Ironically enough, one of the few DC books I bought was a Flash title (probably because I saw him on the Superfrieds) where he goes to Earth II with Green Lantern. Needless to say, being dropped into the middle of that storyline with all those new characters left me a little confused. Also, oddly enough, the artwork was so different; much cleaner and less hectic. My eight year old brain had a tough time appreciating the difference, but even then, I did think that the guy with the green suit and weird ring was kind of cool...
If he insists on reading Marvel, you should get him some compilations of those books from the 1970's if they're available. At least he'll have good stories instead of the souped up WWE that Marvel seems to have turned into.
Either that, or it's time for some tough love.
Hey, Tony, I've willed my massive collection of comics to him already; what he does with them after that is out of my hands.
I've let him see a few of my Marvel titles but he understands how important they are to me and decides not to bother them.
He's really not into the old artists and stories, besides being in awe of something that old
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
We, well at least- I- was not fortunate enough to have an Atari joystick much less a console where as today children have cable tv with even the most "adult" situations on a cartoon channel, Xbox, PS2s, etc.
Comics for me at a young age was one of the few escapisms that could be afforded at the time. Children today just have alot more choices. Just imagine how high the bar will be by the time my son has kids.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
what I know of Iron Man is the early silver age stories, mostly ones Ive found reprinted in issues of Marvel Collector Item Classics
at that early point, he was definitely one of those characters Stan Lee came up with in the wake of FF's sucess but had no clue what to do with (like the original XMen, the early Thor stories, the Human Torchs solo series...)
usually written by Larry Lieber and drawn by Don Heck it was one of the weakest Silver Age Marvel comics
Ive seen it criticised for its Cold War setup in an era of 60s counterculture values, but 40 years later thats actually one of the aspects that sets it apart
but those early stories lack Stan Lees dialog and either of the defintive Silver Age Marvel artists
those 100pg SuperSpectaculars were the first superhero comics I bought too, specifically the SHAZAM! issues
best comics value ever, a few years ago I acquired most of those 100pg issues and they now sell for a lot more than 60c!
as a child I actually preferred the reprints whenever I could find them
I had Jules Feiffers book The Great Comic Book Heroes before I ever bought a comic book, that was a very early collection of Golden Age comics
and I had both Origins of Marvel Comics and Son of Origins before I started buying Marvel Comics off the stands
I generally preferred the earlier stories to the contemporary ones, so much more seemed to happen in less than 10 pages!
I can remember trying to get into the 1970s XMen shortly after they started (apporx issue 100) and not being able to cuz there was not a single character from the origin story I already knew and I could not figure out what was supposed to be going on!
Some of Iron Man's story arcs from the 1970s and early 1980s (like the Armor Wars storyline) have been compiled into newstand trade editions; a good comics shop would probably have some for you to peruse. I'd strongly recommend you check some Iron Man stuff from that period out as it has, IMHO, some of his best stories.
Getting back to the movie, here's a short Iron Man related interview with Robert Downey Jr. courtesy of Access Hollywood's website. Not much new information although it does give a broad overview of the plot. Downey once again sounds very enthusiastic about going into production.
http://www.accesshollywood.com/movies/ah2532.shtml
Come to think of it, if you took the red bits and made them green, it would make a pretty spiffy teaser for a Green Lantern movie.
Enjoy:
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31055
Well my fingers are crossed on it.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
http://www.invincibleironmandvd.com/index.html
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
I keep holding out hope that the '70s costume will make a comeback though...
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -