BOB'S TOP FIVE IRON MAN ARMOR COUNTDOWN!

Last month, I was asked to write an article for Marvel Spotlight voicing my opinion on the various Iron Man armors that have materialized over the character's history. That exercise got me thinking that it might be fun to start out the year by ranking my Top Five Best Iron Man published armors of all time. This list actually falls into the Bob Layton F.A.Q. category, since I'm frequently asked about which armors I prefer.

When I say "Top Five," I'm not necessarily stating that these are the best designs ever conceived. I'm ranking them purely by their influence on the industry or on my personal preference. There are several armors that I've designed that I wish I could include in here, but since they were done strictly for this website, I will have to disqualify them from this particular list. I limited this ranking to only five designs, simply due to time constraints.

I'd like to give honorable mention to the Adi Granov armor (which ranks a solid #6 in my book), as well as several of the individual specialty armors.

If you have an opinion concerning your choice for the "Top Five Iron Man Armor Designs", feel free to send me an email and we'll discuss it in more detail on my monthly Letters Page.

Next month, I'll be bringing you the "Five Worst Iron Man Armor Designs of All Time," which will be a much easier choice to make!

MODULAR ARMOR / MODEL XVIII

This may be a shock to some of you, but I really love this particular Iron Man armor design. Interestingly, I've never had an opportunity to draw this version (Somebody please commission me...?). At the time it was being used at Marvel, I was working elsewhere. This concept incorporates my personal philosophy on variant armors into one, simple design. I believe it’s a great idea to have a single armor that has the versatility and capability of multi-tasking. I also like the streamlined look of the basic under-armor configuration and the variation in coloring from the standard red torso and gold limbs.

ORIGINAL GRAY ARMOR/ MODEL I

One need only see the trailer to the upcoming Iron Man film to appreciate the imposing figure of this original Iron Man design. Although it's incredibly crude and clunky by today's standards, this  armor epitomizes the essence of Marvel philosophy, which was "a flawed lead character thrust into extraordinary circumstances." Unlike other comic characters, Tony Stark was a normal human who relied on the technology, first and foremost, to keep himself alive. This made him unique, both in the Marvel universe and in comics in general. That makes this design a landmark in comics.

POST-ARMOR WARS ARMOR/ MODEL XIV

Even though I designed the Silver Centurion armor, I was never a huge fan of it. Only because it broke my essential Iron Man rule that each consecutive armor should be more streamline than the last. When we introduced this new Iron Man armor in issue #231, David and I wanted to return Iron Man to something that was reminiscent of the original Red-and-Gold design, but infinitely more compact. I also felt that it was important to create an armor that was easiest enough for other artists to interpret. One of my issues with some of the current designs is that they are difficult to recreate accurately.

ORIGINAL SPACE ARMOR/ MODEL IX

The reason I chose this as number 2 on my list is that it holds a significant place in Iron Man history. This was the very first "Variant Armor" and would pave the way for many new designs to come.  As a young reader, I yearned for Iron Man to have a variety of armors for specific tasks. So when I finally got a chance to work on the series, David and I introduced the variants into the storyline when the opportunity presented itself.  This one I particularly like because it was an amalgam of the Original Gray armor and the classic Red-and-Gold.

CLASSIC RED-AND-GOLD ARMOR/ MODEL VIII

Of all the Iron Man designs, this one has to be the most popular of all time. In fact, almost all subsequent Iron Man configurations are based on this original concept. As I said earlier, it's important to create a design that can be interpreted easily by other artists. In the case of the classic Red-and-Gold, it couldn't any easier. Although I didn't have anything to do with designing this particular version, I did add my own personal touches to it when I took over the series. Out of every Iron Man armor ever conceived, this is the most significant and long-lasting of them all.