Creator Credits for Ironheart (Season One)

In short: a misstep that doesn't seem to understand the appeal of its protagonist or antagonist.

Jason Aaron (writer): co-creator of Zelma Stanton, a toque-wearing young woman who was affected by brain maggots (Doctor Strange #1, 2015); of Zelma Stanton learning how to practice magic (Doctor Strange #20, 2017)

Chris Bachalo (artist): co-creator of Zelma Stanton, a toque-wearing young woman who was affected by brain maggots (Doctor Strange #1, 2015); of Zelma Stanton learning how to practice magic (Doctor Strange #20, 2017)

Brian Michael Bendis (writer): co-creator of Riri Williams, a brilliant young engineer at MIT who studies Tony Stark's technology and develops her own suit of armor based on his, taking the armor out on test flights (Invincible Iron Man #7, 2016); of Riri entering MIT while still a young teenager (Invincible Iron Man #8, 2016); of Ronnie Williams, Riri's mother (Invincible Iron Man #12, 2016); of Natalie Washington, Riri Williams' best friend; of Riri's father and Natalie Washington dying when Riri was young when they were hit by stray bullets from a gunfight; of Riri deciding to honour Tony Stark's legacy by becoming a hero (Invincible Iron Man #1, 2017); of Riri completing her version of the Iron Man armor and going public as Ironheart (Invincible Iron Man #3, 2017); of Ronnie Williams learning Riri is an armored hero and choosing to support her (Invincible Iron Man #5, 2017); of Xavier, an old friend of Riri Williams and sometimes-romantic interest (Invincible Iron Man #595, 2017); of the Hood leading a personal army of superhuman criminals (New Avengers #33, 2007); of Rampage as a member of the Hood's gang (New Avengers #35, 2007); of the Hood's cloak being connected to Dormammu; of the Slug as a member of the Hood's army (New Avengers #46, 2008)

Robert Bernstein (writer): co-creator of Stark Industries, Tony Stark's company (Tales of Suspense #45, 1963)

Mark Bright (artist): co-creator of Obadiah Stane's death following a battle with Iron Man (Iron Man #200, 1985)

John Buscema (artist): co-creator of Mephisto, demon closely resembling Satan, seeks to corrupt and claim the souls of pure people (Silver Surfer #3, 1968)

Stefano Caselli (artist): co-creator of Natalie Washington, Riri Williams' best friend; of Riri's father and Natalie Washington dying when Riri was young when they were hit by stray bullets from a gunfight; of Riri deciding to honour Tony Stark's legacy by becoming a hero (Invincible Iron Man #1, 2017); of Riri completing her version of the Iron Man armor and going public as Ironheart (Invincible Iron Man #3, 2017); of Ronnie Williams learning Riri is an armored hero and choosing to support her (Invincible Iron Man #5, 2017); of Xavier, an old friend of Riri Williams and sometimes-romantic interest (Invincible Iron Man #595, 2017)

Joe Casey (writer): co-creator of the Clown as an assassin (Deathlok #3, 1999)

Chris Claremont (writer): co-creator of Madripoor, a nation with a great deal of organized crime (New Mutants #32, 1985)

Mike Deodato Jr. (artist): co-creator of Riri Williams, a brilliant young engineer at MIT who studies Tony Stark's technology and develops her own suit of armor based on his, taking the armor out on test flights (Invincible Iron Man #7, 2016); of Riri entering MIT while still a young teenager (Invincible Iron Man #8, 2016); of Ronnie Williams, Riri's mother (Invincible Iron Man #12, 2016)

Steve Ditko (artist): co-creator of Doctor Strange, a master of the mystic arts who champions Earth (Strange Tales #110, 1963); of Dormammu, a fiery demonic entity who opposes Dr. Strange (Strange Tales #115, 1963); of the Dark Dimension, a mystical realm (Strange Tales #126, 1964); of Kaecillius, a mystic foe of Dr. Strange (Strange Tales #130, 1965)

Bill Everett (artist): co-creator of Kamar-Taj, the temple where Doctor Strange studied sorcery (Strange Tales #148, 1966)

Eve L. Ewing (writer): co-creator of N.A.T.A.L.I.E., Neuro-Autonomous Technical Assistant & Laboratory Intelligence Entity, an artificial intelligence created by Riri Williams that was based on her deceased friend Natalie Washington and accidentally took form without Riri's direct supervision (Ironheart #1, 2019); of Ironheart visiting Wakanda and befriending Shuri (Ironheart #9, 2019)

Matt Fraction (writer): co-creator of Ezekiel Stane revealed to be Obadiah Stane's son (Invincible Iron Man #1, 2008); of Ezekiel Stane, criminal who has bionic technology throughout his body, enabling him electrical powers (The Order #8, 2008)

Mike Friedrich (writer): co-creator of Thanos, extraterrestrial despot (Iron Man #55, 1973)

Archie Goodwin (writer): co-creator of Howard Stark, deceased father of Tony Stark and previous owner of Stark Industries (Iron Man #28, 1970)

Mark Gruenwald (writer): co-creator of the Slug, a gangster (Captain America #324, 1986)

Don Heck (artist): co-creator of Rampage, alias Stuart Clarke, a technology-wielding criminal (Champions #5, 1976); of Howard Stark, deceased father of Tony Stark and previous owner of Stark Industries (Iron Man #28, 1970); of Iron Man, alias Tony Stark, a genius inventor who built his own armor and used his inventions for good (Tales of Suspense #39, 1963); of Stark Industries, Tony Stark's company (Tales of Suspense #45, 1963)

Kyle Hotz (artist): co-creator of the Hood, alias Parker Robbins, a small-time criminal who obtained a mystical cloak that granted him supernatural powers; the Hood wielding twin pistols; of John King, Parker's cousin and cohort in crime; of Parker's father Arthur Robbins (the Hood #1, 2002)

Reginald Hudlin (writer): co-creator of Shuri, Wakandan hero (Black Panther #2, 2005)

Tony Isabella (writer): co-creator of Rampage, alias Stuart Clarke, a technology-wielding criminal (Champions #5, 1976)

Jack Kirby (artist, writer): co-creator of Wakanda, the secretive high-tech African nation (Fantastic Four #52, 1966); of Vibranium, the rare metal found in Wakanda which powers most of their technology (Fantastic Four #53, 1966); of the Kree, an extraterrestrial race (Fantastic Four #64, 1967); of the Clown, a criminal (Incredible Hulk #3, 1962); of Thor, the hammer-wielding godly hero (Journey into Mystery #83, 1962); of Iron Man, alias Tony Stark, a genius inventor who built his own armor and used his inventions for good (Tales of Suspense #39, 1963); of Hank Pym, a brilliant scientist who discovered Pym Particles (Tales to Astonish #27, 1962)

Barry Kitson (artist): co-creator of Ezekiel Stane, criminal who has bionic technology throughout his body, enabling him electrical powers (The Order #8, 2008)

Salvador Larroca (artist): co-creator of Ezekiel Stane revealed to be Obadiah Stane's son (Invincible Iron Man #1, 2008)

Stan Lee (writer): co-creator of Wakanda, the secretive high-tech African nation (Fantastic Four #52, 1966); of Vibranium, the rare metal found in Wakanda which powers most of their technology (Fantastic Four #53, 1966); of the Kree, an extraterrestrial race (Fantastic Four #64, 1967); of the Clown, a criminal (Incredible Hulk #3, 1962); of Thor, the hammer-wielding godly hero (Journey into Mystery #83, 1962); of Mephisto, demon closely resembling Satan, seeks to corrupt and claim the souls of pure people (Silver Surfer #3, 1968); of Doctor Strange, a master of the mystic arts who champions Earth (Strange Tales #110, 1963); of Dormammu, a fiery demonic entity who opposes Dr. Strange (Strange Tales #115, 1963); of the Dark Dimension, a mystical realm (Strange Tales #126, 1964); of Kaecillius, a mystic foe of Dr. Strange (Strange Tales #130, 1965); of Iron Man, alias Tony Stark, a genius inventor who built his own armor and used his inventions for good (Tales of Suspense #39, 1963); of Stark Industries, Tony Stark's company (Tales of Suspense #45, 1963); of Hank Pym, a brilliant scientist who discovered Pym Particles (Tales to Astonish #27, 1962)

Kevin Libranda (artist): co-creator of Ironheart's armor in red, black and gold colours (Champions #22, 2018); of N.A.T.A.L.I.E., Neuro-Autonomous Technical Assistant and Laboratory Intelligence Entity, an artificial intelligence created by Riri Williams that was based on her deceased friend Natalie Washington and accidentally took form without Riri's direct supervision (Ironheart #1, 2019)

Larry Lieber (writer): co-creator of Thor, the hammer-wielding godly hero (Journey into Mystery #83, 1962); of Iron Man, alias Tony Stark, a genius inventor who built his own armor and used his inventions for good (Tales of Suspense #39, 1963); of Hank Pym, a brilliant scientist who discovered Pym Particles (Tales to Astonish #27, 1962)

Leonardo Manco (artist): co-creator of the Clown as an assassin (Deathlok #3, 1999)

Luke McDonnell (artist): co-creator of Obadiah Stane, a businessman who secretly sought to seize control of Stark Industries, pitting himself against Iron Man (Iron Man #166, 1983)

Paul Neary (artist): co-creator of the Slug, a gangster (Captain America #324, 1986)

Dennis O'Neil (writer): co-creator of Obadiah Stane, a businessman who secretly sought to seize control of Stark Industries, pitting himself against Iron Man (Iron Man #166, 1983); of Obadiah Stane's death following a battle with Iron Man (Iron Man #200, 1985); of Kamar-Taj, the temple where Doctor Strange studied sorcery (Strange Tales #148, 1966)

John Romita Jr. (artist): co-creator of Shuri, Wakandan hero (Black Panther #2, 2005)

Bill Sienkiewicz (artist): co-creator of Madripoor, a nation with a great deal of organized crime (New Mutants #32, 1985)

Paul Smith (artist): co-creator of Kaecillius' name (Doctor Strange #56, 1982)

Jim Starlin (artist, writer): co-creator of Thanos, extraterrestrial despot (Iron Man #55, 1973)

Roger Stern (writer): co-creator of Kaecillius' name (Doctor Strange #56, 1982)

Billy Tan (artist): co-creator of the Hood's cloak being connected to Dormammu; of the Slug as a member of the Hood's army (New Avengers #46, 2008)

Brian K. Vaughan (writer): co-creator of the Hood, alias Parker Robbins, a small-time criminal who obtained a mystical cloak that granted him supernatural powers; the Hood wielding twin pistols; of John King, Parker's cousin and cohort in crime; of Parker's father Arthur Robbins (the Hood #1, 2002)

