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THE COMIC BOOK AS SYMBOLIC ENVIRONMENT: THE CASE OE IRON MAN JON HOGAN*

p relationship between humanity and technology is a subject that is always JL pertinent to society. As new tools develop, the ways in which people deal

with each other as well as the technology itself come into question. This is a matter that concerns all of us interested in semantic and media environments. Marshal McLuhan investigated the effects of technology on human consciousness. Jacques Ellul fi-etted about humankind's eventual loss of autonomy to machines; Neil Postman lamented the paucity of critical thinking about this issue.

The comic book is one context in which humanity's relationship with technology is often explored. Whether it is Batman's parents falling to a gun or the Incredible Hulk receiving his monstrous powers fi-om radiation, comic books often explore the effects of technology on society. Comic books are well-suited to deal with this issue because of their cartoonish drawings that often shun photorealism. Any manner of technology shown in a comic book will appear realistic in the context in which it is presented. While poor special effects in a live-action movie stand out as glaring failures, a drawing of a fantastic machine in a comic book looks the same as the cartoon people with whom they interact and illustrated landscapes where they exist. Therefore, technology can be treated with a degree of seriousness lacking in other forms of entertainment. Also, as McCloud explains in his Understanding Comics, comic book art appeals to people because, visually, a cartoon drawing is a nondescript place to be filled with the reader's empathy. McLuhan describes graphic storytelling as a "cool medium," a medium that gives less information but allows for maximum audience participation. By making the characters decidedly lacking in photorealistic physical description, the reader

*Jon Hogan is a Masters student and teaching assistant in the Communications and Rhetorical Studies program at Syracuse University. He is the recipient of a 2009 Fulbright Grant to Brazil to study Brazilian comics of the 1960s and 1970s as reactions to the dictatorship. He is a lifelong reader of comic books; his academic interest in them came to fruition during an undergraduate internship at Marvel Comics in the fall of 2006. Since that time, he has pursued research in media ecology and visual rhetoric in relation to comic books. Contact: [email protected].

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can much more easily see the hero as a stand-in for himself In these ways, comic books are particularly well-suited to deal with the interaction and union of humanity and technology.

The comics medium in its very nature is a union. Coupling static visuals with text, comics can convey messages through two very different means. Sometimes the two aspects of comics work in perfect harmony with each other. Other times, picture is at odds with words, creating a meaning and nuance that can be extracted from the piece. Either way, graphic storytelling is unique in the sense that it uses text and static images to communicate with its audience. Comic books are culturally valuable because they can help us to better understand our society.

Depth and insight are mixed with Archie and Jughead in the perception of comic books, making it rare that they receive critical recognition. Since their inception in the early 20* century, comics have been viewed as the basest form of popular culture: junk entertainment. The use of pictures made people see the medium as distinctly low brow.

The academic study of comics was bolstered in 1985, when Will Eisner published Comics and Sequential Art. Eisner argued that "thoughtful pedagogical concern would provide a better climate for the production of more worthy subject content and the expansion of the medium as a whole" (Comics and Sequential Art 5). In the late '80s and early '90s, comic books were receiving more positive media attention. Adult comic books such as Watchmen, Maus, and Dark Knight Returns helped many people respect the medium as a means of telling stories of great depth and maturity. Scott McCloud published Understanding Comics (1991) in which he used media scholars to analyze sequential art. Since then, reading and studying comics became legitimized and increasingly popular.

Comic books are most often used in popular culture studies. They are highly visual, like television and the Internet, and popular culture studies place comics in this image culture. They are also collaborative, like other popular media such as fihns and television. The typical mainstream comic book features rotating teams of writers and artists throughout its run, creating collaborative authorship. Many popular culture studies of comic books focus on highbrow comics such as Maus or Sandman (Ewert, Rauch, Sanders) and ignore other genres of comics in favor of these more "mature" works.

Although many scholars ignore them, superhero comic books, however, give us the greatest insight into society. Analyzing the superhero is the perfect means of analyzing the culture. The superhero is such an asset in sociological research because the hero provides a record of the values prized by a society. Just like the works of Homer for the Greeks, superhero comic books are a social record of what our society sees as the most important aspirations one can hold. As Berger says, "there is a fairly close relationship, generally, between a society and its heroes;

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if a hero does not espouse values that are meaningful to his readers, there seems little likelihood that he will be popular" (151). The superhero comic book is part of popular culture because it can help us better understand what traits we value and why we value them.

