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Post by Nowhere Man on May 31, 2015 1:25:55 GMT -5
Something I've noticed for years about Iron Man's armor is how its evolving design seems to ignored the laws of miniaturization. The modern suits are bulkier and clearly designed to capture a science-fiction feel as opposed to a superhero take on science-fiction. However if you look at a suit such as the classic Golden Avengers armor, and take into account how as things get more advance they almost always get smaller (mainly in terms of the internal components) it would seem that the Golden Avenger armor is more sophisticated than the modern suits. The classic armor could basically do anything the modern armors can do and needed less room to do it.
This started with the Silver Centurion model which was more powerful than the Golden Avenger, but bulkier. It seems to me that the creators had the right idea moving from the original super-bulky gray suit to the sleek and streamlined Golden Avenger armor. Was this simply an added dose of realism? Was it too much to accept that a suit of armor that fit almost as snugly as Spider-Man's costume could be practical?
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,601 
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Post by Confessor on May 31, 2015 8:04:54 GMT -5
Good points, Trebor. Myself...and I realise that this is very old school of me...my favourite Iron Man armour was the original bulky, grey suit...  I also think Spider-Man's been going down hill ever since they killed off Uncle Ben.  |
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 31, 2015 8:36:24 GMT -5
I disagree... the Armors does ALOT more now. The Silver armor was extremely powerful, yes, but he just had his basic weapons.. repulsor, Uni-beam, jets. He varied the power, but that was really it. Now he's got all sorts of missiles and different sorts of attacks, as well as the HUD that was never there before... I THINK he started to be able to talk to his own computers from the suit around the Silver armor, but it's alot more intense now.
He's also able to remote control it on a far more complicated scale than before.
I do agree the armor during the Matt Fraction run, where he had a mobile container that followed him around and swapped out different parts for different situations, was pretty weak, but I think both the last version, and the current 'Superior' Version are big upgrades.
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Post by Nowhere Man on May 31, 2015 10:53:22 GMT -5
I know once Bob Layton hit the scene he started adding in a lot of techie aspects to the armor and the stories. I suppose it's hard to compare stories from the 70's and 80's to today given the way computers have advanced. It's hard to judge superhero tech in general. The FF and Avengers had robots and spaceships as far back as the 60's, but still needed an entire wall of computers for displays and communications.
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 31, 2015 11:23:23 GMT -5
Those were usually special suits, though. I know there was a stealth one, a space one, I think even one to just fly long distance. Then, of course, Hulk Buster.
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2015 13:41:49 GMT -5
I always thought the armor was too form fitting. Like spandex.  |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on May 31, 2015 14:19:10 GMT -5
Good points, Trebor. Myself...and I realise that this is very old school of me...my favourite Iron Man armour was the original bulky, grey suit... I also think Spider-Man's been going down hill ever since they killed off Uncle Ben. Agreed. Millionaire playboy as Man in the Iron Mask style monster always seemed a better hook to me than millionaire playboy owns a bunch of gadgets. Although I guess the latter approach is more realistic.  |
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Post by Phil Maurice on May 31, 2015 19:21:09 GMT -5
The gold armor was a total PR move. Iron Man was troubled by the reaction women and children had to his "dreadful" and "ugly" appearance. So he tricked the armor out in gold, baby! That'll impress the ladies! From TOS #40:
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Post by dupersuper on Jun 2, 2015 0:25:54 GMT -5
I always thought the armor was too form fitting. Like spandex. I assume that's sculpted, not literally form-fitting. It's also my favourite Iron Man armor; probably just because it was my first. This is how he looked in comics, cartoons and action figures when I was a kid. |
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Post by dupersuper on Jun 2, 2015 0:33:57 GMT -5
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Post by crazyoldhermit on Jun 2, 2015 1:28:18 GMT -5
The armor in the last Iron Man comic I read (which was Fraction's) had the entire armor be composed of microscopic cells that could reconfigure themselves in many different ways. It was basically a mechanical version of the alien symbiote. It was also a very sleek design.
It's kind of beyond me why the moment they come up with a suitable justification for Iron Man having skintight armor (Extremis making the gold portions a very thin layer of collapsable technobabble stored in his bones) that they switched from superhero aesthetics to an aeronautic look. I actually think the modern bulky look is superior and the best job anyone has done at giving a superhero a clunky armored costume but the classic aesthetic will always have that awesome comic book appeal to me.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jun 2, 2015 4:02:30 GMT -5
I agree. Once we get past Model 9* (the last time the armor felt like "my" Iron Man) it gets a tad too science-fiction for my tastes. I like several of those later models, but nothing will beat the "riveted" look of those classic armors.
*On that note, did they change the naming conventions and model order of the armors? I know they used to call them "Mark 1, 2, etc." and I could have sworn that the Classic Red & Gold armor was Mark V.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2015 20:42:13 GMT -5
My three favorite Iron Man's Armor Throughout the Ages_from_Tales_of_Suspense_Vol_1_59_cover.jpg) Model 2_from_Iron_Man_Vol_3_2_cover.jpg) Model 17 Silver Centurion
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Post by crazyoldhermit on Jun 3, 2015 1:46:48 GMT -5
I agree. Once we get past Model 9* (the last time the armor felt like "my" Iron Man) it gets a tad too science-fiction for my tastes. I like several of those later models, but nothing will beat the "riveted" look of those classic armors. *On that note, did they change the naming conventions and model order of the armors? I know they used to call them "Mark 1, 2, etc." and I could have sworn that the Classic Red & Gold armor was Mark V. They still do the Mark designation although I don't think it's ever referenced in the story itself. |
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Post by MDG on Jun 3, 2015 9:24:00 GMT -5
The armor in the last Iron Man comic I read (which was Fraction's) had the entire armor be composed of microscopic cells that could reconfigure themselves in many different ways. It was basically a mechanical version of the alien symbiote. It was also a very sleek design. In an issue of X-O I dialoged, Bart Sears came up with the idea of an alien's armor that was basically a colony of "barnacles" that reformed according to the immediate need. A lot of the later Iron Man armor's seem to just take on the current comics zeitgeist around that kind of thing. |
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