Luciano Vecchio (artist): co-creator of N.A.T.A.L.I.E., Neuro-Autonomous Technical Assistant and Laboratory Intelligence Entity, an artificial intelligence created by Riri Williams that was based on her deceased friend Natalie Washington and accidentally took form without Riri's direct supervision (Ironheart #1, 2019); of Ironheart visiting Wakanda and befriending Shuri (Ironheart #9, 2019)

Leinil Francis Yu (artist): co-creator of the Hood leading a personal army of superhuman criminals (New Avengers #33, 2007); of Rampage as a member of the Hood's gang (New Avengers #35, 2007)

Jim Zub (writer): co-creator of Ironheart's armor in red, black and gold colours (Champions #22, 2018)

Rest in Peace: Dennis O'Neil

A few days ago, comic book writer and editor Dennis O'Neil passed away at age 82. He was best known for his work at DC Comics, especially as the Batman group editor during the franchise's biggest years. As a Batman writer, he'll always be remembered for creating Ra's Al-Ghul and Talia with artist Neal Adams. I don't think it can be over emphasized just how significant it is that Ra's and Talia have become mainstays of the Batman franchise. Batman villains tend to be 'gimmick' villains in the fashion of Dick Tracy, so to grant Batman adversaries whose schemes were big, globe-spanning events, was a huge step-up from the hero's usual gutters. Although I've never been especially fond of Batman, I do think the late 90s status quo under O'Neil where Nightwing was in Bludhaven, Tim Drake was Robin, Cassandra Cain was Batgirl and Oracle led the Birds of Prey was a pretty great status quo for the cast of characters.

Aside from Batman, he's also renowned for his Green Lantern/Green Arrow stories with Neal Adams from the 1970s, the "hard travelling heroes" era where the duo faced contemporary social problems. It led to the scene above, which I do have some problems with -- namely that Green Lantern, as a hero whose stage of operations is intergalactic, has frequently been in a position to save the entire planet, so this armor-piercing question seems rather unfair; it would be better to fire this question at a hero such as Batman, a hero who, even now in 2020, pretty much exists to defend a white status quo. But this was pretty provocative stuff in 1970 and even today it's not a question publishers seem eager to have asked of their heroes.

I'm really a Marvel fan, but although worked there for several years there's little that I like; he wrote one of the most forgettable runs on Amazing Spider-Man, his only lasting creations being Madame Web and Hydro-Man. But his biggest writing assignment has to be Iron Man, where he picked up the alcoholism which previous creators David Michelinie & Bob Layton had given Tony Stark, and made it the defining struggle the hero would grapple with for his run. It was during O'Neil's run that James Rhodes became Iron Man and the master villain Obadiah Stane's story was told, and the tailend of the run features the debut of Iron Man's red & silver armor. Heck, O'Neil's Iron Man was the first I ever read of the series.

However, I've had a difficult time appreciating the series. Even now, it bothers me to see how O'Neil so dismissively cast out Michelinie & Layton's supporting cast (with the exception of Rhodey). Most of his new villains were losers like the Chessmen and the Termite. Although Stark was quickly demoted from the series' lead, he continued to appear in every issue and for a long time simply wallowed in his drunkeness, which got to be tiresome month in and month out. Heck, later on in the run there's a subplot about Bethany Cabe searching for her ex-husband which seems to go on forever and achieve nothing. I also feel that Luke McDonnell's art wasn't quite right for Iron Man -- too loose and curvy for a hero whose name implies rigidity and strength.

What tips the scales for me is Iron Man #182, one of the all-time finest Iron Man stories ever told; this is the issue in which Tony, now a homeless man, delivers a baby in a snowy alleyway; the mother dies and in trying to keep the baby alive, Tony finally reaches an epiphany and starts to regain his sobriety. I love so much of what follows from there -- Tony and Rhodey's frosty relationship, how Tony ultimately regains Rhodey's trust by being vulnerable, the final showdown with Obadiah Stane -- it's gold. The latter part of O'Neil's run is so good that I don't hesitate in calling him one of the greatest Iron Man writers of all-time.

Rest in peace, Mr. O'Neil.

Iron Man: A Retrospective

I'd like to perform a little retrospective on the publishing history of Marvel Comics' Iron Man. Before I start, I'm going to invoke a spoiler warning for Avengers: Endgame.

SPOILERS!

...I'm looking back on Iron Man in part because with the death of Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame, it seems an appropriate season for reflection. Not that his counterpart in the comics is even the least bit under the weather - comic book Tony Stark will live forever. However, let's face it... if there is just one person who is the most influential creator in terms of Iron Man's acceptance by the general public, it comes down to Robert Downey, Jr. and his performance in the last 11 years of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, not anything which Marvel Comics has published before or since he came along.

And let's take a moment to appreciate that prior to the film, Iron Man was not a huge property. I remember the days when people on the internet questioned why Marvel was still publishing Iron Man other than sheer inertia. The Iron Man series has a fairly uneven history compared to other Marvel properties. For instance, Daredevil had a similarly difficult time finding its footing (in fact, there was a point in the early 70s where Marvel considered merging Iron Man and Daredevil into one book), but after Frank Miller's first tenure on Daredevil the series found a new way to tell its stories which has kept the property more or less consistent ever since. But while fans of Iron Man have their favourite creators and runs (and definitely their favourite armours) I don't think there is one single creative team who figured out how to write an enduring take on the character; to some extent, every creator has tried to veer away from what their predecessor was doing.

I was not a huge fan of Iron Man (series or character) growing up. In fact, most of the series was unread by me until, thanks to the Iron Man movie, I became head writer/coordinator of an Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe publication called All-New Iron Manual. I am extremely proud of that book (it has art by Carlo Pagulayan & Ron Lim! and an armour diagram by Eliot R. Brown!) and I read everything up to that point in order to guide the project. Later, to coincide with Iron Man 2, I headed up Iron Manual Mark 3, a comic so nice, even Robert Downey, Jr. bought a copy!

I resigned from Marvel Comics in 2012 and since then have not really followed what's been going on with the characters (I do check in on certain creators). So, my tour of Iron Man's publication history is only going up to 2012. I've divided the history by writers and I'm going to observe how the character of Tony Stark changed over the years, how his supporting cast developed and highlight a few memorable stories.

Follow along...

Stan Lee (1963-1968) wrote Tales of Suspense #39-98 with writing assists from Larry Lieber, Robert Bernstein, Al Hartley and Roy Thomas, art by Don Heck, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Gene Colan. So, here's where it all begins - Tony Stark is touring his defense plants in Vietnam when he walks into a booby trap set by the Viet Cong. With shrapnel in his heart, Stark and scientist Ho Yinsen build a suit of armour to keep him alive. There is a lot of important Iron Man history in these issues, naturally, but it is mostly foundational to what comes next. Stan Lee had long been giddy about pitting his comic book heroes against the 'red menace' of communism and no 1960s hero demonstrated that better than Iron Man. Iron Man battled communists in Russia, China, Vietnam and Cuba! Further, as an industrialist who was building weapons for the government, Tony Stark had a stake in the Cold War which other heroes simply didn't have (Lee also established him as the arms dealer to S.H.I.E.L.D. over in his Nick Fury stories as well as the financier of the Avengers).

It took a while for the series to build a supporting cast and it's still very small at this point; the most important were Harold 'Happy' Hogan and Virginia 'Pepper' Potts, who formed a love triangle with Tony, the sort of thing Lee enjoyed writing. However, Lee eventually decided to bring the triangle to a close by having Happy & Pepper hook up and get married. That kind of resulted in them leaving the series, unfortunately, but eventually nostalgia would cause the Tony-Pepper-Happy triangle to return. The only other notable characters were Senator Harrington Byrd (a gruff J. Jonah Jameson-type) and Jasper Sitwell, who immigrated from Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Meantime, there were plenty of notable villains created: the Crimson Dynamo, Titanium Man, the Melter, the Unicorn, Ultimo, the Black Widow, Hawkeye... the biggest of them all, however, was the Mandarin. The least-appreciated villain must be Tony's cousin Morgan Stark, a fascinating character who surprisingly few writers have taken an interest in over the decades.

A few trends began during this run: we have Tony's first health problems as his armour needs to keep him alive; Tony's 'transistor-powered armour' as the first of many charmingly bad comic book science concepts; Tony repeatedly altering and improving his armour; the first time Tony shares his armour (with Happy); and we have the author leaving in the middle of a story which his successor has to complete (in this case, the Whiplash/Maggia story).

Archie Goodwin (1968-1970) wrote Tales of Suspense #99 and Iron Man #1-28 with art by Gene Colan, Johnny Craig, George Tuska and Don Heck. This, to me, is the first great run on the series. As I was reading through the entire series, I found myself slowing down to enjoy the stories. The storyline in Iron Man #17-19 where Tony's LMD takes control of his life is an amazing read! Goodwin brought in characters like Janice Cord (Tony's new love interest) and villains the Controller, Madame Masque and Midas. In the course of these stories, Tony finally had heart surgery so that his armour no longer needed to keep him alive (however, it left him extremely weak and less-powerful afterward). And if you thought James Rhodes was the first black Iron Man... nope! It was Eddie March, whom Tony tried to make the new Iron Man in issue #21, only for Eddie to have health problems of his own. And in #22, Janice Cord died at the hands of the Titanium Man several years before the Green Goblin would kill Gwen Stacy over in Amazing Spider-Man (one wonders why Titanium Man isn't Tony's #1 enemy, considering how killing Gwen elevated the Goblin to Spider-Man's top arch-foe).

Allyn Brodsky and Gerry Conway (1970-1972) wrote Iron Man #30-44 with art by Don Heck, George Tuska and Herb Trimpe. Here we have the first low point in the series. This run of issues was so bad it nearly got the series cancelled! It includes the infamous 'Mr. Kline' story which had also been dragging Daredevil into the sewer. Kevin O'Brien was introduced as a new supporting cast member and got his own armoured identity as the Guardsman (only to be killed off in one of the fill-ins between creative runs) and Tony's new love interest was Marianne Rogers, a psychic. Yeah, a psychic... However, Brodsky did introduce the villain Spymaster, who would go on to be a major villain throughout the series (with various characters assuming the identity).

