For All The Nitpickers Out There...

The armor specs within this site are based on the armors as they appear in Tales of Suspense and Iron Man (Volumes 1-4) and in his many one-shots or guest appearances in books such as Marvel Team-Up. I admit at the outset that I don't have a large catalog of Avengers comics, so I know that I've missed a few things, but I consider the Iron Man title the definitive source material for armor technology-As I see it, other appearances are not as integral to the overall record.

Determining Armor Models and Marks is fairly simple for the careful reader with a vast library of Iron Man comics. Although both The Iron Manual and Iron Man: The Legend contain errors, they provide an excellent resource to start with. Most of the specs have been gleaned from reading, re-reading and reading again, Iron Man issues while taking copious notes.

Models are wholesale changes in the armor that change both its function and appearance. These are fairly easy to determine. Any big change in the overall outward appearance of the armor constitutes a new model. For example, going from Red and Gold to the War Machine armor. The function and advancements within the War Machine Model also make it a totally different armor. In most cases, the text almost always tells you of a change in Model #.

Marks, changes within a particular Model series, usually an upgrade or special additional feature, are a little harder to determine, but can be spotted with careful reading. The biggest problem in figuring out Marks is poor artists, or fill-in artists that might get a crack at the book. Often, as in the Teen Tony fiasco, the armor features will change from frame to frame, even on the same page. For example, in issue 330, the circular imprints on Teen Tony's final armor disappear and reappear. Now I could probably explain this away and win a No-Prize, but let's face it, the quality of the artist at the time, who will remain nameless, was utter crap. As a result of occasional artistic inadequacy judgment calls must be made. I made these calls. Like with Models, the text often tells us about new Marks. Stark often explains a revamp of his armor as he did in the case of the Space Armor during the Galactic Storm saga.

Finally, let me just say that the armor specs as you read them here are not final. Even after my exhaustive research I still spot things to add, and sometimes a writer may flashback and improvise additions (retelling history). I update the specs when I spot new things.