Iron Monger

The Iron Monger is an identity used by several fictional supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The identity's first and most notable incarnation Obadiah Stane first appeared in Iron Man #163 (October 1982), created by Dennis O'Neil and Luke McDonnell, while the Iron Monger armor first appeared in Iron Man #200 (November 1985).

Publication history

Obadiah Stane, the first Iron Monger, debuted in Iron Man #163 (October 1982). He dons the Iron Monger armor in issue #200 (November 1985) and commits suicide in the same issue.

Fictional character biography

Obadiah Stane

When Obadiah was a child, his father Zebediah Stane was a degenerate gambler and Obadiah's mother died of unknown reasons. One day, his father considered himself on a "lucky streak" and played a game of Russian roulette and shot himself in the head while his young son watched. This trauma caused Obadiah to go bald, and shaped his outlook on life. From then on, Stane was a ruthless manipulator who studied his adversaries to find weaknesses to exploit. Stane enjoys chess, and lives his life with the same kind of methodical logic that he uses in the game. In addition, he is a strong believer in using psychological manipulation to his advantage. For instance, in a childhood chess match against another boy whose skill at least equaled his own, he killed the boy's dog so that the other would be distracted from the game.