Mike Friedrich (1972-1975) wrote Iron Man #48-81 with art by George Tuska, Bill Everett, Jim Starlin, P. Craig Russell, Arvell Jones and Chic Stone. This run of issues includes a number of fill-ins. The series didn't have too many running subplots in the 70s, many issues were 'done-in-one'. Still, Friedrich brought out some memorable stories - obviously, #55 which introduced Thanos & Drax the Destroyer is a pretty significant episode in Marvel Comics history. Friedrich also introduced Firebrand and his sister Roxanne (Tony's new love interest) and brought back Happy & Pepper, complete with the love triangle despite their marriage. Friedrich also featured a number of stories where Tony had to deal with labour unrest and student demonstrations, plus Tony's company expanded significantly as for the first time we saw the company's offices in Detroit, Cincinnati, Seattle and such. Unfortunately, his promising 'war of the super-villains' storyline with the Black Lama came down an immensely goofy finish where the Lama turned out to be an alternate reality Gerald Ford.

Bill Mantlo (1976-1978) wrote Iron Man #86-115 with art by George Tuska, Keith Pollard, Carmine Infantino, Keith Giffen and John Romita Jr. Bill Mantlo's 'run' is full of all kinds of fill-ins and it's hard to tell where his run really 'starts'. Of course, I have to mention Mantlo's fill in during Friedrich's run: in issue #78, Mantlo penned a tale where Tony witnesses the impact of his weapons in Vietnam and, struck by the horror of it, determines to get out of weapons. It was a pretty major development for a fill-in story and it began to set up Tony as someone who no longer blindly championed technology but who would wrestle with the effects of his inventions on the world around him. Mantlo tried to set up his own creation Jack of Hearts as Iron Man's protege but it didn't pan out; he also brought in Kevin O'Brien's brother Michael as a means of bringing back the Guardsman and he created the memorable villain Arsenal.

Bob Layton & David Michelinie (1978-1982) wrote Iron Man #116-157 with art by John Romita Jr., Carmine Infantino, Sal Buscema, Jerry Bingham, Alan Weiss, Joe Brozowski, Luke McDonnell and Alan Kupperberg (also inks by Bob Layton). Here we have the first tenure of Layton/Michelinie on the book and they're probably ranked #1 to the majority of Iron Man fans. In their hands, the supporting cast exploded as, for the first time, Stark's company seemed to have a life beyond Tony's office - new characters like Mrs. Arbogast, Bethany Cabe (Tony's new love interest), Vic Martinelli, Yvettte Avril, Artie Pithins... even Scott Lang (Ant-Man) would chime in from time to time. But the most important addition to the cast was James Rhodes, Tony's personal pilot. Rhodey could handle himself in a fight and after Layton & Michelinie established him as being adjacent to Tony's origin story, it pretty much guaranteed he'd be moving on to big things in the series. Michelinie & Layton brought an increased emphasis on Tony as a businessman, not only by pitting him against S.H.I.E.L.D. in an attempted hostile takeover, but by introducing the new villain Justin Hammer, a corrupt businessman who challenged Tony on a different level. Basically, any writer since Michelinie/Layton who didn't use Justin Hammer instead used a different character with the same purpose (ie, Obadiah Stane, Kearson DeWitt, Sunset Bain). Michelinie & Layton are also beloved by fans for introducing armours for special environments, such as the stealth armour. But their biggest influence on the character was felt in issue #128, the first time Tony struggled with alcoholism, a major addition to his character which gave him a new physical weakness to replace what the heart injury had once done for him.

Dennis O'Neil (1982-1986) wrote #158-208 with art by Carmine Infantino, Steve Ditko, Luke McDonnell, Mike Vosburg, Don Perlin, Rich Buckler, Sal Buscema, Herb Trimpe and Mark Bright. O'Neil's run is best known for promoting James Rhodes to the leading role (from #169-199), but is also remembered for introducing the villain Obadiah Stane and the red & silver armour (in issue #200). O'Neil wrote virtually every one of Michelinie & Layton's supporting characters out of the book and brought in the twins Clytemnestra & Morley Erwin as the new supporting cast (Morley died in #199 and the next creative team turned Clytemnestra into a villain, then killed her). Personally, the highlights of this run are issue #182 where Tony finally seeks help for his alcoholism and #192 where Tony earns back Rhodey's friendship.

Bob Layton & David Michelinie (1987-1990) returned for a second run in Iron Man #215-256 with art by Mark Bright, Bob Layton, Barry Windsor-Smith, Jackson Guice, Denys Cowan, Alan Kupperberg, Paul Smith and John Romita Jr. (also inks by Layton). In some respects, this run is a lot like the earlier Michelinie/Layton run: most of the supporting characters whom O'Neil wrote out were brought back, Tony regained his company, Rhodey stopped wearing the armour, Justin Hammer was back, new special environment armours were introduced and Tony eventually went back to the red & gold colours. However, they didn't simply rehash what they'd done before: they brought Tony through one of his most controversial arcs in what they called 'Stark Wars' but which everyone else calls 'Armor Wars' (#225-231), in which Tony obsessively hunted down both villains and heroes wearing armour, trying to prevent his designs from taking lives. They also critiqued Tony's love life as his latest girlfriend Kathy Dare shot Tony in the spine, crippling him. Although Tony regained his mobility by the end of their run it set in motion major complications for the character. Like many creative runs on Iron Man, this one had some problems going on in the background - Bob Layton was supposed to continue writing the series solo, but instead they brought in a new writer...

John Byrne (1990-1992) wrote Iron Man #258-277 with art by John Romita Jr., Paul Ryan and Mark Bright. John Byrne was in the middle of his 'corporate Namor' material in Namor the Sub-Mariner at the time so this was an interesting choice... it was also something to see John Romita, Jr. return to this series with his own art style now fully developed. Most of Byrne's run was taken up by 'Armor Wars II', which, despite the title, had nothing to do with the earlier storyline. The story concerns Kearson DeWitt going after Stark for revenge (and in a nice twist, Stark has no idea who DeWitt is or what he wants revenge for). The microchip in Tony's spine from the end of Michelinie/Layton's run turns out to contain a weapon designed by DeWitt to seize control of Tony's nervous system. By the end of the story, Tony is a nervous wreck... I mean, he's barely able to walk. Byrne also wrote a major Mandarin storyline which tied his origin into Fin Fang Foom (seriously!) and revealed his ten rings belonged to space dragons who now wanted them back... I have no idea why they left them unguarded for several hundred years, frankly.

Len Kaminski (1992-1995) wrote Iron Man #278-318 with art by Paul Ryan, Kevin Hopgood, Barry Kitson, Tom Morgan, Tom Tenney, Steve Ellis and Dave Chlystek. Kaminski came to the book in the middle of the 'Operation: Galactic Storm' crossover with the Avengers but he very quickly became a fan-favourite writer - for a long time, he was the only serious rival to Michelinie/Layton in the fan community. Much of Kaminski's run simply revisited earlier ideas like new special environment armour (eventually he introduced the modular armour which could refit for special situations), Rhodey becoming Iron Man again and the conclusion to Tony's nervous system woes. I really admire him for seemingly killing off Tony Stark, but never tricking the readers, who knew from the outset that Tony was still alive; most comic book writers would have tried to trick the audience. Anyway, Kaminski did a great job of maintaining and building on the supporting cast from the Michelinie/Layton years, reestablished Rhodey as War Machine, introduced Veronica Benning (Tony's newest love interest) and even brought Happy and Pepper back into the cast. In retrospect, this was a very stable time for the series, with no sense of the tumult which would follow.

Terry Kavanagh (1995-1996) wrote Iron Man #319-332 with writing assists from Dan Abnett and James Felder and art by Tom Morgan, Adriana Melo, Hector Oliveira, Sergio Cariello, Jim Cheung, Mark Bright, Jim Calafiore, Dave Hover, Marc Campos and Joe Bennett (basically, Kavanagh never had a regular penciler). And here's what most fans would call the worst creative run on Iron Man. Kaminski evidently fled the series rather than write this story, in which the Avengers crossover 'The Crossing' unmasks Iron Man as a murderer who had been a sleeper agent for Kang for years and begins killing off members of the Avengers (well, unpopular members, anyway). The crossover ended with Tony making a heroic sacrifice while his college-aged self from another reality became the new Iron Man. Pretty much the only people who enjoy these comics are of the 'I like it ironically' school. The entire experience left a bad taste in fan's mouths and I don't recommend they be read by anyone other than researchers.

Jim Lee, Scott Lobdell & Jeph Loeb (1996-1997) wrote Iron Man #1-12 with art by Whilce Portacio, Ryan Benjamin, Jim Lee, Terry Shoemaker and Ed Benes. The entire family of Avengers titles were brought low by 'The Crossing', causing them to dwindle in number instead of thriving, which is supposed to be the point of a good crossover, y'know? So, along came Jim Lee & Rob Liefeld, who rebooted the Avengers & Fantastic Four characters. These comics didn't do much more than provide a cushion between the despised 'Teen Tony' stories and the next revamp, basically clearing the ground for...

Kurt Busiek (1998-2000) wrote Iron Man #1-25 with writing assists from Richard Howell and Roger Stern and art by Sean Chen, Patrick Zircher, Mark Bagley and Tom Lyle. This is an interesting mix of nostalgia for the Lee & Goodwin years which, at the same time, tried to move the series forward. Tony sets up a new company as an independent contractor, which basically turns him into James Bond with power armour. Sean Chen's armour design was great, but it was disappointing to see the Happy-Pepper-Tony triangle brought back yet again. Highlights included Rumiko Fujikawa (Tony's new love interest), Tony becoming an AA sponsor to Carol Danvers and the obscure Machine Man villain Sunset Bain established as a villainous female counterpart to Stark. Lowlights included Tony discovering his armour was causing him new health problems, only for him to fix the problem within one issue; coupled with that was Tony using a telepathic weapon to erase people's memories of his secret identity, all of which seemed like a misguided effort to de-complicate Tony's problems instead of escalating them - not good drama.

Joe Quesada (2000) wrote from Iron Man #26-30 with art by Sean Chen and Alitha Martinez. Quesada basically wrote just one story (although he hung around to co-plot with Tieri as he assumed full writing duties), but it's a pretty good one: 'The Mask in the Iron Man' had Tony's armour become sentient, turn against Tony and finally sacrifice its life for him. It's something of a retelling of Archie Goodwin's LMD story and it brought back Tony's heart problems. I think it works well, as long as you ignore the follow-up story.

Frank Tieri (2000-2002) wrote Iron Man #31-49 with writing assists from Joe Quesada and art by Alitha Martinez, Paul Ryan, Keron Grant, Udon Studios and Chris Batista. So, this one is a pretty despised creative run. Initially fans were interested but around the time Tony's never-before-seen best friend Tiberius Stone had an affair with Rumiko, the knives came out. Keron Grant designed a new suit of armour whose introduction was supposed to be an exciting revelation, but which was ultimately so unpopular that over in the Avengers, creators would go out of their way to avoid depicting Tony in armour. Tieri also brought back Ho Yinsen as the leader of a floating city full of Iron Men, then revealed it (and the sentient armour) were all a plot by Ultron. Oh, and for part of the series Tony changed his name to 'Hogan Potts' and worked at an office job. Let's move on.

