Marvel Comics announced a radical redesign of its popular character Iron Man, tapping cartoonist Kris Straub for the new look that would carry the 46-year-old character into the second tenth of the 21st century.
“I’m very excited about cropped jackets, and I figured this would be a good way to use a cropped jacket from the late eighties or early nineties,” said Straub, veteran of newspaper comics Chainsawsuit and Starslip. “It’s dumb to think a wealthy, vain industrialist would only have one costume without any kinds of accessories!”
The more streamlined Iron Man armor includes a half-mask exposing Tony Stark’s jaw. “I just decided that it was time to let Tony show some emotion with his face,” said Straub. “Plus it’s just a more relaxed look for him. Like he could wear this in battle, or in the boardroom, or on a hot night out.”
Iron Man creator Stan Lee offered his full support for the new direction. “Every great character design in the last twenty years has had a cool jacket: Dazzler, Rogue, the Heroes Reborn Bucky. And I like that it looks like the jackets I wear.”
“I really like tight cropped jackets to spice up character design,” added Straub. “Maybe they’ll let me work on the Avengers and I can give everyone some cooler-looking casual costumes.”
“I don’t know though, I’d probably just throw on a cropped jacket.”
