Our ‘Many Armours of Iron Man’ series chronologically spotlights Tony Stark’s numerous suits from over the decades. We plan to cover every suit in order – including each one’s debut and key appearances – before expanding even further into the Marvel Multiverse!
Our second entry really spans a decade, from the mid-1970s right up to the mid-1980s with Iron Man Armour Model 4 (Golden Avenger), 5 (Space) and 6 (Deep Sea) and includes notable appearances for each…
Head to our Many Armours of Iron Man Index for more!
As with Model 3, there’s a fair amount of debate over the first appearance of the ‘Iron Man Armour Model 4’ armour. Even though Tony Stark’s armour was pretty much evolving to this look for a good few issues before this one. Some see the armour featured in Tales of Suspense #85 as the suit’s official debut, but there are more distinct differences in the Model 4 armour than a simple strength upgrade. Or the loss of Iron Man’s nose!
Also referred to as the ‘Classic Armour’ or his ‘Golden Avenger’ suit, Tony Stark constructs the Iron Man Armour Model 4 using 3D knitting. Wearing the slimmer-fitting body suit under his clothes, a simple command causes the armour to expand over the rest of his body. The arms, legs, gloves, boots and helmet can telescopically extend to cover him from head to toe, then harden with a force-field to protect the wearer.
The armour also adds a tractor beam, convincing hologram projections, a lie-detector, a fire extinguisher, finger lasers, gyro-stabilisers for improved flight, a voice distorter, sonic emitter and could be charged using solar power…
| Notable Appearances | Event / Crossover |
| Iron Man #85 (1976) Having taken a severe pounding from Happy Hogan who’s been, once again, transformed into the Freak; despite his injuries and the Freak’s continuing rampage, Tony takes the time to build a whole new suit and uses it to overpower and restore his friend. 1st appearance: Iron Man Armor Model 4 | |
| Iron Man #122-128 (1970 Justin Hammer takes control of the Iron Man armour and frames the Golden Avenger by firing his repulsor through the Ambassador of Carnelia, killing him instantly in front of a huge crowd in Monaco; Tony Stark clears Iron Man’s name, but these events send him spiralling into alcoholism. 1st appearance: Ling McPherson | |
| Iron Man #149-150 (1981) The Model 4’s solar-powered recharging capabilities prevent it from completely losing power while he’s trapped in the 6th Century with Doctor Doom, though recharging proves to be slow. | |
| Iron Man #170 (1983) Stark International is assaulted by the Roxxon’s armoured agent Magma, but Tony Stark is too wasted to do anything about it; James Rhodes puts on the Model 4 armour, becoming Iron Man for the first time; Stark is uninterested in reclaiming the suit and tells Rhodey to hang onto the suit for a while; as Iron Man, Rhodey quits the Avengers. | |
| Secret Wars #8 (1984) Iron Man #182 (1984) The Iron Man armour is damaged when Rhodey is struck by the Wrecker while fighting the ‘Secret Wars’ on the Beyonder’s Battleworld; Mister Fantastic uses alien tech to fix and upgrade the Model 4 suit; when Rhodey returns to Earth, he discards the tech which appears to have ceased to function. 1st appearance: Alien armour elements | SECRET WARS |
| West Coast Avengers #1 (1984) Iron Man ‘returns’ to the Avengers, though his teammates are unaware that it’s actually James Rhodes under the armour, making this the moment when Rhodey first joins the team. 1st appearance: Avengers West Coast | WEST COAST AVENGERS ASSEMBLE! |
| Notable Appearances | Event / Crossover |
| Iron Man #199 (1985) After experiencing severe headaches caused by the armour, James Rhodes makes his last unofficial outing as Iron Man in order to pursue agents of Obadiah Stane’s men on a series of kidnapping missions; the death of Morley Erwin prompts Tony Stark to return to the role of Iron Man (in the following issue). | |
| Iron Man #244 (1989) Carl Walker (formerly Clay Wilson, the armoured employee of Justin Hammer known as Force) repays his debt to Tony Stark by taking on the role of Iron Man to defend Stark Enterprises from an attack from the Fixer. 1st appearance: Force/Carl Walker/Clay Wilson as Iron Man, Joanna Nivena-Finch | HEARTBEATEN |
| Quasar #8 (1990) The discarded alien upgrades Mister Fantastic combine, creating the robotic creature called Omnivore; Quasar lures the creature into magma to defeat it. New identity: Alien armour elements as Omnivore | |
| Iron Man #31 (2000) After his previous suit of armour apparently gained sentience and tried to kill him (though it’s later revealed to have been the work of Ultron), Tony Stark starts wearing the Iron Man Armour Model 4 once again for quite some time; Tony feared he may repeat the chain of events that led to the ‘Safe Armour’ gaining a life of ts own. 1st appearance: Sons of Yinsen (Sun Tao); New Timbetpal | SONS OF YINSEN |
| Invincible Iron Man #13-14 (2009) Tony Stark dons the lower-tech Iron Man Armor Model 4 to escape detection when he flees America to escape the wrath of Norman Osborn and the US Government (Stark often resorts to using the Classic Armour from this point on when his newer suits are damaged). | DARK REIGN |
| Superior Iron Man #9 (2015) The Iron Man Armour Model 4 is among the suits used by the Tony Stark AI and Rescue (Petter Potts) against a magically-corrupted Tony Stark. |
The Iron Man Armour Model 4 was created by Roger Slifer, Herb Trimpe and Len Wein.
