. . . Long live Iron Man!

Although relieved and ready to move on after the death of Iron Man—and his Silver Centurion Armor—at the hands of Firepower, Tony Stark was forced by his enemies to build another state-of-the-art armor and—ultimately—to remain Iron Man in #231. Enter the Oversize Red and Gold Armor, Model XIV, Mark I (sometimes called the Bulky Red and Gold or the Coffee Can Armor).

Before the loss of his Silver Centurion Armor, Tony had already been toying with a new, slimmer armor, but, still, when the time came, he spent weeks at his drafting table designing on an Auto-cad system, augmenting his proven components with all-new ones. The result: an all-new, stunning suit of armor that’s at once ultra-modern and traditional.

Returning to the traditional red and gold color scheme and round lines, and chock full of the kind of cutting-edge technology only Tony Stark could build, Model XIV was big, bulky, and ready to rumble. An oversized Iron Man ready for any challenge. From the larger helmet and mask to the powerful horse collar (for neck protection) and broad shoulders down to the large coffee can jet boots, it was a striking replacement to the Silver Centurion suit.

Except of a few specific parts, the armor is made of layered flex-metal, which can condense itself like a 3-D accordion pleat. It’s a 3-D tessellated “chain mail,” fabricated at the microscopic level. This allows for easy armoring-up, not to mention fast packing/unpacking of the armor into/from a case. (And the suit knows where it’s supposed to go. Thanks to magnetic memory fields, as Stark dons the armor, all he needed to do was place the parts close to their destination and click! they snapped into place automatically.)

The armor’s surface is made up of 2 million tiles weaved together into a highly refined, self-powered fabric that moves to follow Iron Man’s motions. The armor itself is constructed of fifteen layers of this fabric, a metal mesh that is as soft as silk until polarized to iron toughness. A thermal control layer in the armored fabric uses electronic cooling to regulate Stark’s skin temperature and transpire moisture, which is osmoticaly pumped away.

Improvements in the internal mechanics of this suit made it more maneuverable than previous suits. Plus the movement was more natural.

Interestingly, while the suit may have sprung from the mind of Tony Stark, his hands didn’t physically build it. Model XIV has the distinction of being the first suit built without the touch of any human hands. Built in the huge manufacturing lab hidden beneath his home Retreat, this armor was assembled by a specially-bred bacteria in a revolutionary nano-tech process, made necessary by the leaps in Stark’s design complexity. In fact, Stark doesn’t even know what the armor’s composition actually is. Suit construction was fully automated, supervised by Tony’s super computer HOMER.

The armor was powered by a Beta particle generator (based on Stark’s recent breakthroughs at Accutech), which provided a nearly unlimited power supply. Integrated within the suit, it made the armor a big energy-absorbing sponge. This suit boasted the first 100 percent solar conversion system (although it does have a thermocouple backup). This power system made Model XIV the strongest IM armor ever. (It was so strong, Iron Man was able to lift an entire nuclear reactor, fly it into the air, and then take it deep into the ocean, slamming it into a deep trench.)

The helmet of the Oversize Red and Gold Armor was remarkably advanced. It was so much more than a protective helmet or concealing mask. The headpiece represented a major leap in Tony Stark’s cybernetic control system. Within the dome of the helmet assembly, made of specialized flex-metal with built-in psi-wave sensors, laid the cybernetic antenna. This is what picked up Tony’s thoughts and allowed him to control the armor mentally. Combined with an advanced optical system, a next-generation Heads-Up Display (HUD), hardwired to the sensor array, Shellhead had access to a river of streaming date unlike anything before. Sensors can feed him virtually any data—flight path, artificial horizon, altitude, airspeed, direction/compass, threat alerts, and more. In fact, Iron Man didn’t actually look at anything with his eyes anymore (except for the HUD, of course). All his “vision” comes from optical sensor data.

Made from the same chain mail as the rest of the armor, the micro-thin structure of the faceplate allows Stark’s facial expressions to slightly distort the mask surface, making Iron Man look more human. Like with previous models, this helmet pulls on and is secured to the neck jointing via auto-connects in the suit-torso attach points. The mask swivels open/lifts up as well.

