Still keeping with the current theme of recent posts, Marvel's Golden Avenger underwent one of his more controversial changes in armor with the debut of Iron Man (volume 2) #1. This armor, technically dubbed the "Prometheum Armor," is usually despised by fans as it's not very aesthetically pleasing. I agree with that assessment a little; however, what I think is best about this armor is that it is, by far, the most realistically designed armor in the history of the character.Look at the pic at left, taken from the cover of IM (vol. 2) #1. The most notable aspect of this suit is the "smokestacks" located on the back. I happen to think they look pretty intimidating, but that aside, their real purpose is a heat sink -- they dissipate the prodigious amount of heat the armor produces during every standard use (and beyond). Heat sinks were also noted (in various panels of volume 2 issues) on the armor's gauntlets and knee segments.
The golden coils are also much more realistic than anything we've seen Iron Man wear before. It's much easier to understand how they would bend and stretch rather than a pattern of contiguous armor. In actuality, these coils are the armor; the crimson plating is "mere" additional armor, but also houses power units, weapons, defensive counter-measures, and medical needs. (Stark's heart was critically injured -- again -- in volume 2's premiere issue.) Quite realistically conceived.
As you may know, Tony Stark himself wasn't planning to wear the Prometheum Armor as told in issue #1. He only did so out of medical necessity after an accident (much like -- surprise! -- Tales of Suspense #39). Stark's good friend Rebel O'Reilly had been doing all the armor's preliminary tests, until battle damage caused one of the protoypes to explode, killing him. What you may not know is how then-writer Scott Lobdell came up with the character -- and name -- Rebel. He based it on legendary Iron Man creator Bob Layton: R.e.B.e.L. = Robert "Bob" Layton. This little tidbit was bequeathed by Scott to yours truly back during my Advanced Iron editing days!
Rebel was "resurrected" a few years later in Heroes Reborn: Rebel. HYDRA had "revived" Reb (remember -- no character ever stays dead in comics ... ever) and outfitted him with a modified Prometheum Armor (on which he was dependent for his very life, too, natch) to go and kill 'ol buddy Tony Stark. He didn't succeed, needless to say.
1 comment:
Wait, a seperate comic, or was the HR: Rebel just the final issues (ignoring World War 3)? I didn't think they had any more comics set in the Reborn universe after The Return?
I see your point with the stacks, but when I hear about people trying to build actual armor in real life (usually for the military or the police, but there was that guy who used his to study what it's like to be mauled by a bear), I never hear about the coils. I'm thinking something more of a single hose-like set-up or chain mail would be a better option.
Post a Comment