Iron Man's Iconic Armor

[steeler80]

I may not be the one to post this as I've not kept up with Iron Man as much as I should considering he was my favorite Marvel hero as a kid, but I was wondering if people believe he should return to his more iconic armor (re: Bob Layton days).

Maybe not even a return but establish a more recognizable armor. I understand that the current armor is supposed to be representative of technological advances but it just leaves me cold. His old armor was immediately recognizable like Spider-man's or Batman's costume.

[StoneGold]

Quesada did that while he was writing, actually. Apparently, you didn't buy it. So they changed it to something else.

[Mariah]

I may not be the one to post this as I've not kept up with Iron Man as much as I should considering he was my favorite Marvel hero as a kid, but I was wondering if people believe he should return to his more iconic armor (re: Bob Layton days).

Maybe not even a return but establish a more recognizable armor. I understand that the current armor is supposed to be representative of technological advances but it just leaves me cold. His old armor was immediately recognizable like Spider-man's or Batman's costume.
I can understand your point of view, but Iron Man's armor should be constantly evolving, because then it just looks like cheese if it's not, and we wouldn't want that. I mean, doesn't spidey's new costume look great??

[Leebenhouse]

I think the new Spidey costume is terrible looking, thank god he can now change it to the regular looking suit at a whim. Spiderman has worn armor before and it looked way cooler than the current design, and everyone hated that.

As for Iron Man's armor, I think that it looks good right now, capturing the classic days and modern designs at the same time. The same goes for his armor in the Heroes Return days.

[Starkicker]

I think its the colour scheme that's iconic not the armor design. Tony's suit should change every few years but by keeping the red/gold look the reader should always know it's Iron Man.

[davros42]

Anything is better than the Ultimate Iron Man armor. ANYTHING.

I don't think he necessarily needs to go back to the iconic 70's-80's armor, because Iron Man's armor evolving and changing has always been part of the comics... Just as long as it stays recognizably Iron Man.

[Expletive Deleted]

I think its the colour scheme that's iconic not the armor design. Tony's suit should change every few years but by keeping the red/gold look the reader should always know it's Iron Man.That's pretty much my take on it, too.

Although I have to say, I wouldn't mind a return to a simpler faceplate style. The current set-up is a little too alien for me.

[NickThompson]

I love the current look. Something about the classic (Or what I assume you mean) look always looked off to me.

[Vegetarian Goat]

The current armor has all the elements of the "iconic" armor there.. it's just more detailed, and obviously a suit of armor as opposed to shiny pants. But if you look for all the important iconic elements of the bob layton suit? They're there.

[Babylon23]

I'd actually like to see a simplier, more streamlined design. The current design is too "busy" for my tastes.

[The Foreigner]

Too often, Iron Man is drawn like he's wearing tights. It's a suit of IRON ARMOR for crying out loud. It should look like one...

I like his current design.

[StoneGold]

So, you want a realistic, down-to-earth show... that's completely off-the-wall and swarming with magic robots?

[steeler80]

A lot of the answers in this thread have helped pinpoint the problem I have with the armor. It's looks too busy. I'd like simpler, cleaner lines.

Maybe I'm just too old school. :o

[darkhawk76]

I like the old school armour, but I doubt that's ever coming back

I wouldn't mind the helmet staying similar to the classic version

the body armour I'll just have to accept

[Shellhead]

Iron Man's armor should look stream-lined... he's flying in it, so having a bunch of lumpy external gadgets makes it less aerodynamic. Also, the armor should be protecting the gadgets, so ideally the armor should actually cover everything. Maybe the armor needs to be bigger to accomodate the increased amount of technology inside, but the modern trend in technology has involved miniaturization for years. Given that Stark's old friend Hank Pym started using the pym particle to shrink equipment years ago, it makes since that his armor shouldn't be bulky anymore, except for the armor itself.

[Will.S]

I'm surprised to see people still think that it doesn't look more streamlined, even in it's most current form:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b6/IM78.jpg

vs

http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/8207/imdesign26kq.jpg

If anything the "Ablative" armor before the Extremis one was very bulky (even though I loved it too). Comparitively the the current one is very slimmed down and smoother around the edges while having the same functions minus maybe the transforming armor seen in New Avengers. But with the new features built in, it doesn't even matter anymore.

I also kinda saw the older armors less high tech looking because the arms/legs didn't have any joints which I guess is atrributed to his "flexi-armor". It was funny to see Tony just be in his boxers or something and having him put on metal pants and sleeves.

[wellsoul2]

I really like the new armor.

The double-triangle mask was really the most annoying to me.
I would read a story and it was so annoying it would be
distracting.

The armor acting on it's own in New Avengers was cool to me.

I also like the voice response thing like Tony is directing a computer.

It makes it more realistic and interesting when Tony is pre-occupied
talking with the armor and misses things going on. Makes him more
of a techno-nerd type. :D

[Avalanche]

I love his look now, and I think he is still easily recognizable. I think it would be hard to believe if Tony never got a suit upgrade with all the technology he possesses. It's not like his armor is a gigantic leap from his original armor.

[Shellhead]

The current armor has some decent features to it. It's cleaner and less gadgety than some of the armor designs from the last 20 years, and it does look very durable. But I don't like the helmet design, because it makes Iron Man look insect-like. I especially dislike the extremely narrow jaw, it doesn't make sense to taper that so sharply that Stark's chin is crammed tightly in there. You would think his jaw would get broken the next time a super-strong badguy punches him in the face.

[Will.S]

The current armor has some decent features to it. It's cleaner and less gadgety than some of the armor designs from the last 20 years, and it does look very durable. But I don't like the helmet design, because it makes Iron Man look insect-like. I especially dislike the extremely narrow jaw, it doesn't make sense to taper that so sharply that Stark's chin is crammed tightly in there. You would think his jaw would get broken the next time a super-strong badguy punches him in the face.
Yeah, Adi drew the helmet a bit odd there but I wouldn't be too worried about the face thing. (http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/ironman/conference.htm)

Patrick Zircher blew me away now that I've seen that art and the action there. It looks like he fully uses the uni-beam, repulsors with great target locking and senses Crimson Dynamo with his tech upgrades (as well as whatever other detection capabilities it might have) Iron Man is badass.