Mike Grell (2002-2003) wrote Iron Man #50-66 with writing assists from Robin Laws and art by Michael Ryan, Ryan Odagawa, Mike Grell, Ivan Reis and Alan Davis. This run has been pretty much forgotten by fandom, although it is here that Tony Stark finally went public as Iron Man, a development which will probably never be rolled back (thanks to the movies). The new armour designed by Michael Ryan was much liked, but almost no one remembers Grell rewrote Tony's origin, shuffling it to eastern Europe instead of Vietnam. This all happened during the Bill Jemas era at Marvel Comics where almost every comic would tell stories in six-issue arcs and super-villains, team-ups and crossovers became somewhat scarce. There's not too much that's flashy about these stories and Grell wound up leaving mid-story.

John Jackson Miller (2003-2004) wrote from Iron Man #73-85 with art by Jorge Lucas and Philip Tan. Miller seemed to be a huge fan of the series and filled his rather short run with all kinds of references from across the series, bringing back not only Michelinie/Layton cast members but also stuff which had been left dangling since the Kaminski era. Miller chose to make Tony Stark the US Secretary of Defense, making the book more overtly political than it had been in the past. It might have been an interesting change for the character but it didn't last very long. Miller only really got to tell one story with Tony as SOD, and while I think he wrote a compelling take on the Iraq War, artist Philip Tan's choice to draw the Kurdish female revolutionary Vitriol in T&A poses really worked against the tone of the story.

Warren Ellis (2005-2006) wrote Iron Man #1-6 with art by Adi Granov. This story, 'Extremis', really should have been a limited series. Incredibly, it took 18 months for all six issues to ship! By the end of it, Tony had his body rebuilt by the Extremis technology, turning him into a post-human able to link into virtually any computer. This made Tony ridiculously powerful. I fondly recall a phone conversation I had with Eliot R. Brown while making The All-New Iron Manual where I explained to him how Ellis defined the Extremis powers. Brown scoffed at Ellis' 'pseudeoscience', told me how it was all wrong, then explained how he'd achieve the same ends using ideas extrapolated from real science. I told him to go for it; I doubt my editors noticed. Anyway, Granov had been painting covers for Iron Man since the Miller run but his visuals in these stories wound up having a huge impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the comics, Ellis' Extremis would hang around for some time to come and his characters Maya Hansen & Sal Kennedy remained in the supporting cast for the next team.

Daniel and Charles Knauf (2006-2008) wrote Iron Man #7-28 with art by Patrick Zircher, Roberto de la Torre, Jackson Guice and Carlo Pagulayan. This creative run started off fairly modest, but by the end, I found I really enjoyed the Knaufs. The shadow of Marvel's 'Civil War' event hovers on their work, as it was during their run that - due to the machinations of Mark Millar - Tony Stark became director of S.H.I.E.L.D., which is kind of an amped-up version of what John Jackson Miller tried to do during his run. In the midst of that, the Knaufs had Tony deliver a mercy kill to Happy Hogan at Pepper's request, which just makes Tony and Pepper hooking up seem all the more wrong-headed. However, they delivered a fantastic Mandarin epic wherein the Mandarin tries to obtain Extremis for himself; it turned out to be the Knafus' farewell to the series.

Matt Fraction (2008-2012) wrote Invincible Iron Man #1-33 & 500-527 with art by Salvador Larroca. This series launched while the Knaufs' book was still coming out so Marvel could see if the Iron Man movie would increase people's interest in Iron Man comics. As it turns out, nope, but the Fraction/Larroca series wound up becoming the principal ongoing title and they remained together for many years, easily the most consistent creative team in the series' history. There are ups and downs in this run, but I think most fans are down with the 'World's Most Wanted' storyarc (#8-19), where Tony loses control of S.H.I.E.L.D. to Norman Osborn and is hunted around the globe by Osborn's resources while his mind slowly unravels. It included Pepper donning her own armour as Rescue and made Tony & Pepper a couple (plus Tony & Maria Hill, for both of the people who wanted that). Fraction/Larroca introduced a number of new threats for Tony based on relatives of long-dead adversaries, like Obadiah Stane's son Ezekiel and Justin Hammer's daughter Sasha. The crossover 'Fear Itself' (which was written by Fraction) threw the book off its game, but Fraction & Larroca did a fine job overall.

And that's it; since 2012, the writers have been: Kieron Gillen (2013-2014), who, bafflingly, decided to retcon Tony's parentage, making him the son of some S.H.I.E.L.D. agent instead of Howard & Maria Stark, a situation I'm sure someone will fix eventually; Tom Taylor (2014-2015) who wrote the 'Superior' Iron Man; Brian Michael Bendis (2015-2018), who eventually killed off Tony and replaced him with two Iron Men - Riri Williams and Doctor Doom - then brought Tony back before jumping ship from Marvel Comics; and Dan Slott (2018-), the current writer.

As I said before, I didn't care too much for Iron Man initially. Thanks to going through the series, however, I came to really appreciate the character. I enjoy him the most when he's heroic, but flawed; savvy in technology, blind to his shortcomings; pitted against villains who challenge him physically and mentally; and supported by a cast of well-developed characters.

All covers taken from The Grand Comics Database.

Space-Born Super Hero Part 17: Captain Marvel #14

Welcome back to "Space-Born Super Hero" and my ongoing look at the pre-Jim Starlin days of Marvel Comics' Captain Marvel. Today I'm looking at Captain Marvel #14: "When a Galaxy Beckons!" by Gary Friedrich and Frank Springer (inks by Vince Colletta). Captain Marvel has just saved Carol Danvers from the Man-Slayer but --oops!-- he's still wanted for treason and the soldiers at the Cape have been ordered to shoot on sight. Carol begs the Captain to surrender and clear his name through due process, but Mar-Vell doesn't think he can "take such a risk! How do I know I won't be shot the moment you leave my side?" Carol promises to vouch for him at his trial. Mar-Vell believes her, but he's not sure why he should bother with human laws when he could simply teleport himself to safety. "Yet, in spite of the love I feel for the slain Una... I am not without feelings for Carol Danvers!"

We switch scenes to a commercial airplane headed to Florida; aboard is Tony Stark, flirting with a stewardess. However on an island in the Caribbean, the Puppet Master has created a doll of Iron Man so that he can control the hero (this is part of a minor crossover with Avengers and Sub-Mariner in which Puppet Master, Egghead and the Mad Thinker have joined forces to take over the world, but the story remains confined to each individual title; at the time, Roy Thomas was writing the other two titles, not sure why Captain Marvel was roped in). As the Puppet Master plays with his Iron Man doll, Tony Stark is compelled to kill Captain Marvel; he enters the airplane's lavatory and dons his Iron Man armor then exits the airplane (which has a double airlock hatch, fortunately for the other passengers). But why does the Puppet Master want Captain Marvel killed? Is he the same person in the Caribbean who sent the Man-Slayer?

When Iron Man swoops in to the Cape and declares he's after Captain Marvel, Carol refuses to abandon the hero; Iron Man resolves he'll simply have to destroy her as well; he stuns Carol with his repulsor rays, then begins a slugfest with Captain Marvel. The soldiers at the Cape move in to aid Carol: "Miss Danvers' life is worth more than a thousand missiles!" says one soldier. Mar-Vell grabs the lasonic disintegrator which wrecked the Man-Slayer last issue and fires it at Iron Man, but it only stuns Iron Man for a few moments; Mar-Vell tries to increase the weapon's power, but accidentally wrecks his own weapon; shoddy Kree manufacturing. It seems Puppet Master is after the Cape's rocket because Egghead (over in Avengers) is using a space station and he wants to defend his ally. Tony Stark finally suffers a heart attack and collapses; realizing the man in the armor is wounded, Captain Marvel ends the fight and asks the Cape's soldiers to get medical help for Iron Man. Good work, Mar-Vell! It's nice to see our hero behaving nobly.

Angered by Iron Man's failure, the Puppet Master throws his Iron Man doll at a computer bank; it causes an explosion which would seem to kill the Puppet Master (if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you). To avoid further questions, Captain Marvel teleports away; Iron Man soon recovers from his heart attack and leaves the ambulance he was placed in. Mar-Vell finds himself in outer space, simply wandering... not certain where he's going (kinda like his series). Suddenly, Zo's voice appears and angrily demands Mar-Vell fulfill their bargain: get revenge on Yon-Rogg, already! His new instructions are for Mar-Vell to return to his home planet in the Kree galaxy. So, for the first time, we're going to see the Kree's home! We actually haven't seen the Kree galaxy beyond what was visible over Ronan's shoulder in various video calls. Zo shows Mar-Vell his home galaxy and tells him in the days ahead, "they hold for you the balance between life and death!"

Thoughts: So the Man-Slayer story comes to a rather muddled finish; the Black Widow turns up in Avengers #63, which is where the Egghead/Puppet Master/Mad Thinker plot is firmly established and the Thinker is identified as the one who sent the Man-Slayer. It's an odd kind of crossover for Captain Marvel as it doesn't really explain how to follow the storyline. Still, it led to a guest appearance by Iron Man, who is the first big guest star in this series since the Sub-Mariner.

Although Zo has made his return, I'm actually intrigued for once; the Kree haven't been very fleshed-out at this point and I'm interested to see Mar-Vell visit his homeworld and see his people's culture given some definition beyond would-be conquerors. However, the best part of this issue is the art by Frank Springer, who really goes to town with the outer space imagery - he's proving more adept at this book than I first supposed; I actually prefer Springer's art here over that of Gene Colan's earlier work.

Next: Mar-Vell's gone home, but it's a working vacation. Captain Marvel #15!

On Comixology: The Iron Manual TPB

Comixology has added the Iron Manual trade paperback to its store. The contents include the All-New Iron Manual which I wrote/headed up. It's a good buy!

Iron Manual

Collects The Iron Manual, The All-New Iron Manual and Material From The Iron Man/Force Works Collector's Preview.

These are the chronicles of Tony Stark: the playboy, the genius inventor, the philanthropist, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., the futurist, the hero. This handbook is the definitive resource to the world of Iron Man, featuring Tony's closest allies (Happy and Pepper Hogan, War Machine, the Order) and deadliest foes (Justin Hammer, Mandarin, Obadiah Stane)! Includes a complete gallery of the Iron Man armors, and all-new schematics of key armors and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier! Also featuring 1993's original Iron Manual, plus unrevealed armor concepts from the Iron Man/Force Works Collector's Preview.

