Real Name: Anthony “Tony” Stark
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #39 (1963)
Affiliation: Founding Avenger; steps away from the active team in Avengers #16
Powers and Equipment: Inventive genius and powered armor; his chest apparatus also keeps him alive.

Tony Stark becomes Iron Man out of necessity. Captured and gravely injured while in Vietnam, he builds the armor with Professor Yinsen’s help. Tales of Suspense #39 introduces a hero whose strength depends on machinery, but whose survival also depends on another man’s sacrifice.

As his adventures continue, Tony has to protect more than his secret identity. His work, his health, and his relationships with Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan repeatedly collide. In Tales of Suspense #60, his inability to leave the armor forces him to explain Tony Stark’s absence while acting as Iron Man. Pepper and Happy’s suspicions make that separation increasingly difficult.

The armor changes, but Tony’s ingenuity remains essential. Tales of Suspense #65 pits him against a thief using his improved suit, leaving him to work with an older model. Technology gives him an advantage only when he can use it better than his opponent.

Iron Man helps establish the Avengers and later makes room for their new membership. His own troubles continue: Tales of Suspense #68 introduces his cousin Morgan Stark into a plot that attacks Tony’s confidence in his own perceptions. Senator Byrd’s pressure on Stark Industries adds a public threat to an already complicated private life. Through these reviewed stories, Tony is both the inventor behind Iron Man and the vulnerable man inside the armor.

Selected Reviewed Appearances

• Tales of Suspense #39
• Tales of Suspense #60
• Tales of Suspense #65
• Avengers #1
• Avengers #16
• Tales of Suspense #68

Coverage: based on reviews published on Reviewing Comics as of October 23, 2026.