Iron Man #258.1, July 2013
Iron Man celebrates his 60th anniversary in 2023. (Actually, Tales of Suspense #39 was on the newsstands in December of 1962 with a cover of date of March 1963. But why quibble?)
What better way to honor Shellhead’s anniversary than with a dramatic —and iconic — 2013 title splash from Bob Layton’s (breakdowns by Dave Ross) “variant” story of the Armor Wars sequel.
Bob, with John Romita Jr. and David Michelinie created the original and memorable Armor Wars I in 1987, and a few years later was scheduled to be the solo writer and on the sequel. But… Valiant comics presented Bob an offer he couldn’t refuse, and he jumped ship at Marvel. John Byrne stepped in and wrote the already announced sequel, and then 23 years later, Layton — with Michelinie and Ross — had his chance again to do his own take.
Follow all that?
Don’t worry, if I got anything wrong, Bob will definitely let me know.
Happy Anniversary, Tony Stark.
