The 'right' hero for our time?

Calgary Herald ^ | Friday, May 02, 2008 | Heath McCoy

[Dan Evans]

At first sight, Iron Man, which hits theatres today, appears to be just another superhero movie.

His gimmick? He's a modern day Sir Lancelot in high-tech armour that brings him enormous powers, ideal for slaying the villainous dragons of the comic-book universe.

But there's much more depth to the Iron Man character than first meets the eye. In fact, he may be the superhero best fitted for the post 9/11 era -- a politically contentious hero for politically contentious times.

In a new book, Iron Man: Beneath the Armor, by Andy Mangels, comic artist Jorge Lucas is quoted describing Iron Man as "the first political superhero." Various voices on the Internet commenting on the movie's arrival have even gone so far as to dub him a right- wing superhero. There's no doubt Iron Man's resume does tend to tip heavily on the conservative side.

Co-created in 1962 by comic book visionary Stan Lee, Iron Man's alter ego is Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist, inventor and weapons manufacturer who first dons his armour when he runs into a jam in South Vietnam, facing a threat from "Red terrorists." This was written, pointedly, while the U.S. was at war in Vietnam.

Throughout the Cold War era, Iron Man would be one of Marvel's great Red-bashers, taking on such Communist super villains as The Mandarin, Crimson Dynamo, The Red Ghost and Titanium Man.

"It seemed like the logical thing to do in those days," says Lee in Mangels' book. "The Communists were the bad guys."

Lee was savvy enough to know that this concept became troublesome as a strong counter culture rose up in the '60s, with many American youth embracing the peace movement and bemoaning the principles of the Cold War.

[Cronos]

Stan Lee is an immortal — like Chuck Jones or Mel Blanc