Anthony Stark was
a millionaire playboy who founded Stark Industries, the largest weapons
manufacturer in the United States. While field testing one of his latest
weapons in Vietnam, Tony and his group were attacked by enemy forces. Tony
was struck in the chest by a piece of shrapnel from an exploding bomb,
and he was taken captive. He was forced to develop a super weapon for his
captors, but he secretly used their laboratory to develop a magnetic chest
plate that would keep the shrapnel in his chest from piercing his heart
and killing him. He ended up designing an entire iron suit that he used
to escape his captors, and he returned to the States. He was forced to
continue to wear the iron chest plate, for if he removed it the shrapnel
would kill him. He turned his curse into a productive blessing, and became
Iron Man, a superhero devoted to protecting the innocent.
He constantly
upgraded his armor, utilizing repulsor rays, augmenting his strength to
great levels and giving him the ability to fly. He eventually stopped selling
weapons after realizing that they could be put to evil use, and he later
had surgery to remove the shrapnel from his chest. He briefly turned the
mantle of Iron Man over to his friend James Rhodes, but he had since returned
and Rhodes became War Machine. The Iron Man of today is the most powerful
ever. He sports the most advanced weaponry, and his suit is able to collapse
and fit in his briefcase. Although no longer required to wear the armor
full-time, Stark still feels a great responsibility to correct all the
wrongs his company's weapons have caused.
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