Marvel Comics' Iron Man is a popular comic series in which the relationship between humanity and technology is a dominant theme. In this series, billionaire Tony Stark fights evildoers in the guise of armored superhero Iron Man. Iron Man's many facets could help us better understand American culture in the 20* and 2P' centuries. Making his first appearance in 1963's Tales of Suspense #39, Marvel Comics has published comics featuring Iron Man for the past 44 years. Iron Man's popularity reached beyond comics in 1966 with recurring animated features on the television series The Marvel Superheroes. A later animated television series in the 1990s was followed by the recent direct-to-DVD release of an animated movie featuring the character. In 2008 Marvel Studios released a live-action version of Iron Man. According to Berger, all of this attention indicates that Iron Man means something significant.

The technology is just as much of a star in Iron Man as the man beneath the armor. It is interesting to note that Stark has no special powers; he is a superhero because he knows how to build things. Iron Man comics have always portrayed technology as constantly evolving. In fact, one of the main appeals of the character is following the change in the suit's appearance as technology improves. Iron Man is one of the few characters in the North American comic book industry whose costume can change on a regular basis without causing a fan outcry.

While the technology in Iron Man is always changing, the focus has always been on the interaction between humanity and the mechanical. In particular, three classic story arcs best illustrate the different ways in which this relationship can be viewed. The origin story and subsequent issue showed the Iron Man technology as a means of keeping Tony Stark alive as well as an extension of the man beneath the armor. The Armor Wars arc shows how technology can be viewed as a status symbol. Finally, Extremis displayed the point at which Stark ceased simply using technology and actually merged with the technology itself Throughout these stories. Iron Man has shown the different ways that man is dependent on technology.

In this analysis certain issues of Iron Man spanning the character's existence of over 40 years will be studied. These materials correspond to important story arcs in Iron Man that deal with technology. The first story to be addressed is Iron Man's origin. For this. Essential Iron Man volume 1, a collected edition of issues #39-72 of Tales of Suspense, will be used. These issues feature Iron Man's first adventures. In particular the study will focus on issues 39 and 40, originally published in 1963. These two issues feature a story by Stan Lee. Don Heck penciled issue 39 while Jack Kirby was the illustrator on issue 40. The next storyline of interest is 1987's

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Armor Wars, Armor Wars details Tony Stark's efforts to keep his technology from falling into the wrong hands. Here the story was a collaborative effort between David Michelinie and Bob Layton, with Layton and M.D. Bright responsible for art. A reprint oí Iron Man #225-232 published in 2007 is the reference for these issues. Writer Warren Ellis and artist Adi Granov's Extremis (2004) is the final storyline. While this work was published in 2004, the 2006 hardcover collecting Extremis will be used as a reference. Two areas of the above stories will be explored. The portrayal of technology in these cmcial storylines is the first area of exploration. The depiction of the relationship between technology and its users will be the primary focus. In different ways, each of these stories reflects humanity's dependence on technology.

The Suit Makes the Man: Technology as an Extension of Self in Iron Man's Origin Story

To properly understand the portrayal of technology in Iron Man comics, one must start with the character's origin story. Tales of Suspense #39 featured the first appearance of both Iron Man and Tony Stark in a 13-page tale. Early in the story, the reader is taken to South Vietnam where Stark is helping the army test his midget transistor transportation tool. One of the soldiers accompanying Stark trips a landmine, which injures Stark.

He awakes in the lair of Wong-Chu, "the red guerilla tyrant." A large piece of shrapnel is edging its way towards Stark's heart, making death imminent. Wong- Chu puts Stark to work making weapons for the communists before his heart gives out. "Every tick of the clock brings the deadly shrapnel closer to my heart," Stark says as he tinkers away in the workshop.

Stark's comment reflects some of Postman's writings. The millionaire industrialist is defining the last days of his life by a technological mle. This mirrors Postman's comment that "Human life must find its meaning in machinery and technique" in a technopoly (Technopoly 52). Stark suggests that his life can be quantified and measured by the metered movements of a clock. He is so beholden to technology that he cannot even discuss his own death without describing it in terms of machinery.

