Iron Man is a fictional (Character (arts)) superhero who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character debuted (First appearance) in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963), and was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby.

Born Anthony Edward Stark, and usually called Tony, he is an industrialist playboy and ingenious engineer who suffers a severe heart injury during a kidnapping in which his captors attempt to force him to build a weapon of mass destruction. He instead creates a powered suit of armor (Powered exoskeleton) to save his life and escape captivity. He later uses the suit to protect the world as Iron Man. Through his multinational corporation, Stark Industries, Tony created military weapons and his own metal suit is laden with technological devices that enable him to fight crime. Initially, Iron Man was a vehicle for Stan Lee to explore Cold War themes, particularly the role of American technology and business in the fight against communism. Subsequent re-imaginings of Iron Man have gradually removed the Cold War themes, replacing them with more contemporary concerns such as corporate crime and terrorism.

Throughout most of the characters publication history, Iron Man has been a member of the superhero team the Avengers (Avengers (comics)) and has been featured in several incarnations of his own various comic book series. Iron Man has been adapted for several animated TV shows and films. The character is portrayed by Robert Downey, Jr. in the live action film Iron Man (Iron Man (film)) (2008), which was a box office success. Downey reprised the role in the sequel, Iron Man 2 (2010), and also played the character in a cameo in The Incredible Hulk (The Incredible Hulk (film)) (2008). Downey will also play the role in the upcoming film The Avengers (The Avengers (2012 film)) (2012) and the planned Iron Man 3 (Iron Man 2#Sequel).