Why is Iron Man still a hero?

**Lord_Archive** · 12-04-2006, 07:36 PM

Does he have a real rogues gallery of any kind anymore?
Does he serve any purpose except to tag along with the Avengers and get drunk?

From Civil War we have seen what kind of antagonist Stark makes, so I think its time for Marvel to push Iron Man to his next logical path and make him into one of Marvel's greatest supervillains.

From Iron Man to Iron Monarch.

**Haunt** · 12-04-2006, 07:44 PM

Originally Posted by Lord_Archive

Does he have a real rogues gallery of any kind anymore?
Does he serve any purpose except to tag along with the Avengers and get drunk?

From Civil War we have seen what kind of antagonist Stark makes, so I think its time for Marvel to push Iron Man to his next logical path and make him into one of Marvel's greatest supervillains.

From Iron Man to Iron Monarch.

how about he just heads up SHIELD?

**KrymynalChylde** · 12-04-2006, 07:52 PM

how about everyone quits ****** hatin on tony

**Will.S** · 12-04-2006, 07:58 PM

Originally Posted by Lord_Archive

Does he have a real rogues gallery of any kind anymore?
Does he serve any purpose except to tag along with the Avengers and get drunk?

You should be reading his regular Iron Man book and New Avengers pre-Civil War. He's steadily solidifying his rogues again (one time use villain Mallen, Crimson Dynamo, Spymaster) and does lots of heroic things in New Avengers.

From Civil War we have seen what kind of antagonist Stark makes, so I think its time for Marvel to push Iron Man to his next logical path and make him into one of Marvel's greatest supervillains.

From Iron Man to Iron Monarch.

No thanks.

**mattbib** · 12-04-2006, 08:07 PM

Originally Posted by Lord_Archive

...so I think its time for Marvel to push Iron Man to his next logical path and make him into one of Marvel's greatest supervillains.

Sounds like the brainstorm that spawned The Crossing.

**IMJ** · 12-04-2006, 10:56 PM

Originally Posted by mattbib

Sounds like the brainstorm that spawned The Crossing.

Agreed. Terrible idea, and one that is seemingly drawn from someone who maybe doesn't understand the complexities of Civil War. Iron Man isn't the bad guy, kid. If Iron Man has been "directionless" then look at the people who have written him as such. Furthermore, IM has a devoted following which is larger than the occassional fanboy who might see him in a crossover and make blanket assumptions.

I do agree however, that IM needs to rebuild his rogues gallery, but as of late that has been blossoming. Part of the problem with the IM book is that it hasn't had a solid creative team stick with it long enough to make the character identifiable for some time. The Extremis arc DID bring new things to the character that have potential (even if I find several faults with it myself, it's still advancement) and the Knauf's have really been showing potential on the book as of late. As long as Marvel doesn't do anything dramatically stupid with Iron Man (i.e., take him out of the armor suddenly, or fail to clean up what's happening in Civil War to a sterile level acceptable by the general reading public of comics), then there are good things in store for the character soon.

**Lord_Archive** · 12-05-2006, 05:48 AM

Oh please. Complexities? Saying Iron Man is being misunderstood in his role in Civil War is like saying Dr Mengele's attempts at "progressing medical science" were misunderstood.

**Erik Lehnsherr** · 12-05-2006, 07:25 AM

Originally Posted by Lord_Archive

Does he have a real rogues gallery of any kind anymore?
Does he serve any purpose except to tag along with the Avengers and get drunk?

From Civil War we have seen what kind of antagonist Stark makes, so I think its time for Marvel to push Iron Man to his next logical path and make him into one of Marvel's greatest supervillains.

From Iron Man to Iron Monarch.

Of course he was gonna make a good villian for Civil War. He has the majority's trust and he's a billionaire. He's formidable, no matter what role you put him in. He would get embarassed wholesale by a Doom though if he went total heel. Something needs to happen to him for the choices he's made in this storyline but he shouldn't be vilified forever.

