It’s no secret that I have no interest in Marvel Comics except what’s been released in theaters, what I saw on Saturday morning TV, and what little I read as a child. Currently there’s nothing Marvel’s offering that has me excited, at least from what the ads are selling us. However, despite my dislike of Marvel I do appreciate and respect how innovative the company has been, with most of the focus going towards the wizard, Mr. Stan Lee. And while I honestly think Iron Man is a boring and kind of dumb character, his popularity amongst the rest of the comic book loving kingdom shows that I’m in the minority.
Iron Man’s first appearance in Tales of Suspense #39
5o years ago, to the date, an Iron Man was born! Created by Stan Lee, and later developed Larry Lieber, Iron Man embarked on adventures of playboyish fanatics, and fighting strange super villains. He made his first appearance in Tales of Suspense #39 in March 1963 and later was given his own self-named title in May of 1968. Of course he gained popularity through his adventures with the Avengers long before that, and it remains a staple of the character’s defining attributes, and probably always will.
Had I grown up reading Marvel Comics my opinion of the superhero might be different. Since I grew up on the Justice League, Batman and Superman however, It’s hard for me to get excited about him. Stan Lee is no idiot though and created characters that represented rough times in our nation’s history in the best possible way. I respect what Iron Man represented at the time and consider Iron Man’s influence on comics today to be highly significant.
Excelsior!
