The Swiss-Army Knife of Super Heroes

[Tetragrammaton]

Even going back to his exploits in Tales of Suspense, Iron Man has always been the type of character to have on hand just what is needed to save the day, a la "Bat Shark Repellent" in the utility belt. Now, while this may when used haphazardly may detract from the believability and drama of a story, it has led to Iron Man becoming one of the most versatile super hero ever created.

Super-Strength
Superhuman Speed (reflexes)
Flight
Magnetism
Energy Projection
Sonic Generation
Holographic Invisibility


Just about the only thing I had not seen Iron Man do over the years is phase through solid objects like Kitty Pryde or the Vision.

Well, guess what. The current War Machine (Iron Man 2.0) incorporating "Ghost tech" can do just that. This isn't the first time Tony borrowed tech from his enemies (Energy shield from the Raiders, EMP burst from Force) either.

http://www.comicvine.com/abilities1/105-1775332/

So, all this to ask, has it gone too far?


 

[Iron YoJimBo]

Only because a good writer can't seem to be found who can make the best creative use of all that tech.

[Chaos]

I don't think it's gone far enough in one respect. The technology of the armor has not kept up with modern times. Let's be honest, Kaminski was really the last writer who put any kind of significant upgrade into the suit. For all the talk of the power of the extremis armor, the only actual improvements were the propulsion, full form repulsor and tapping nuke factories. Other than that, it actually displayed lesser abilities than past armors.

Not only is a writer needed that understands the character, but it needs one that understands technology. At one point, Iron Man displayed technology we could only dream of. Now in the real world we're creating technology that you wonder how it hasn't been incorporated into a "cutting edge" armor yet.

Here are two links to Cracked.com (again, satire and some foul language), but both articles display technologies that a writer should be borrowing, or at least coming up with similar concepts, to use.

http://www.cracked.com/article_17476_7-man-made-substances-that-laugh-in-face-physics.html
http://www.cracked.com/article/212_5-materials-that-will-make-world-as-we-know-it-obsolete_p2/?wa_user1=2&wa_user2=Science&wa_user3=article&wa_user4=recommended

I understand that, if used wrong, he can definitely be pulling things out his rear to solve problems, but again, a good writer can avoid that. With all the things at his disposal he should be one of the most versatile, and the fact he relies on his brains more than brawn should reflect as much. It's one thing to have a can of shark repellent in your belt, it's another when you have a smoke grenade, retardant foam and combine the two to scare a shark away, making a weapon on the fly. That latter part is what Stark is about, not just "oh yeah, got a fix for that in my left pocket."

[Typhon]

I don't think it's gone far enough in one respect. The technology of the armor has not kept up with modern times. Let's be honest, Kaminski was really the last writer who put any kind of significant upgrade into the suit.

I always thought the SKIN armor Frank Tieri introduced in Volume 3 seemed pretty damned advanced.  It just didn't last long enough to make much of an impact.  Aside from that, I agree that none of the armors past the Modular brought anything new to the table. 

[Tetragrammaton]

I remember reading a number of years ago that there was at the time an effort being made at Marvel in keeping the armor design simple, so that different artists would be able to keep the look consistent.  Now, we certainly have moved away from that idea and we do see that each artist has his own twist when it comes to drawing Iron Man. I wonder, however, if this idea of keeping it simple for the sake of consistency hasn't been projected to the capabilities of the suit. May be this is why, all Iron Man seems to be able to do these days is fly fast and shoot beams out of his palms.

[Chaos]

Even with the Modular armor you can look across the various titles and see the difference in the armor. Look at how it was drawn in Force Works (forget the artist's name) vs Hopgood vs Morgan. No one has the same style so it will always yield different results.

I think though, that sadly the simplicity is due more to writers just not knowing technology. Let's face it; we were spoiled by Kaminski. And while it may be too much to expect other writers to have that kind of tech knowledge, it doesn't excuse the utter lack that has been displayed in the book for so many years. 

[Roger A Ott II]

You don't have to have the tech knowledge to write the tech knowledge.  It's called research.  David Michelinie and Bob Layton didn't strike me as being techno-geeks when they were writing the book, but they were able to give us an intelligent Tony Stark who wore sophisticated armor.  Why?  Because they did their homework.

Otherwise every writer who writes the Fantastic Four would have to be as smart as Reed Richards.  And we know that's not the case...

[Chaos]

Which basically just goes to show that most writers, at least in regards to Iron Man, are just plain damn lazy...