Iron Man was one of the founding members
of the Avengers, one of Marvel's premiere team books. He has rejoined
that team at various times throughout his career and even had affiliations
with a few other groups of super powered do-gooders. Although an
entire chronology of Iron Man's comic career is outside the scope
of this project, there is one event that does play into the toy
line. As the West Coast Avengers comic ended, Tony Stark developed
a proactive team of superheroes called Force Works. Though that
comic was to be short-lived, it was an integral part of basis for
what would become the Iron Man animated series.
In 1995, Marvel put forth the two animated
series that comprised their Marvel Action Hour: Fantastic Four and
Iron Man. The animated series only lasted two seasons due to low
ratings. Compared with their animated cousins on the Fox Network
(X-Men and Spider-Man) the Marvel Action Hour left something to
be desired. The animated series attempted to blend modern comics
continuity (e.g., Force Works) with silver age accents (e.g., origin
stories). While this concept had potential, some of the elements
didn't quite work.
Most of the figures that appeared in the
action figure line actually made an appearance in the animated series.
The Force Works team were Iron Man's supporting cast, with Mandarin
and a team of villains serving as the opposition.
Here is a listing of the episodes from both
seasons of Iron Man from the Marvel Action Hour. Note that some
of the episodes were aired out of order in many markets. They are
listed in the order in which they were reported to have aired. Note:
unreleased figure Dark Aegis appeared in the episode "Distant
Boundaries".
This list is courtesy of Scott Stewart.
1st Season
1. And the Sea Shall Give Up Its Dead
2. Data In, Chaos Out
3. Silence My Companion, Death My Destination
4. UNKNOWN
5. Rejoice! I Am Ultimo, Thy Deliverer
6. Enemy Within, Enemy Without
7. The Origin of the Mandarin
8. The Defection of Hawkeye
9. The Origin of Iron Man, Part 1
10. Iron Man to the Second Power, Part 1
11. The Origin of Iron Man, Part 2
12. Iron Man to the Second Power, Part 2
13. The Wedding of Iron Man
|
2nd Season
1. The Beast Within
2. Fire and Rain
3. Cell of Iron
4. Not Far From the Tree
5. Beauty Knows No Pain
6. Iron Man on the Inside
7. Distant Boundaries
8. The Armor Wars, Part 1
9. The Armor Wars, Part 2
10. Empowered
11. Hulk Buster
12. Hands of the Mandarin, Part 1
13. Hands of the Mandarin, Part 2 |
Accompanying the Marvel Action Hour animated
series was a companion comic book. Done in an approximation of the
animated style (but not quite) and roughly following the continuity
of the animated series, the Marvel Action Hour Iron Man comic lasted
all of 8 issues. The comic was cancelled due to poor sales. The
accompanying Fantastic Four Comic suffered a similar fate.
Nevertheless, the series did have a few notable
features. First of all, the premiere issue came polybagged with
a "preview" of both Marvel Action Hour animated series. It also
came with an imitation animation cell showing three Iron Man armors
(see picture at the top of the main page).
Here are pictures of the eight existing
Marvel Action Hour Iron Man comics.
