The Iron that Made the Man

In honor of the release of Iron Man 2, I have seen fit to celebrate with a list.

Iron Man has never been one of my favorite characters, as a matter of fact, he has always been one of my least favorites, but I cannot dismiss the fact that his first movie was great. I expect good things from the second one as it looks like the event of the summer and many have speculated that it could break box office records this opening weekend. I for one will be cheering it on, if for no other reason than to see it surpass The Dark Knight, after all, Marvel owning DC is always a good thing.


I have always seen Iron Man as the Marvel version of Batman, while I know that Moon Knight is truly the Marvel Batman, Iron Man has parallels that are natural whereas with Moon Knight everything is forced because he was literally created to be Marvel Batman. Iron Man is rich guy with no powers, toys that make him a superhero, has dead parents, is a dick, and the main driver of Tony Stark's character is that he can't control himself. Both have also wandered into a position as leaders in ther universe's respective planetary defense groups (Avengers, JLA), and now both are box office kings.


Since I have always linked Iron Man with Batman mentally, I have never cared for him, as my hatred of Batman and Superman are the reasons why I don't read DC Comics. That being said, he is an important character, a widely-exposed character, and honestly, not a terrible character. I can easily identify with his cut-throat, arrogant business man demeanor. Those things considered, I have read a decent amount of Iron Man. Today, I count down Iron Man's best comic book stories to celebrate.


To make this list, a story does not have to be from an Iron Man book, but just have Iron Man as a focal character of the story.


This list will only be a top 5, as I have not read enough Iron Man to do more without including stories that are just not that good.

5. Extremis

Extremis was a very well written story that gave Iron Man a big upgrade in powers. He invented a way to literally upgrade his brain and automate it like a computer. By doing so, he also could use his brain to control his suits instinctively and can now run his suits competely by mind, whether he is wearing it or not, he can summon it to his body simply by thinking of it. Mandarin steals the technology, uses it to make a chemical weapon, chaos ensues. For Iron Man fans, this story really starts the modern age of storytelling for the character and is essential reading. The story starts in Iron Man Volume 4. Issue 1 and ends in issue 6. However, it is an underlying theme in all the stories up to the cancellation of the series at issue 32.

4. World War Hulk

World War Hulk gives Iron Man fans something they aren't truly used to: battle issues. Iron Man's involvement in this story from the very beginning is him getting ready for battle, fighting, and dealing with the fallout from his battle. No sitting aroung drinking, chatting business or politics, no lab work, nothing passive or peaceful. After being a part of the Illuminati, Tony and Co. decide that Hulk is to dangerous to allow him to stay on earth any longer, so they trick into getting on a spacecraft and shoot him off into space. After a year or so, Hulk gets back to earth, it goes as well as you might expect. Iron Man is the first Illuminati member to try and take down Hulk and an epic fight ensues. World War Hulk is really not all about Tony Stark, but one issue is, and he stays relevant throughout. A great story that is viewed as dissapointing by many because of how poorly the crossovers were. Stick to the main title, skip the tie-ins, and you'l enjoy yourself. (World War Hulk 1-5).

3. Demon in a Bottle

Any true Iron Man fan knows this story. I have not read it in it's entiritey but have picked up enough back issues to grasp the entire story. This is a story that is much more about Tony Stark than his armored alter ego. The happy-go-lucky, playboy Tony Stark has a drinking problem, and it's not fun anymore. Stark is an alcoholic that has finally fallen far enough that he is no longer able to wear the suit without being more dangerous than helpful. Tony has to come to terms with his addiction and in the meantime, War Machine assumes the Iron Man identity while Stark figures out his life. This is as human as a comic book character has every looked, Stark is the polar opposite of Superman here, no boy scout, just an overpowered alcoholic. This story treaded where comics had not gone before, since it was publiched in the late 70's, when comics were still intended to only be read by children. The controversial story has won may awards and was the starting point of modern comics. (Iron Man vol. 1 issues 120-128)

2. World's Most Wanted & Stark: Disassembled

World's Most Wanted is the most recently concluded story in the currently ongoing Iron Man series, and is my favorite story ever out of Iron Man personal comic series. After failing miserably as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., Iron Man has had his position usurped by Norman Osborn. While Iron Man was head of S.H.I.E.L.D., however, the registration act has been a prominent issue and Stark's databanks contain the only copy of the registrations information. The identity and background of every registered hero is his and Osborn wants it. Stark saves the information in his own mind (which now operates like a computer, thanks to the aforementioned Extremis story). He goes on the run, now an outlaw, with Norman Osborn and all of his resources after him. Due to poor judgment in his directorial position, Stark is now broke and a fugitive. Knowing he cannot outrun Osborn forever, Stark wipes his own mind to keep him from getting the registration files. Stark slowly but surely starts to lose his intelligence as a result, getting progessively dumber until he literally cannot spell his own name, while his friends try to find a way to save him before he goes copletely brain dead. (Invincible Iron Man 8-24).

1. Civil War

Following a disaster involving wreckless superpowered heroes, congress enacts a new law requiring all individuals with superpowers to register with the government. If they wish to use them as a hero, they must train in a government run program, if they fail to register they will be arrested. This story sees the Avengers, and virtually every other hero in the Marvel Universe, split into two sides. One side, led by Captain America, believes the law to be an unlawful invasion of privacy and refuse to sign and start an unregistered rebellion against it. Iron Man is on the other side, fighting for the government registration. Iron Man leads teams on missions to find and arrest unregistered Heroes such as Luke Cage and Daredevil, and inevitably goes to war with the underground heroes. In this story there are no true villian (well not in the main book anyways) just men with opposing ideals that fight for what they believe in. Civil War is also the greatest crossover I have ever read. Iron Man is one of the two most imortant poeple in the story, and by virtue, this is his greatest story.

So that completes my list. I am not sure if I will be continuing this blog past this point because I don't know that anyone is reading it. I have discovered no way to see how many views I am receiving and my comments and followers are very small numbers. If you are reading this, just let me know and I'll keep going, but it takes a lot of time if there are truly only six people reading. Just drop me a comment or message either on here or facebook and let me know. If I do keep going, I have a lot of lists in mind that I would like to write up, so when you message me, send me a vote and let me know which one you'd like to see. Here are the contenders

Spots: Top 10.

Disapointments of the decade

Favorite athletes

Plays of the decade

People you love to hate

Irritating traditions

Comics: Top 10

Characters to collect

Storylines

Disappointments

Underused character

Deaths

Life: Top 10

Things I hate

Rants:

Earth week

Mr. Marshall

Boring games

Additionally, I should let you know that regardless of whether I continue doing regular posts on here, (lists, etc.) I'll definitely be back at the end of the summer for College Football stuff. I am working on a preseason Top 25, a countdown of the best games of the season, and predictions of how each team will finish in their conferences and bowls at the end of the season. If you are interested in reading any of this stuff before August let me know, and I'll write it sooner.