A few years ago Civil War was in full swing and Tony Stark was the head of SHIELD. He was one of the main men behind a plan having all superheroes register and become public servants. This would require all heroes to reveal their secret identities to the public as well. Quickly he was becoming the most hated man in the Marvel universe. As far as being likable, Tony Stark is a drunk, a genius and filthy rich. Those are not qualities that the average fan can attach to and claim "now this guy I understand, he's my hero!"...well maybe Bill Gates.In a strange turn, Marvel Studios chose Iron Man as their fist shot at a major motion picture from their new studio. I went to the theater the day Iron Man was released with modest expectations and found myself loving Tony Stark, who was played by Robert Downy. Downy's life mirrored that of Stark, and I heard later that he openly petitioned to be Iron Man from the start. It apparently takes an arrogant rich drunk to play one, and boy did he hit a home run. The movie, in my opinion, is the best superhero adaptation to the big screen to date. Period. I went to the movies not liking Iron Man at all, and I left really digging him.
Move forward in comics to the Secret Invasion event. Iron Man is tossed as head of SHIELD and made public enemy number one. He is blamed for a nearly successful alien invasion and finds himself on the run from the law. During this time Marvel started a new comic series Invincible Iron Man. I started picking up the back trades of this series and now pick them up right when they come out. It is very well done in both writing and art, and I now find myself being a huge fan of Tony Stark.