You can buy it from Comixology here!

Starlin's Thanos, part 1 of 10: The Mad Titan and the Cosmic Cube

Next month the motion picture Avengers: Infinity War will debut, featuring as its antagonist Thanos. Thanos is considered one of the best Marvel super-villians, not only because of the amount of sheer physical power he can wield against Marvel's heroes, but also because of the strong characterization behind him. Principally, Thanos is an author's pet - that is, he flourishes best under the pen of his original creator, writer/artist Jim Starlin. Few other writers even attempt to mimic Starlin's view of the character.

Over the next few weeks I'm going to be running a 10 part revisit of Starlin's work on Thanos with brief looks at what other authors did with the character during the period covered. We're at the beginning, which means we start with Thanos' first appearance: Iron Man #55 (1973), plotted & penciled by Starlin with a script by Mike Friedrich and inks by Mike Esposito.

On the face of it, audiences in 1973 would not have found Iron Man #55 a particularly remarkable comic; it was a fill-in issue and Starlin was still a young name in the industry. Further, although Iron Man had a solid reputation as one of Marvel's earliest Silver Age heroes, his series had fallen on hard times in '73 - there was even talk of merging his book with another low-seller, Daredevil. In comics of the day, there were many ambitious fill-in issues where the creators would try to insert their brand-new mythologies into the Marvel Universe; no one would think Drax, Thanos or Titan were destined to be among the most successful additions to the Marvel Universe of the 1970s - but that's how it turned out. Ofttimes it is less-visible comic books like Iron Man which are able to sneak something truly ambitious into the mainstream - so it was with Iron Man #55.

Thanos was not yet fully formed in his first appearance - most noticeably, his costume had blue gloves & boots and he bore shorts and bare arms - but the background was there: Thanos was introduced as "the mad Titan," born on the titular moon of Saturn to the wise old Mentor, but bearing a lust for war his father didn't share. Thanos is pursued by his implacable foe Drax the Destroyer and aided by his minions the Blood Brothers; further, Titan's moon-sized super-computer ISAAC puts in its first appearance. We also meet Titan's deity, Kronos, Mentor's omnipotent father, making him Thanos' grandfather. Although Kronos' personal connection to Thanos and cosmic might would suggest he'd be a major player in Starlin's tales, Kronos is consistently an impotent afterthought throughout his appearances; as will become clear when Starlin begins using other cosmic entities (Eternity, Living Tribunal), Starlin doesn't hold them in the highest esteem. As a fill-in story almost any super hero could have been summoned by Drax to deal with Thanos, but the use of Iron Man would prove helpful to Starlin later on as Iron Man was a very well-connected hero.

But the Thanos storyline finally found its home - and true critical praise - in the pages of Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel was a widely-disliked comic book at the time, as Marvel had only created the character so they could control a valuable trademark - while fans of Golden Age comics resented Marvel for pilfering the moniker of the beloved Fawcett Comics super hero. Many fan publications of the time held Captain Marvel in withering contempt, even after Roy Thomas & Gil Kane revamped the character into a red/blue costume with Rick Jones as his sidekick (Rick exchanging places with Mar-Vell as an homage to the Fawcett hero).

Starlin's first true Thanos epic involves the villain (now clad in his familiar blue costume with orange gloves/boots/fringes and eyes which glow from within his sockets) searching for the Cosmic Cube, an all-powerful device which had previously been a Captain America staple; Captain Marvel is involved because Rick Jones had been present in the Cube's previous appearance. Quickly, Mentor, Titan and ISAAC were reintroduced to Captain Marvel, with Mar-Vell's foe the Super-Skrull serving as a lieutenant to Thanos. In the course of battling Thanos, Mar-Vell becomes 'Protector of the Universe' by decree of the cosmic being Eon and he discovers Thanos' weakness - although Thanos claims otherwise, his power is linked to the Cosmic Cube itself.

Starlin's first Thanos epic ran from issues #25-33 of Captain Marvel and ultimately cast a large shadow over the character, to the point that Starlin is widely considered the definitive Captain Marvel creator, despite leaving after issue #34. Over the course of the series Starlin gained more control over the narrative, beginning with Mike Friedrich as scripter, until Starlin took full control of plotting & scripting as of issue #29; from then on, Starlin would plot & script his Thanos stories solo. Starlin was inked by Chic Stone, Dave Cockrum, Pablo Marcos, Dan Green, Al Milgrom & Klaus Janson. In the course of the story Starlin revamped the hero yet again, making minor alterations to Mar-Vell's costume, changing his hair from silver to blond and granting him the power of 'cosmic awareness'; the powers and costume which Starlin gave the hero would be the status quo authors would continue to revisit again and again in the decades which followed.

Comic books in 1973 did not crossover with the kind of frequency titles of today would. Even so, the Thanos epic was so strong it did get picked up in other titles while the main story was told in Captain Marvel. Over in Steve Gerber's Daredevil, Gerber connected the somewhat-shifty telepathic heroine Moondragon into Starlin's mythos with an origin flashback in Daredevil #105 (drawn by Starlin) revealing she had been raised from childhood on Titan by Mentor (causing a continuity hiccup when it was revealed Thanos killed Moondragon's parents - meaning he wasn't her peer in age). Starlin also drew Marvel Feature #12 with writer Mike Friedrich, featuring the Thing and Iron Man facing Thanos' agents the Blood Brothers (introduced in Iron Man #55). Finally, Steve Englehart tied into the epic in Avengers #125 (art by John Buscema & Dave Cockrum), a very natural crossover as Starlin was using the Avengers in the pages of Captain Marvel and the epic was big enough for the Avengers to battle Thanos' invading fleet between the panels of Starlin's tale.

At the time, there had been one one tale quite like Starlin's Thanos arc: the Kree-Skrull War storyline which Roy Thomas wrote in the Avengers (1971-1972). That epic had involved a massive line-up of Avengers, the Inhumans and Captain Marvel. Likewise, Starlin's Thanos epic teamed Captain Marvel with the Avengers, plus Drax, Moondragon, Mentor and Thanos' heroic brother Eros. Strangely, although Eros is Thanos' brother, he is always a side character to stories about Thanos. He would even join the Avengers in the 1980s, but Eros has never had the kind of popularity his brother enjoys.

Everything which is important to Starlin's crafting of Thanos can be found in the pages of the Captain Marvel epic: he worships Death itself, with Death appearing to him in the form of a beautiful woman; he is pursued by the dogged Drax the Destroyer, who is single-minded to the point of madness; Thanos seeks instruments of vast cosmic power so that he can control others and claim lives in the name of Death; Thanos is undone when he allows his foes access to the very thing which empowers him (in this case, the Cosmic Cube, which he abandons).

Starlin has admitted Thanos was inspired by Jack Kirby's DC villain Darkseid, who debuted three years earlier. Both beings worship death and destruction, both are physically large and imposing, both are prone to melodramatic soliloquies; as time goes on, Starlin's Thanos will become more distinctly unlike his inspiration.

Starlin remained on Captain Marvel only one issue past the Thanos epic for issue #34, in which Mar-Vell was exposed to nerve gas while battling the super-villain Nitro. Put a pin in that one, we'll speak more of it later.

At this point, the idea that Thanos subconsciously allowed himself to lose was nothing more than a subtext - but his defeat here would pave the way for the eventual revelation in Infinity Gauntlet that he did not actually want ultimate victory.

Next Thursday: Chaos meets the true neutral.

Now on Comixology: Iron Manual Mark 3!

Comixology has recently added another of my Marvel projects to their site: why, it's Iron Manual Mark 3 from 2010! I was the head writer of this title, as I'd been on All-New Iron Manual. I felt like I'd already done the most important Iron Man characters in the previous book, but this gave me an opportunity to cover Iron Man's supporting cast from across the decades, which I relished. A copy of this comic was purchased by Robert Downey Jr., which was a thrill to see.

Activate the latest edition of the IRON MANUAL, purposed for experts and novices alike! Built around reliable parts including Iron Man and War Machine; engineered with new designs such as Rescue, Ezekiel Stane and Whiplash (Vanko); kit-bashed from the future with the Stark and Iron Man 2020; and refurbished to accommodate an infusion of Firebrand, Mandroids, LMDs, Masters of Silence, Anthem, Gremlin and more! It's all in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe format, featuring plenty of art by Mario Gully (Ant, KIDNAPPED)!

Iron Manual Mark 3 is only $1.99 at Comixology!

All-New Iron Manual is back!

Another project from my Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe days has been re-released as a digital comic at Comixology. It's the All-New Iron Manual, which was released as part of 2008's celebration surrounding the first Iron Man movie.

At the time, I was overjoyed to receive brand-new artwork for the issue from two of my favourite creators - Carlo Pagulayan & Ron Lim. I also went to the OHOTMU legend Eliot R. Brown for a page about the technology in Iron Man's armor. I vividly recall my phone conversation with Brown where I explained Warren Ellis' science surrounding Extremis, only for Brown to angrily denounce it all as claptrap, but he offered suggestions for actual science on how to do what Ellis claimed it could do.

Comixology doesn't have my original solicitation text for the comic, so here it is:

These are the chronicles of Tony Stark: the playboy, the genius inventor, the philanthropist, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., the futurist, the hero. This Handbook is the definitive resource to the world of Iron Man, featuring Tony's closest allies (Happy and Pepper Hogan, War Machine, the Order) and deadliest foes (Justin Hammer, Mandarin, Obadiah Stane)! Includes a complete gallery of the Iron Man armors, plus all-new schematics of key armors and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier!

Check it out at Comixology!

Creator credits for Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Welcome! A new Marvel super hero film has arrived and, per usual, I've been digging through elements of the film to see where they came from in the comics. You can find links to all of my lists on this page.

