The more recent armors, can we dig up some specs??

[TecK]

What Iron manuel, can I get a link? 

[nicktem]

iron manual not manuel...its not faulty towers....if thats how its spelleD?

heres the link: http://www.marvel.com/catalog/?id=8721

[kokushishin]

Can you tell me about the Stealth Armor Mark 2? I would like to know about that armor in great detail besides the original armor that is usually seen in Iron Man. All I know is that is has reflective ability towards radar and can appear invisible at times. 

Main differences:

chameleon effect (cloak)
limited repulsor charge (as opposed to no shots in the original)
could go underwater/underground


There was also a version in one of the Annuals that had better ECM: not just avoiding detection but jamming etc.

[Brian]

omg :S i feel small in this forum im sorrounded by toppros on iron man i know its out of the topic but for how much time have you read ironman?

I've been reading Iron Man on and off since 1975. I missed "Teen Tony" and some early 80s stuff.

[Iron YoJimBo]

& where oh where would the movie armors fit in?  O.o

[StarkPhan]

The movie armors are early versions (no force field defenses, no Nano tech) However with the new Arc reactor power source and the need for IM to be capable of handing foes that would give Thor/Hulk a challenge in the avengers movie we may see them heading close to the latest bleeding edge armor in Avengers or IM 3... as I heard one of the weapons systems that got cut from IM2 was a form of Nano tech goo.

[Roger A Ott II]

I haven't been closely following Iron Man in the comics for the past couple years, so what exactly can the latest armor do?

I'm trying to catch up on my reading, but if anybody could point out particular issues that showcase capabilities, or give some brief summaries, I'd appreciate it.

And no, this is not for a new IRON MANUAL, though that would be super duper sweet!

[The IronJedi]

I haven't been closely following Iron Man in the comics for the past couple years, so what exactly can the latest armor do?

I'm trying to catch up on my reading, but if anybody could point out particular issues that showcase capabilities, or give some brief summaries, I'd appreciate it.

Bwhahahahahaha... Oh sorry Rog, you were being serious. You might take a look in Avengers or another title where Tony appears. The only thing that comes to mind from IIM is the incredibly lugly (lame & ugly) flower blossom weapon mode Tony pops on somebody. 

[Roger A Ott II]

Found some stuff while reading last night. IIM #30 gives some info about the suit's innards, such as it adding less than 25 lbs. to Tony's body mass, the little lights all over the place being "eyes" that allow him to see 360° at all times, and some gobbledegook about "neurokinetic user-controlled morphologic nanoparticle bundles".

In working for the Handbooks, my dream would be to do a new Iron Manual that lists specs for all the suits (like what we got in the old 80's OHotMU books), but with something like this current suit, I wouldn't know where to begin...

[Typhon]

For the new armor, I'd say to take a look at the first arc of the current Avengers book by Bendis and, if you can, the FCBD issue with Thor and IM.  The Carnage mini series that just wrapped a few months ago had 1 or 2 armor highlights as well. 

Truthfully, even within the main book, there hasn't been much explanation of what the armor can do, nor have we really got a chance to see it in action like previous armors.   

[Brian]

I haven't been closely following Iron Man in the comics for the past couple years, so what exactly can the latest armor do?

I'm trying to catch up on my reading, but if anybody could point out particular issues that showcase capabilities, or give some brief summaries, I'd appreciate it.

And no, this is not for a new IRON MANUAL, though that would be super duper sweet!

That is one problem. The new armor has no specs. From what I read, it can do whatever Tony can think up.

[Iron Guy]

As far as the basis of it is concerned, it seems to be a nanite controlled liquid metal similar to the S.K.I.N. armor of a few years ago except now Tony uses the body modifications he got from Extremis to store it in his bones instead of in a module he would strap onto his chest. This, of course, makes the suit extremely malleable so Tony can change any part of the suits design instantly by just thinking a command to the nanites to reconfigure this or that part of the suit to what he needs at the moment. So this basically makes this the only armor that he'll ever need for the rest of his life. Think of it's abilities as a cross between the S.K.I.N. & the advertised, but never seen, Modular armors abilities.   

[Roger A Ott II]

So basically the same idea I came up with back in the late 90s for my armored character, Gauntlet.  Almost exactly the same concept, down to the armor being stored inside his body and instantly reconfigurable.

I was a visionary!   Too bad I never did anything with it....

[Brian]

So basically the same idea I came up with back in the late 90s for my armored character, Gauntlet.  Almost exactly the same concept, down to the armor being stored inside his body and instantly reconfigurable.

I was a visionary!   Too bad I never did anything with it....

Congratulations on coming up with the idea.

However, in Iron Man, this becomes a crutch for a lazy (or bad writer). Find an opponent and the suit can instantly come up with a means to defeat that opponent. This is worse than the modular armor because at least with the modular armor, he had to come to the fight with the tools. In this one, he just thinks it and, hey! presto!, it appears.

The suit is no longer part of the story. It's a power, just like Spider-man's clinging to walls or Wolverine's super-healing. It just is.

Some of the best stories were where Tony gets beat and he goes back to his lab and makes something to win the fight. Always, as part of the back drop of the Iron Man story, he's tinkering in his lab to make a better Iron Man. Now, he never has to make a new suit ever again. He never has to go into his lab.

Without that constant urge to improve the suit, in my opinion, the story devolves. Something in Avengers #12 comes to mind. Tony has the Infinity Gauntlet and talks about how he could do whatever he wants: peace around the globe; no more hunger; et cetera. He mentions that while he could do those things, it wouldn't help mankind. They wouldn't evolve, but devolve because there would be no fight to get better.

I fear that's what's happening to the Iron Man stories. No reason to get better because this is the best it's going to get.

[Roger A Ott II]

I couldn't agree more.

For my own character, I placed some intentional limitations on him for the very reasons you state. Where's the tension in a fight when Tony can just dream up a better weapon?