One of the most well-known Iron Man storylines is Armor Warsーone, where Tony Stark learns his technology was stolen and tries to hunt down every person who has it. It's about Tony reckoning with his past and refusing to allow any additional harm to come from the weapons he's created, but that's not the only time he's had to deal with Armor Wars.
At the start of the '90s, writer John Byrne and artist John Romita Jr. brought Iron Man fans Armor Wars II. This time, Tony Stark and James Rhodes had to team up and face an enemy that had taken over Tony Stark's life. Armor Wars II was a 9 issue storyline that put Tony down a new path of problems he would have to deal with for the remainder of his time as a hero.
10 He Had His Own Training Room Built
Every good super-team has their own training facilities—it helps keep them sharp so they can be at their best when they’re fighting against the latest super-villain of the week. However, in the late ’80s, Tony Stark had his own personal training room built to test his armor's upper limits and be sure it could perform for him regardless of the scenario. This arc's opening issue sees Tony training in a simulated city block fighting against giant robots.
9 There Were No Armored Villains In It
Despite the title “Armor Wars II,” there aren’t very many armored villains in Armor Wars II. A fake Titanium Man appears in the early part of the story, but Armor Wars II largely isn’t able Stark to recover his technology again. Instead, it’s about scientists who managed to hack into an implant in Stark’s body and taking it over. The only way he can maintain control of his body is by remaining in the Iron Man armor and using the suit’s automated movement functions.
8 Tony Stark Still Had A Secret Identity In This Storyline
During this era, Tony Stark still had a secret identity and went to the same convoluted means to keep it like most other superheroes. He even built a secret elevator to his office no one knew about so he could arrive as Iron Man without being seen. More impressively, his armor grew too complex to be hidden in a briefcase, so he had a secret compartment made behind his executive bar to store the armor. It feels oddly poeticーhaving him store one of his greatest strengths behind one of his biggest weaknesses.
7 Despite Him Going To Great Lengths To Hide, Someone Managed To Discover His Fake Death
While Tony Stark’s identity as Iron Man was kept hidden from the world until the mid-2000s, this is far from the only secret he had going for him.
During the Armor Wars, Tony had Iron Man fake his death to get around his actions to recover the information about his weapons. When a new and improved Iron Man made an appearance to take on Firepower, Tony claimed a new bodyguard he had hired. However, in a battle with the Living Laser, Tony confirmed the villain’s suspicionsーthere was only one Iron Man.
6 Mandarin Regains His Lost Memories
Since the Mandarin’s last major appearance, it had been a while with the character showing up two years prior during Dave Michelinie’s run near the very end. There, the character had lost his memories and didn’t even seem to recognize Iron Man or his hatred for Tony Stark. In this comic, Mandarin finally has his memories restored after recovering his tenth ring, with his memories being restored by Chen Hsu.
5 Iron Man Started Using His Automated Armor
This arc starts the appearance of Tony Stark’s automated mobile armor. It becomes almost vital to the character with this run as well. In the middle of the battle against the Living Laser, the people who’ve hacked his body shut him down completely. Believing Iron Man to be dead, Stark Industries employees rush to get the pilot of the Iron Man armor free, unaware it’s actually their boss inside. But with Stark recently having mastered the ability to control an Iron Man armor remotely, he’s able to recover himself.
4 Iron Man Causes Damage To The Land And Ocean While Fighting Enemies
The character gets into a battle with the Living Laser pretending to be the Titanium Man, who causes massive damage to Stark Industries’ nuclear research facilities. Stark can stop two of the three nuclear reactors from overheating but runs out of time with the third. Instead of being able to stop it, he’s forced to take the reactor itself and toss it into the ocean, burying it several miles into the ocean bed. Though it explodes “safely,” that’s still damaging to the ocean life thereーand likely didn’t earn him any friendship with Namor, either.
3 Fin Fang Foom Makes His Return In The Storyline
After decades of being out of sight, Fin Fang Room is reintroduced during Armor Wars II. The character hadn’t made regular appearances for decades, but he became a major villain again with Mandarin's reappearance.
The Mandarin traveled to the Valley of the Sleeping Dragon and freed him at the behest of Chen Hsuan, the man who restored his memories. With Fin Fang Foom’s power, the Mandarin could briefly conquer a large part of China, as none of them were willing to fight the powerful dragon.
2 The Marrs Company Becomes Stark Industries Rival
The villains responsible for controlling Tony Stark were Desmond and Phoebe Marrs, two characters John Byrne originally introduced in his Namor the Sub-Mariner series. They ran an organization known as The Oracle Group but engaged in any illegal activity on the side. Surprisingly, though they funded the take over of Tony Stark’s body, they play little role in this storyline and mostly leave this control over to Kearson DeWitt, the man responsible for hacking Stark in the first place.
1 The Story Ended In An Annual
Perhaps the strangest thing about this story is that it didn’t reach a true conclusion until an unconnected Annual released several months later. There, Tony learned that Kearson’s father had created designs similar to the Iron Man armor but could never profit. Blaming Tony for it, he took part in the Marrs Company’s ideas in the hopes of shutting down Stark. In the end, in an extended battle with Iron Man where he tried to use his own Overlord Armors to defeat Stark, the effort to control them via a remote uplink cost him his life.