It can be hard to remember that before he singlehandedly kickstarted the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man was really just another a B-list superhero. After all, if comics fans wanted to read about an unpowered billionaire saving the day with fancy gadgets, they could just head over to DC and pick up an issue of Batman.

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Of course, Iron Man got cooler suits over the years and his popularity grew accordingly, but over at DC, some characters were donning armors of their own which put Tony Stark's tin can shell to shame. Here are some truly amazing suits of armor from the pages of DC that make Iron Man's suit look like a pile of rusted scrap by comparison:

10 Batwing Armor

Too superheroes to call themselves Batwing over the years. The first was the Congolese armored warrior David Zavimbe who worked with Batman, Inc. to thwart super-crime in Africa, while the second was Luke Fox, the son of Bruce Wayne's long-time ally Lucius Fox. Both of these heroes wore specialized armor made by Wayne Enterprises.

The Batwing armor included a functional wingspan made gymnastic aerial maneuvers possible and it was resilient enough that its wearer could shrug off automatic weapons fire in mid-flight without changing course. This suit also bears a suspicious resemblance to the next item on the list, suggesting it may have been a prototype for the fan-favorite armor.

9 Batman Beyond Suit

In the series Batman Beyond, Bruce Wayne has retired due to his old age, being replaced by a young protege, Terry McGinnis. The Batsuit Terry wears while fighting crime in Neo-Gotham is a sleek futuristic armor that augments his physical abilities and has pretty much every practical function the Batman could ever need. In this Batsuit, he battles Joker gangs, a radioactive supercriminal, and even a mind-controlled Kryptonian.

Even in the distant cyberpunk future in which the series took place, this Batsuit is a piece of bleeding edge tech. A futurist like Tony Stark can only dream of making such a perfect exosuit.

8 Green Lantern Armor

The Green Lanterns have access to one of the most powerful weapons in the galaxy--a ring that can summon hardlight constructs of whatever the mind imagines. While Earth's first Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, has a fairly limited imagination and uses his ring to form giant boxing gloves and staplers, even he learned how to conjure a suit of armor capable of interstellar travel and withstanding almost any attack.

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The beauty of armor made by a power ring is that so long as the ringbearer has enough willpower, the armor will be able to withstand anything.

7 Wonder Woman's Armor

7 Wonder Woman deflecting bullets in amazon armor Cropped

Wonder Woman is one of the strongest heroes in the DC Universe. The amazonian hero fights gods on a regular basis and comes out the victor, so whatever armor she relies on for protection needs to be as tough as Hephaestus's anvil and able to take twice the beating.

In the current DC Rebirth continuity, her armor seems to have been made by the amazons specifically with her mission as a foreign ambassador in mind. The armor seems to be based on a hoplite style popular in the Bronze Age. Given the primitive design, its bullet-stopping god-thwarting defensive strength can only be attributed to mystical properties granted by her divine patrons.

6 Lex Luthor's Power Suit

While Wonder Woman relies on magic, Lex Luthor is a testament to human ingenuity's use of technology (and corporate greed) to overcome any obstacle. He has worn several power armors over the years, but the recent example he donned at the start of DC Rebirth is so powerful he wore it with the intention of replacing Superman.

The armor withstood the full fury of Doomsday's onslaught, so apparently Lex's suit really is stronger than a Kryptonian. He's also survived attacks from the hordes of Apokolips, the Justice League, and Brainiac without suffering any injury. The only thing it can't seem to protect him from is baldness.

5 Hellbat

Batman keeps this armor in the Watch Tower to give him the strength needed to fight against the most powerful superhuman threats the Justice League will encounter. He first wears it while infiltrating Apokolips to rescue his son Damian, managing to go blow-for-blow with the god Kalibak.

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The suit drains its wearer's life, being powered in part by their body's metabolic processes. As such, the armor definitely should only be worn in the most dire of circumstances. Still, this is the armor Batman deserves, if not the one he necessarily needs.

4 Thanagarian Nth Metal Armor

The Thanagarians are a warlike alien people whose world is rich in the powerful ore known as Nth Metal. Beyond its incredible physical strength, Nth Metal armor has mystical properties that give it influence over life and death, making it an integral part of the way Hawkman and Harkgirl have continued to reincarnate with their fates interlocked across millennia.

Recently, it has been revealed that Nth Metal is in fact the ninth of ten powerful metals with mystical properties. Both its magical and physical potency make Nth Metal armor one of the most powerful artifacts in the multiverse.

3 Fulcum Abominus

This unusual armor is from the opening scene of Dark Nights: Metal. When the Justice League is forced to fight mechs specifically designed to defeat each of them, Batman actually climbs inside the mouth of the mech attacking him.

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It turns out that the Toymaster had been forced to design these against his will and so left a secret way for each member of the League to take control--by being eaten. When the different mechs come together, they form the giant Fulcum Abominus. Each individual mech can take out a member of the League. When fully assembled, it is strong enough to defeat Mongol and his forces on the War Moon.

2 Justice Buster

Making this suit may very well be Batman's single greatest accomplishment. In it there is something to defeat each member of the Justice League. For Wonder Woman, there is a lariat made by Hephaestus at the same time as Lasso of Truth, its magical opposite which casts powerful illusions. To beat Aquaman, the suit has a specialized magnesium carbonate foam that absorbs all of the Atlantean's moisture.

Most impressively, the armor includes miniaturized red suns in its fists for punching out Superman while taking away the Kryptonian's powers. Even for a genius billionaire vigilante, Batman has an impressive array of armored mech suits, but none are as powerful as the Justice Buster.

1 Element X Armor

Element X is the 10th Metal--the stuff from which Mother Boxes and Father Boxes are made. It is the physical form of creation itself, infinite possibility solidified into a hardened form.

When Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman go into battle against the forces of the Dark Multiverse at the end of Dark Nights: Metal, they each wear armor made from Element X. More than anything else, this armor is what allows the Justice League to defeat their enemies, literally wielding hope and imagination as both a weapon and a form of protection.

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