10 Best Iron Man Armors From Marvel Comics

Iron Man is one of the most popular character in the world thanks to the MCU. While the Iron Man and Avengers films brought Iron Man to the attention of the world, the movies borrowed a lot from Marvel‘s comics. One of the best parts of the Iron Man mythos have always been the variety of armors that Tony Stark has worn over the years. The MCU has shown some awesome Iron Man armors, but they don’t have anything on the creativity in the comics. The MCU movies often skipped over multiple generations of Iron Man’s armor, but the comics went one after the other, showing the evolution of Iron Man.

Iron Man’s armor, like all costumes in comics, have had their ups and downs. Some of them are okay, some are bad, but some are amazing. These ten Iron Man armors are the best though, pushing the bleeding edge of Iron Man armor further.

Iron Man Model 42 Armor

Iron Man is mostly known for the red-and-gold color scheme, with silver and grey sometimes sneaking in. In 2012, to christen a fresh start for a new Iron Man volume, creators Kieron Gillen and Carlo Pagulayan were ready to try another color and decided to go with black. This armor was christened the Model 42 armor, and its black-and-gold coloration works beautifully. While it’s not Iron Man’s first armor that uses black — the character has worn some stealth variants with that scheme, but those armors were mission-specific — it felt like an evolution of style for Iron Man.

One of the most interesting aspects of the armor is the multiple repulsor cores all over the armor, breaking up the black nicely. When the armor first debuted, Iron Man was a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy and thanks to tech supplied by Rocket Racoon was able to remotely control the 42 from light years away. It was also able to retract into a backpack, allowing Tony to get into it very quickly. The black-and-gold Iron Man armor has seen something of a comeback, with versions of it appearing in Marvel Rivals and Fortnite, proving just how great this armor is.

Iron Man Armor Model 15

The mid-’90s were not a great time for Iron Man comics. Iron Man, along with his fellow Avengers and the Fantastic Four, weren’t selling well compared to the X-Men and Spider-Man books. Marvel decided to go a little wild in order to get the books selling again, which led to the Model 15 armor. Older fans will recognize this armor as the suit that Iron Man wore when he was under the control of Kang, a bizarre time in the history of Iron Man that involved bringing teen Tony from the past to the present to defeat his older, more experienced self.

While this period had a lot of problems, the armor that Iron Man wore wasn’t one of them. This armor had a heavy, intimidating look. The riveted shoulders and forearms are the best part, each one a rather unique design element in Iron Man’s armor history. The armor didn’t really have any unique technology, but it didn’t need it. Fans could tell something was off with Iron Man during this story arc, all according to the look of the armor, and that was the most important part.

Iron Man Stealth Armor

Iron Man has worn several variations of the stealth armor, but the first one is still the best. It takes aspects of the Model 4 — definitely more on that one later — while also adding its own flourishes, like the shoulder pads, which would become a part of another classic Iron Man suit. The black-and-blue coloration is the best part of the armor, though, reminding Iron Man fans of how awesome mono-colored Iron Man armors can be. The red in the eye and mouth slits is also a great design choice, calling back to one of the best Iron Man colors.

The stealth armor looks great, but it isn’t useful in battle. All of the armor’s tech was geared towards keeping it invisible to sensors and radar. However, when an armor looks this good, that’s fine. Despite its lack of weapons, it still is extremely useful, as not every mission needs Iron Man to go in all guns blazing. Later versions of the armor have many of the problems of this suit taken care of, but they can’t really compete with how great the original stealth armor is.

Iron Man Armor Model 1

The first suit of Iron Man armor has always been one of the best. It’s an extremely simple design, but that makes it all the more effective. While an argument can be made for the Model 1 Mark III — which had a few cosmetic changes and was gold instead of silver/pewter — being superior to the original, the original has a je ne sais quos that the next armor doesn’t have. It definitely fits someone named “Iron Man,” as it feels heavy and dangerous.

The thing about the Model 1 is that it shows the blueprint for what came next. It has the unibeam, the power batteries on the hip, and the face slits. It’s sort of like a blank canvas — you can see all the potential in the design by looking at it. It’s perfect for the era it was created as well, coming from a time when the heavier a piece of tech looked, the better it was. It did a great job of showing off what Iron Man could be in the future, while still giving him a great look.

The Infamous Iron Man Armor

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Doctor Doom and Iron Man have clashed many times over the years. The two armored titans have always been in something of a competition; each of them is an arrogant genius trying to create new technology and make their armor better. The two respect each other, and after Doom was given a chance at redemption by Reed Richards after Secret Wars (2015), and Iron Man’s “death” at the time, Doom decided to pay homage to his old foe, becoming the Infamous Iron Man.