Stan Lee: co-creator of Spider-Man, Peter Parker, a teenage super hero garbed in red and blue with a red webbing design, spider emblem on chest and lenses in his mask; Spider-Man swinging around on webbing fired from his web-shooters and climbing up walls; Spider-Man motivated to use his powers to help others; Peter's aunt May Parker, who is not aware of Peter's double life (Amazing Fantasy #15, 1962); of Spider-Man's spider-signal flashlight (Amazing Spider-Man #3, 1963); of the Black Widow's red hair, black bodysuit, Widow's Bite wrist weapon and carrying explosives (Amazing Spider-Man #86, 1970); of the Avengers, a team of super heroes including Thor, Hulk & Iron Man; the Avengers battling Loki (Avengers #1, 1963); of Tony Stark providing the Avengers with their headquarters (Avengers #2, 1963); of Captain America frozen in ice during World War 2, revived in contemporary times, has difficulty adjusting; Bucky's seeming death during the War; Captain America joining the Avengers (Avengers #4, 1964); of Captain America throwing his shield so that it ricochets and returns to his hand (Avengers #5, 1964); of Zemo, an enemy to Captain America and the Avengers (Avengers #6, 1964); of Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch as members of the Avengers; Captain America as the Avengers leader (Avengers #16, 1965); of the Falcon, alias Sam Wilson, a costumed African-American hero who is friends with Captain America; of Redwing, the Falcon's small winged companion (Captain America #117, 1969); of the extraterrestrial Skrulls, from whom the Chitauri were derived (Fantastic Four #2, 1962); of Wakanda, a remote African nation largely cut off from outsiders; T'Challa, king of Wakanda, a man with cat-like senses who wears the masked identity of the Black Panther (Fantastic Four #52, 1966); of Vibranium, a rare metal found in Wakanda with unusual, unpredictable properties; King T'Chaka, the aged father of T'Challa and king of Wakanda until he was murdered; of the Wakandans worshiping black panthers (Fantastic Four #53, 1966); of the giant statues of black panthers which adorn Wakanda (Fantastic Four #54, 1966); of the Hulk, a massive, brutish creature with superhuman strength; General Thaddeus Ross, a military officer who is an enemy of the Hulk (Incredible Hulk #1, 1962); of the Hulk colored green (Incredible Hulk #2, 1962); of the Hulk traveling vast distances by leaping (Incredible Hulk #3, 1962); of Thor, Norse god of thunder (Journey into Mystery #83, 1962); of Loki, Thor's evil brother (Journey into Mystery#85, 1962); of S.H.I.E.L.D., an international espionage agency; the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, their mobile headquarters designed like a flying battleship; the enemy group and secret society Hydra with their "Hail Hydra" salute (Strange Tales #135, 1965); of the Hydra insignia, a skull atop octopus arms (Strange Tales #151, 1966); of Tony Stark, a wealthy industrialist who wears Iron Man armor which grants him superhuman strength, flight and other devices (Tales of Suspense #39, 1963); of Iron Man's armor being gold; of Iron Man's unibeam in the center of his chestplate (Tales of Suspense #40, 1963); of Pepper Potts, Tony Stark's secretary and romantic interest; Stark Industries, Tony's technology company (Tales of Suspense #45, 1963); of Iron Man wearing red and gold armor (Tales of Suspense #48, 1963); of the Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, a spy who encounters Iron Man (Tales of Suspense #52, 1964); of Hawkeye, an expert marksman who wields trick arrows (such as explosive arrows and cable line arrows) and has a personal relationship with the Black Widow; Iron Man's chief weapon, repulsor rays (Tales of Suspense#57, 1964); Agent 13, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and love interest to Captain America; of Peggy Carter, an intelligence operative and wartime love interest of Captain America (Tales of Suspense#75, 1966); of Captain America's shield being indestructible (Tales of Suspense #93, 1967); of Agent 13's real name Sharon Carter; Captain America romantically involved with Sharon (Tales of Suspense #95, 1967); of Black Panther meeting Captain America during a struggle against Zemo and ultimately becoming his ally (Tales of Suspense #97, 1968); of Henry Pym, a scientist who develops a chemical formula which can shrink people in size (Tales to Astonish #27, 1962); of Ant-Man, the costumed identity begun byHenry Pym wherein he wore a protective red and black costume with size-changing capsules on his belt and a helmet which helped him communicate with ants; Ant-Manreceiving heightened strength by shrinking in size (Tales to Astonish #35, 1962); of Pym's nickname "Hank" (Tales to Astonish #47, 1963); of Ant-Man modifying his powers to increase his size, transforming himself into an enormous, super-strong Giant-Man (Tales to Astonish #49, 1963); of the Scarlet Witch, a woman from eastern Europe with vaguely-defined powers which alter reality
Jack Kirby: co-creator of the Avengers, a team of super heroes including Thor, Hulk & Iron Man who fought Loki (Avengers #1, 1963); of Tony Stark providing the Avengers with their headquarters (Avengers #2, 1963); of Captain America frozen in ice during World War 2, revived in contemporary times, has difficulty adjusting; Bucky's seeming death during the War; Captain America joining the Avengers (Avengers #4, 1964); of Captain America throwing his shield so that it ricochets and returns to his hand (Avengers #5, 1964); of Zemo, an enemy to Captain America and the Avengers (Avengers #6, 1964); of Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch as members of the Avengers; Captain America as the Avengers leader (Avengers #16, 1965); of Captain America, Steve Rogers, who wears a red, white and blue costume with 'A' on forehead and stars & stripes on his chest; of James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, Steve's friend and partner who joins him in battle (Captain America Comics #1, 1941); of Captain America's round, red and white shield with star in its center; Captain America's mask fastened to his costume (Captain America Comics #2, 1941); of the Skrulls, extraterrestrial invaders from whom the Chitauri were derived (Fantastic Four #2, 1962); of Wakanda, a remote African nation largely cut off from outsiders; T'Challa, king of Wakanda, a man with cat-like senses who wears the masked identity of the Black Panther (Fantastic Four #52, 1966); of Vibranium, a rare metal found in Wakanda with unusual, unpredictable properties; King T'Chaka, the aged father of T'Challa and king of Wakanda until he was murdered; of the Wakandans worshiping black panthers (Fantastic Four #53, 1966); of the giant statues of black panthers which adorn Wakanda (Fantastic Four #54, 1966); of the Hulk, a massive, brutish creature with superhuman strength; General Thaddeus Ross, a military officer who is an enemy of the Hulk (Incredible Hulk #1, 1962); of the Hulk having green skin (Incredible Hulk #2, 1962); of the Hulk traveling vast distances by leaping (Incredible Hulk #3, 1962); of Thor, Asgardian god of thunder (Journey into Mystery #83, 1962); of Loki, Thor's evil brother (Journey into Mystery#85, 1962); of the Vision, a green-garbed man in a cape (Marvel Mystery Comics #13, 1940); of S.H.I.E.L.D., an international espionage agency; the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, their mobile headquarters designed like a flying battleship; the enemy secret society group Hydra; the "Hail Hydra" salute (Strange Tales#135, 1965); of the Hydra insignia, a skull atop octopus arms (Strange Tales #151, 1966); of Tony Stark, a wealthy industrialist who wears Iron Man armor, granting him superhuman strength, flight and other gadgets (Tales of Suspense #39, 1963); of Iron Man wearing gold armor; unibeam in the center of Iron Man's armor (Tales of Suspense #40, 1963); of Iron Man's armour coloured red & gold (Tales of Suspense #48, 1963); of the Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, a spy (Tales of Suspense #52, 1964); Agent 13, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and love interest to Captain America; Peggy Carter, intelligence operative and wartime love interest of Captain America (Tales of Suspense#75, 1966); of Captain America's shield being indestructible (Tales of Suspense #93, 1967); of Agent 13's real name Sharon Carter; Captain America romantically involved with Sharon (Tales of Suspense #95, 1967); of Black Panther meeting Captain America during a struggle against Zemo and ultimately becoming his ally (Tales of Suspense #97, 1968); of Henry Pym, a scientist who develops a chemical formula which can shrink people in size (Tales to Astonish #27, 1962); of Ant-Man, the costumed identity originated by Henry Pym wherein he wore a protective red and black costume with size-changing capsules on his belt and wore a helmet which helped him communicate with ants; Ant-Man receiving heightened strength by shrinking in size (Tales to Astonish #35, 1962); of Ant-Man modifying his powers to increase his size, transforming himself into an enormous, super-strong Giant-Man (Tales to Astonish #49, 1963); of the Scarlet Witch, a woman from eastern Europe with vaguely-defined powers which alter reality (X-Men #4, 1964)
Ed Brubaker: co-creator of the Winter Soldier, a legendary Soviet assassin now on the open market, has cybernetic arm (Captain America #1, 2005); of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes being almost the same age; of Vasily Karpov, a Russian officer who helped program the Winter Soldier (Captain America #5, 2005); of the Winter Soldier undergoing a memory wipe between assignments (Captain America #8, 2005); of the Winter Soldier regaining his memory and going into hiding (Captain America #14, 2006); of Peggy Carter suffering from dementia in her latter years; of Sharon as Peggy's niece (Captain America #49, 2009); of Helmut Zemo drawing out issues from Bucky Barnes' past to use against him (Captain America #606, 2010); of an elderly Peggy Carter dying in her sleep (Captain America #1, 2011); of Captain America wearing a helmet version of his mask with wings painted on the sides (Captain America: Reborn #1, 2009); of Captain America's modified blue/white costume with brown gloves (Secret Avengers #1, 2010); of there being multiple Winter Soldiers created in the Soviet Union (Winter Soldier #1, 2012)
Mark Millar: co-creator of the US government being motivated by recent unfortunate tragedies in superhuman battles to legislate all super heroes; Miriam, a woman whose son died during a super hero altercation, blames Iron Man for his death; Captain America refusing to participate in this law because of fears of it being misused, Iron Man siding with the law (Civil War #1, 2006); of Spider-Man siding with Iron Man against Captain America (Civil War #2, 2006); Iron Man leading his heroes into battle with those who follow Captain America (Civil War #3, 2006); of Captain America breaking super heroes who sided against the law out of Iron Man's prison (Civil War #6, 2006); of the heroes who sided with Captain America becoming vigilantes and refusing to comply with the law, dividing the Avengers in two (Civil War #7, 2007); Iron Man's eyes & unibeam glowing light blue; of the Avengers being overseen by S.H.I.E.L.D. (Ultimates #2, 2002); of Hawkeye's sleeveless costume (Ultimates #7, 2002); of the Chitauri, an extraterrestrial army who battle the Avengers (Ultimates #8, 2002); of Hawkeye married and with three children (Ultimates 2 #2, 2005)
Steve McNiven: creator of image of Captain America blocking Iron Man's repulsor blasts with his shield (Civil War #7, 2007); co-creator of an elderly Peggy Carter dying in her sleep (Captain America #1, 2011); of the US government being motivated by recent unfortunate tragedies in superhuman battles to legislate all super heroes; Miriam, a woman whose son died during a super hero altercation, blames Iron Man for his death; Captain America refusing to participate in this law because of fears of it being misused, Iron Man siding with the law (Civil War #1, 2006); of Spider-Man siding with Iron Man against Captain America (Civil War #2, 2006); Iron Man leading his heroes into battle with those who follow Captain America (Civil War #3, 2006); of Captain America breaking super heroes who sided against the law out of Iron Man's prison (Civil War #6, 2006); of the heroes who sided with Captain America becoming vigilantes and refusing to comply with the law, dividing the Avengers in two (Civil War #7, 2007)
Don Heck: co-creator of the Black Widow as an Avenger (Avengers #111, 1973); of Howard Stark, deceased father of Tony Stark and previous owner of Stark Industries (Iron Man #28, 1970); of Tony Stark, a wealthy industrialist whose Iron Man armor grants superhuman strength, flight and special weapons (Tales of Suspense #39, 1963); of Pepper Potts, Tony Stark's secretary and romantic interest; Stark Industries, Tony's technology company (Tales of Suspense #45, 1963); of the Black Widow, alias Natasha Romanoff, a Russian spy, originally a KGB agent (Tales of Suspense #52, 1964); of Hawkeye, an expert archer with a variety of trick arrows such as those with explosive tips; Hawkeye having a close relationship with the Black Widow; Iron Man's repulsor ray weapon (Tales of Suspense #57, 1964) (Tales of Suspense #64, 1965); of Pym's nickname "Hank" (Tales to Astonish #47, 1963)
Roy Thomas: co-creator of Ultron, the Avengers' enemy (Avengers #54, 1968); of the Vision, a synthetic man with red skin, green costume and yellow cape with a jewel on his forehead; Vision's powers of flight and altering his density (Avengers #57, 1968); of Ultron being built by one of the Avengers, but turning against him; the Vision joining the Avengers (Avengers #58, 1968); of Quinjets, the personal aircraft of the Avengers (Avengers #61, 1969); of Hawkeye's real name, Clint Barton (Avengers #64, 1969); of Vision and the Scarlet Witch having feelings for each other (Avengers #91, 1971); of Ant-Man's helmet providing environmental seals (Avengers #93, 1971); of the Soul Gem, from which the Infinty Gems were derived (Marvel Premiere #1, 1970)
Larry Lieber: co-creator of Thor, Norse god of thunder (Journey into Mystery #84, 1962); of Loki, Thor's wicked brother (Journey into Mystery #85, 1962); of Tony Stark, a wealthy industrialist who wears Iron Man armor which enhances his strength and grants flight along with other gadgets (Tales of Suspense #39, 1963); of Henry Pym, a scientist who develops a chemical formula which can shrink people in size (Tales to Astonish #27, 1962); of Ant-Man, the costumed identity begun by Henry Pym wherein he wore a protective red and black costume with size-changing capsules on his belt and wore a helmet which helped him communicate with ants; Ant-Man receiving heightened strength by shrinking in size (Tales to Astonish #35, 1962)
John Buscema: co-creator of Ultron, the Avengers' enemy, a robot (Avengers #54, 1968); of the Vision, a synthetic man with red skin, green costume and yellow cape with a jewel on his forehead; Vision's powers of flight and altering his density (Avengers #57, 1968); Ultron being built by one of the Avengers, but turning against him; the Vision joining the Avengers (Avengers #58, 1968); of Quinjets, the personal aircraft of the Avengers (Avengers #61, 1969); of Helmut Zemo trying to destroy the Avengers as revenge for the destruction of his family, seeing them as Captain America's family (Avengers #273, 1986)
