Tuesday 6 December 2011

Iron Man's greatest ever enemy.

Tales of Suspense #67, Iron Man
"Iron Man! Iron Man! Does whatever an iron can!"

Now you know why they don't let me write super-heroes' theme tunes.

Still, if this blog takes musical and lyrical incompetence to a level never before seen, that doesn't stop it having an opinion on matters more pictorial.

And that means it's time for Steve Does Comics to tackle the burning question; "Who's Iron Man's greatest ever foe?"

Despite being one of Marvel's most powerful heroes, Iron Man had a surprisingly modest start to his crime-fighting career, coming up against the likes of the Scarecrow, the Red Barbarian and of course the never-to-be-forgotten Mr Doll.

Personally, of these early foes, I always had a soft spot for his first ever super-powered opponent, Hypno-Robo-Neanderthal.

Iron Man vs Gargantus, the hypno-robo-neanderthal
Sadly, after that one classic appearance, Hypno-Robo-Neanderthal never again returned to threaten the world - possibly because of his fatal vulnerability to fridge magnets.

Later, however, Iron Man did start to meet foes that even magnets couldn't stop, as he came up against the likes of Titanium Man, the Crimson Dynamo and the Mandarin.

And of course, technically, Thanos is an Iron Man villain; as rock-face made his first appearance in the pages of that self-same title.

So, who is your favourite ever Iron Man villain? As always, after a couple of days. I'll put your nominations into a poll and at last the world shall decide, just who is Iron Man's greatest ever foe.

9 comments:

Simon B said...

Iron Man's greatest enemy? I'm tempted to say "rust" or "a bottle of Bud", but that would just be facetious. And stupid. So I won't say it. Er...

Anyway, it's The Mandarin, isn't it?

bliss_infinte said...

Mandy.

Super-Duper ToyBox said...

that's a shame about Gargantus, ain't it? Titanium Man & the Crimson Dynamo have similar traits making them a good match, but Mandarin is probably going to win it. So my vote is for Iron Monger - Obadiah Stane. That's right: he STOLE STARK ENTERPRISES from Tony. I mean, what could be worse? And I guess Norman Osborn falls into this category to, taking over as Iron Patriot by force during the Dark Avengers series, right?

Dougie said...

I would go for the Mandarin, who was able to give The Inhumans a run for their money. But The Controller was both grotesque and almost pitiful.

David said...

Hell, I'll say it, "Jack Daniels"!

MikeD said...

Ive not been a big fan of shell head until the lat few years so, from my limited historical knowledge I'd have to go with the Mandarin. One of fave characters started as an Iron Man "baddie" tho - mr Clint Barton!

Boston Bill said...

The FF and X-Men were too easy - this is interesting! Actually, it's probably limited battery life! Yes, that same problem the plagues our mobiles has been the bane of the Golden Avenger in too many of the adventures I've read!
As for the more typical enemy, I'm going to nominate an unusual one: Dr Doom. I've only read two adventures where Marvel's two greatest armoured, genius, independently wealthy characters took one another on (149-150; 249-250), but they were humdingers!
Hey! My word verification was 'butcom'! I'm starting to get offended!

Ade Salmon said...

Man Bull ... heh

Steve W. said...

Thanks for all your nominations. The poll's now up; so nominating for this topic is now closed. :)