An assistant for Stark soon comes in the form of Professor Yinsen, a former scientist and current man-servant of Wong-Chu. As soon as Yinsen and Stark are left alone together. Stark explains his daring plan for survival and escape. He has created schematics for a suit of armor that will give him the strength to escape and keep the piece of shrapnel fi-om reaching his heart. Ellul's view of technology as "a means of protection and defense" comes into play here (25). Stark uses the armor as a means of defense in two ways. The suit gives him physical protection

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fi-om harm and uses magnets to keep the shrapnel fi-om reaching his heart. Ellul's second aspect of technology, that it is a way to "utilize to (man's) profit powers that are alien or hostile," is very interesting in the context of this story. This statement refers to helping one adapt to a hostile environment, and the armor does this by giving Stark the means to escape. But Ellul's observation also applies in a much more literal sense. Stark and Yinsen are actually taking the resources of the hostile Communist army and using these assets to their profit. "What wonders we shall perform!" Yinsen cries after seeing the Iron Man schematics. "And the reds themselves gave us all the materials we need!" Stark muses.

However, both of these elements of the armor solely benefit Stark. Does the invention help Professor Yinsen, an instrumental part of Stark's plan?

Not at all. After the completion of the armor, the Iron Man suit needs to be charged. The charging session is interrupted in its last few minutes by the approach of Wong-Chu and his men. Knowing that the Communists' intrusion will prevent the birth of Iron Man, Yinsen decides to run into the hallway to draw their attention away fi-om the workshop. "My life is of no consequence!" Yinsen thinks before running out the door. "But I must gain time for Iron Man to live!" As Stark rises fi-om the table clad in the armor, Yinsen is shot dead by Wong-Chu's troops.

Yinsen allows himself to be killed so a piece of technology can operate at its fiillest potential. After Stark dispatches the villains later in the story, he bellows, "Now, Professor Yinsen, rest easy! You, who have sacrificed your life to save mine, have been avenged!" Many parallels can be seen between this situation and McLuhan's conception of the armored knight, a figure to which Iron Man is often compared. As McLuhan noted, referencing the work of Lynn White, the payment of others was required to make the protector of medieval times operate {Understanding Media 293). The proper operation of the knight depended on the sacrifices of individuals who did not directly use the technology. Similarly, the activation of the Iron Man armor was contingent on Yinsen's sacrificing his own life.

After Stark rises fi-om the table, he realizes that he is unaccustomed to moving in the armor. He quickly familiarizes himself with the armor's operation though. "The transistor-powered circuits are coordinated with my brain waves, just as if any living human's brain controls his own body," Stark notes. Subsequent to this realization. Stark has doubts about the nature of his armor. "Can the thing I have created survive?" he asks himself "The thing which is less than human... yet, far more than merely human! This thing which is not-Anthony Stark!"

The scientist is pondering the nature of extensions. The suit's transistor abilities connect Iron Man's movement to Stark's nervous system. When Stark claims that he is "far more than merely, human," he is simply confirming McLuhan's assertion that technology "adds" itself to what we are (McLuhan, Understanding Media 23). He is a human with the added abilities of a machine. It

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is also important to note the role of auto-amputation in Stark's transformation. Now that he has extended himself into a new technology, he has amputated his former self. Stark's donning of the Iron Man armor has created a new self.

The art in this panel also plays into this. Heck shows Stark in the Iron Man armor staring dejectedly at the ground. While the shadow behind him is very human in form, a mirror to his left reflects his mechanical shell. Stark is both human and machine, a sentiment reiterated in the next panel when he notes, "My brain still thinks! My heart still beats! But, in order to remain alive, I must spend the rest of my life in this iron prison!!"

However, as Stark uses his superior technology to defeat Wong-Chu and his henchmen, the reader gets a different sense of Stark's interaction with his armor. As he withstands a hail of gunfire. Stark boasts, "It will take more than small arms fire to penetrate my cast-iron body!" Even though he previously lamented the necessity of having to operate through a machine, he now embraces the technology as his body. Auto-amputation has made Stark fail to see the boundary between himself and his technology. While Yinsen might have given his life for the Iron Man armor to operate properly. Stark made another detrimental sacrifice: his humanity.

Tales of Suspense #39 ends with Stark chasing the Communists out of the stronghold and fi-eeing their prisoners. The last panel is Stark walking back into the jungle, thinking, "As for the Iron Man, that metallic hulk who once was Anthony Stark... who knows what destiny awaits him? Time alone will provide the answer! Time alone..."