**Kirk G** · 12-05-2006, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by Erik Lehnsherr

Of course he was gonna make a good villian for Civil War. He has the majority's trust and he's a billionaire. He's formidable, no matter what role you put him in. He would get embarassed wholesale by a Doom though if he went total heel. Something needs to happen to him for the choices he's made in this storyline but he shouldn't be vilified forever.

I agree with this.
Why is Tony still considered a Hero... I guess for the same reason that Yellow Jacket or Hank Pym is considered one. He was one for years, and started out as one, and has his own series, and it's hard not to think of him as "one of the boys".

But, golly, hanging onto a hair of Thor's ever since day one, just in case...
I mean, WOW, that's really revisionist!:rolleyes:

**Magneto Rocks** · 12-05-2006, 01:34 PM

Of course he's a hero. That's like saying the Invisible Woman has no solo rogues gallery, therefore she is not a heroine! Tony is an Avenger, and his rogues gallery is being revived. He goes around trying to save lives and make the world a better place. He IS a super hero, as much as Cap or Spidey or anyone else.

**surfDUI** · 12-05-2006, 02:06 PM

Originally Posted by Erik Lehnsherr

Of course he was gonna make a good villian for Civil War. He has the majority's trust and he's a billionaire.

So we just back off 60 years of history cause you (not you Lehns) think 'in this particualr story' and the fact that 'you got so sucked in' that Stark in Civil War is a jerk...

He's an 'Avenger' (again) ain't he?

**IMJ** · 12-05-2006, 04:54 PM

Originally Posted by surfDUI

So we just back off 60 years of history cause you (not you Lehns) think 'in this particualr story' and the fact that 'you got so sucked in' that Stark in Civil War is a jerk...

He's an 'Avenger' (again) ain't he?

Exactly.... Many of the people looking to call Iron Man a villain throughout this are likely generally the same people who jump on board throwing stones and asking questions later about most things in life.

It's both easy and argumentative logic to disregard the entire past of a character just to seem like an expert while preaching about a current positioning strategy that you may not agree with. Not only that, it's obvious by the comments I've been reading that these same people may have a hard time differentiating between reality and comic books. The reality is that the comic book characters don't do anything that the writers don't write them to do. Therefore, if Iron Man's position isn't being justified enough for those of us who can't ascertain a bigger picture, then it's because the writers aren't being clear enough. Not because the character is an @$$hole.

I'm also not saying that everything going on in Civil War is okay and above board, but we haven't seen the end yet. Not only that, but if it ends in a fashion where some goofballs want to continue to call Iron Man a villain, then either chaulk it up to a surface understanding on their part, or to incomplete storytelling on the part of the writers involved in the story. The funny thing is that for Cap and IM being the two main players in this drama, they've barely had any true "screen time" thus far.

**Babylon23** · 12-05-2006, 06:32 PM

Tony is a great character, easily one of Marvel's best. In the past, he's proven himself to be a hero in the true sense of the word.

Also, Tony has an excellent Rogues gallery: Mandarin, Spymaster, Crimson Dynamo, Titanium Man, The Maggia, Hydra, Madame Masque, Ultimo, MODOK, and countless others. These are classic villains that only require a good writer to make them shine.

Having said that, the way he's being written at the moment paints him in a very negative light. CW is especially bad, and Tony seems to be being presented as the villain of the piece, at least at the moment. Of course, this is how the Marvel writers want to present him at the moment, which is their prerogative, but it's ridiculous to judge a 40+ year old character with hundreds of solo and Avengers appearances on 5 issues of CW.

**Calybos** · 12-06-2006, 09:27 AM

Like many misguided villains and antiheroes, he believes he's doing the right thing. He USED to do the right thing on a regular basis.

And enough of the regular heroes remember him from back when he WAS on the side of justice that they're trying hard to give him every benefit of the doubt.