Tony's first costume, in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963), was a clunky grey armor. It was replaced in the very next issue, with an upgraded yellow armor. Tony didn't wear his famous red-and-gold armor until Tales of Suspense #48.

Stan Lee based Tony Stark on the billionaire-industrialist and notorious recluse Howard Hughes. And coincidentally, named his father Howard Stark. Writer Gerry Conway said, "Here you have this character, who on the outside is invulnerable, I mean, just can't be touched, but inside is a wounded figure. Stan made it very much an in-your-face wound, you know, his heart was broken, you know, literally broken. But there's a metaphor going on there. And that's, I think, what made that character interesting."

Since Iron Man has been around for decades, the location of his origin story has evolved over time to stay relevant. In the original comic, Stark built the suit after being captured in Vietnam, but the story was later retconned to take place during the Gulf War, before Afghanistan was finally settled on for the movie.

Accompanying a squad of soldiers equipped with his weaponry on a patrol through the jungle, he accidentally triggers a tripwire that detonates a landmine. Under the premise of building a weapon for the Vietnamese communists that have captured him, Stark constructs an iron body suit with a magnetic chest plate to keep the shrapnel from reaching his heart.

Forbes listed Stark as the fourth wealthiest fictional character of all time in their "Fictional 15" list with an estimated worth of around $12.4 billion, making him richer than fellow playboy Bruce Wayne ($9.2 billion).

Mary Jane Watson, Spider-Man's main love interest and later his wife, takes a job at Stark Industries after Iron Man and Doctor Doom destroy her nightclub trying to subdue Madame Masque. Tony offers her the job both as an apology and out of his need for a competent personal assistant.

Born of modest origins, Edwin Jarvis served in the Royal Air Force during World War II and was its champion boxer three years running. He later moved to the United States where he became manservant to Howard Stark and Maria Stark and watched over the Starks' mansion even after the two deaths.

Tony's ongoing battle with alcoholism was first brought to light in the iconic 1978 "Demon in a Bottle" storyline. The fact that a superhero was forced to battle with such a human problem was revolutionary at the time.

Tony Stark has the resources to buy whatever he wants, including Area 51, a shadowy research base rumored to be involved in the storage, examination, and reverse engineering of crashed alien spacecraft. Stark acquired the site in Avengers #19, but his reasons for the purchase have never been fully revealed.

James "Rhodey" Rhodes assumed the mantle of Iron Man during Tony's relapse into alcoholism in issue #170 (May 1983) and again following Stark's purported death in issue #284 (Sept. 1992). After Tony's return, Rhodes continued a solo crime-fighting career as the superhero War Machine.