The West Coast Avengers is a fictional group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . The team first appeared in The West Coast Avengers #1 (Sept. 1984), created by Roger Stern and Bob Hall . It was the first spin-off publication for the Avengers .
103-561: Iron Monger is an alias used by multiple fictional characters, supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . The first character to use the alias is Obadiah Stane , who first appeared in Iron Man #163 (Oct. 1982). The Iron Monger armor first appeared in Iron Man #200 (Nov. 1985). Jeff Bridges portrayed Obadiah Stane in the 2008 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Iron Man , and Kiff VandenHeuvel voiced him in
206-487: A naturalistic style of superheroes with human failings, fears, and inner demons - heroes who squabbled and worried about the likes of paying the rent. In contrast to the super-heroic do-gooder archetypes of established superheroes at the time, this ushered in a revolution. With dynamic artwork by Kirby, Steve Ditko , Don Heck , and others, complementing Lee's colorful, catchy prose, the new style became very popular among teenagers and college students who could identify with
309-488: A script . After the art is prepared, the dialogue and captions are lettered onto the page from the script, and an editor may have the final say (but, once ready for printing, it is difficult and expensive to make any major changes), before the comic is sent to the printer. The creative team, the writer and artist(s), may work for a comic book publisher who handles the marketing, advertising, and other logistics. A wholesale distributor, such as Diamond Comic Distributors ,
412-493: A tabloid -sized, 10-by-15-inch (250 mm × 380 mm), 36-page magazine with a card-stock, non-glossy cover. An anthology , it mixed humor features such as the funny animal comic "Pelion and Ossa" and the college-set "Jigger and Ginger" with such dramatic fare as the Western strip "Jack Woods" and the " yellow-peril " adventure "Barry O'Neill", featuring a Fu Manchu -styled villain, Fang Gow. Issue #6 (Oct. 1935) brought
515-455: A 68-page giant selling for 10¢. Distributed to newsstands by the mammoth American News Company , it proved a hit with readers during the cash-strapped Great Depression , selling 90 percent of its 200,000 print, although putting Eastern Color more than $ 4,000 in the red. That quickly changed, with the book turning a $ 30,000 profit each issue starting with #12. Famous Funnies would eventually run 218 issues, inspire imitators, and largely launch
618-491: A Siegel/Shuster creation from the slush pile and used it as the cover feature (but only as a backup story) in Action Comics #1 (June 1938). The duo's alien hero, Superman , was dressed in a cape and colorful tights. The costume, influenced by Flash Gordon 's attire from 1934, evoked circus aerial performers and circus strongmen, and Superman became the archetype of the " superheroes " that would follow. In early 1939,
721-465: A child, his father was a degenerate gambler and Obadiah's mother had already died. One day, his father considered himself on a "lucky streak," played a game of Russian roulette , and shot himself in the head while young Obadiah watched. This trauma caused Obadiah to go bald, and shaped his outlook on life. From then on, Stane was a ruthless manipulator who studied his adversaries to find weaknesses to exploit. Stane enjoys chess , and lives his life with
824-587: A clone army from the future attacks, Stane dons his armor to fight them until he is killed by a Vision clone. It is later stated he was one of the members of the Maker's Council , serving as the ruler of the technocratic Union. After his death, Howard Stark is appointed in his place. Obadiah Stane appears in a flashback in Iron Man: Rise of Technovore , voiced by Takaya Hashi in the Japanese version, and JB Blanc in
927-622: A day), Dark Paladin (who was too dark), Dee-Va (who tried to seduce Clint), Doctor Mole (a humanoid mole who thought he was auditioning for the television show The Mole Men of Los Angeles ), Dutch Oven (who was wrapped in a blanket), Scorp (a man in a scorpion suit), Silver Snowboarder (whose powers only work in the snow), Spider-King (a man covered in spiders who claims that he is a mutate), Surf Doctor (a doctor/surfer character), and Wolver-Mean (whose steak knives are strapped to his hands by rubber bands), Clint and Kate recruited America Chavez and Kate's boyfriend Johnny "Fuse" Watts, who helped in
1030-580: A fact initially unknown to the team. Together, the team defeat a petty criminal called the Blank and later the Avengers foe Graviton . The team would later take on Hank Pym as a scientific advisor and compound manager and battle a range of both old foes – including the Grim Reaper , Ultron , Graviton, and Zodiac – and new opponents such as Master Pandemonium . Former Fantastic Four member Thing and
1133-407: A flying robotic weapon that fires air-to-surface missiles. He also used a device created by Dr. Theron Atlanta for exchanging the consciousness of two human subjects. The Iron Monger armor, manufactured by Stane International and code-named I-M Mark One, is an armored battle-suit of "omnium steel" (a fictional alloy), containing various offensive weaponry including a powered exoskeleton that amplifies
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#17328523021651236-594: A four-issue limited series published from September to December 1984. This was followed by a 102-issue series of the same name that ran from October 1985 to January 1994. The series was renamed Avengers West Coast on the cover of issue #47 (Aug. 1989). In 2018, a new incarnation of the West Coast Avengers appeared in the " Fresh Start " that consists of Hawkeye , Kate Bishop , Gwenpool , America Chavez , Quentin Quire , and Kate's boyfriend Johnny Watts who takes
