To be considered a superhero you need to provide the basic necessities: provide awareness, save people from danger, and have a cool name. Although most superheroes provide these necessities, there are some that fall short. In the recent installment of superheroes, there has been one that has a lot of ups and down. Although he is considered a superhero, most people say Iron Man is an actual villain which brings the question: Did Iron Man provide awareness to the citizens of New York? Through my research, I will determine if Iron Man brought awareness to the people of New York or if he’s an actual villain.
Located in the Salem Press Encyclopedia of Literature, “Iron Man was created by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber developed his storyline. Iron Man first appeared in issue 39 of Marvel’s Tales of Suspense in 1963.” While most superheroes develop powers, Iron Man has the power of his suits to help him in battle so, In the passage ‘Why I Think Iron Man Is the Best Superhero.’, “in lieu of superpowers, he uses his genius to go out in a suit of armor stand side by side with heroes to physically help the world.” Iron Man was faced with many obstacles but based on a passage titled ‘Captain America’, “In recent years Tony Stark’s greatest nemesis has been alcoholism. As a wealthy socialite, alcohol had been a constant part of his life,” and also in a passage titled ‘Why I Think Iron Man Is the Best Superhero’, “One of the largest parts that causes the most problem is his guilt that he sometimes unfairly puts on himself. In one arc of his story, “Armor Wars”, he starts blaming himself for the actions of certain supervillains who use armor based his designs. Had he not made his armor, then these villains wouldn’t exist.”
Because of his commitment to being a superhero, Iron Man did save people but, he did not bring awareness to the citizens of New York. In addition to his alcoholism, Stark also “developed post-traumatic stress disorder,” in the article presented by Marvel Entertainment, “…a situation which created stress in his relationship with Pepper Potts. This was followed by a series of terrorist attacks by a mysterious figure known as the Mandarin, as well as a direct assault on Stark’s home and lab.” Stark was also very mischievous in his comical days. From Jim Johnson’s article titled “Tony Stark Is the Worst Superhero Ever.”, he stated that “In 1995’s Avengers event ‘The Crossing,’ it was revealed Tony had secretly been working for the Avengers’ longstanding time-traveling villain, Kang the Conqueror. This contrived revelation led to Tony murdering two of his fellow Avengers.” (Johnson, 3).
In conclusion, did Iron Man provide awareness to the citizens of New York? Created by Stan Lee and developed by Larry Lieber, Iron Man’s sole purpose was to use his advanced suit of armor and technology to protect the world. As most people should think that Iron Man saved people, he did not provide awareness. Because of his alcoholism and PTSD, he put the world and the people he loved in danger. Not to mention the disaster he caused in his comical days. With that and many more being said, Iron Man did not provide awareness and instead of being a superhero, he was actually a villain.