The internal parts of the helmet—like those throughout the whole suit—are fabricated from the same micro-architectured flex-metal with many components imbedded into the micro mesh. Padding to absorb blows wrapped around the ear pierces. This rubberized metal bladder incorporated very small electronic air pumps to keep it inflated (after the helmet is donned).

A key achievement of the Model XIV armor was the inclusion of a new rapid-fire sequencing combat computer with an (at the time) experimental attack and defense modes. The new system took the guess-work out of defending himself in barrages or when striking out at multiple opponents—could target, fire, and destroy eight incoming rockets in just three seconds.

Other computer upgrades included an action/decision subroutine that recommended courses of action at a moment’s notice, a maintenance subroutine to monitor all aspects of the suit’s systems, improved targeting software that allowed his repulsors to pick out a single gnat in a swarm, and tracking circuits that allowed IM to fire as fast as he can think.

Model XIV featured a full sensor scan network integrated to sister systems (like the combat computer). Audio sensors could easily pick up speech through thick walls. Secondary audio pickups are located in the helmet’s ear pieces. Other known sensors: radiation and sonic scan.

The communication system was anchored by a third-generation miniaturized phased-array antenna, which allowed for full-spectrum communications. The suit also contained an early cellular phone. The right gauntlet featured a cyber probe attachment to allow Iron Man to interface with other computer systems. A fingertip probe aided in computer networking.

The improved boot propulsion system provided more maneuverability and increased speed (2,000 pounds of thrust per boot or 100 yards per second; air is injected and mixed with ignited liquid oxygen [the fuel is concentrated for compact storage]). This kind of thrust produces a lot of heat and is a real threat to bystanders. Fortunately, Tony added a cool-air venting system into the soles of his boots to wash the exhaust with cold air. Additionally, each boot contained seven jets with automated restart, because the baby turbines—even with the filtration screens—were susceptible to foreign object damage or flame out. (Magnetic plates in the boot soles allowed Iron Man to walk on ceilings and so on.)

The Oversize Armor is a space-worthy. Deep-space attachments plug into the suit, including a jet pack/rocket booster, searchlight, fuel, and oxygen. Model XIV also functioned underwater, it was equipped with sealing mouth and eye slots as well as an internal oxygen supply.

Defensive systems: energy shield in left gauntlet to absorb incoming blasts (actually based on one of Cord’s Raiders’ weapons); on-board arrays capable of jamming missile locks. Armor could defeat sonic weapons by analyzing the frequencies and transmitting counter sonics to negate whatever’s coming at Shellhead.

Armaments: The Oversize Red and Gold Armor had refined repulsors. (A repulsor is a neutron beam. But since neutrons don’t travel far in the atmosphere, a millimeter-wide kilowatt laser blasts a shaft of ionized air, on which the neutrons travel. (Trivia note: Each of Iron Man’s gloves cost $1.8 Million [1988 adjusted dollars].)

Other Armaments: redesigned pulse bolts (keep pulsating, gaining strength the further they go with devastating effect); can fire ultra-sonics, which can smash objects to bits; unibeam: a searchlight, a projector; and capable of firing high heat blasts, ultraviolet spreads, infrared beams, and an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP; but it drained his power leaving him only mobility and life support for six minutes); finger nozzle to fire a variety of liquid and gas weapons, including acid; finger laser, could be used to weld; suit also had magnetic powers in gloves to draw objects to him.

Model XIV, Mark II

Stark’s time on Earth almost came to an abrupt end in issue #242, when the jilted Kathy Dare shot him. Gravely injured or not, Stark couldn’t stop being Iron Man. In fact, it was only by being Iron Man that Tony could escape his paralysis—if only when wearing his metal duds. But to do that, he’d have to go back to the drawing board.

