The classic story which inspired the first Iron Man film, the Iron Monger saga is one of the lynchpin arcs in the history of the character. Over the course of forty issues Tony Stark hits rock bottom after having his entire life dismantled by his young business competitor Obadiah Stane: he takes control of Stark Industries, forcing Tony out, and robs him of his vast personal fortune as a result. Struggling with alcohol dependency, the role of Iron Man is rescinded to Rhodey for the first time, which Tony is just fine with. He wallows for a while and we get one of our first good looks at the man beneath the shellhead. Of course, he doesn't stay out of commission for very long. Rhodey discovers that the Iron Man armour was only ever really meant to be worn by Tony, and begins to crack under the figurative and literal pressure. It's only when he's completely hit rock bottom that Stark acquiesces to the concerns of the only friend he has left, and returns to take up the Iron Man helm. His current suit doesn't seem up to the task of taking down Stone, however, and so he completely redesigns it and ends up with the silver-tinged armour that he kept for a good while. In fact that was the first radical change in the Iron Man armour since he upgraded from the bulky suit of his origins, and paved the way for further changes down the line. It also pitted the character against his most formidable nemesis yet, as Obadiah Stane took the Iron Man blueprints and designed his Iron Monger suit. As Stane was to Stark, the Iron Monger was stronger, faster and all-around better than Iron Man; and yet somehow, good prevails. That's not a spoiler, right?
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