Christopher Priest: co-creator of Black Panther wearing a Vibranium-weave uniform with lenses in his mask and anti-metal claws in his gloves; of T'Challa wearing a beard (Black Panther #1, 1998); of Black Panther wearing a necklace of talons around his neck (Captain America #13, 1999); of the panther god Black Panther worships being the Egyptian god Bast (Black Panther #21, 2000); of Black Panther being driven into a murderous rage while pursuing his father's killer (Black Panther #29, 2001); of Everett Ross, a US government official who is charged with working alongside super heroes (Ka-Zar #17, 1998)
Mark Gruenwald: creator of Hawkeye's modular design arrows (Hawkeye#1, 1983); of Hawkeye's archery gloves (Hawkeye #2, 1983); co-creator of Wanda and Pietro's surname Maximoff (Avengers #186, 1979); of the US government asserting its ownership of Captain America's costume and shield (Captain America #332, 1987); of Crossbones, alias Brock Rumlow, a vicious thug (Captain America #359 & 360, 1989); of Crossbones' wrist-loaded blade weapon (Captain America #364, 1989); of Brock Rumlow's name (Captain America #400, 1992); of Crossbones being facially disfigured under his mask (Captain America #407, 1992)
Sal Buscema: co-creator of Vision and the Scarlet Witch having feelings for each other (Avengers #91, 1971); of Peggy's name; Sharon Carter as a relative of Peggy (Captain America #162, 1973); of Helmut Zemo, a man whose father died during an operation involving Captain America, causing him to seek Captain America's destruction (Captain America #168, 1973); of Peggy Carter as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Captain America #169, 1974); of the Falcon wearing a pair of mechanical wings (Captain America #170, 1974); of Captain America based out of Brooklyn (Captain America #237, 1979)
Steve Ditko: co-creator of Spider-Man, Peter Parker, a teenage super hero garbed in red and blue with a red webbing design, spider emblem on chest and lenses in his mask; Spider-Man swinging around on webbing fired from his web-shooters and climbing up walls; Spider-Man motivated to use his powers to help others; Peter's aunt May Parker, who is not aware of Peter's double life (Amazing Fantasy #15, 1962); of Spider-Man's spider-signal flashlight (Amazing Spider-Man #3, 1963); of Iron Man wearing red & gold armor (Tales of Suspense #48, 1963)
John Byrne: co-creator of Captain America & Iron Man having a tense, argumentative relationship (Avengers #165, 1977); of the Falcon as an Avenger (Avengers #183, 1979); of Wanda's surname Maximoff (Avengers #186, 1979); of James "Rhodey" Rhodes, pilot and friend of Tony Stark (Iron Man #118, 1979); the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier falling out of the sky (Marvel Graphic Novel #18, 1985); of Scott Lang, the new Ant-Man (Marvel Premiere #47, 1979); of Hank Pym helping to mentor Scott Lang as Ant-Man (Marvel Premiere #48, 1979)
Joe Simon: co-creator of Captain America, Steve Rogers, who wears a red, white and blue costume with 'A' on forehead and stars & stripes on his chest; of James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, Steve's friend and partner who joins him in battle (Captain America Comics #1, 1941); of Captain America's mask being fastened to his costume; of Captain America's round, red and white shield with star in its center (Captain America Comics #2, 1941); of the Vision, a green-garbed man in a cape (Marvel Mystery Comics #13, 1940)
Kevin Hopgood: co-creator of the War Machine armor, a suit of Iron Man armor colored silver and grey and outfitted with heavy weaponry, including a shoulder-mounted canon (Iron Man #281, 1992); of Tony Stark as a child prodigy; of Howard Stark being emotionally distant from Tony (Iron Man #286, 1992); of the War Machine armor being worn by James Rhodes with a unibeam designed for its chest (Iron Man #284, 1992); of Howard and Maria Stark dying in a car accident (Iron Man #288, 1993)
Len Kaminski: co-creator of the War Machine armor, a suit of Iron Man armor colored silver and grey and outfitted with heavy weaponry, including a shoulder-mounted canon (Iron Man #281, 1992); of the War Machine armor being worn by James Rhodes with a unibeam designed for its chest (Iron Man #284, 1992); of Tony Stark as a child prodigy; of Howard Stark being emotionally distant from Tony (Iron Man #286, 1992); of Howard and Maria Stark dying in a car accident (Iron Man #288, 1993)
David Michelinie: co-creator of Ultron seeking Vibranium to enhance his robotic body (Amazing Spider-Man Annual #25, 1991); of the Falcon as an Avenger (Avengers #183, 1979); of Wanda and Pietro's surname Maximoff (Avengers #186, 1979); of Hawkeye firing Ant-Man on the arrowhead of one of his arrows (Avengers #223, 1982); of James "Rhodey" Rhodes, pilot and friend of Tony Stark (Iron Man #118, 1979); of Scott Lang, an ex-convict who becomes the new Ant-Man (Marvel Premiere #47, 1979); Hank Pym helping to mentor Scott Lang as Ant-Man (Marvel Premiere #48, 1979)
Bryan Hitch: co-creator of Captain America wearing a helmet version of his mask with wings painted on the sides (Captain America: Reborn #1, 2009); of Iron Man's eyes & unibeam glowing light blue; of the Avengers being overseen by S.H.I.E.L.D. (Ultimates #2, 2002); of Hawkeye's sleeveless costume (Ultimates #7, 2002); of the Chitauri, an extraterrestrial army who battle the Avengers (Ultimates #8, 2002); of Hawkeye married and with three children (Ultimates 2 #2, 2005)
Steve Epting: co-creator of the Winter Soldier, a legendary Soviet assassin now on the open market, has a cybernetic arm (Captain America #1, 2005); of the Winter Soldier undergoing a memory wipe between assignments (Captain America #8, 2005); of the Winter Soldier regaining his memory after an encounter with Captain America and going into hiding (Captain America #14, 2006)
Sal Velluto: co-creator of Black Panther wearing a necklace of talons around his neck (Captain America #13, 1999); of the panther god Black Panther worships being the Egyptian god Bast (Black Panther #21, 2000); of Black Panther being driven into a murderous rage while pursuing his father's killer (Black Panther #29, 2001)
Brian Michael Bendis: co-creator of the Raft, a maximum security prison for superhuman criminals (New Avengers #1, 2005); of the Falcon joining Captain America in his conflict against Iron Man (New Avengers #21, 2006); of Hawkeye joining the renegade team of Avengers who followed Captain America (New Avengers #27, 2007)
J. Michael Straczynski: co-creator of Tony Stark mentoring Peter Parker (Amazing Spider-Man #519, 2005); of Tony Stark building a new costume for Spider-Man (Amazing Spider-Man #529, 2006); of an inspirational speech which quotes, how one must "plant their feet and say no, you move." (Amazing Spider-Man #537, 2006)
Reginald Hudlin: co-creator of James Rhodes taking Iron Man's side in his conflict against Captain America (Black Panther #22, 2007); of Black Panther changing from a moderate position in Iron Man's conflict against Captain America before finally taking Captain America's side (Black Panther #23, 2007)
Robert Bernstein: co-creator of Iron Man's armor being gold; of Iron Man's unibeam in the center of his chestplate (Tales of Suspense #40, 1963); of Pepper Potts, Tony Stark's secretary and romantic interest; Stark Industries, Tony Stark's technology company (Tales of Suspense #45, 1963)
Mark Texeira: co-creator of Everett Ross, a US government official who is charged with working alongside super heroes; of Black Panther wearing a Vibranium-weave uniform with lenses in his mask and anti-metal claws in his gloves; of T'Challa wearing a beard (Black Panther #1, 1998)
Gene Colan: co-creator of Hawkeye's real name, Clint Barton (Avengers #64, 1969); of the Falcon, Sam Wilson, a costumed African-American hero who is friends with Captain America; of Redwing, the Falcon's small winged companion (Captain America #117, 1969)
Kieron Dwyer: co-creator of Crossbones, alias Brock Rumlow, a vicious thug (Captain America #359-360, 1989); of Crossbones' wrist-loaded blade weapon (Captain America #364, 1989)
Roger Stern: co-creator of Helmut Zemo trying to destroy the Avengers as revenge for the destruction of his family, seeing them as Captain America's family (Avengers #273, 1986); of James Rhodes as one of the Avengers (West Coast Avengers #1, 1984)
Steve Englehart: co-creator of Peggy's name; Sharon Carter as a relative of Peggy (Captain America #162, 1973); of Peggy Carter as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Captain America #169, 1974); of the Falcon's mechanical wings (Captain America #170, 1974)
George Tuska: co-creator of Tony Stark becoming horrified by the carnage done with his company's weapons and eliminating his weapons production (Iron Man #78, 1975); of Maria Stark, wife of Howard, mother of Tony (Iron Man #104, 1977)
Ron Garney: co-creator of Tony Stark building a new costume for Spider-Man (Amazing Spider-Man #529, 2006); of an inspirational speech which quotes how one must "plant their feet and say no, you move." (Amazing Spider-Man #537, 2006)
Mike Grell: creator of Iron Man's identity as Tony Stark being public knowledge (Iron Man #55, 2002); co-creator of Friday, an artificial intelligence used by Iron Man which has a feminine personality (Iron Man #53, 2002)
Jackson Guice: co-creator of Helmut Zemo drawing out issues from Bucky Barnes' past to use against him (Captain America #606, 2010); of there being multiple Winter Soldiers created in the Soviet Union (Winter Soldier #1, 2012)
Dick Ayers: co-creator of Agent 13, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and love interest to Captain America; Peggy Carter, intelligence operative and wartime love interest of Captain America (Tales of Suspense #75, 1966)
Bob Harras: co-creator of Hydra taking over S.H.I.E.L.D. from within (Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #1, 1988); of S.H.I.E.L.D. exposed as rife with internal corruption and dismantled (Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #6, 1988)
Paul Neary: co-creator of Hydra taking over S.H.I.E.L.D. from within (Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #1, 1988); of S.H.I.E.L.D. exposed as rife with internal corruption and dismantled (Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #6, 1988)
John Romita: co-creator of the Black Widow's red hair, black bodysuit, Widow's Bite wrist weapon and carrying explosives (Amazing Spider-Man #86, 1970); of the Falcon's red costume (Captain America #144, 1971)
Tony Isabella: co-creator of Helmut Zemo, a man whose father died during an operation involving Captain America, causing him to seek Captain America's destruction (Captain America #168, 1973)
Koi Turnbull: co-creator of Black Panther changing from a moderate position in Iron Man's conflict against Captain America before finally taking Captain America's side (Black Panther #23, 2007)
Michael Lark: co-creator of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes being nearly the same age; of Vasily Karpov, a Russian officer who helped program the Winter Soldier (Captain America #5, 2005)
Mike Deodato Jr.: co-creator of Tony Stark mentoring Peter Parker (Amazing Spider-Man #519, 2005); of Steve Rogers' modified blue/white costume with brown gloves (Secret Avengers #1, 2010)
Fabian Nicieza: co-creator of Helmut Zemo taking advantage of the animosity between Captain America and Iron Man so he can manipulate them to his own ends (Thunderbolts #105, 2006)
Tom Grummett: co-creator of Helmut Zemo taking advantage of the animosity between Captain America and Iron Man so he can manipulate them to his own ends (Thunderbolts #105, 2006)
Paul Jenkins: co-creator of Iron Man developing a prison to contain super heroes who refused to submit to the US government's oversight laws (Civil War: Frontline #5, 2006)
Steve Leiber: co-creator of Iron Man developing a prison to contain super heroes who refused to submit to the US government's oversight laws (Civil War: Frontline #5, 2006)
Trevor Hairsine: co-creator of the Falcon wearing a military-style costume with large amounts of black and gray; the Falcon wielding guns (Ultimate Nightmare #1, 2004)
Warren Ellis: co-creator of Tony Stark calling himself a "futurist" (Iron Man #1, 2005); of the Falcon wearing a military-style costume with large amounts of black and gray; the Falcon wielding guns (Ultimate Nightmare #1, 2004)
Mike Friedrich: co-creator of Peggy Carter as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Captain America #169, 1974); of the Falcon's mechanical wings (Captain America #170, 1974)
Tom DeFalco: co-creator of Crossbones as a Hydra agent (Captain America #24, 1999); Ant-Man helmet with red lenses (Fantastic Four #405, 1995)
Ryan Odagawa: co-creator of Friday, an artificial intelligence used by Iron Man which has a feminine personality (Iron Man #53, 2002)
Archie Goodwin: co-creator of Howard Stark, deceased father of Tony Stark and previous owner of Stark Industries (Iron Man #28, 1970)
Luke Ross: co-creator of Peggy Carter suffering from dementia in her latter years; of Sharon as Peggy's niece (Captain America #49, 2009)
Tom Morgan: co-creator of the US government asserting its ownership of Captain America's costume and shield (Captain America #332, 1987)
Randall Frenz: co-creator of Howard Stark working with Captain America and Bucky during World War II (Captain America Annual #9, 1990)
Leinil Francis Yu: co-creator of Hawkeye joining the renegade team of Avengers who followed Captain America (New Avengers #27, 2007)
Mark Bagley: co-creator of Howard Stark working with Captain America and Bucky during World War II (Captain America Annual #9, 1990)
Patrick Zircher: co-creator of Howard and Maria Stark's "accidental" death caused by a conspiracy (Iron Man: the Iron Age #1, 1998)
Manuel Garcia: co-creator of James Rhodes taking Iron Man's side in his conflict against Captain America (Black Panther #22, 2007)
Howard Victor Chaykin: co-creator of the Falcon joining Captain America in his conflict against Iron Man (New Avengers #21, 2006)
Kurt Busiek: co-creator of Howard and Maria Stark's "accidental" death caused by a conspiracy (Iron Man: the Iron Age#1, 1998)
Don Rico: co-creator of the Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, a spy who encounters Iron Man (Tales of Suspense #52, 1964)
Leonardo Manco: co-creator of Tony Stark using technology to repair injuries done to James Rhodes (War Machine #1, 2008)
Jim Shooter: co-creator of Captain America & Iron Man having a tense, argumentative relationship (Avengers #165, 1977)
Greg Pak: co-creator of Tony Stark using technology to repair injuries done to James Rhodes (War Machine #1, 2008)
David Finch: co-creator of the Raft, a maximum security prison for superhuman criminals (New Avengers #1, 2005)
Greg LaRocque: co-creator of Hawkeye firing Ant-Man on the arrowhead of one of his arrows (Avengers #223, 1982)
Kevin Kobasic: co-creator of Crossbones being facially disfigured under his mask (Captain America #407, 1992)
Bob Layton: co-creator of James "Rhodey" Rhodes, pilot and friend of Tony Stark (Iron Man #118, 1979)
Barry Kitson: co-creator of the deaths of Howard and Maria Stark in an auto accident (Iron Man #288, 1993)
Salvador Larroca: co-creator of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts as a couple (Invincible Iron Man #15, 2009)
Gil Kane: co-creator of the Soul Gem, from which the Infinty Gems were derived (Marvel Premiere#1, 1970)
Scott Lobdell: co-creator of the red widow icon on Black Widow's belt (Journey into Mystery #517, 1998)
Randall Green: co-creator of the red widow icon on Black Widow's belt (Journey into Mystery #517, 1998)
John Ostrander: co-creator of Ant-Man wearing a helmet with full face mask (Heroes for Hire #6, 1997)
Jim Steranko: co-creator of the Hydra insignia, a skull atop octopus arms (Strange Tales #151, 1966)
Pasqual Ferry: co-creator of Ant-Man wearing a helmet with full face mask (Heroes for Hire #6, 1997)
Aaron Lopresti: co-creator of S.H.I.E.L.D. developing a fleet of Helicarriers (Ms. Marvel #13, 2007)

