(Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark) is a fictional comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee, writer Larry Lieber, and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, he first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963). Tony Stark, after being gravely injured and forced to build a devastating weapon, instead created a suit of power armor to save his life and protect the world as Iron Man. He is a wealthy industrialist and genius inventor whose suit of armor is laden with technological devices that enable him to fight crime.

Throughout most of his career, Iron Man has been a member of the superhero team the Avengers, and has been featured in several incarnations of his own various comic-book series. He has been adapted into animated films and TV series, and Academy Award nominated actor Robert Downey Jr. portrays him in an upcoming live-action film. BusinessWeek ranked Iron Man as one of the top ten most intelligent fictional characters in American comics.