1339-504: A fresh start with the new company Stark Enterprises , Justin Hammer would take control of Stane International and continue Stane's unethical business practices. It's only when Stark himself is confronted over those practices that he learns of Hammer's ownership stake and forces him to sell the company back to Stark. Stane was also an acquaintance of Sonny Burch at one point. During the " Dark Reign " storyline, Stane in his Iron Monger armor
1442-574: A matrix for the Vision's emotions, explaining that the original process, done without his consent, had "ripped out his soul". Although Wonder Man's own love for the Scarlet Witch leads him to feel guilt, he justifies his actions by claiming the Vision was never anything but a copy of him, a claim that a number of other Avengers, including the Wasp, accept. This, along with damage to the Vision's synthetic skin when he
1545-596: A million copies a month each; comics provided very popular cheap entertainment during World War II especially among soldiers, but with erratic quality in stories, art, and printing. In the early 1940s, over 90 percent of girls and boys from seven to seventeen read comic books. In 1941, H. G. Peter and William Moulton Marston , created the female superhero character Wonder Woman , who debuted in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941) and Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman in 1942. MLJ 's Pep Comics debuted as
1648-528: A munitions dealer. He also goes into business with Howard Stark . After the elder Stark's death in a car accident, Stane turns his sights on acquiring control of Stark International now owned by Tony Stark (Howard's son). Stane has his agents – known as the Chessmen – attack Stark Industries and assault James Rhodes (Tony's confidant). He also confronts the younger Stark in person. Stane also sets up Indries Moomji as Stark's lover without Stark knowing that Moomji
1751-459: A new mass medium . When the supply of available existing comic strips began to dwindle, early comic books began to include a small amount of new, original material in comic-strip format. Inevitably, a comic book of all-original material, with no comic-strip reprints, debuted. Fledgling publisher Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications, which would evolve into DC Comics , to release New Fun #1 (Feb. 1935). This came out as
1854-500: A profound impact upon the American comic-book industry. Their popularity, along with mainstream media attention and critical acclaim, combined with changing social tastes, led to a considerably darker tone in comic books during the 1990s nicknamed by fans as the "grim-and-gritty" era. The growing popularity of antiheroes such as Wolverine and the Punisher exemplified this change, as did
1957-529: A returned Iron Man—are unhappy about the decision and leave to form another team, called Force Works . This team, however, has several setbacks and quickly disbands, with the members returning to the main Avengers team. Years later, the West Coast Avengers compound would be reopened as the new campus for the Avengers Academy following the destruction of the Infinite Avengers Mansion as seen in
2060-419: A separate writer and artist , or there may be separate artists for the characters and backgrounds. Particularly in superhero comic books, the art may be divided between: The process begins with the writer (often in collaboration with one or more others, who may include the editor and/or the penciller) coming up with a story idea or concept, then working it up into a plot and storyline , finalizing it with
2163-441: A success, and Eastern Color that year produced similar periodicals for Canada Dry soft drinks , Kinney Shoes , Wheatena cereal and others, with print runs of from 100,000 to 250,000. Also in 1933, Gaines and Wildenberg collaborated with Dell to publish the 36-page Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , which historians consider the first true American comic book; Goulart, for example, calls it "the cornerstone for one of
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#17328523021652266-520: A superhero, science-fiction and adventure anthology, but after the title introduced the teen-humor feature "Archie" in 1942, the feature's popularity would soon eclipse all other MLJ properties, leading the publisher to rename itself Archie Comics . Following the end of World War II, the popularity of superheroes greatly diminished, while the comic-book industry itself expanded. A few well-established characters such as Superman , Batman and Wonder Woman continued to sell, but DC canceled series starring
2369-527: A team of scientists to decipher; they eventually create the Iron Monger armor which is "far superior to Stark's Iron Man armor" according to Stane. He even considers selling the suit to the highest bidder or creating an army of Iron Mongers, using them to "take over any country he wanted". Stane assigns the Termite to sabotage another business rival. He also forms an alliance with Madame Masque . While living on
2472-402: A third of all North American sales in the early 1950s. Its 90 titles averaged a circulation of 800,000 copies per title for every issue, with Walt Disney's Comics and Stories peaking at a circulation of three million a month in 1953. Eleven of the top 25 bestselling comic books at the time were Dell titles. Out of 40 publishers active in 1954, Dell, Atlas (i.e. Marvel), DC, and Archie were
2575-724: Is Obadiah Stane's son who would have a vendetta against Tony Stark in his father's name. Obadiah's son gradually adapts his body to be a cyborg to the extent he regenerates injuries very quickly, no longer needs to breathe, and generates at least as much energy as the Iron Man armor. He constructs a special exoskeleton to help him deal with excess heat (and turn into even more usable energy). Having been resurrected through an unknown method by A.I.M., Justine Hammer assists in their plot with Roxxon Energy Corporation to take over Stark Unlimited. After confronting Iron Man following his fight with two Strikeforce B.E.R.S.E.R.K.E.R.s, Justine makes use of
