ELIOT R. BROWN TALKS IRON MAN TECH

[MichaelDoran]

by Steve Ekstrom

There are only a few days left until Iron Man “May-nia” hits comic book fans like a red and gold-plated Mack truck. Obviously, Marvel (via Paramount) has the Iron Man motion picture hitting theaters on May 2nd and a second monthly comic book title, Invincible Iron Man, hitting shelves as well. And let’s not forget, on May 14th, Marvel releases the All-New Iron Manual to satisfy all of old Shellhead’s fans tech-fix.

What’s that? “All-New”? Yes, in 1993, Marvel Comics originally released The Iron Manual—which was a comprehensive look at Tony Stark’s workbench and metal wardrobe with schematics provided by Marvel legend and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe mainstay, Eliot R. Brown. Well, Eliot is back (with a number of other writers and artists) and this time he’s brought updated Iron Man schematics with him in this double-sized, 64-page volume that delves into the technological world of Iron Man.

Newsarama contacted Brown to talk about Iron Man’s latest tech manual and the feasibility of the theoretical science and technology behind Marvel’s Golden Avenger in this first part of a two part interview.

Newsarama: Eliot, tell readers a little bit about yourself—what's your educational background?

Eliot R. Brown: I grew up in Manhattan and I wanted to be an architect. This helped to do a few things for me in my odd career path. One is that it made me aware that everything needs to be built, usually from a plan of some kind. Two is that architects are famous for not drawing people in their renderings…so that was a strike against me in comics. But I managed to stuff myself into my niche.

I attended The High School of Art & Design and grimly hung on for a couple of years at the City College of New York (same as Peter Parker!). I learned so much from the real architect-teachers at A&D, that when I got to City, I was terribly disappointed.

NRAMA: How is the All-New Iron Manual different from the project you did in 1993? How far has old Shellhead come?

ERB: One word: “NanoTechnology!” When I was working on the original book, there was plenty of talk about nanometer-scale objects and robotics, but not enough work had really been done at the time—that was out in the open, anyway! At the time, the most advanced work seemed to be done with bacterium which were genetically engineered to absorb various metals. Make them line up, allow them to die in some noble fashion, and poof! You have a very small circuit path. Repeat as necessary to form self-aware computer brain…It’s a lot more plausible with a neat word to describe it. There’s also the misuse of the word in the real world, say, in advertising! But what that allows you to do is use the word as a shortcut to get from “A” to “G” without having to talk about tunneling diodes, micro-force atom movers and electron beam writers.

NRAMA: When you're working on a project like this- - that is wholly fiction -- how much real science and engineering can come into play with something that was at one point created solely from pseudo-science?

ERB: There can be quite a lot of “real” science. Today’s audience is awash with many high-tech ideas and using old terms (from, oh… 2002!) or many new terms, but simply re-arranged, allows one to place ideas down like dominos. There’s no need to explain a lot of in-between steps. An expression I use a lot is “foamed—“ something, usually foamed metal. If the tiny bubbles are very small and well-ordered, the metal is almost as strong as the solid version of the same shape—solving those problems is what’s “comic-booky.”

Dear Stan (Lee) was not all that far off from getting it absolutely right. “Transistors” really were the key to a working Iron Man, as he and all the artists saw “him.” Transistors can be many things, switches and amplifiers, string enough of them together and you have a computer. But, just as your modern computer has several millions of transistors, Stan missed out on noting the development of “integrated circuitry.” That happened not all that much before the emergence of Iron Man #1.

The Air Force had used the first commercial IC in their Minuteman Missiles of 1961… The electronics industry was getting fed up with vacuum tubes and sought to make “micro modules” of rugged things that could be stuck together to perform logic functions. As usual, it was “people” who messed things up and poor solder joints were the culprit! The invention of the transistor led to silicon fabrication methods and that would quickly be evident as the solution to making even smaller micro modules. When you could make everything fit on a plate of silicon, parts of which were transistors, then you would get the reliability that America—and Iron Man—and Stan needed!

Making an actual, “Iron Man” suit that does everything would be pretty much impossible in 1963. If you limited the list to “fitting comfortably” and “move around naturally” perhaps, “walkie-talkie” then, yeah, you could have done it. They made “B-9” for “Lost in Space” at about the same time. For another $100,000 they could have made it much more humanoid.

