Armor Wars

"Armor Wars"
Cover art to Iron Man #225.
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Publication date	December 1987 – June 1988
Genre	Superhero
Title(s)	Iron Man #225–232
Main character(s)	Iron Man Justin Hammer Edwin Cord
Creative team
Writer(s)	Bob Layton David Michelinie
Penciller(s)	Mark D. Bright Barry Windsor-Smith
Inker(s)	Bob Layton
Letterer(s)	Janice Chiang
Colorist(s)	Bob Sharen Barry Windsor-Smith
Editor(s)	ISBN 0-7851-2506-X

"Armor Wars" is a seven-issue

An epilogue to the storyline was published in Iron Man (Vol. 1) #232 (July 1988), co-plotted by Michelinie and Barry Windsor-Smith with art by Windsor-Smith.

"Armor Wars II" followed in issues Iron Man (Vol. 1) #258 (July 1990) to #266 (March 1991).

Plot

Part One: Stark Wars

After Iron Man finishes a training session in order to impress a general, he returns to

The West Coast Avengers arrives at Tony's home, where they try to make Tony stand down, which he refuses. In the Soviet Union, Crimson Dynamo and Gremlin (as the Titanium Man) meet with the KGB, who tell them of Iron Man's crusade and that he will soon come for them as well. Gremlin refuses to heed the warning and departs for his hidden base Bitterfrost, thereby unintentionally making himself a bait for Iron Man. Tony constructs a modified version of the Stealth armor to sneak into Russia undetected and go after Titanium Man. The KGB sends the Crimson Dynamo in to take out Iron Man and the Gremlin, distracting Iron Man and giving the Gremlin time to enter his Titanium Man armor. Iron Man defeats and negates the Crimson Dynamo, but is overwhelmed and grabbed by Titanium Man. Iron Man flies up to space to try to shake him off, but his boot jets ignite Titanium Man's armor, which combusts, killing the Gremlin. Back at the West Coast Avengers Mansion, Iron Man is stripped of his Avengers membership.^[6]

Part Six: The Day the Hero Died

Edwin Cord, Tony's rival, demonstrates his Firepower armor, piloted by Jack Taggert, to his sponsors Senator Boynton and US Army General Maede regarding the US Government's plan to neutralize rogue superheroes, starting with Iron Man. After safeguarding his technology from later thefts by introducing a "tapeworm" virus into the worldwide computer network, Tony discovers that Firepower is the missing name from Hammer's list. Later, Maede asks Tony to help lay a trap utilizing Firepower against Iron Man, and Tony decides to spring it in order to eliminate this final security risk. But as he encounters Firepower, he finds himself heavily outgunned and barely escapes with the help of Rhodes. But when the military prepares to continue the attack, thereby putting Rhodes' life at risk, Tony sends out the empty Iron Man armor by remote control. Firepower launches a nuclear missile at Iron Man, seemingly killing him.^[7]

Part Seven: Reborn Again

With Iron Man officially declared dead, Tony refuses to construct new armor, deciding to let his Iron Man identity rest. Elsewhere, Boynton and Maede try to make Cord hand over Firepower, but Cord blackmails them by threatening to leak their plans about using Firepower as a means of crowd control to the public, should they try any form of legal action against him. Firepower then disrupts Stark Enterprises' commercial operations and reveals to Tony that Cord wants revenge on both Tony and Iron Man for destroying Cord Conglomerate.^[a] Determined, Tony invents another version of the Iron Man armor to combat Firepower. Days later, Firepower attacks Stark Enterprises' San Francisco bureau, only to face off against the "new" Iron Man. After a lengthy battle, Iron Man defeats Firepower, and an attempted taunt by Taggert makes him reconsider continuing as Iron Man.^[8]

Epilogue: Intimate Enemies

Tony battles the Iron Man armor in a nightmare and has to come to terms with the innocent victims his company created and his struggle with alcoholism.^[9]

Collected editions

The storyline was collected in a

The first issue of the two-part new-artist-introduction series Breaking Into Comics the Marvel Way offers a final epilogue to the story. In the immediate aftermath of the Armor Wars, Tony Stark makes a video recording of his last will and testament. In his will, Tony explains his desire to see humanity changed for the better by advanced technology, but also expresses his horror and sense of guilt for the past misuse of technology that he created. Unwilling to allow for the possibility that his inventions might continue to be abused after he dies, Tony reveals that his death will automatically trigger 'Project Icarus': a computer program that will seize control of every Iron Man suit Tony has ever created, as well as every machine on Earth containing any Stark-developed technology, and set them all on a collision course with the sun.

Iron Man and the Armor Wars

A 4-issue mini-series titled Iron Man & The Armor Wars, a modernization of the Armor Wars concept for a new audience, debuted in August 2009, written by Joe Caramagna with art by Craig Rousseau. A hardcover collection of the story was published in February 2010 (ISN 978-0-7851-4448-9).^[12]

Secret Wars (2015)

A new Armor Wars mini-series appears as part of the 2015 "Secret Wars" storyline. The Battleworld domain associated with this mini-series is called Technopolis where its inhabitants are forced to wear Iron Man armors due to a disease and will have that area's Tony Stark and Arno Stark as rival manufacturers.^[13]

Ultimate Marvel

A four-issue mini-series titled Ultimate Comics: Armor Wars began in September 2009. It is written by Warren Ellis. It takes place after "Ultimatum" where Iron Man tries to find his remaining armors and save his enterprise.

What If?

There was an issue of "

• The "Armor Wars" were adapted as a two-part episode of the
  Guardsmen, and War Machine. After attacking Stingray and discovering his armor was not based on his designs, Stark was attacked by the Hammer Industries automaton Firepower
  , though Stark eventually destroyed it and deleted files on his armor designs from Hammer Industries' mainframe.
• The "Armor Wars" was adapted into the second season of the
  Black Widow
  also attempt to claim Stark's technology in the episodes "The Might of Doom" and "The Hawk and the Spider" respectively, though Iron Man is able to fend off his enemies, delete his stolen specs, and personally see Stane ousted from Stark Industries as of the episode "Heavy Mettle".