2678-478: Is a thin periodical originating in the United States , on average 32 pages, containing comics . While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of Action Comics , which included the debut of the superhero Superman . This was followed by a superhero boom that lasted until the end of World War II . After the war, while superheroes were marginalized,
2781-469: Is actually the Chessmen's Queen. Meanwhile, Stane and his associates conspire to lock Stark International out of various business deals. Stark eventually learns that Stane is the mastermind behind these attacks, but is unable to confront him. Stane's assaults on Stark's business and friends push Stark to the edge, relapsing into alcoholism. With S.H.I.E.L.D. 's help, Stane buys out Stark International which he renames Stane International. Stark (having fallen off
2884-805: Is placed in jeopardy when, during this arc, she allows the Old West hero the Phantom Rider to die in a fall for deceiving and raping her. After a trip to Hungary to investigate a report on Pym's second wife, the Wasp , the Scarlet Witch , and the Vision assist the team. Mockingbird, Tigra and Moon Knight leave the team together as a new short lived team called the Ex-WACOs over the Avengers rule of not killing in regards to Mockingbird's encounter with Phantom Rider. The Vision and
2987-481: Is shown as the young son of Loni Stane and Zebediah Stane . During a visit in jail, his mother divorces his father while he gets the other half. The story then fast forwards to Obadiah being enrolled in a special school at his mother's personal request. Shortly after their arrival, Obadiah murders a pair of students (Link and Dodge) and made it look like an accident which hardens Tony Stark's resolve to punish Obadiah. Later, Obadiah visits Howard Stark in jail and has
3090-460: Is taken symbolically as the beginning of a new era, although his success was not immediate. It took two years for the Flash to receive his own title, and Showcase itself was only a bimonthly book, though one which was to introduce a large number of enduring characters. By 1959, the slowly building superhero revival had become clear to DC's competitors. Archie jumped on board that year, and Charlton joined
3193-569: The Fear Itself storyline. During the Fresh Start relaunch, both Hawkeyes – team founder Clint Barton and his successor Kate Bishop – decided to revive the West Coast Avengers following an attack by land sharks in Santa Monica . Out of the rejected candidates like Bread-Boy (a man dressed as bread with bread-based catchphrases), Broken Watch (who claims to have the ability to be correct twice in
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3296-649: The Flash and Green Lantern and converted All-American Comics and All Star Comics to Western titles, and Star Spangled Comics to a war title. The publisher also launched such science-fiction titles as Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space . Martin Goodman 's Timely Comics , also known as Atlas, canceled its three formerly high-selling superhero titles starring Captain America (created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby ),
3399-601: The Human Torch , and the Sub-Mariner , briefly reviving the characters in 1954 only to cancel them again shortly thereafter to focus on horror, science fiction, teen humor, romance and Western genres. Romance comics became strongly established, with Prize Comics ' Young Romance and with Young Love , the latter written and drawn by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; those two titles' popularity led to an explosion of romance comics from many publishers. Dell 's comic books accounted for
3502-614: The Library of Congress as "a short-lived newspaper tabloid insert" and not to be confused with Dell's 1936 comic-book series of the same name. Historian Ron Goulart describes the 16-page, four-color periodical as "more a Sunday comic section without the rest of the newspaper than a true comic book. But it did offer all original material and was sold on newsstands ". The Funnies ran for 36 issues, published Saturdays through October 16, 1930. In 1933, salesperson Maxwell Gaines , sales manager Harry I. Wildenberg , and owner George Janosik of
3605-703: The McNaught Syndicate , the Ledger Syndicate , and the Bell-McClure Syndicate . These included such popular strips as cartoonist Al Smith 's Mutt and Jeff , Ham Fisher 's Joe Palooka , and Percy Crosby 's Skippy . Eastern Color neither sold this periodical nor made it available on newsstands , but rather sent it out free as a promotional item to consumers who mailed in coupons clipped from Procter & Gamble soap and toiletries products. The company printed 10,000 copies. The promotion proved
3708-733: The Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency held hearings on comic book indecency from April to June 1954. In the wake of these troubles, a group of comics publishers, led by National and Archie, founded the Comics Code Authority in 1954 and drafted the Comics Code, intended as "the most stringent code in existence for any communications media". A Comic Code Seal of Approval soon appeared on virtually every comic book carried on newsstands. EC, after experimenting with less controversial comic books, dropped its comics line to focus on
3811-632: The Ultimate Marvel reality, a secret team of Ultimates was formed in the Ultimate Comics: Ultimates . The team members include Quake as the leader, Wonder Man , the Vision , the Black Knight , and Tigra . The team was assigned to kill a wanted terrorist until Wonder Man went unstable. This forced the abandonment of the mission and Nick Fury put the team into stasis until needed. Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. had planned to use them against
3914-602: The Viper , but the suit's wearer is apparently killed by the Viper's men. A group of renegade New York City Police Department officers calling themselves "the Cabal" commissions Stane International to design a suit of combat armor so they can hunt down and kill criminals like the Punisher . Various members of the Cabal wear the resulting Savage Steel armor at different times, coming into conflict with Iron Man and Darkhawk . Ezekiel "Zeke" Stane
