Volume 1 The character made his
first appearance in
Tales of Suspense #39 (
cover dated March 1963). After issue #99 (March 1968), the
Tales of Suspense series was renamed
Captain America. An Iron Man story appeared in the
one-shot issue
Iron Man and Sub-Mariner #1 (April 1968), before the "Golden Avenger" made his solo debut with
Iron Man #1 (May 1968). The series'
indicia gives its
copyright title as
Iron Man, while the
trademarked cover logo of most issues is
The Invincible Iron Man. Artist
George Tuska began a decade-long association with the character with
Iron Man #5 (Sept. 1968). Writer
Mike Friedrich and artist
Jim Starlin's brief collaboration on the
Iron Man series introduced
Mentor,
Drax,
Starfox, and
Thanos in issue #55 (Feb. 1973). Friedrich scripted a
metafictional story in which Iron Man visited the
San Diego Comic Convention and met several Marvel Comics writers and artists. He then wrote the multi-issue "War of the Super-Villains" storyline which ran through 1975. Writer
David Michelinie, co-plotter/inker
Bob Layton, and penciler
John Romita Jr. became the creative team on the series with
Iron Man #116 (Nov. 1978). Micheline and Layton established Tony Stark's
alcoholism with the story "
Demon in a Bottle", and introduced several supporting characters, including Stark's bodyguard/girlfriend
Bethany Cabe; Stark's personal pilot and confidant James Rhodes, who later became the superhero
War Machine; and rival industrialist
Justin Hammer, who was revealed to be the employer of numerous high-tech armed enemies Iron Man had fought over the years. The duo also introduced the concept of Stark's specialized armors as he acquired a dangerous vendetta with
Doctor Doom in the "Doomquest" storyline. The team worked together through #154 (Jan. 1982), with Michelinie writing three issues without Layton. Jim Rhodes replaced Stark as Iron Man in issue #169 (April 1983) and wore the armor for the next two years of stories. O'Neil returned Tony Stark to the Iron Man identity in issue #200 (Nov. 1985). Michelinie and Layton became the creative team once again in issue #215 (Feb. 1987). to #231 (June 1988).
John Byrne and John Romita Jr. produced a sequel titled "Armor Wars II" in issues #258-266 (July 1990-March 1991). The series had a crossover with the other
Avengers-related titles as part of the "
Operation: Galactic Storm" storyline. This initial series ended with issue #332 (Sept. 1996).
Volume 2 Jim Lee,
Scott Lobdell, and
Jeph Loeb authored a second volume of the series as part of
Heroes Reborn, which was
drawn primarily by
Whilce Portacio and
Ryan Benjamin. This volume took place in a
parallel universe and ran 13 issues (Nov. 1996 – Nov. 1997).
Volume 3 Volume 3, whose first 25 issues were written by
Kurt Busiek and then by Busiek and
Roger Stern, ran 89 issues (Feb. 1998 - Dec. 2004). Later writers included
Joe Quesada,
Frank Tieri,
Mike Grell, and
John Jackson Miller. Issue #41 (June 2001) was additionally numbered #386, reflecting the start of dual numbering starting from the premiere issue of Volume 1 in 1968. The final issue was dual-numbered as #434.
Volume 4 The next Iron Man series,
Iron Man (vol. 4), debuted in early 2005 with the
Warren Ellis-written storyline "
Extremis", with artist
Adi Granov. It ran 35 issues (Jan. 2005 - Jan. 2009), with the cover logo simply
Iron Man, beginning with issue #13, and
Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., beginning with issue #15. On the final three issues, the cover logo was overwritten by "War Machine, Weapon of S.H.I.E.L.D.", which led to the launch of a
War Machine ongoing series.
The Invincible Iron Man (vol. 1), by writer
Matt Fraction and artist
Salvador Larroca, began with a premiere issue cover dated July 2008. For a seven-month overlap, Marvel published both Volume 4 and Volume 5 simultaneously. This
Invincible volume jumped its numbering of issues from #33 to #500, cover-dated March 2011, to reflect the start from the premiere issue of Volume 1 in 1968.
Volume 5 After the conclusion of
The Invincible Iron Man (vol. 1), a new Iron Man series was started as a part of
Marvel NOW!. Written by
Kieron Gillen and illustrated by
Greg Land, it began with issue #1 in November 2012, and ended with issue #28 in June 2014. The fifth volume consists of the "Iron Metropolitan" and "Rings of the Mandarin" story arcs. The volume also revealed that Tony was adopted, and that he had a disabled half-brother named
Arno. ==Collected editions==