Cause someone needs to post a pic of the Golden Avenger!

My favourite Iron Man cover image from the seventies...Jim Starlin drew some awesome covers

QUOTE: Steve Rogers was heroic, sure but once he became Captain America was he really all that heroic?

Of course he was. He constantly risked his life against overwhelming odds, armed only with his shield. 

Thats not to take away from Iron Man, because he has constantly battled greater odds, when he really didn't have to.  He doesn't fight out of revenge or guilt, he does it because its the right thing to do.

Grabbed this from comics.org...This is my favorite cover featuring the red and gold suit.

That cover two posts up is probably my favorite Iron Man cover. Far more than Batman, "suiting up" seems appropriate in an Iron Man story-- maybe it's the resonance with knights putting on platemail.

Capt. America is a heroic figure. Steve Rogers didn't just put on a scalemail shirt and pick up that shield, after all-- he faced hardship and mortal danger every day in WW2 and has every day since then. He hasn't had to overcome the personal crises and weaknesses that Tony Stark did, but he's had his share of ups and downs over the years... just not on the scale of alcoholism, heart problems and losing your billion-dollar business to a hostile takeover.

JB: Nothing left of JR there, is there?

That's something I've noticed about John Romita Jr's IRON MAN work.  His first stint, from issue 115-128 (minus a couple fill-ins, one by you) seemed to have more Layton that Romita, although I think you could still tell JR was there (mostly due to me thinking that Layton's characters always looked stiff back then, which most of this run didn't look that way).  His second run, from 140-156, showed a lot more of John Romita Jr as an evolving penciler, and gave up some hints of the IRON MAN work you would do with him starting a hundred and two issues later.

I think I remember reading somewhere that Layton took a larger artistic role during JR's first run because JR was fairly new.  I believe IRON MAN was his first regular ongoing penciling gig, wasn't it?  Either way, I think they are some great comics!

Always liked Iron Man. One of his qualities is that he is open to A LOT of story possibilities besides the conventional super-hero plots. James Bond-like spy thrillers, SF yarns, political conspiracy plots, high finance backstabbing, even monster stories ("Big lizard demolishing New York? I have a king-size armor here made just for that!") can come naturally to Iron Man, while most other super-heroes would feel out of place!

But I DO feel that Marvel never fulfilled all that potential. Michelinie and Layton came close, as did JB's short (well, at least it felt short to me, I wanted much more!) run.