4017-451: The Waterbury, Connecticut , company Eastern Color Printing —which printed, among other things, Sunday-paper comic-strip sections – produced Funnies on Parade as a way to keep their presses running. Like The Funnies , but only eight pages, this appeared as a newsprint magazine. Rather than using original material, however, it reprinted in color several comic strips licensed from
4120-520: The 1960s, DC, and then Marvel, began to include writer and artist credits on the comics that they published. Other notable companies publishing comics during the Silver Age included the American Comics Group (ACG), Charlton , Dell , Gold Key , Harvey Comics , and Tower . Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll were featured, as the anti-authoritarian underground comix made waves in 1968, following
4223-457: The 1970s coincided with the appearance of comic-book specialty stores across North America. These specialty stores were a haven for more distinct voices and stories, but they also marginalized comics in the public eye. Serialized comic stories became longer and more complex, requiring readers to buy more issues to finish a story. In the mid-to-late 1980s, two series published by DC Comics , Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen , had
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4326-419: The 21st century. Some fans collect comic books, helping drive up their value. Some have sold for more than US$ 1 million. Comic shops cater to fans, selling comic books, plastic sleeves ("bags") and cardboard backing ("boards") to protect the comic books. An American comic book is also known as a floppy comic . It is typically thin and stapled, unlike traditional books . American comic books are one of
4429-675: The CCA) stopped publishing crime and horror titles, which was their entire business, and were forced out of the market altogether, turning to magazine publishing instead. By 1960, output had stabilized at about 1,500 releases per year (representing a greater than fifty percent decline since 1952). The dominant comic book genres of the post-CCA 1950s were funny animals, humor, romance , television properties, and Westerns . Detective, fantasy , teen, and war comics were also popular, but adventure, superheroes, and comic strip reprints were in decline, with Famous Funnies seeing its last issue in 1955. In
4532-515: The English dub. Jeff Bridges portrays Obadiah Stane in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU): An original incarnation of Iron Monger appears in the novel Spider-Man: Venom's Wrath . This version is a teenager named Daniel who is dressed in a "cheesy exoskeleton" and wields a laser weapon he calls a " hydrogel blast". American comic book An American comic book
4635-637: The Erwins. He sends an attack drone known as the Circuits Breaker to destroy Iron Man which both Rhodes and Stark are able to defeat. Stane further plots against Stark by switching the minds of Madame Masque and Cabe, and by abducting Stark's old friends ( Happy Hogan , Pepper Potts and Bambi Arbogast). Stane eventually detonates a bomb planted inside the Circuits Maximus dome , killing Morley while wounding Rhodes and Clytemnestra. When Cly confronts Stark at
4738-475: The Federal agents who delivered them the robot, but Rhodes shows up to save them. Tony then realizes that Dolores is no longer on the plane, and upon breaking into the cockpit he sees another nuke. He cannot disable it, because then a separate bomb will go off, destroying the nuke and plane. War Machine goes to Dolores' mansion, only to find him dead. Someone booby trapped his piano, and it blew up in his face while he
4841-465: The Iron Man Mark 72 Armor that Feilong used by having it become a component for her version of the Iron Monger armor. Obadiah Stane was a genius with an M.B.A.. He was a master of psychological warfare, a cunning business strategist, and a champion chess player. However, he had a classic narcissistic complex; his ego was his greatest vulnerability. As Iron Monger, Stane also used the Circuits Breaker,
4944-587: The Modern Horror age. But as of 2009 historians and fans use " Bronze Age " to describe the period of American mainstream comics history that began with the period of concentrated changes to comic books in 1970. Unlike the Golden/Silver Age transition, the Silver/Bronze transition involves many continuing books, making the transition less sharp. The development of the " direct market " distribution system in
5047-579: The Police Department. Howard fights them off and escapes. Tony meets with him, and says that he thinks it was Loni that is the mastermind behind the scenes trying to kill them. Iron Man, War Machine, Nifara, Howard and Obadiah set off to Utah to find Loni. They arrive and their chopper explodes, injuring War Machine. Obadiah falls off a cliff, but Iron Man catches him as terrorists arrive on the scene. Iron Man flees, but follows them as they take Obadiah to his mother Loni and their hideout. Iron Man breaks into
5150-413: The Scarlet Witch insane. Although she eventually recovers, the Scarlet Witch and the Vision separate, each operating on a different Avengers team. Iron Man rejoins, and the mutant Quicksilver assists the team when the Scarlet Witch aligns herself with their father Magneto during a period in which she suffers from a mental breakdown. Immortus is finally confronted and revealed to be the cause of much of
5253-406: The Scarlet Witch join the team as to not leave it short handed. Former Avenger ally Mantis makes a brief appearance. Agents from multiple governments then abduct the Vision and dismantle him due to his return to the team. The Avengers recover the parts and Dr. Pym rebuilds the Vision but with a chalk-white complexion. Wonder Man, however, does not allow his brain patterns to be used again to provide