Tales of Suspense #40 provides the answer much better than time ever could. While this issue focuses on an inane battle between Iron Man and a robotic Neanderthal, a less action-packed scene provides the reader with more insight into Stark's relationship with his technology. This part of the story involves Stark visiting the circus with a female companion Marion. During a performance, the circus' cats break loose. Stark sneaks away, changes into his armor, and quickly dispatches the feline threat.

However, the crowd's reaction to him is anything but grateful. They are utterly terrified of him. "He looks like a creature in one of those science fiction films!" a woman declares. "Oh! How-How dreadftal looking he is!" another cries. "Momma! Momma! ::SOB:: Save me fi-om the ugly man!" a child screams. Since the armor has become an extension of Stark, he takes these comments to heart. He vows to alter the costume's appearance.

Later Stark approaches Marion for her opinion about the armor's appearance. "Well, (Iron Man) battles menaces like a hero in olden times! So, if he's a modem knight in shining armor, why doesn't he wear golden metal instead ofthat awful dull grey armor?" she says. Following Marion's suggestion. Stark coats the armor with gold paint.

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It is a point of interest that the first improvement Stark makes to the armor is a cosmetic one. When he could have added any number of features that would improve the armor's performance. Stark instead chose to merely change its color. To properly understand this, one must remember the automobile. Just like the armor, the automobile becomes a part of its user through extension. Many people will customize their cars to fit their personalities; fins, spoilers, or spinning rims can be added to better reflect the nature of the person behind the wheel. The Iron Man armor can also be cosmetically altered to display Stark's personality.

The concept of altering outward appearance to create a desired reception is heavily reminiscent of the work of Erving Goffman. In his The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Goffman discusses image management. People can manage the way that others perceive them by altering their behavior and appearance in certain situations. Other people's estimation of someone can change depending on what they are allowed to perceive. Accordingly, Stark changes the appearance of his armor to make people react to Iron Man's presence in a positive manner. Image management can be seen as the impetus for the armor's many future improvements.

Movin' On Up: Armor Wars and Technology as a Status Symbol

The drive to improve the armor is a consistent thread in Iron Man comics. It eventually gets to the point where Iron Man has a vast arsenal of armors at his disposal. Jhe Armor Wars story is an exploration of what would happen if that arsenal were usurped. The cover to issue #225 features Iron Man in a battle pose with fist clenched as many of his villains' heads lurk in the background. "They stole his technology," the cover declares, "and now it's TOTAL WAR!"

The story involves Stark realizing that his technology has been appropriated by criminals and killers through an act of industrial sabotage. Here we are reminded of Ellul. "Man, we repeat, is never able to foresee the totality of effects of his technique," he explains (108). When Stark created the technology, he saw it as saving his life, not taking the lives of others. "How many have drawn blood with my sword?" Stark asks.

Although the "blood" part ofthat sentence seems to upset Stark, the words "how many" and "my" are far more important. While Stark is indeed worried about the loss of innocent life, the loss of status associated with the armor also plays heavily into the equation. To elaborate, one must look no further than Postman's recollection of the story of Thamus. Thamus, an Egyptian king, was presented with the written word by Theuth, one of his kingdom's greatest inventors. Instead of rejoicing over this new means of recording knowledge, Thamus decries the written word as a "receipt for recollection, not memory" (Postman, Technopoly 4). He goes on to say that Theuth's pupils will go on to gain undue acclaim for their

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mastery of the written medium. Thamus "means to say that those who cultivate competence in the use of a new technology become an elite group that are granted undeserved authority and prestige by those who have no such competence" {Technopoly 9).

Stark's mastery over the Iron Man armor gave him status of many kinds. He was allowed into the upper echelons of superheroic society by using his armor to fight evil. Also, with the interests of Stark Enterprises protected by corporate mascot Iron Man, Stark made money and gained serious clout in the business world. The armor was Stark's link to privilege, and it bothers him that others have this same opportunity and use it for evil.

Stark's dilemma brings to mind Postman's 1998 speech "Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change." The first item that Postman addresses is the "Faustian bargain" inherent in technology. "Technology giveth, and technology taketh away," Postman notes. A person might use technology for his benefit, but the technology will reap payment for its services eventually. The armor being used to kill and steal is the price that must be paid for Stark's use of the technology for good.

This transgression against Stark weighs heavily on his mind for days. During a demonstration of new Stark Enterprises technologies. Stark lets his mind stray. He begins reminiscing about his origin, his time with The Avengers, and the many armors he has created in his lifetime. His mind wanders so far into the past that he accidentally destroys two United States Army tanks.

