Iron Man (Comics)/Bio & Battles

Iron Man is the superhero persona of the billionaire CEO of Stark Industries Tony Stark. After the death of his parents Howard and Maria Stark in a plane crash, Tony was thrust into the family business of weapons development, where his genius made him one of the foremost military contractors on the globe, eventually leading to his kidnapping by Vietnamese revolutionary Wong-Chu in an attack leading to a piece of shrapnel getting embedded in Stark's chest. In order to keep the shrapnel from piercing his heart, Stark worked with fellow captive Ho Yinsen to build an advanced pacemaker as well as a high tech battle suit, allowing him to fight his way through the Communist revolutionaries, though Yinsen is killed in the escape.

Returning home after his extended captivity, Stark began to update the suit and decided that his time in captivity had exposed him to the reality of his business, inspiring him to use his suit to fight crime and save lives. Over the years, Stark's high tech suits have varied from special designs meant to face the Hulk in combat, special Modular armor that could allow for numerous attachments, and eventually, even a special virus known as Extremis which allowed him to house the advanced nanomachine armor in his hollowed-out bones, allowing him to operate as Iron Man at all times and on a power level far beyond any separate suit.

As a founding member of the Avengers, Tony Stark has been one of the forefront heroes of the Marvel Universe, having faced down numerous alien invasions and has fought from one end of the multiverse to the other. He's also lead the entirety of SHIELD in the events following the Superhuman Civil War and was a founding member of the Illuminati, a team of geniuses and political leaders who sought to shape the history of the Earth for the better.

Battle vs. Hal Jordan (by Drayco90)
The orbital Caligula Station was eerie in its dead silence. The normal buzz and chatter of the busy bazaar and news hub had all but stopped when the universes had been merged. The station had drifted from its normal course and now circled about the little blue planet, Earth- the center of the multiverse. The station had already been seized as an asset of the Green Lantern Corps, who quickly chased away all of the scum and villainy that dwelled within the hive. However, between the Sinestro Corp’s alliance with The Hand and the forces of Galactus contending with their already pressed army, the Green Lanterns had all but abandoned the facility, with only a few on site at a time for some drinks in-between deployments.

“Great.” Though Tony Stark, as he stepped foot into the facility. “This is the last time I listen to that Wilson idiot for a nice place to have a little fun.”

The Armored Avenger had been testing a new suit design back home, on Earth. He didn’t need one with his Bleeding Edge armor being the pinnacle of technology, but it kept him busy, at least. He was easily spotted amongst the rising columns and empty disc-like platforms of the station, as his armor was needed to break through the atmosphere and reach the dark void of space Caligula drifted upon. The bright red and gold shone clear through the dead of the Station.

After a few hours stumbling about the massive and confusing layout, finding a disturbing number of shoe stores, Stark finally found a place to pique his interests. A fluorescent light shone through the darkness, and the sound of electricity and quiet music hummed from it. The Broken Blade. It was clearly a bar of some sort, and that was good enough for Stark. He wasn’t an alcoholic anymore, but he had to admit that the taste of some fine Asgardian wine or even some of that stuff they had on Hala really tickled his fancy. Intergalactic bar? You could sign Tony Stark up for that.

He entered the bar slowly- it seemed just as empty as the rest of the station at first- no bartender or customer in sight. The only thing of note he could see, was the strange Green Flag hanging from the original menu, obscuring it. From the back room, exited a figure, clad in a green and black suit the stuck out almost as clearly as the armor Stark wore now. The same symbol that decorated the flag was upon his chest. The figure dropped his drink immediately, bringing up his white-gloved hand as if it were a weapon, his ring began to glow a bright green.

“Stop right there!” He shouted. “My name is Hal Jordan, Green Lantern of Sector 2814- and this station currently falls with my district of jurisdiction! You are in possession of unregistered weapons technology, surrender now, and you may not have to go all the way to Oa for screening!”

Stark quickly raised his hand, the repulsor in his palm sprang to life. “I’m uh, I’m sorry, Hal, was it? I have a little ‘problem’ with authority- that won’t be a problem, will it officer?” he sarcastically replied- he had fought enough legal battles to keep his work his, and he wasn’t about to let some cowboy cop from some loony bin take it from him now.

“I will ask you one. Final. Time. I’m really, really not in a negotiable mood right now, so just put your weapons down and I don’t have to hurt you.”

“And Cage said I was the one burning the constitution.” Stark murmured. “What happened to my rights. You know ‘anything I say can and will be put on television and make me more fangirls’, or however that’s supposed to go.”

Hal was already tired of the man that stood before him, and after the news he just received not an hour earlier, the belligerent jerk before him was truly the straw that broke the camel’s back. The Lantern threw his fist forward, and immediately a boxing glove of glowing light and energy burst forth from nothing. The glove slammed into Stark’s chestplate, knocking him to the ground. It wasn’t a very powerful attack, but it surprised the Avenger.

“What the Hell was that?!” Iron Man shouted, half to himself in his surprise.

“Behold- Green Lantern’s light!” Hal shouted in response. “I warned you not to keep pressing me, but now I’m taking you down the hard way!” “Green Lantern, huh? I think I used to eat your cereal back when I was a kid.” Stark joked as he picked himself up. “But buddy, let me show you exactly why the criminals of New York call me the INVINCIBLE Iron Man!”

