Although this particular design won't be used in the final version of the upcoming Marvel special edition, I thought it would be a blast to show my readers the evolution of this prototype armor that I first came up with for the Iron Man:The End project back when it was originally pitched in 2000. 

This also marks the only time in my site's history that the 'Concept of the Month' was not drawn exclusively by me. 

This full-color design was submitted by the project's penciller and my former protégé at Valiant, BERNARD CHANG, who is hard at work on the interior pages at this very moment. "The Doctor", as Bernard is lovingly called by his Valiant alum, took the basic design concepts from my original sketch and deftly streamlined them, as well as updating some elements to make them more in line with the contemporary version of Iron Man. (You'll notice that the helmet is closer to the film version than my initial composition)

In the months to come, leading up to the October release, I'll be previewing more designs and actual finished pages from this landmark project.