The manner in which David Michelinie describes this agitation is interesting. "(Stark's) eyes lose focus. Images of soldiers and weapons blur. And it is only in his mind that he now sees—^pictures." This immediately brings to mind McLuhan's discussion of people's distaste for photographs. "(Photographs) can be bought and hugged and thumbed more easily than public prostitutes," he explains. "Mass- produced merchandise has always made some people uneasy in its prostitute aspect" {Understanding Media 257). Just like a photograph, Stark's designs have proven to be easily duplicated. Stark is upset about the dissemination of his armor designs because it cheapens and degrades the good that he has done.

Since Stark never patented his armor for fear of it falling into the wrong hands, he has no legal recourse against these thieves. He decides to go on a spree of vigilante justice and disarm these illegal copies of his armor one by one.

James Rhodes, Stark's fiiend and right-hand man, acts as his assistant in this cmsade. This brings to mind EUul's comment that, "Technique always creates a kind of secret society, a closed fratemity of practitioners" (162). Both Stark and Rhodes wore the Iron Man armor for extended periods of time. They both share knowledge of this particular technology. Therefore, when Stark goes forth to reclaim it, Rhodes is the only one he tmsts to help him in this campaign.

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McLuhan's "extensions of man" can also explain Stark's refiisal of outside help from the Avengers or other superheroes. When confronted with the misappropriation of his designs. Stark did not need to take personal responsibility for defeating the usurpers. However, after years of using the Iron Man armor, the technology has become an extension of him. In Stark's point of view, he is being used to commit these atrocities, not the armor. Since he feels manipulated. Stark believes that he alone should seek justice.

After securing Rhodes' assistance. Stark goes about tracking down the people who are illegally using his armor. When Stark confi-onts each of the usurpers, they are using his technology to bring them special privilege. Stilt-Man is seen attempting to gain riches by robbing the seventh story of a skyscraper. Brendan Doyle, the mercenary known as the Mauler, is awarded a trophy at the Soldier of Fortune convention when the reader first sees him. The Controller has used Stark's technology to brainwash the elite "yuppies" in southern Califomia. Stark encounters and dismantles the Raiders, a group of sky pirates that were attempting to pilfer goods fi-om a military cargo plane. When Iron Man tangles with the Beetle, the villain is using his armor to steal a Picasso fi-om an auction; what is a greater status symbol than art? While the Stingray, the Mandroids, and the Guardians are not villains, they are government employees, benefiting fi-om the status that such a position gives to them. The Russian villains. Titanium Man, and Crimson Dynamo also use the stolen technology to pursue privilege. Titanium Man enjoys the intellectual respect he receives for retaining such powerftil technology, while Crimson Dynamo merely uses the technology to earn a pension. Both Titanium Man and Crimson Dynamo are foiled, with Stark apparently killing Titanium Man in battle.

Between these battles, Michelinie and Layton remind us of the life of status and advantage that Stark leads. The reader sees Stark on a date with a beautiful woman at a Hollywood premiere. He brags to one of his conquests of a restaurant that he owns in Nome, Alaska. While on a date in New York City, Stark and his companion walk by Trump Tower; he casually remarks that he "used to own a whole floor" of the building.

However, these good times of living the high life are very quickly disappearing. The worst of it comes when the United States government contracts Edwin Cord, one of Stark's business rivals, to formulate a way to stop Iron Man's rampage. Cord creates Firepower, an armored weapon based on the pilfered Iron Man schematics. Firepower is operated by Jack Taggert. After his test run, Taggert reveals some information about his past when he says, "This is the power we only dreamed of in the projects." Taggert is an Afidcan-American who lived a disadvantaged youth. As narration tells the reader, "This is where (Taggert) wants to be, the end of the road he's traveled his whole adult life." Taggert wanted to escape the projects, and Michelinie presents technology as his means of escaping poverty and disadvantage.

Stark is baited into a final confi-ontation with Firepower. His human body is

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battered beyond recognition, and the Iron Man armor must be sacrificed. Stark flees the scene of the battle in a helicopter piloted by Rhodes, vowing never to don the Iron Man armor again.

