>>100207790Micheline, Layton, O'Neil, the Knaufs; even the early Lee stuff are good and amongst his best. Ewing's Fatal Frontier was also a great mini that showcased all of his facets as a character.
>>100208221>1. Is "asshole playboy stark" just kind of a cover to keep people from thinking he is really Iron Man>or>2. Was he always really a playboy asshole by natureIt's... complicated. Tony had insecurity issues, so he turned to booze. He became the macho-man womanizer because he felt inadequate; so it is a mask, but to hide his frailty. I assume he started enjoying it to some extent, but it's clear he never really /wanted/ it. As time goes on, and he becomes a legit alcoholic, the sex and the parties are just another addiction. Ultimately, what Tony truly wants, is some real, genuine connection with a woman, but he can't find it. Beth left him, Nat is not one for settlign down, and Pepper is too little for him. Masque is too fucked up, and Rumiko cheated on him and died.
>As a contrast, Bruce Wayne would probably be a good guy (if privileged) even without the Batman stuff, where I think Stark never would be without some kind of real tragedy to convince him to try to be.Yeah, here's the thing; Stark is rotten at the core. Without the accident, he would be the bad guy. Hell, at times, he still is. He tries his damnest, not purely out of altruism, but because he needs to keep the beast at bay. Stark is scary, because unlike Doom, he knows what he is, so he tries to be as good as possible. But when he's pushed too much, you get stuff like Armor Wars, Five Nightmares and Civil War. Tony is NOT the good guy. He's Doom, but he's willing to work within the system, because he has no delusions about what he is.
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For me, that's what makes him interesting. He's dangerous, heroic, evil, addicted and vile; gifted and cursed. He's the guy you glorify and villify just the same.