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#17328523021655356-595: The Silver Centurion model, which includes such features as the ability to absorb the heat from the Iron Monger's thermal rays and channel into the armor's own energy supplies. Stane tries to defeat Iron Man by tricking him into entering a room where Stark's friends (Happy, Pepper and Mrs. Arbogast) are being held in suspended animation tanks. The room's walls are covered with photo-electric cells that will send 200,000 volts into their bodies if Iron Man moves. Refusing to give in, Iron Man calmly uses his armor's sensors to find
5459-514: The Vision's identity, who was previously believed to have been created from the Torch's body. The Vision and the Scarlet Witch's children conceived via the Scarlet Witch's hex powers are then revealed to be fragments of the soul of the demon Mephisto , who had been broken apart by Franklin Richards shortly before the birth of the twins. The twins were absorbed back into Mephisto, which temporarily drives
5562-407: The angsty and irreverent nature of characters like Spider-Man , Hulk , X-Men and Fantastic Four . This was a time of social upheaval, giving birth to a new generation of hip and more counter-cultural youngsters, who found a voice in these books. Because Marvel's books were distributed by its rival, National, from 1957 until 1968 Marvel were restricted to publishing only eight titles a month. This
5665-449: The animated series What If...? . Created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Luke McDonnell , the first character to use the alias is Obadiah Stane, who debuted in Iron Man #163 ( Oct. 1982 ). The original Iron Monger armor that Stane wears makes its first appearance in Iron Man #200 ( Nov. 1985 ), created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Mark Bright . When Obadiah Stane was
5768-403: The armor is also larger than the armor of Iron Man. It is presumably proportionally stronger as well. The Iron Monger (unlike the Iron Man armor) is also externally computer-controlled. Stane attempted to use the remote control to compensate for his lack of experience in using the armor – a vulnerability Stark exploited to disable the suit. The original Ultimate Marvel version of Obadiah Stane
5871-447: The armor personally decides to trick him and actually bring an Iron Man suit that is remote controlled. Dolores and Tony meet on a plane together, holding each other hostage while their friends confirm each other's end of the bargain. Dolores is skeptical because the robot is not walking smoothly and is clumsy, and Tony is skeptical because the feds found a nuke but no terrorists with it, and the deal for terrorists. Dolores' men plan to kill
5974-463: The armor to stop the out-of-control Rhodes, and then to assist the West Coast Avengers against Doctor Demonicus , while using the Avengers' facilities to construct the advanced Silver Centurion armor. Realizing that Stark is once again a potential threat, Stane orders Bethany Cabe 's abduction, and plans an attack to take out Iron Man whom Stane believes is currently either Rhodes or one of
6077-473: The back cover. Despite the publication of a series of related Hearst comics soon afterward, the first monthly proto-comic book, Embee Distributing Company's Comic Monthly , did not appear until 1922. Produced in an 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 -by-9-inch (220 mm × 230 mm) format, it reprinted black-and-white newspaper comic strips and lasted a year. In 1929, Dell Publishing (founded by George T. Delacorte, Jr. ) published The Funnies , described by
6180-471: The bandwagon in 1960. In 1961, at the demand of publisher Martin Goodman (who was reacting to a surge in sales of National's newest superhero title The Justice League of America ), writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four for Atlas, which now re-named itself Marvel Comics . With an innovation that changed the comic-book industry, Fantastic Four #1 initiated
6283-474: The codename Fuse. This series was cancelled as of issue #10 cover dated June 2019. The team is founded by the Avenger Hawkeye in response to a suggestion by fellow Avenger, the Vision , who at the time (as team chairman) wished to expand the Avengers' influence. Hawkeye recruits Mockingbird , Wonder Man , Tigra , and Iron Man , with the last actually being Jim Rhodes as opposed to Tony Stark ,
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#17328523021656386-414: The comic book industry rapidly expanded and genres such as horror, crime, science fiction and romance became popular. The 1950s saw a gradual decline, due to a shift away from print media in the wake of television and the impact of the Comics Code Authority . The late 1950s and the 1960s saw a superhero revival and superheroes remained the dominant character archetype throughout the late 20th century into
6489-529: The comic-book debut of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster , the future creators of Superman . The two began their careers with the musketeer swashbuckler "Henri Duval", doing the first two installments before turning it over to others and, under the pseudonyms "Leger and Reuths", they created the supernatural -crimefighter adventure Doctor Occult . In 1938, after Wheeler-Nicholson's partner Harry Donenfeld had ousted him, National Allied editor Vin Sullivan pulled
6592-437: The compound and Loni floods it with poison gas trying to kill him, abandoning Obadiah. After Tony beats Loni and tends to Howard, Obadiah (mad that his mother abandoned him for dead with the poison gas) enters the room and kills her. However, he decides not to attack Tony, stating that he had saved his life several times and that they are now even. They are all picked up by the feds and go home. The retconned Ultimate universe has