He soon breaks this vow when Cord and Taggert use the Firepower armor to strong-arm people in the business world, another example of technology being used to secure status and power. Stark builds a new armor and challenges Taggert a second time. Using improvements on the armor and superior technology. Stark decimates the Firepower suit and turns Taggert over to the authorities. The story ends with Stark in his mansion. As narration tells us, "All Tony Stark wants now is the sanctity of his coastal mansion and the solicitude of his very weary thoughts." Now that his armor is once again unique and his social status once again restored. Stark wallows in the very symbol of his privilege.

"Now You Can Look At Me": Technology as Assessor of Self-Worth in Extremis

Augmentation is the primary theme of Warren Ellis and Adi Granov's 2004 story arc Extremis. This storyline involves Stark becoming one with his technology. By the story's end, he is able to manipulate the armor with a thought.

The story begins with three terrorists entering an abandoned slaughterhouse. Once inside the building, one of the men injects something into the back of another's head. We later find out that this "something" is Extremis, a "bio- electronics package, fitted into a few billion graphic nanotubes and suspended in a carrier fluid." In short, it is a technological enhancement for the human body. After falling to the ground apparently dead. Mallen, the recipient of the injection, comes back to life with red eyes and vomits organic matter. His companions flee the room and lock the door.

The beginning of the story sets up the central conflict. The first panel that Granov illustrates is the exterior of this building, complete with a sign explicitly labeling it "D.R. Cole Slaughterhouse." A slaughterhouse brings to mind images of meat, sinew, and blood, aspects of the biological. Soon after getting a view of this building, we are confronted with a piece of technology. The fact that our first view of technology in Extremis takes place in a slaughterhouse prepares the reader for a conflict between the biological and the mechanical.

The next scene we see is Tony Stark preparing for a busy day. His secretary wakes him in his laboratory at 8 a.m. After arguing with her about the "early" wake-up time. Stark begins getting ready for the day. While washing his face. Stark stares into the mirror. "What are you looking at?" he asks his reflection. "I hate it when you look at me that way."

One of the next scenes helps the reader to better understand these comments.

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The billionaire inventor is interviewed by documentarian John Pillinger. Pillinger pesters Stark about his involvement in developing weapons technology and claims that the Iron Man armor is only used for peace-keeping operations. Stark attempts to defend himself, but these allegations of ineffectualness have burdened him long before the interview.

While most people would probably see Stark's conversation with his reflection as a sign of dementia, a media ecologist would approach this ftom a different perspective. It is obvious from these scenes that Stark is also displeased with himself Since this exchange brings to mind McLuhan's account of Narcissus's reflection as an extension oí?,é[í{Understanding Media 63), this displeasure is instantly associated with extensions, the inventor feels that both he and his technology are useless. At one point. Stark says to Pillinger, "I'm trying to improve the world." As he sees it, the best way to become useful to the world is to improve the abilities of his Iron Man armor.

Meanwhile, Ellis and Granov show us the results of Mallen's exposure to Extremis. Two days after the injection. Mallen is horribly deformed, but awake. "I'm alive," he declares to his fellow terrorists, as his eyes gleam red.

Stark meets up with Maya Hansen, a scientist he knew in his youth. She gives Stark access to the computer of a teammate that recently committed suicide. In his suicide note, he admitted to taking part in the sale of the Extremis program. Stark makes a copy of his files, but does not believe answers can be found in the office. Instead, he suggests that they visit Sal Kennedy, an old fiiend of theirs who works as a computer scientist, ethnobotanist, and futurist.

Their conversation with Kennedy is intercut with scenes of Mallen's first test of the Extremis technology. The reader sees him entering the Houston division of the FBI. When confronted by security. Mallen goes insane, punching through security workers' skulls and tearing them in half. He breathes fire on a lobby full of people, leaving them to bum to death. After Maya receives notice of this attack. Stark decides to don his Iron Man suit and stop Mallen. As Stark looks at a computer read-out of his armor, he sees his reflection in the LCD screen. "Oh, now you can look at me?" Stark asks the reflection. Stark's hatred of his reflection has waned now that he sees an opportunity to put his technology to good use.

However, Mallen overpowers Stark. He throws Iron Man into the air. He crushes Stark's hand. He breaches Stark's armor. Mallen even throws a car on top of Stark as his finishing move. As Stark struggles to lift the car. Mallen makes his escape.

