First sighting: "Iron Man" made his debut in Marvel Comics' Tales of Suspense #39 in March 1963. He was created by the legendary Stan Lee along with Larry Lieber and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby.

Character sketch: Tony Stark, a young genius and the son of an industrialist, enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the age of 15. He inherited his father's business at age 21.

Why the suit: While in Vietnam to observe a field test, Stark took a piece of shrapnel to the heart and was captured. While pretending to make weapons for the communists, he created the Iron Man suit complete with pacemaker to keep his heart beating. After his escape, Iron Man used the armor to fight crime.

His look: Iron Man's first suit was an clunky gray armor. It turned gold in the second story and artist Steve Ditko gave it the more stylish red and gold design in December 1963.

Comics: "Iron Man and Sub-Mariner" was published in April 1968. He went solo with "The Invincible Iron Man #1" a month later.

On video: There was an "Iron Man" cartoon TV series in 1966. "The Invincible Iron Man," an animated feature film, went direct to DVD last year.

Iron Man fans: Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ghostface Killah, a big fan, called his first album "Ironman" and made references the hero in his lyrics. The Black Sabbath song is about a different Iron Man, one created by a magnetic storm. But it does play over the closing credits of the new film.