Iron Man's Original Weakness Took His Name Way Too Literally

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In the early days of Iron Man’s adventures as an Avenger in Marvel Comics, his armor had one debilitating weakness that took his name way too literally. In more recent comics, Iron Man’s suits aren’t actually made of iron, but instead have been described as a nickel-titanium alloy which have been proven to be far stronger and more lightweight than his original suits. Most importantly, Iron Man’s much-needed upgrades since his iron-based first generation suits don't share the one deficiency that made Iron Man’s original armor practically useless.

In Avengers #2 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the Avengers are having their first official meeting since forming for the first time in the last issue, when all of a sudden, they are attacked by an intergalactic enemy. The villain Space Phantom comes to Earth and immediately begins dismantling the Avengers. Space Phantom has the power to perfectly morph into someone, effectively replacing them completely. During the issue, Space Phantom does this to nearly every member of the Avengers and is successful in scrambling the team, that is, until he transforms into Iron Man and gains his weaknesses along with the hero’s awesome strength.

Related: Iron Man Finally Redeems His Most Humiliating Defeats

During the events of Avengers #2, Iron Man was wearing his Model I Mark III gold suit that was made of mono-crystalline iron and just painted the color gold. Since at the time Iron Man was literally a man of iron, he was susceptible to all the shortcomings associated with the metal, and in this case, that included rusting. When Space Phantom perfectly morphed into Iron Man, Thor caused a torrential downpour and the rain made the iron suit rust in place, rendering the villain useless.

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