10 Mind-Blowing Facts About Iron Man
8. He Once Had A Suit With Roller Skates
The red and gold suit of armour that Iron Man wears today is an iconic look, but it was an awkward puberty to get there from the original lumpy grey suit (which even had to be plugged into the mains to charge).
Comics have always tried to upgrade their heroes to match current trends and Iron Man is no exception. That's why in the 1970's, in an attempt to capitalise of the fad of roller skating, the Iron Man armour came with retractable jet-powered rollerblades.
Quite why a guy who can fly needs to be able to skate along the ground is anyone's guess, but Iron Man's special boots did let him travel at up to an impressive 60mph.
However, that speed is nowhere near good enough to justify having to go everywhere with your bum stuck out or the indignity of future internet article writers calling them "special boots" so Tony eventually scrapped them.
Another hilarious "improvement" around that time was the addition of a nosepiece on the Iron Man armour. The story goes that Stan Lee demanded it be added because a flat face guard would squash Tony's nose. Years later, the notoriously forgetful Lee walked back in after picking up an issue, demanded the artist get rid of the nosepiece and said that whoever suggested it was an idiot.