6695-477: The countercultural era. Legal issues and paper shortages led to a decline in underground comix output from its 1972 peak. In 1974 the passage of anti-paraphernalia laws in the US led to the closing of most head shops, which throttled underground comix distribution. Its readership also dried up as the hippie movement itself petered out in the mid-1970s. Wizard originally used the phrase "Bronze Age", in 1995, to denote
6798-459: The country. Some cities passed laws banning comic books entirely. In 1954, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham published his book Seduction of the Innocent , where he discussed what he perceived as sadistic and homosexual undertones in horror comics and superhero comics respectively, and singled out EC Comics due to its success as a publisher of these genres. In response to growing public anxiety,
6901-564: The darker tone of some independent publishers such as First Comics , Dark Horse Comics , and (founded in the 1990s) Image Comics . This tendency towards darkness and nihilism was manifested in DC's production of heavily promoted comic book stories such as " A Death in the Family " in the Batman series (in which The Joker brutally murdered Batman's sidekick Robin ), while at Marvel the continuing popularity of
7004-471: The early days of comic books, this practice had all but vanished during the 1940s and 1950s. Comic books were produced by comic book companies rather than by individual creators (EC being a notable exception, a company that not only credited its creative teams but also featured creators' biographies). Even comic books by revered and collectible artists like Carl Barks were not known by their creator's name— Disney comics by Barks were signed " Walt Disney ". In
7107-734: The first known proto-comic-book magazine in the US, The Yellow Kid in McFadden's Flats , in 1897. A hardcover book, it reprinted material—primarily the October 18, 1896, to January 10, 1897, sequence titled "McFadden's Row of Flats"—from cartoonist Richard F. Outcault 's newspaper comic strip Hogan's Alley , starring the Yellow Kid . The 196-page, square-bound, black-and-white publication, which also includes introductory text by E. W. Townsend , measured 5 by 7 inches (130 mm × 180 mm) and sold for 50 cents. The neologism "comic book" appears on
7210-565: The guards attempt to murder him but they failed. Obadiah reveals that he's working with Dolores and Dolores convinced Obadiah to try and murder Howard. Obadiah drugs a prison guard with a "hypnotizing" bio-drug, and the guard tries to kill Howard. He fails, but Howard gets shot in the process and is in the ICU and Tony sends War Machine to protect his father in the hospital. Iron Man goes to Obadiah's house and confronts him on setting up Howard and sending him to prison for Zebediah's murder. Obadiah says it
7313-522: The helmet or he will crush the baby. Having detected interfering frequencies in the armor systems throughout the battle, Iron Man deduces that Stane is not experienced enough to pilot the Iron Monger armor without some help via an external computer. Stark uses his armor's pulse bolts to destroy the building containing that computer, causing Stane's Iron Monger armor to seize up. Stane (refusing to be arrested and humiliated) fires his repulsor ray beam into his head, disintegrating his skull. When Stark would make
7416-504: The heroine Firebird briefly allied themselves with the team. Henry Pym, who is saved by Firebird from a suicide attempt, and the adventurer Moon Knight formally join, while Iron Man is expelled for his actions during the Armor Wars . The "Lost in Space-Time" storyline began in issue #17 (February 1987) when Dominus sent the team back in time. The marriage of Hawkeye and Mockingbird
7519-428: The hospital, Tony faces Stane directly; Iron Man collects the newly completed Silver Centurion and flies to Long Island . Iron Man confronts Stane on Stane International's property and defeats Stane's agents, including the Chessmen who had proven a match for Iron Man's previous armor. Stane dons the Iron Monger armor and confronts Iron Man personally. The Iron Monger is more powerful than Iron Man's previous armor, but not
7622-483: The introduction of the Comics Code Authority in the wake of Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency , which, ignoring the social problems caused by the wars of 1939–45 and 1950–52, sought to blame those problems solely on comics. While there was only a 9% drop in the number of releases between 1952 and 1953, circulation plummeted by an estimated 30–40%. The cause of the decrease is not entirely clear. Television had begun to provide competition with comic books, but there
7725-486: The largest in the US, distributes the printed product to retailers. Another aspect of the process involved in successful comics is the interaction between the readers/fans and the creator(s). Fan art and letters to the editor were commonly printed in the back of the book, until, in the early 21st century, various Internet forums started to replace this tradition. The growth of comic specialty stores helped permit several waves of independently-produced comics, beginning in
7828-623: The late 1940s and early 1950s horror and true-crime comics flourished, many containing graphic violence and gore. Due to such content, moral crusaders became concerned with the impact of comics on the youth, and were blaming comic books for everything from poor grades to juvenile delinquency to drug abuse. This perceived indecency resulted in the collection and public burning of comic books in Spencer, West Virginia and Binghamton, New York in 1948, which received national attention and triggered other public burnings by schools and parent groups across
7931-451: The limited quantity of comics printed in each press-run) continued to grow and diversify, with a number of small publishers in the 1990s changing the format and distribution of their comic books to more closely resemble non-comics publishing. The " minicomics " form, an extremely informal version of self-publishing , arose in the 1980s and became increasingly popular among artists in the 1990s, despite reaching an even more limited audience than
