Friday, November 26, 2010

Behing The Facade Of The Ironman

By Wayne Tucker


There are countless superheroes out there, each one forever given a legacy within the comic world by their persona, their villains, and their burdens. You will find not many that may argue that Tony Stark, the Iron man, does not carry a huge burden on his shoulders each time he dons his infamous invincible armor. It is arguable that, given his situation and his flaws, Tony Stark is among the most human characters in comics today.

A fact, Heroes in many cases are defined and made what they are by a couple of things: the villains they face and the burdens they carry. Superman carries the burden of fear and anxiety, living a life scared of breaking something, of killing someone should he be careless with his power. In certain ways, Spider-man fought off depression after the death of his Uncle Ben by embracing crime-fighting. Batman turned his anxiety and stress right into a weapon in the personal war, fueling his lone crusade against crime. Nonetheless, in very few heroes is the relationship between burden and heroism as blatant and prominent as in Tony Stark, the Ironman.

I am certain you know that the armor worn by the Ironman, in contrast to the costumes of so many other heroes, is more than a mere tool for fighting crime. The armor also bears several components designed to help him cope together with his medical conditions. Tony Stark's heart was compromised in Vietnam, so that the armor's primary purpose ended up being to sustain him - keep him alive and moving - long enough to obtain proper medical care. In lots of ways, the early part of his career was marked with mild hints of depression. The armor was a smaller amount of a tool in his eyes, and much more a reminder from the frailty of his condition. The fact that the chronic pain he felt was alleviated better through the armor than by medication only added to his issues.

Still, despite the frailties, the Ironman continued to do what he felt needed to be done. Much more than every other hero, he risks his life whenever he engages his enemies in battle. The least malfunction or harm to his armor could prove fatal for him. The slightest disruption within the systems might lead to the systems to go berserk and take many innocent civilians along with him. The burden has, at times, been too great for the superhero to bear. Inside a contrast to many other superheroes around him, Tony Stark attempted to fight his depression and the pressures of his life in a very human way: alcohol.

Obviously the choice to turn him to an alcoholic was controversial, however, Marvel Comics has always pushed the line that way. Harry Osborne had been a drug user in an even more sensational storyline from the Spider-man comics. However, the main difference here was that, unlike Osborne, Stark would be a hero. Like a hero, he was said to be above the petty squabbles and flaws of ordinary human beings. He eventually recovered, although not before his alcohol addiction brought on great uncertainty amongst his teammates and pushed his currently strained human relationships to near breaking point.

The Ironman character is often overlooked in the long listing of superheroes that have become more human over the years. This is probably because of the fact that Tony Stark isn't quite as fitting to the comic niche-worlds that others seem designed for. Spider-man is the everyman from the superhero world, designed to ensure that anyone who reads his comic can find something about him that they can relate to. Superman may be the vision of the ideal, a dream given form and power. The Batman represents the darkness in everyone, honed and shaped into a massive power. It's arguable, but there are some that could say Tony Stark is more human than the above. The armor may make him seem invincible, yet like a turtle, beneath the shell is one thing soft and vulnerable.




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