The Iron's Still Hot

Iron Man may never have been as well known as Spider-Man, Batman, or Superman, but comic books certainly wouldn't have been the same without him. And throughout his 40+ year history, he's represented everything America has stood for — the good, the bad and the ugly. With the release of the new Jon Favreau-directed film, it's a good time to ask: What role does Iron Man play in American popular culture in 2008?

In 1963, Marvel Comics editor Stan Lee, along with writer Larry Lieber and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby created Iron Man, a Marvel hero rendered unique by his lack of superhuman powers. Instead, he donned a metal suit that enabled him to withstand bullets, extreme temperatures and even the far reaches of space, transforming him into a one-man army, wielding the power of rocket flight and an arsenal of military-grade weapons. As Tony Stark, a wealthy American weapons inventor and defense contractor, he womanized and made multi-million dollar business deals providing weapons for the US military. To compete with one of DC Comics' best selling characters Batman, whose alter-ego was millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne, Stan Lee modeled Stark after Howard Hughes. Hughes landmark business deals, exploration into aviation and sense of adventure, along with a touch for the dramatic were characteristics Lee found suitable for his newest superhero. As opposed to Bruce Wayne, who rarely drank and was for the most part withdrawn and quiet, it was an approach different enough that no one would accuse Marvel of copying the character.

In Tales of Suspense #39, Iron Man was introduced to the world. While observing a field test for his newest line of weapons for the United States war effort, Tony Stark is critically injured by a piece of flying metal shrapnel from an exploding land mine. The shrapnel is lodged only inches from his heart. To survive, he must have surgery immediately. Captured and imprisoned by the Viet Cong, Stark is compelled to build weapons for his army to use against American troops in exchange for his life-saving surgery. Instead, the American businessman builds a rudimentary metal suit that enables him to stay alive as well as to escape imprisonment with the help of flamethrowers and bulletproof armor. Thus, Iron Man is born, vowing to protect the world from injustice with the advanced technology of Stark Industries.

Iron Man was the Cold War superhero. He fought Communist regimes in Vietnam and Russia, enforcing the American way of capitalism and military might. Comic book fans loved it, for not only did Iron Man represent what America stood for at the time — power, freedom and military dominance, but Tony Stark represented everything an American boy wanted — power, women and money. Little did Marvel know that with the emergence of the Vietnam War, America's misguided idealism would soon be questioned in a big way.

According to Bradford Wright's book Comic Book Nation:

The Iron Man series showed the extent to which Marvel endorsed Cold War assumptions. There was little room for dissent. As Iron Man once asserted: "No one has the right to defy the wishes of the American government! Not even Iron Man!" The hawkish political tone established in the series, especially regarding the Vietnam War, became a source of some embarrassment to Stan Lee in later years. Writing in 1975, Lee explained that at the time these stories were written, "most of us genuinely felt that the conflict in that tortured land really was a simple matter of good versus evil." He hastened to add that "since that time, of course, we've all grown up a bit, we've realized that life isn't quite that simple, and we've been trying to extricate ourselves from the tragic entanglement of Indochina."

The more he became involved in American politics and the Vietnam War effort throughout the 1960s, the more Iron Man found himself out of touch with the ever-growing consciousness of American society, causing Tony Stark and his Marvel creators to do some soul searching about what being a hero really means. During Vietnam, there was no clear hero or villain, causing a great divide in a once confidently united nation.

By the mid-1970s, Stan Lee and company, as a sign of the times, decided to make Tony Stark a more introspective character. They had come to realize that comic book fans were growing older and would no longer accept the black and white world of good versus evil. To them, the real world was far more complicated. In September 1975, Iron Man #78 was released, entitled "Long Time Gone." After seeing an entire village destroyed by American soldiers using weapons he designed, Tony Stark vowed to fight against the concept of using war as a means of solving conflict. Once a hero who, like the rest of the nation, fought blindly against anyone who was deemed unpatriotic, he finds himself questioning his motives; Tony Stark had been consumed with arrogance and greed but suddenly, the true hero begins to emerge.

But as the1980s hit, so did the greed and hypocrisy of corporate America fed by the Reagan era of politics. Tony Stark once again found it difficult to reconcile his life as Iron Man with his life as a businessman. Over the years, Stark Industries would face bankruptcy and be stolen from him. With the high pressure for corporate success, Stark found himself in financial ruin, turning to alcohol to find much needed comfort. He subsequently becomes homeless, as well. The realities of the 1980s were now the realities of Iron Man's world. Other heroes of the Marvel Universe who once fought proudly beside him now wanted nothing to do with him. Iron Man became a victim of 1980s corporate America.

After starting another company, Circuits Maximus, Stark found success again after finally quitting the bottle and once again donned his Iron Man suit, which he modified with more advanced technology.

In 2006, Tony Stark again becomes political and even more controversial. Not only is he declared an outlaw by the United States government in one storyline, but later becomes Secretary of State in an effort to oversee the US military's use of his company's technology. In the controversial Civil War series, the government proposes a new law after a televised battle between a team of superheroes and their enemy ends in a massive explosion, killing several heroes as well as civilians, including an elementary school full of children. The "Superhuman Registration Act" proposed that all superheroes publicly reveal their secret identities as well as register with the US government to become public servants, earning salaries and benefits like police officers. This drew a line down the center of the Marvel Universe. One side, led by Iron Man, supported the law. Stark believed that all superheroes should answer to one governing body but many of the heroes were against it, including Captain America, and felt that the US government was trying to take away their civil liberties.

As tensions between each side rise, Stark becomes increasingly alone in his opinion but maintains his role as the Registration Act's biggest supporter. A final confrontation takes place between the two sides and Captain America and Iron Man, who once fought side-by-side as members of the superhero team the Avengers, battle each other in the name of their political and civil beliefs. Captain America, realizing how much damage they're causing in civilian streets, becomes dismayed, knowing that his actions are doing nothing to stop the law from passing. He surrenders, only to be murdered later by an assassin's bullet. And Iron Man, again, is given a second chance to learn from his mistakes. "It wasn't supposed to be this way," he mutters at his fallen friend's funeral.

Now, the future of America seems to be as uncertain as it was during the Cold War. Involved in a war no one understands and the constant threat of nuclear and terrorist attacks always looming just ahead, our society still struggles to find itself. As misguided as we sometimes are, America's intentions are, for the most part, good. Iron Man continues to represent both the best and the worst parts of the country. He may be arrogant, stubborn, and sometimes difficult to get along with, but despite these flaws, he still fights for what he believes to be right. He may occasionally make the wrong choices but Tony Stark's ability to learn from his mistakes and persevere is what makes his character such an interesting and likable one; and, after all, isn't that what America is all about?