8034-433: The major players in volume of sales. By this point, former big-time players Fawcett and Fiction House had ceased publishing. Circulation peaked in 1952 when 3,161 issues of various comics were published with a total circulation of about one billion copies. After 1952, the number of individual releases dropped every year for the rest of the decade, with the biggest falls occurring in 1955–56. The rapid decline followed
8137-628: The mastermind of Ultimate Comics: Armor Wars as Howard Stark Sr. in a human/machine armor that resembles Iron Monger with some elements of Titanium Man . During the " Ultimate Invasion ", Maker remade Earth-6160 into his own image. Obadiah Stane is an African-American man who is the business partner of Howard Stark, running Stark/Stane, one of the North American Union's main corporations, alongside him. Both of them attend an international event of world leaders in The City at Latveria . When
8240-451: The mid-1970s. Some early examples of these – generally referred to as "independent" or "alternative" comics – such as Big Apple Comix , continued somewhat in the tradition of the earlier underground comics , while others, such as Star Reach , resembled the output of mainstream publishers in format and genre but were published by smaller artist-owned ventures or by a single artist. This so-called " small press " scene (a term derived from
8343-510: The mission, and were eventually joined by Gwenpool and Kid Omega. Given their lack of funds, the newly formed team tried to get financiers by starring in a reality show following their exploits. The West Coast Avengers later went up against Madame Masque and her West Coast incarnation of the Masters of Evil which consists of Eel , Graviton, Lady Bullseye , MODOK Superior , Satana , and Kate's parents Derek Bishop and Eleanor Bishop . In
8446-569: The most lucrative branches of magazine publishing". Distribution took place through the Woolworth's department-store chain, though it remains unclear whether it was sold or given away; the cover displays no price, but Goulart refers, either metaphorically or literally, to "sticking a ten-cent pricetag [ sic ] on the comic books". When Delacorte declined to continue with Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , Eastern Color on its own published Famous Funnies #1 (cover-dated July 1934),
8549-561: The original Iron Monger armor was obtained by the United States government . General Lewis Haywerth has one of the Guardsmen use it to test the U.S. Agent 's combat skills. Joey Cosmatos was Tony Stark's former college classmate that builds a third version of Iron Monger suit from Obadiah's plans. This suit is worn by the criminal Slagmire , an operative of underworld boss Mr. Desmond. The Red Skull later has one of his own agents use an Iron Monger suit in an assassination attempt against
8652-587: The page count had to be some multiple of 4. In recent decades, standard comics have been trimmed at about 6.625 x 10.25 inches. The format of the American comic book has been adapted periodically outside the United States, especially in Canada and the United Kingdom . While comics can be the work of a single creator, the labor of creating them is frequently divided between a number of specialists. There may be
8755-400: The power source of Stane's trap, and destroys it with his chest-plate's uni-beam weapon, which requires no movement to fire. With Stark's friends freed, Iron Man confronts Stane and the villain learns that even in the Iron Monger armor, he is no match for Stark. Finally, Stane uses his last card: Gertl Anders's infant son whom Stane had abducted from an orphanage. Stane tells Iron Man to remove
8858-505: The publication of Robert Crumb 's irregularly published Zap Comix . Frank Stack had published The Adventures of Jesus as far back as 1962, and there had been a trickle of such publications until Crumb's success. What had started as a self-publishing scene soon grew into a minor industry, with Print Mint , Kitchen Sink , Last Gasp and Apex Novelties among the more well-known publishers. These comix were often extremely graphic, and largely distributed in head shops that flourished in
8961-488: The same kind of methodical logic that he uses in the game. In addition, he is a strong believer in using psychological manipulation to his advantage. For instance, in a childhood chess match against another boy whose skill at least equaled his own, he killed the boy's dog so that the other boy would be distracted from the game. In adulthood, Obadiah Stane becomes the President and CEO of his own company Stane International as
9064-620: The satirical Mad —a former comic book which was now converted to a magazine format in order to circumvent the Code. DC started a revival in superhero comics in 1956 with the October 1956 revival of its former golden age top-seller The Flash in Showcase #4. Many comics historians peg this as the beginning of the Silver Age of American comic books, although Marvel (at this point still known variously as both Timely and Atlas ) had started reviving some of its old superheroes as early as 1954. The new Flash
9167-460: The small presses. The development of the modern American comic book happened in stages. Publishers had collected comic strips in hardcover book form as early as 1842, with The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck , a collection of English-language newspaper inserts originally published in Europe as the 1837 book Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois by Rodolphe Töpffer . The G. W. Dillingham Company published
9270-567: The streets, Stark befriends pregnant homeless woman Gertl Anders who dies in childbirth, promising to protect the child which helps Stark overcome alcoholism to eventually confront Stane. Stark recovers, joining Rhodes and the Erwin twins (Morley and Clytemnestra) in starting a new company in Silicon Valley , which is then dubbed Circuits Maximus. Stark builds a new prototype armor, resembling his original gray suit, to test new designs; Stark ends up using
