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Iron Man (Tony Stark) Reading Order

Since the 1960s, Iron Man is a major superhero at Marvel but his popularity drastically increased from 2008 onwards, thanks to Robert Downey Jr. playing the character on the big screen.

Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby, Anthony Edward ‘Tony’ Stark made his first appearance in Tales of Suspense #39 before founding the Avengers alongside Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp, and the Hulk not long after.

As you well know thanks to the movies, Tony Stark is a businessman superhero, a rich industrialist, and a genius inventor who was a weapons manufacturer and provided weapons for the Army before being captured by local terrorists. They wanted him to build weapons for them, but Tony chose to build a suit of armor for himself to escape his kidnappers instead. After that, Tony decided to upgrade his creation and put his resources to better the world as the superhero named Iron Man.

For Stan Lee, Tony Stark was a way to go against the tide, creating a character that represented everything that Marvel’s readers hated at the time: “the quintessential capitalist”. Born rich as the son of Howard Stark, also a genius inventor and the founder of Stark Industries, Tony was a ladies’ man with an invulnerable armor but with a (literally) broken heart. And before taking the looks of Robert Downey Jr., Lee based the physical and personality traits of the character on another rich (real) figure, Howard Hughes.

Iron Man Reading Order, a (Mostly) Tony Stark Comic Book List

As Iron Man is one of the founding members of The Avengers, it also means he lives many many adventures with the team, where we can find him on a regular basis, with some occasional interruptions. For this reason, the following reading order does not include all his Avengers appearances, but you’ll find some information about his presence on the team, and his participation in events. We invite you to check out The Avengers Reading Order for more information.

This is mostly a Tony Stark reading order. But on several occasions, other characters have taken the mantle of Iron Man, when Tony Stark couldn’t do the job (for various reasons, from alcoholism-related problems to being dead). Following is a short list of people who, at some point, have been called Iron Man (other than Tony):

Iron Man The Classic Era: From The Silver Age to the Bronze Age and Beyond! (1963-1996)

Logo Avengers for the Jonathan Hickman's Avengers Reading OrderAvengers Note: Iron Man joins the Avengers in Avengers (1963) #1, taking place after Tales of Suspense #44. He quits the superhero team in Avengers (1963) #16 after Tales of Suspense (1959) #66. From issue #51, he becomes a supporting character in the title but does not rejoin officially the team until #93 (after Iron Man #40). During this era, The Avengers are also part of several crossovers (check out our Marvel Comics Events and Crossovers List).

As said above, Iron Man is introduced in Tales of Suspense #39. The character is featured in the title until #99, leaving it to headline his own first solo series, Iron Man, which will be published from 1968 to 1996. This massive period in Iron Man’s history is not collected in its entirety, and Marvel has published those issues in different collections.

The most complete to date (and still ongoing) is The Epic Collection line. This line is a numbered collection of sequential issues of one title (large, full-color trade paperback), sometimes including crossovers from related titles, starting from the beginning of a character – not released sequentially. The issues have also been collected in the Marvel Masterworks line (hardcover reprints of classic stories in chronological order), and in the Marvel Omnibus line (large-format graphic novel editions). Not listed below as the collection has been stopped, five volumes have been released in the Essential line (black-and-white volume in paperback of stories from mostly Silver Age or Bronze Age).

Iron Man Epic Collection, Classic Era

Marvel Masterworks: Iron Man

The Invincible Iron Man Omnibus

From Heroes Reborn to Avengers Dissambled (1996-2005)

The Onslaught Saga transformed the Marvel Universe. Titles were canceled and heroes were… reborn. Yes, that was the origin of the “Heroes Reborn” situation in 1996. Following the apparent deaths of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and Doctor Doom at the end of the event, Marvel asked the Image Comics founder to come back to relaunch their heroes. Story-wise, Iron Man and the rest of the Avengers were swept out of continuity and transported into a pocket universe by Franklin Richards.

  • Heroes Reborn: Iron Man
    Collects Iron Man Vol. 2 #1-12. Iron Man Vol.2 #13 is not collected, it is a crossover between the Marvel and WildStorm characters. 

