Since March of 1963, Iron Man has been one of the most recognizable mainstays of the Marvel Universe. Although not always an A-list character, despite his current popularity, Iron Man has been a true workhorse, helping to bring the House that Stan Built from the Silver Age to the Bronze Age, and eventually to the modern age of comics.
However, in the concluding moments of Civil War II, everyone’s favorite armored Avenger was dealt a cruel hand, meeting his seeming demise thanks to Captain Marvel. In actuality, Tony Stark slipped into a coma, but years of secret alterations Stark made to his biology, in case his bodily functions should fail him, have made it near impossible for even the brightest minds in the Marvel Universe to lend a helping hand.
For now, the body of Tony Stark remains in a stasis pod while Beast of the X-Men further investigates his condition. In the meantime, the legacy of Iron Man lives on. Former villain Victor Von Doom made the decision to take up the mantle of Iron Man to establish himself as a hero, and a young teen by the name of Riri Williams crafted armor of her own, which she is using to become a hero in her own right thanks to some guidance from an artificial intelligence based on Tony’s mind. I know, very comic-booky.
Anyway, with such a long and storied history, there’s plenty about Iron Man that readers old and new may not know, so suit up and set your thrusters for full capacity, because here are 12 things you didn’t know about Iron Man:
He Owns Area 51
When you have to find somewhere secure to store an Infinity Gem, what place could be better than a secret USAF base? Apparently, that’s what Tony Stark was thinking, because at one point in the comics, when Stark needed a safe place to hide the Reality Gem, he decided a purchase he made several years earlier would suit his needs perfectly – Area 51.
In the Marvel Universe, the site had been abandoned and eventually used by the Gamma Corps as headquarters. However, when the Government quietly put the site up for auction, Stark swooped in to pick up the scraps.
He Is The First Man To Use The Infinity Gauntlet
The Infinity Gauntlet has the potential to be the most beneficial, or the most destructive item in all of the Marvel Universe. When used with all six of the Infinity Gems, the user is able to do anything he or she wishes, which can be disastrous in the wrong hands.
Thankfully, the first human to ever possess and use the Infinity Gauntlet, Iron Man, had altruistic (though slightly deceitful) intentions. After he and his fellow Avengers defeated The Hood, who had been gathering the Infinity Gems, Iron Man used the gauntlet to transport the villain back to Ryker’s Island and subsequently willed the gauntlet out of existence… Or so he said. In actuality, Iron Man transported the gauntlet to the gathering place of the Illuminati, where he would divide the six gems amongst his teammates for safe keeping.
He Hates J. R. R. Tolkien
You read that right – the Armored Avenger HATES critically acclaimed writer of such beloved works as Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien.
It was really just a throwaway line, but in Iron Man #4 (2012), writer Kieron Gillen used a couple of caption boxes to show us what was going through the mind of the shellhead as he examined some graffiti-covered skulls.
“Graffiti straight out of Tolkien. I hate Tolkien.”
Perhaps he’s more of a J. K. Rowling guy.
He Can Lift Roughly 100 Tons
In case there was ever any question about just how strong Tony Stark is when he dons the Iron Man suit, the answer is… pretty strong. On average, Tony’s armor amplifies his strength to the point where he’s able to comfortably press approximately 100 tons. That’s the same amount as the Hulk (when he’s calm)!
What’s more, if he receives a significant boost from an outside source, his level of strength becomes incalculable.
He Is Based On Howard Hughes
When Stan Lee was coming up with the concept of Iron Man, he sought to create a wealthy, glamorous ladies’ man. With that in mind, Stan the Man turned to one of pop culture’s most notable playboys, Howard Hughes.
“Howard Hughes was one of the most colorful men of our time,” said Lee. “He was an inventor, an adventurer, a multi-billionaire, a ladies' man and finally a nutcase.”
All things considered, it’s quite difficult to picture Iron Man being modeled after anyone else.
He Was Trained By Captain America
Without one of his state-of-the-art, armored combat suits, Tony Stark is merely a man. That being said, what’s a shellhead to do should he find himself without one of his wearable weapons? The answer? Have a little help from your friends, of course.
Who better than the First Avenger to train the Armored Avenger in hand-to-hand combat? Thanks to Captain America, should Tony end up in a precarious situation without a suit of armor in reach, he’ll be more than able to hold his own against most non-powered threats.
His First Appearance Wasn't Written By Stan Lee
If you think just about every character to come out of Marvel in the 1960s was written by Stan Lee, you’d be forgiven. After all, he and Jack Kirby were there from the start for nearly all of the heavy hitters.
However, juggling an insurmountable number of projects on a daily basis caught up with Lee at one point, as a deadline emergency came about just as he was preparing to write the first story to feature Iron Man. Thankfully, Lee was able to able to delegate the task to his younger brother, Larry Lieber.
Lieber, along with Jack Kirby and Don Heck, were able to produce the story in time, and Iron Man made his Marvel Comics debut in Tales of Suspense #39 in March 1963.
He Was Inspired By The Cold War
At the time Iron Man first premiered, the Cold War was in full swing. For Stan Lee, this presented the opportunity to challenge himself.
“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.” – Stan Lee
It’s hard to imagine something like this going over quite as smoothly today, but you have to admire Lee’s ambition at the time.
He Was Originally The Bodyguard Of Tony Stark
Although it seems like Iron Man’s identity of Tony Stark has been public knowledge in the comics forever, it wasn’t always that way. Like most superheroes, Tony jealously guarded his secret identity just as much as the next hero in his earlier days.
Prior to Tony outing himself as the Armored Avenger, he told the world that Iron Man was his robotic, personal bodyguard, as well as the corporate mascot of Stark Industries. Sound familiar? It should if you’re reading Dan Slott’s current Amazing Spider-Man series because Peter Parker mirrors this same cover story to maintain his own secret identity. I guess great minds think alike.
He Was Secretary Of Defense
That’s right – among other things on Tony Starks incredibly crowded resume resides a stint as Secretary of Defense to the United States of America.
After Iron Man revealed his identity to the public, Stark found himself in violation of a contract, thus voiding agreements that protected his armor from government duplication. When the U.S. military began utilizing his technology, despite defects that nearly caused a disaster in Washington D.C., Stark decided to accept a Presidential appointment as SecDef. His hope was that in this role, he’d be able to monitor those using his technology and provide some much needed direction.
He Was Once Iron Lantern
Although rare, Marvel and DC did have occasional crossovers. One such crossover was a project the two publishers called the Amalgam Universe. In this universe, classic Marvel characters were merged with iconic DC figures to create entirely new heroes.
One of these heroes was Iron Lantern, the combination of Tony Stark’s Iron Man and Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern. Iron Lantern’s alter-ego, Hal Stark, was a billionaire that founded Stark Air-Crafts, a clever mash-up of Hal and Tony’s respective back stories.
Even though the crossover didn’t last long, it was certainly fun while it lasted.
He Is Adopted
For 50 years, we all believed Tony was the biological son of Howard and Maria Stark, and we really had no reason to think otherwise. However, in 2013, a retcon revealed that Tony was actually adopted. What’s more, he also had a brother, Arno, the true birth son of Howard and Maria.
The concept was touched upon briefly, up until the Superior Iron Man story. After Secret Wars, it was all but forgotten until International Iron Man (2016) revealed Tony’s true parents, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Amanda Armstrong, and her lover, Jude.
As for Arno Stark, his whereabouts haven’t been brought up in nearly four years, but perhaps this, as well as Tony’s true parentage, will play a role in a future story. After all, it’s highly unlikely Marvel will keep Tony Stark shelved for long.