9373-729: The success of Superman in Action Comics prompted editors at National Comics Publications (the future DC Comics) to request more superheroes for its titles. In response, Bob Kane and Bill Finger created Batman , who debuted in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). The period from the late 1930s through roughly the end of the 1940s is referred to by comic book experts as the Golden Age of comic books . It featured extremely large print-runs, with Action Comics and Captain Marvel selling over half
9476-614: The team's misfortune, and is finally defeated. Hank Pym, the Wasp and Quicksilver then leave the team, with Machine Man becoming reservists and Spider-Woman and the Living Lightning joining as full-time members. Spider-Man guest-stars in issues #84–86. The team battle Ultron and his new creation Alkhema several times, and Hawkeye assumes his old identity of Goliath , during the Avengers crossover Operation: Galactic Storm, and reconciles with Mockingbird. Iron Man and Wonder Man leave
9579-452: The team, and are replaced by War Machine (Jim Rhodes, one of the founding West Coast Avengers) and Darkhawk , with the latter acting as a reservist. During a battle with the demons Mephisto and Satannish , Mockingbird is killed. Due to constant in-fighting and a general lack of organization, Captain America intervenes and disbands the team. Several members of the West Coast team—including
9682-579: The three major comic book industries globally, along with Japanese manga and the Franco-Belgian comic books . The typical size and page count of comics have varied over the decades, generally tending toward smaller formats and fewer pages. Historically, the size was derived from folding one sheet of Quarter Imperial paper (15 in × 11 in or 380 mm × 280 mm), to print 4 pages which were each 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 by 11 inches (190 mm × 280 mm). This also meant that
9785-470: The user's strength, repulsor rays fired from the gauntlets, and an intense laser beam housed in the battle-suit's chest unit. The suit provides the user with the ability of subsonic flight, thanks to magnetically powered turbine boot jets. Since the Iron Monger armor was based on a modified version of Tony Stark's Iron Man design, the armor's abilities are very similar to the original red and gold armor, but with increased power. The repulsors are more powerful and
9888-489: The various X-Men books led to storylines involving the genocide of superpowered "mutants" in allegorical stories about religious and ethnic persecution. In addition, published formats like the graphic novel and the related trade paperback enabled the comic book to gain some respectability as literature. As a result, these formats are now common in book retail and the collections of US public libraries . West Coast Avengers The West Coast Avengers first appear in
9991-419: The wagon) relinquishes Iron Man's armor to Rhodes and disappears to be a homeless vagrant while Rhodes as Iron Man ignores Stane's demands to relinquish Iron Man's armor. Rhodes eventually thwarts Stane in his attempt to take over Iron Man's battle-suits. Looking through Stark Enterprises' records, Stane discovers Stark's notes on Iron Man's armor. The notes are incomplete and highly advanced, but Stane assigns
10094-408: Was a cloud with a silver lining, and proved the making of Marvel, allowing the company to concentrate its brightest and best talent on a small number of titles, at a time when its rivals were spreading their creative talents very thin across a huge number of monthly titles. The quality of Marvel's product soared in consequence, and sales soared with it. While the creators of comics were given credit in
10197-400: Was all Dolores' idea, and sets up a meeting with Dolores and Tony. Obadiah also figures out that the armor is not a robot, a fact he shares with Dolores before he meets with Tony. Dolores and Tony make a deal. Dolores will give Tony the information about the terrorists with nukes who plan to bomb the city, and Tony will give Dolores one of his "robots". Tony, knowing that Dolores knows he wears
10300-464: Was also a rise in conservative values with the election in 1952 of Dwight Eisenhower . The Comics Code Authority, a self-censoring body founded to curb the juvenile delinquency alleged to be due to the crime and horror comics, has often been targeted as the culprit, but sales had begun to drop the year before it was founded. The major publishers were not seriously harmed by the drop in sales, but smaller publishers were killed off: EC (the prime target of
10403-549: Was chosen as a member of Pluto 's jury of the damned to decide the fate of Zeus . When the lord of Hades's power was undone, it was Iron Monger who laid the first blow. During the " Chaos War " storyline, Stane is among the dead characters in the Underworld that Pluto released to defend the Underworld from Amatsu-Mikaboshi . Industrialist Simon Steele constructs another suit of Iron Monger armor and has an employee wear it in battle against Dominic Fortune . After Stane's death,
10506-478: Was dismantled, results in the synthezoid's resurrection as a colorless and emotionless artificial human. The unstable U.S. Agent is assigned to the team as a watchdog by the US government to monitor the team's activities. A group of odd super-humans decide to mimic the Avengers and become the Great Lakes Avengers , while the original Human Torch returns from his own apparent demise. This casts doubt on
10609-414: Was playing. Tony flies the plane low enough to the water that Obadiah can jump off into the water. He then gets his nanobots to disarm the nuke and set off the smaller bomb while he attempts to jump off the plane. They realize that another arms dealer was out to kill everyone (Dolores, Obadiah and Tony). Meanwhile, Howard is recovered enough to go to prison, but the guards sent to escort him were not sent by
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