Iron Man activated the thrusters on his feet, rushing forward at the Green Lantern with a charging attack. Hal tried to summon up a brick wall from his power ring, but the construct wasn’t made fast enough, and Stark collided straight through, shattering it. The Bleeding Edge armor barreled into the Lantern, bringing him to the ground. Hal coughed out in pain as the heavy armor pinned him to the ground. He began to gather energy at the tip of his ring, holding it there, creating a sphere of light, even as Iron Man delivered a crushing punch to his face. He felt his nose shatter beneath the weight of the powerful armor, but his will was undeterred, even as blood ran across his jaw. With a shout, he delivered a counter punch, the sphere of light bursting upon the surface of Stark’s faceplate.

Iron Man flew into the ceiling of The Broken Blade with a slam, part of his faceplate had blown away completely, leaving Tony Stark’s naked eye and part of his moustache visible. Stark threw his arm up and fired a few repulsor blasts at the Lantern, but this time Hal was fast enough to throw up a brick wall construct to defend himself against the blows, which impacted harmlessly on the surface. Hal then thrust his fist forward and the brick wall knocked Iron Man into the side of the Bar and trapped him there. Struggling against the construct, the Avenger reached out his armored gauntlet and gripped at a beer bottle on the counter. Gripping it tightly, he threw it at Hal’s head. The bottle shattered harmlessly, but it distracted Hal enough for the construct to waver. As soon Stark landed on the ground, he fired off a massive beam of destruction from his chest, tearing into the stunned Lantern and sending him flying.

“Unibeam. For when every last asshole in a room needs to go down right this second.” Stark smirked. “Never leave home without it.” He touched the side of his helmet, opening up a com line back to his mansion. “Hey, Jarvis? Tell Danny Rand I’ll be able to make it over for that dinner party like we planned after-”

Stark was interrupted as a massive green hammer smashed into his back, throwing him into the shelves of brews. Alcohol from various planets and cosmos dripped, wasted, across Iron Man’s slumped form. Stark grumbled in irritation as he wiped the booze from his exposed face and brushed off parts of his armor.

Hal stood before his foe. He was strong, that was sure, but he was over-confident. Arrogant. He felt like he did when he first joined the Corps when he was needled by this man’s snarky asides and jokes. He raised his power ring and created a set of hand cuffs and a barrier over the port in Iron Man’s chest. He was restrained, by all of Hal’s willpower, holding him in place. At first Stark struggled, but he soon realized that his Repulsors were useless behind his back, and his Unibeam wasn’t going to go off. Reacting quickly, a small weapon popped out of his shoulder panel. It fired a series of darts in a silenced burst that pierced the Lantern’s chest and stomach. Hal staggered back, allowing Stark to free one of his hands. A powerful repulsor blast knocked Jordan off his feet, just in time for Iron Man to grab one of his legs with both freed hands, spinning him in a mighty throw. As Jordan sailed through the air, he crashed through the window of the Broken Blade before using his ring to steady himself in flight. Activating his thrusters Iron Man flew out to meet him.

The two heroes traded blows mid-air for a few brief moments, before Stark managed to grab onto Hal’s arm. The Lantern was confused at first, but was quickly overwhelmed with pain as the enhanced strength of the Bleeding Edge Armor snapped his arm like a twig. Hal’s ring arm hung loosely at his side, broken at the elbow, before Stark gripped his upper arm and roughly raised it quickly, dislocating it at the shoulder. As Hal began to fall through the labyrinth of pillars and platforms that made up Caligula Station, Stark made his final plans. He needed this to end- now. This jerk was interfering with the re-runs of Friends he watched with Pepper, not to mention his work.

Hal landed with a crash. Bleeding in multiple places, with his arm barely still attached at all. Iron Man’s heavy boot hit the ground with a metallic thud next to his ear. He wasn’t sure what would happen next, but he knew he couldn’t lose. He would not let this place be his grave. He could not let his friends sacrifice be in vain. He punched desperately at Iron Man’s leg, but he was helpless as Iron Man grabbed his fist. With crushing force, Iron Man began to put all his strength, and after a few brief moments, a shattering sound was heard, followed by the sinking of Hal’s heart. The Green Lantern power ring was cracked, right down the middle, shattering the logo of the Corps. Jordan looked upon it with equal horror and confusion, as Iron Man left his broken, beaten opponent on the floor of the Caligula Station.

WINNER: IRON MAN

But in the back room of The Broken Blade, an empty conference table stood. Upon it were three files. The first read simply “We regret to inform you that your friends- Guy Gardner, Tomar-Re and Ch’p were slain during the recent Attack on Gilbroome. The Red Lanterns descended on the team and, along with six other Lanterns, and they were unable to repel them.” The second paper, even more disturbing. “The cosmic entity known only as ‘Galactus’ has been found upon a course to Mogo. We do not have sufficient forces to be assured in our ability to halt its advance.” But the final paper was an official notice. The alliance between the Hand and the Sinestro Corps appeared to be prepared to invade Oa itself…

Expert's Opinion
Even though Green Lantern packed some serious firepower in terms of his ring, he lacked the creativity to put his limitless arsenal to good effect. Iron Man, while he was more limited to weapons on his person, had the creativity and inteligence to put that rather small arsenal to his advantage. Also, Iron Man could simply clear flat out distances better than Lantern could, which coupled with his brains and great strength made a very deadly combination. Ultimately, Iron Man was the more prepared, stronger, and smarter warrior of the two.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.