Hey everyone, I'm Rob Bass from Geek Cast Live and it's about time I started blogging. This is the first blog I am putting out, and it's actually the first of a three part series. It's going to basically be a "marry, fuck, or kill" but for superheroes. Except it's more like "love, loathe, and the Ironman movie will be better than Superman's in every way."
Now, for those of you who don't know (which will basically be everyone) I am a Marvel fanatic. Period. Not saying any other comic production company isn't good, I've was just brought up in a house where Marvel reigned supreme. Now with this summer's upcoming blockbusters I'm presented with the opportunity to do something I've always wanted to do. Compare my all-time favorite superhero and icon against one I absolutely cannot stand. Now, as you could have probably guessed from the title of this post, Ironman is my favorite superhero. I'm now going to, in painful detail, explain: who Ironman is as a character, and why he is who he has become. To save us a little bit of time and trouble, when I start my explaination, I'm going to solely use the Ironman movies as a reference, otherwise I'm going to be writing a novel, which I'm sure Joe and Ry would loooooove. So without further ado, let's go.
Alright, so this all began probably fifteen years ago when I happened to get ahold of "Tales of Suspense #39," which translates from nerd to the first issue that Ironman ever appeared in. Now, I was a sucker for building things as a kid and I had one of the most ridiculous imaginations ever. So naturally, I grew to admire Tony Stark. I've read every comic arc and most every novel adaptation, I've watched the movies and way too many of the cartoons, and I even started engineering school so I could be the real life Anthony Edward Stark. I'd go so far as to say I'm the biggest Ironman fan in the world, but that still might be an understatement.
So, I grew up looking up to Tony. Over the years, I've become more fond of tragic characters than most anything, and Tony is most definitely a tragic character. I think that Tony is an incredibly relatable character, which is something that always seems to shine through when it comes to Marvel's characters. Now, hopefully, some of you are going to flip your keyboard off your desk and come up with some really creative insults for me. "Rob, this guy is made of money, gets any girl he wants, has a suit of pseudo-science armor that can effectively do anything, and he has the ego that makes Zeus look as humble as Mr. Miyagi, how can he possibly be relatable?!" Well, lucky for you, I'm going to do just that.
Tony has never had a close family connection. Daddy worked all the time and mom was off... Well, probably enjoying a cabana boy and a martini. So, he grew up with some level of emotional distance, which explains why he can't manage to have an actual relationship. This lack of affection also explains his incessant womanizing, he's trying to fill a void that he never really experienced. Psychology is cool, kids. He did, however, have a friend who he felt close to. Obadiah Stane, who was Tony's mentor, confidant, advisor, and playmate more-or-less. Now, I don't know if you really get that feel in the first movie. Obadiah is basically the closest thing that Tony has to family... And then he turns on Tony because Stane is actually a capitalistic, Gordon Gecko-y, greedy bastard. Such is the corporate world.
Tony has also had tons of problems with addictions. Sex, drugs, booze, and rock and roll have basically summed up Tony's life. Some of these occurred before his accident, though many after. He's coping. Tony's handling the situation like thousands upon thousands of other people. He's struggling, not just against super-villians, criminal masterminds, and terrorist, but against the fact that he has a terminal illness. He knows that at any time, he could die. If he puts to much physical strain on any one part, the shrapnel in chest could pierce his heart. Kinda heavy stuff, right? He strengthens his resolve and puts his vices behind him because he decides he wants to be a part of something bigger than himself.
Which leads to my next point, the man on the throne. Tony Stark is something of a narcissist. He's had himself to rely on his entire life, and he's gotten very good at being reliable to himself. This relates to his lack of family interaction and affection. Think about it, Tony never had parents in the elementary years of his life, and sure didn't have them during his teenage years. That's when we start becoming the people we are meant to people, and we are very easily broken here. Tony realizes he can't really rely on anyone else to help him. So, he took the initiative to use his innovative understandings of the world, and apply them. Between being brilliant and becoming a super-efficient self-motivated engines of ambition, Tony had everything he needed to become this guy with an ego that needs it's own bedroom. However, this is also what leads to Tony quite often putting his wants, needs, and ego on the front lines. Now, Tony is the most selfish-selfless guy I can think of. He invest himself in every challenge he encounters. He's a proud guy, and proud men don't take kindly to being beaten. Ever. So when he invested his time, effort, money, and life into helping people that's exactly what he expects to give. Honestly, with everything Stark has gone through, it's a miracle he turned out to be a good guy. Looking at his tragic past, he's basically one psycho-ex away from being Doctor Doom.
So, basically, what I'm trying to say is, Tony Stark, our Armored Avenger, is probably one of the most developed and relatable superheroes I can think of. Again, I could probably continue writing for years about this, and I know I cut quite a bit from what I originally wanted to talk about. Hopefully, you know Ironman a little better as a character now and maybe this will help explain some things in the upcoming Ironman 3. Hope you enjoyed the read.
Tune in next time for... "The Bass Trilogy Part 2: Fuck you, Superman."