Model XIV, Mark II, was built out of necessity in issue #243. The psuedo-musculature of the Model XIV armor was redesigned to allow a paralyzed Tony to walk while in the armor. An entire series of new stabilizers, once fine-tuned, gave him control much closer to the ambulatory movement he had prior to his attack (when his legs worked). Of course, Tony Stark couldn’t just stop there. He added a slew of upgrades.

The moment it took Tony to transform the cloth-thin, supple chain mail armor into rigid, strength-amplifying, environmental suit became even shorter as he improved the armor’s magnetic beam generators, which control the suit’s integrity field. (Armoring-up was as easy as ever. After pulling on the core red pieces [gloves, boots, etc.], the gold parts of the armor zip into place.) What’s more, Stark seemed to really get back into the study of magnetism around this time as several other magnetic features were augmented: Imbedded magnetism circuits in the armor allowed IM to give magnetic charges to metal objects, they also created magnetic attraction between his armor and other objects; a magnetic tractor beam; and an enhanced reverse-magnetism setting on the repulsors.

A refined refractory coating added to the Mark II excels at blunting lasers and other power weapons, while a thermocouple allowed the outer surface of the armor to be heated up. The armor’s energy absorption circuits were improved for increased efficiency. The reserve power cell system was boosted as well.

Sensors and computers also received an overhaul. The Mark II featured improved targeting computers and a new life scan. Surface sensors on armor could now identify chemicals and compounds; audio sensors were intensified and linked to guidance systems—could identify sounds and plot distance and a course to them.

One of the neatest new gizmos was the memory module: the armor’s circuits were able now able to record Iron Man’s experiences (both first-person and telemetry) for late playback. These recordings could be imprinted on swappable Recording Chips (stored in the ear buds) for exchanges with others or duplication purposes.

The main defensive upgrade was the avoidance program Stark added to the armor’s already dense system software. Upon detecting incoming fire or other threats, the avoidance program automatically moved the armor to dodge the danger. At the same time defensive measures got better. The energy shield, which could absorb cannon blasts, transfer the power to the weapons system, and return the energy in a powerful blast, was improved.

Tony also added jet skates that were now so powerful Iron Man could skate forward towing an entire train behind him.

Special feature on this armor:While the Model XIV is space-worthy, it has only limited functionality out there. While in the far future, Tony Stark had to make his armor more durable for a war among the stars. Luckily, the shopping malls of the future are well-stocked. Stark added a jet pack propulsion system with external modules (complete with retro rockets), attached to his back, legs, and arms. He added an extended air supply to the left backpack. An emergency module built into the back also formed an anti-grav safety bubble to return him to Earth after his armor was trashed in battle. A telephoto optics package enhanced Iron Man’s visual acuity, easily allowing him to see people on Earth from in space.

Armaments: Everything found in the Mark I, plus gauntlets were improved to shoot sonics (low-level ones capable of making opponents dizzy), freon blasts, and strobe bursts; chest beam had heat beam setting; could also fire high-intensity plasma bolts from repulsors (plasma bolts work in space, too).

Mark II was all but destroyed while fighting the Iron Man from 2093 (Andros Stark), but was made whole again by the magical sword Excalibur.

Mark III-A’s development is significant because it is the true predecessor to Stark’s current and ever-evolving Heads-Up Display—display/cybernetic neurosystem interface—everything he had had up to this point had just been tinkering.

A miracle of super computing power, the result of advances in both design and miniaturization, Mark III-A contained the most advanced cybernetic neurosystem Stark could imagine to interface his mind and the armor. Through technical wizardry, Tony had mentally controlled the suits and all their systems with his thoughts through several models. Now that the system was more precise, the connection quicker and stronger than ever before.

The cybernetic system was supplemented by the most sophisticated Heads-Up Display unit to date, making this suit a true wonder. Driven by complex hardware and advanced software, the HUD allowed Stark to visually perceive all of his options and choices, which he could then mentally select. The HUD was capable of showing Iron Man a dizzying array of data streams from targeting and telemetry to laying blueprints over topographical maps, all supplemented by a vast cache of sensor scanners. LED readouts lay to the side of the HUD as well. (Additional controls were on the gauntlets.)