Following the conclusion of this storyline, Iron Man and Cie returned to the mainstream Marvel Universe in the four-issue miniseries Heroes Reborn: The Return and Iron Man was part of the titles relaunched after those events, giving us the third volume of Iron Man, written by Kurt Busiek, Joe Quesada, Mike Grell and more.

A part of Iron Man Vol. 3 has been collected in Omnibus:

  • Iron Man by Kurt Busiek & Sean Chen Omnibus
    Collects Iron Man vol. 3, #1-25, Captain America Vol. 3 #8, Quicksilver #10, Avengers Vol. 3 #7, Iron Man & Captain America Annual 1998, Fantastic Four Vol. 3 #15, Iron Man Annual 1999, Thor Vol. 2 #17, Peter Parker: Spider-Man Vol. 2 #11, ‘Juggernaut: The Eighth Day, Iron Man: The Iron Age #1-2. Also collected in:
  • Iron Man: The Mask in the Iron Man Omnibus
    Collects Iron Man (1998) #1/2, #26-49, Annual 2000-2001

Iron Man Vol. 3 in trade paperbacks:

Logo Avengers for the Jonathan Hickman's Avengers Reading OrderAvengers Disassembled marks the beginning of a new era full of events for the Avengers, under Brian Michael Bendis’ supervision. This story arc serves as an entry point in the Avengers series and has also major ramifications for the characters. For an issue by issue order, check out our Avengers Disassembled reading order.

Iron Man: Extremis and Director of SHIELD (2005-2008)

In the aftermath of Avengers: Disassembled, Iron Man is relaunched by Warren Ellis with the now-classic story arc ‘Extremis’ and the superhero joins the New Avengers through the Civil War, one of the most important events of this era, and also one where Tony Stark is a major player in it.

Civil War Daredevil Reading OrderCivil War! It’s time to choose your side. In the wake of a tragedy, Capitol Hill proposes the Super Hero Registration Act, requiring all costumed heroes to unmask themselves before the government. Heroes must now choose between rallying behind Iron Man’s pro-registration forces or Captain America’s opposition. Check our full Civil War reading order for the full experience.

The Mighty Avengers Icon

Mighty Avengers! In the wake of Civil War, Tony Stark takes over as the director of SHIELD and joined the newly formed Mighty Avengers. You can find the whole Mighty Avengers collected in Mighty Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis: The Complete Collection.

In a single Complete Collection:

In classic trade paperbacks:

Invincible Iron Man (2008-2012)

We’re in May 2008, and Marvel takes advantage of the release of the first Iron Man movie to relaunch Iron Man, this time under the title Invincible Iron Man. This is the beginning of Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca’s four-year run on the character. This is still a tumultuous period for the Avengers, beginning with Secret Invasion leading us to the Dark Reign era of Norman Osborn. It came to an end with Siege.

In Iron Man Modern Epic Collection

In classic trade paperbacks

This part of the run has also been reprinted in Iron Man by Fraction & Larroca: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1. There is no volume 2!

Marvel Heroic AgeThe Heroic Age! When The Dark Reign era concluded, it was replaced by The Heroic Age. It began with the one-shot Enter the Heroic Age. Iron Man is part of The Avengers and also appears in the first eleven issues of New Avengers.

 

At this stage, Invincible Iron Man was renumbered to #500 to correspond with the legacy numbering. Iron Man 2.0 is also launched at this time, this is a James Rhodes/War Machine series.

Logo Avengers for the Jonathan Hickman's Avengers Reading OrderAt the end of this era, Iron Man/Tony Stark appears in multiple events and miniseries, including Spider-Island (a Spider-Man event), Annihilators: Earthfall (a Guardians of the Galaxy miniseries taking place during the aftermath of War of Kings), Avengers: X-Sanction and Avengers vs. X-Men (both of them during the Avengers Vs. X-Men event)

Iron Man in Marvel Now (2013-2015)

Marvel relaunched its universe in October 2012 with Marvel Now, with Iron Man as one of the stars of the era. He headlines naturally his own series, with Kieron Gillen and Greg Land on creative duties, and also appears in Avengers, New Avengers, and Guardian of the Galaxy and participates in the Infinity event (see reading order here).