Guang Yap: co-creator of Ultron seeking Vibranium to enhance his robotic body (Amazing Spider-Man Annual #25, 1991)

Matt Fraction: co-creator of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts as a couple (Invincible Iron Man #15, 2009)
Bill Mantlo: co-creator of Tony Stark becoming horrified by the carnage done with his company's weapons and eliminating his weapons production (Iron Man #78, 1975); of Maria Stark, wife of Howard, mother of Tony (Iron Man #104, 1977)
Chris Claremont: co-creator of Captain America based out of Brooklyn (Captain America #237, 1979)
Brian Reed: co-creator of S.H.I.E.L.D. developing a fleet of Helicarriers (Ms. Marvel #13, 2007)
Roger McKenzie: co-creator of Captain America based out of Brooklyn (Captain America #237, 1979)
Neal Adams: co-creator of Ant-Man's helmet providing environmental seals (Avengers #93, 1971)
Gaspar Saladino: creator of the Avengers logo with enlarged letter "A" (Avengers #96, 1972)
Bob Hall: co-creator of James Rhodes as one of the Avengers (West Coast Avengers #1, 1984)
Luke McDonnell: co-creator of James Rhodes wearing Iron Man armor (Iron Man #169, 1983)
Dennis O'Neil: co-creator of James Rhodes wearing Iron Man armor (Iron Man #169, 1983)
Steven Grant: co-creator of Wanda and Pietro's surname Maximoff (Avengers #186, 1979)
Gary Friedrich: co-creator of the Falcon's red costume (Captain America #144, 1971)
Paul Ryan: co-creator of the Avengers being responsible to the United Nations (Avengers #329, 1991); of Ant-Man helmet with red lenses (Fantastic Four #405, 1995)

Larry Hama: co-creator of the Avengers being responsible to the United Nations (Avengers #329, 1991)
Ron Frenz: co-creator of Crossbones as a Hydra agent (Captain America #24, 1999)
Rik Levins: co-creator of Brock Rumlow's name (Captain America #400, 1992)
Adi Granov: creator of Iron Man armor design (Iron Man #75, 2004); co-creator of Tony Stark calling himself a "futurist" (Iron Man #1, 2005)

Olivier Coipel: co-creator of Ant-Man wearing a costume with increased black tones (Avengers #65, 2003)

Geoff Johns: co-creator of Ant-Man wearing a costume with increased black tones (Avengers #65, 2003)