Tony Stark investigates a series of deaths in Allentown, Iowa, and hoicks his Space Armor MK 1 (also referred to as Armor #14C) out of his hi-tech walk-in Iron Man vending machine to take part in a mission in space. Despite the suit not having been field-tested, he takes it into action and faces an unexpected super-human foe.
Later retroactively rechristened as the Iron Man Armour Model 5, the Space Armour can be used for lengthy periods in space due to its enhanced life-support systems. The suit carries many of the standard weapons systems, though it’s a struggle to handle when used in normal gravity.
| Notable Appearances |
| Iron Man #142 (1981) Iron Man’s investigation into the source of a series of sudden deaths in Iowa leads him to the Star Well space station in Earth’s orbit; Tony Stark selects the Space Armour MK 1 for this mission and finds Roxxon are to blame for the deaths. 1st appearance: Space Armor MK1/Iron Man Armour Model 5 |
| Iron Man #143-144 (1981) Roxxon employee Arthur Dearborn tries to convince Iron Man that the Star Well project is legitimate; Dearborn is revealed to have been granted superhuman abilities by Roxxon, transforming him into Sunturion; Iron Man clumsily battles Sunturion in the Space Armour until they’re forced together to stop the Star Well from crash-landing Florida. 1st appearance: Sunturion/Arthur Deadborn |
| Superior Iron Man #9 (2015) The Iron Man Armour Model 5 is among the suits used by the Tony Stark AI and Rescue (Petter Potts) against a magically-corrupted Tony Stark. |
The Iron Man Armour Model 5 was created by Bob Layton, David Michelinie and John Romita Jr.
The Iron Man Armour Model 6 armour doesn’t make its debut until after Models 7-8 as Tony Stark had built it in preparation for any future deep-sea missions. This suit’s all statement with its gold finish that shines even it’s not reflecting anything. And it retains that and that familiar Model 4 ‘Classic Armour’ helmet under its goldfish bowl lid.
The Model 6 – or Deep Sea Armour – uses versions of the repulsors and tri-beam that have been adjusted for use in the ocean depths. It can operate up to three miles from the surface, release a (hopefully environmentally-friendly) black chemical to cover his escape, generate an electrical field, utilise extended exo-units with ‘hands’ and fire mini-torpedoes.
| Notable Appearances | Event / Crossover |
| Iron Man #218 (1987) The US State Department turn to Iron Man for help when the KGB threaten to utilise a toxic gas tank from the Titanic to poison London; already prepared for an undersea mission of this sort, Tony Stark utilises his Iron Man Armour Model 6 to head below the waves and oppose the KGB’s immense Leviathan robot. 1st appearance: Deep Sea Armor/Iron Man Armor Model 6 | |
| Invincible Iron Man #12 (2009) Tony Stark uses his old Iron Man Armour Model 6 to escape from Namor the Sub-Mariner when Norman Osborn sends him to bring the fugitive Stark to ‘justice’. | DARK REIGN |
The Iron Man Armour Model 6 was created by Bob Layton and David Michelinie.
Reading Order Copyright © 2025 Omniverse Comics Guide
Leave a Reply