Superior Iron Man (2015)

New Armor. New city. New creative team. Tony Stark/Iron Man is changed by the event of Avengers & X-Men: Axis (see reading order), in which he is one of the main characters. The conclusion sets up his new series by writer Tom Taylor and artist Yildray Cinar. This is the time of the Superior Iron Man (not to be confused with Superior Spider-Man).

Logo Avengers for the Jonathan Hickman's Avengers Reading OrderIf the series stops here, Superior Iron Man appears next in the long arc Avengers: Time Runs Out by Jonathan Hickman, who moves the pieces in that story to open the way for the Secret wars event. The full “Avengers: Time Runs Out” storyline is also collected in one big hardcover.

This is the end of the Marvel Universe as we know it with Secret Wars (see reading order). You can find other versions of Tony Stark in the miniseries Armor Wars: Warzones and Ultimate End.

All-New, All-Different Marvel (2015-2016)

Following Secret Wars, a new Marvel Universe is established in All-New, All-Different Marvel. Brian Michael Bendis is put on creative duties of the Iron Man books, yes books, as he launches Invincible Iron Man and International Iron Man. Tony is also a member of the Avengers, in All-New, All-Different Avengers through the end of Civil War II.

Civil War IICivil War 2! Once again, Tony Stark is one of the major players in this conflict, this time on the good side. When a new Inhuman emerges, with the ability to profile the future, Captain Marvel wants him to work with the Ultimates, in order to preemptively tackle disasters before they happen, but Iron Man opposes the idea, suggesting it isdangerous to take his visions for granted for several reasons. Go check out our Civil War II reading order for the full experience.

Interlude: Tony Stark as an A.I. (2016-2018)

Following Civil War II, Tony Stark didn’t headline any title at all. He couldn’t simply do it, as he was in a coma, his body lying inside a pod in a Stark Industrial Complex in Dover. Brian Michael Bendis was still in charge of Iron Man, and this period sees Victor von Doom trying to be a hero and carry on Stark’s legacy in Infamous Iron Man. He was not the only one to carry on Tony’s mission as the young Riri Williams built her own armor and soon finds herself under the guidance of an A.I. duplicate of Stark himself. Both titles culminate when Riri and Victor realize that the only way to solve the mystery of Tony’s fate is to join forces. For the occasion, Marvel goes back to the legacy numbering.

Marvel Fresh Start (2018–)

While Riri Williams continues her life as a superheroine in Ironheart, Tony Stark is back in charge. He headlines his own new series by Dan Slott and Valerio Schiti, leading us to the Iron Man 2020 event that serves as a conclusion to this run. He also stars in Avengers Vol. 8.

Dan Slott’s run on Iron is available on Omnibus:

Collected in classic trade paperbacks:

Before starting a new run, you can check out this stand-alone miniseries by Derek Landy and Angel Unzueta. When a government agent turned Hydra provocateur stages a daring breakout on her way to prison, the escape attracts the attention of both Captain America and Iron Man!

Christopher Cantwell takes the reigns for Iron Man Vol. 6, where Tony Stark resigned from the board of Stark Unlimited to embark on a journey of self-discovery.

Iron Man and the X-Men! Following the end of Cantwell’s run, Gerry Duggan took over creative duties making for the occasion the Iron Man an unofficial part of the X-Men. To know more about how this series intertwined with the X-Men, check out our Second Age of the X-Men of Krakoa Reading Order.

I Am Iron Man is an anthology series released to celebrate Iron Man’s 60th anniversary. Each issue takes place in a different period, from Iron Man’s first appearance in Tales of Suspense #39 to present day. Written by Murewa Ayodele with art Dotun Akande.

  • Iron Man (2024) #1-ongoing
    The story continues in October 2024 with the start of a new volume written by Spencer Ackerman and illustrated by Julius Ohta.

Did we forget an important issue? Did we make a mistake? Let us know in the comments and help us make this reading order better!

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