After the battle. Stark, badly wounded and close to death, demands to be taken to Maya's labs. Once behind closed doors, he reveals his secret identity to her and demands to be given an Extremis dose. Maya continually denies him, but Stark knows it is the only way to best Mallen. "I need to be the suit," he explains. "Instead of growing new organs, I need to grow new connections. This thing's

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gotten too heavy, too slow." Futurist Alvin Toffler's discussion of the cyborg is interesting in light of this

revelation. "The human body has until now represented a fixed point in human experience, a 'given,'" Toffler explains. "Today we are fast approaching the day when the body can no longer be regarded as fixed. Man will be able, within a reasonably short period, to redesign not merely individual bodies, but the entire human race" (197). As Toffler predicted, new developments in technology have allowed Stark to customize the function and performance of his body. Stark is envisioning how he can use machinery for more than regenerating his body; he can make it better.

Stark's proposal evinces interesting points about the interaction of different technologies. He wants to take a gamble and try to bring together the Iron Man armor and Extremis. Toffler sees this as a distinct possibility. "Each new machine or technique, in a sense, changes all existing machines and techniques, permitting us to put them together into new combinations," he explains (28). TofHer sees technologies as combinable into even further advanced machines. Similarly, Stark hopes to combine Extremis and the Iron Man armor to create a technology superior to Extremis.

Maya advises Stark against injecting himself with Extremis. She is unsure if the drug will kill Stark. Despite Maya's admonitions. Stark receives the Extremis dose.

Here the reader sees technology actually become a physical part of Stark's body. This development is reminiscent of McLuhan's discussion of the reversal of media. As Stark's technology advances, it moves further toward implosion. After Stark injects Extremis into his body, it appears as if the technology has reached the last possible stage of implosion.

Stark awakens from the Extremis process with the ability to connect to all technology on the planet. He can now manipulate any form of electronic machinery with a thought. Most importantly, he can control his armor from a distance. With his newfound ability to see through satellites. Stark tracks down Mallen and quickly bests him in battle. Stark begs Mallen to stop before he needs to kill the terrorist, but Mallen refuses to listen. Stark dispatches him with a laser beam through the chest and decapitation.

The story ends with Stark confronting Maya in her lab. Maya was also involved in selling the Extremis dose to Mallen. Stark's connection to all electronic media allowed him access to information networks that revealed the tmth. As Maya is escorted away by military police, she says to Stark, "There's no difference between us, Tony. You're no better than me." "But I'm trying to be," Stark responds. "And I'm going to be able to look at myself in the mirror tomorrow morning."

It is interesting to note that Stark can only look at himself in the mirror with pride after his technological upgrade. Now that his technology has been improved.

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he has improved himself by extension. In this sense. Stark is dependent on his technology for his self-worth.

Facing the Stark Truth: Iron Man's Parables of Technological Dependency

The relationship between humanity and technology is a subject studied and discussed by many media ecologists. McLuhan, Ellul, and Postman have all devoted considerable time and space to the topic. The issue is also a dominant theme in comic books. With their nondescript drawings deficient in photorealism, comic books portray visually believable technologies interacting with characters that could very easily be ciphers for the audience. This makes the comics medium the ideal place for discussing questions of the interplay between humanity and technology.

Despite being viewed as junk culture in the medium's early days, scholars of later years embraced the potential of comic books as cultural artifacts. Studying the comic book media environment has two major benefits over the study of similar media such as film and textual literature. First, the fusion of written text and image widens the potential appeal of the medium. With two different forms of communication engaging to two different types of literacy, comic books have a wider reach, which yields wider relevance to a society. Second, the view of comic books as a "trash" medium makes them vast treasure troves of a society's values and beliefs. Since comic books are seen as junk culture, creators aim for entertainment instead of depth. However, this allows serious commentary about our society to trickle into the work without their planning it. "Perhaps writers and artists unconsciously let their guard down," Berger notes ("Comics and Culture" 228). Since the majority of creators are not trying to fiilfill some lofty ideal of artistic achievement, the writers and artists are more likely to let elements of their subconscious seep into the comic. It is then the obligation of the scholar to draw these subconscious elements out of the comic.

In recent years, many scholars of different disciplines have tumed to comic books. Narrative theory, sociology, and art history have all found something of value in graphic sequential storytelling. While many of these analyses focus on highbrow "adult" comic books like Maus and Sandman, the superhero genre can also be fodder for popular culture analysis. Through superheroes, we can understand the audience's hopes, aspirations, and dreams. Superhero comics can show popular culture scholars the values of a society.