The Infamous Iron Man takes the best aspects of both characters and melds them together. The three arc reactors look amazing, and the green/teal color of the various energy effects on the armor goes perfectly with the armor’s burnished grey. The face plate combines parts from Doom’s armor — the mouth especially — and Iron Man’s own Model 51 armor. The hooded cloak is the piece de resistance; it’s the most Doom part of the design and feels like it perfectly sets off the design. While the armor looks good on its own, it’s missing something without the cloak.

Iron Man’s Silver Centurion Armor

The Model 8 armor is one of the most legendary armors in the Iron Man mythos, better known as the Silver Centurion. Iron Man loves the Silver Centurion armor, and it’s easy to see why. It’s one of the most martial-looking armors out there; it has a big, powerful feel to it. The shoulder pads are awesome, and the contrast between the red and the silver is beautiful. The shade of red is also slightly different from other Iron Man armors and the helmet is something of a throwback to the Model 1, which had bigger, bulkier helmets in its different versions.

The Silver Centurion takes everything good about Iron Man’s armor since his debut and combines it. Gold is a great color for Iron Man, but there’s just something about the silver that really makes the Iron Man armor pop. It’s a beautiful design, to the extent that it’s been brought back in recent years with very little cosmetic improvements.

The Model 52 “Hulkbuster” Armor

Iron Man has built many different “Buster” armors before, all meant to defeat the most powerful foes out there. The first example of this was the Hulkbuster armor, first introduced as Model 13 with several iterations since then, but the best is easily the Model 52. Based on the stellar version of the Hulkbuster from Avengers: Age of Ultron, this variant stands tall as the best Hulkbuster armor of them all.

While the MCU armor was launched from satellites, the Model 52 is a flying car when it’s not in Hulksbuster form. Iron Man has always liked having his armor be able to transform into an everyday object, and a car is perfect for the Hulkbuster. It’s the first Iron Man armor to be adapted from the movies to the comic, earning it a special place in the history of the character.

Iron Man’s Model 51 Armor

Iron Man’s armor has changed a lot over the years, as technology in the Marvel Universe has gotten better. As tech has become more modular, the Iron Man armor has followed, which leads to the Model 51 armor. This armor has one of the coolest designs ever, and the face plate is the best part. It drops the mouth slit, giving the armor more of a high-tech look in a lot of ways. However, the best part about the armor isn’t the design or the lack of the mouth slit, but the technology behind the armor.

This armor was meant to be the jack-of-all-trades armor, for lack of a better term. It was based on nano-technology, which allowed it to give the armor all of the powers of the previous Iron Man armors. So, for example, instead of having to change into the Hulkbuster armor, he can just make this armor take on the attributes of the Hulkbuster. It’s powerful and has a great design, making it a top-class suit of Iron Man armor.

The Model 4 Armor

The Model 4 is one of the armors that Iron Man wore the longest as his main suit, wearing it from 1976 to 1985. The design was supremely adaptable, which is why it stayed around for so long. It set the standard for every Iron Man armor that came after it. It removed the nose slit and was much more flexible than the other armors that came before it and became a test bed for Stark to modify the Iron Man armor, with the tech and systems overhauled while keeping the same basic design.

This is the armor that Iron Man wore on some of his greatest adventures, including the classic story “Demon in the Bottle.” It’s also the armor that had roller skates, easily the funniest mod to any Iron Man armor. It’s one of the few “perfect” armors in his vault, and it would still work as a great design today. Iron Man has actually returned to this armor several times when he needed to use a more primitive armor because of enemy countermeasures, and it still looks great on the battlefield.

Iron Man’s Model 29 Armor aka “Extremis”

The Model 29 is the best Iron Man armor of them all for many reasons. This is the Extremis armor, the first suit of armor that was based on nanotechnology. Connected directly to Tony Stark’s central nervous system thanks to a special interface, the suit allowed him to react much faster and stored itself in his bones. It was a leap forward in Iron Man armor design, including energy shields, stealth systems, and even a “gravity grip” that allowed Iron Man to climb walls like Spider-Man. Much like the Model 4, it became the base suit in the years to come.

The Extremis also inspired the MCU armors. Its sleek look is a thing of beauty. While previous Iron Man armor used their bulkiness to project strength, this one still looked mean without being massive. It’s another suit that Iron Man could wear right now and still appear high-tech. It looks amazing and has technology that makes it the most dangerous Iron Man armor of all time in battle.

What’s your favorite armor? Let us know in the comments below!