As with the previous suits, many of the minute-to-minute tasks were automated. Stark added audio alerts and prompts to this model—the system talked to him, giving status reports as needed. Other computer upgrades included an improved navi-computer, complete with auto-correcting internal gyros and a built-in homing device (maps and other diagrams were built into the onboard navigation system, too). An enhanced targeting computer was added as well, supplemented by a refreshed radar unit.

The Comm Suite included the standard helmet radio and an internal comm-link can monitor all over his plants’ alarms and systems. The sensor array stars an improved flight recorder with removable storage chip; an on-board Geiger counter; bug sweeper extends from left gauntlet—can find and scramble any eavesdropping device. The right earpiece has an extendable directional audio sensor.

Other helmet modifications included the standard sealing mouth and eye slits (with an internal oxygen supply). The mask not only seals air tight, but also blocks out all light. The mask flips up.

The armor of the Oversize suit itself was made from crystallized iron with titanium nitride, all covered with the usual refractive coating to deflect energy weapons. Interestingly, medical instruments cannot penetrate the armor—at least not to detect a pulse or a heartbeat. (The interior of the suit is padded.)

Although it was an improved armor mesh matrix, it was still vulnerable to acid, which can melt the armor (certain corrosive bombs could also eat the armor). By using tightly refined beams, Living Laser was actually able to pierce the armor.

As far as defensive measures, the electro-pulse shield was upgraded. The armor also featured automated defense systems to protect itself if the occupant became unconscious or was in some other way unable to defend themselves.

While low-intensity repulsors can smother flames, Iron Man had flame-retardant foam he could fire from his right glove.

Special feature on this suit: The Hydro Module, a backpack that allowed Iron Man mobility and versatility on his underwater missions. Aqua jets pushed Shellhead through the water, while stealth modules bent sonar around the armor, rendering him invisible.

Lights on both shoulders together with a set on the chest illuminate the deep water for him. While a nifty pod cam, housed in the shoulder unit, was launched under its own power to photograph and survey.

Armaments:variable-beam repulsors (able to dig tunnels if needed; also, to take on laser bombardments, like those from the likes of Living Laser, onboard defense computers could create shifting-frequency repulsor fields. [Shellhead could also disrupt energy fields—like those holding ol’ Living Laser together—by setting his repulsor fields to the right frequency.]); chest beam; tractor beam (emits from chest beam); plasma bolts; lasers; thin-beamed finger laser (in right index finger); microwaves (fired from palms and chest beam); knockout gas (housed in the gauntlets, knocks people out for four hours); titanium cable (could be fired). Hyperwave generators launch from shoulders and fly on their own; could bombard a target with conflicting frequencies of magno-pulse energy (controlled by a right gauntlet control).

Stark had a special closet hidden behind the bar in his office to store his armor (password: “sesame”). The compartment can decontaminate the armor as needed—especially from radioactivity. The armor was stored neatly on a wall in cushioned receptacles.

Suffering from (at the time) unexplained bouts of temporary paralysis, and dependant on the armor more than ever, Stark tweaked Model XIV, adding secondary backup systems for all the major systems—like the muscular-skeletal-arm-shoulder motors, for example.

But even for Tony Stark, these suits are expensive. Stark never missed an opportunity to make his armor better.

The gauntlet finger armatures are so exacting that Iron Man has enough dexterity to thread a needle with them.

Trapped inside of his armor by the fiendish machinations of Kearson DeWitt and the Marrs Twins, Stark used his experimental remote armor to get him out of the jam. Using the encephalo circuits in his helmet, Tony reached out with his mind to run the Model XV armor.

Model XIV, Mark III-B

When Tony Stark went to China in #270, he brought Iron Man along, Iron Man Jim Rhodes that is. Slipping on a spare suit, a variant of the Model XIV line, the Mark III-B, Rhodey made the trip to China to keep an eye on the boss. The III-B is the same as the “A” except Stark added a bio-rhythm generator to the circuitry to prevent the headaches Rhodey suffered during his last stint as Iron Man.