Marvel Comics' Iron Man is ripe for analysis, but has rarely been explored in scholarly studies of popular culture. The fact that the character has successfully endured over the past 40 years is a testament to Iron Man's relevance to American society. Although many facets of Iron Man could yield interesting studies, the

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character's connection to technology is most prevalent. By studying three crucial Iron Man storylines through the discipline of media ecology, a scholar can see that these stories portray different ways in which humanity can be dependent on technology.

Iron Man's origin story, originally printed in Tales of Suspense #39, is an interesting introduction to the ways in which people are dependent on technology. Primarily, the story deals with a physical dependence. After being wounded in Vietnam, Stark depends on the machine to sustain his heart. He also uses the makeshift armor to manipulate his environment to his favor, another hallmark of media ecology theory. When Stark measures his life in terms of a ticking clock, it is reminiscent of Postman's statement that, in a technopoly, life is defined in terms of technology. McLuhan's conception of technology as the "extensions of man" is another important aspect of this story, particularly his discussion of auto- amputation. After first donning the Iron Man suit. Stark amputates his old self and forms a new self with his armor. Yinsen's death is another interesting point when considered in relation to technology. His death in an attempt to buy time for Stark reflects media ecology theory about the sacrifices that humans must make in order to use technology. Not only do they depend on technology to live, they must give their lives to help it fianction.

In Tales of Suspense #40, the reader sees another account of technologies as extensions. Comments about the hideousness of his armor cause Stark to make a cosmetic alteration. Stark changes the armor's color because he now views the armor as part of himself. Goffman's concept of impression management can also explain Stark's decision to paint the armor gold. Much like the automobile, another technological extension of self, the armor is customizable to suit its user. Stark depends on his armor as a representation of himself.

The Armor Wars storyline is an interesting exploration of technology and class. Stark's armor designs are pirated and distributed amongst villains in an example of the "Faustian bargain" between humanity and technology. While Stark expresses anger about the technology being used to harm innocents, a good deal of his rage can be traced back to social status. The story of Thamus'judgment suggests that social privilege comes with technical aptitude. Those with knowledge of how to use it are often in a social class above the technologically ignorant. When the villains use Stark's armor designs, they are attempting to join the same social class as the billionaire inventor. Stark is not angry that his technology has been used to kill; he is angry that his technology is being used by killers. Stark's decision to deal with the usurpers personally might stem fi-om his offense at an extension of himself being used to commit evil. When he allows Jim Rhodes to take part in his war against the villains, the reader also sees how technological knowledge can form a fi-atemity between practitioners. Throughout/Irwor Wars, Michelinie and

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Layton show the reader how the villains use technology to help themselves join the elite. The two storytellers make this point even clearer by making the final villain in the storyline an Afi-ican-American who lived an underprivileged childhood in the projects. Armor Wars displays how people become dependent on technology as a signifier of social class.

Finally, Extremis shows the ways in which humans depend on technological progress as an assessment of their own progress. Ellis and Granov's story show Stark referring to the state of the Iron Man armor for an assessment of his own self-worth. This is another instance in which we see reflections of McLuhan's "extensions of man." Stark is able to look at himself in the mirror with pride only after his armor, viewed as a part of him, is improved. Toffler's prediction that human beings will soon be able to redesign their bodies is reflected in Stark's use of Extremis to change his biology. Stark believes that the combination of the Iron Man armor and Extremis will give him the ability to trounce Mallen; here the reader sees Toffler's theory of technologies combining to make stronger technologies. When Extremis turns Stark's body into a machine, McLuhan's eventual implosion of technology is realized. After Stark bests Mallen, he proclaims that he can once again look in the mirror; he can respect himself after his armor receives upgrades. In Extremis, the reader sees Stark depending on technology for his self-image.

In all of these stories, technology is seen as a guiding force in the lives of human beings. While it appears that Stark is the master of his armor, tailoring its appearance and changing its function to fit his needs, he is actually technology's slave. It makes it possible for him to affect his environment, gives him social status, and functions as the basis for his self-worth. One cannot help but see this technological dependency reflected in modem society. The current technological situation in Iron Man, the merging of Stark and the armor through nanotechnology, raises issues about how technology will manipulate people's lives as it becomes internalized. Stark's predicament will provide scholars with a case study of how to retain humanity when encased in a technological environment.

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