Like so many Marvel concepts, it was flight that pretty much moved everything into the realm of fantasy. The power-to-lift ratios were just not there, that and fitting into such small volumes. But! There were cruise-missiles that came very close to having the right-sized turbines and they were developed a lot earlier than anyone seems to realize. If “Iron Man 1963” simply had giant boots, I would have bought the idea, hook, line and sinker!

Materials science has come along way, too. Much of Iron Man is made of ultra-pure materials. These extreme materials can make a lot of difference when you’re trying to save weight of increase strength of the entire suit.

Battery storage strategies were pretty simple back then. I think “wet cells” that would not have been out of place in a Nike anti-missile missile, was the hot battery back then. Rechargeable batteries like nickel cadmium paste and then nickel metal hydride became very efficient. Today, lithium ion storage doubles again the amount of energy you can comfortably carry around.

My theory about Stark was that he either invented the cutting edge’s sharpening diamond or he knew the guy who did. They were pals and he borrowed it for refinement.

NRAMA: What suits of armor do you study in the All-New Iron Manual?

ERB: In the original, 1993 Iron Manual, I looked up every suit out there and studied them all. Doing something rigorous on all of them was not right for the book, so I attempted “over-the-shoulder” overviews.

For the latest Iron Manual, I was asked to do something for the very first suit. The one featured in Tales of Suspense #38—old steel-gray “Toaster Head!” This was a suit design that had all of the power and flexibility of all subsequent suits—but the technological base was not there yet and certainly not in the jungles of Viet-Nam where the laboratory-workshop of Ho Linshen was. Computer power, high-resolution motors with encoders, 3-D design—none of that was around back then. But there were 3-D looms around at the time—this is how socks are knitted in 20 seconds flat! Do the work needed to substitute wire for wool and you can knit a sleeve, a torso section or a leg! Joining the ends is the usual hassle, but should be a simple application of existing, knitting theory.

DC motors—the type of electricity, not our Distinguished Competition!—can be over-powered for long periods of time; heat dissipation being their limit. So the idea of having tiny motors that could develop ¾ of a horsepower for a minute is wild, but not ridiculously impossible! Thus an Iron Man could move around, pick up a villain and throw him through a wall—for a little while!

Then of course, there’s Stark’s heart condition! But the idea of implantable defibrillators were a ways off in 1963, so I posited a focused beam of radio-stimulation that would jump-start his heart control nerves. Therein lay Prof. Linshen’s genius and further contribution to Stark and Iron Man.

NRAMA: What has been something that has always intrigued you personally about the designs of these suits of armor?

ERB: I am a great Robert A. Heinlein fan. I was quite taken with the armored combat fighting suits of “Starship Troopers.” Iron Man has always represented the comic world’s version of these. It is one of the reasons I was so happy that my original proposal for the Iron Manual was accepted back then. Steve Saffel, noted author and at the time, editor of “Marvel Age” our in-house news mag, spotted the science-fiction aspect of the Iron Manual right away.

NRAMA: Could the military one day utilize technology to have real, live Iron Men Is that day far off or closer than we think?

ERB: I was fascinated to see articles about the military’s experimental “Man Amplified” programs in the late 50s, early 60s. They showed engineering mock-ups of white-shirted engineers inside a metal skeleton with huge cylindrical motors as “muscles” at strategic joints… it was all there! Also, there was a lot of work done to develop a “walking truck.” I have seen full-sized mock-ups that did walk, but not much more came of it. If you Google “military robots” and find links to YouTube you will see as close to an Iron Man suit as you might care to—a little more skeletonized, can’t fly, but it can pick up very heavy things and walk around with them. Yes, there’s man in there!

DARPA likes to stay a few years ahead of whatever is “out there” so who knows how far they’ve really gotten?

NRAMA: What do you think are some of the most realistic aspects of Tony Stark's armored suits? (fictionally speaking *laugh*)

ERB: Electronic miniaturization has come a long, long way in 40 years. The visual and physical interfaces are pretty much real. “Heads Up Displays” that present information in the visual field are standard options in many automobiles today. Some include night-vision overlays for living, hot objects in the road. LIDAR, the laser version of RADAR was developed for the detection of clear air turbulence in aircraft—now it can fit in a pack of cigarettes—or an Iron Man head!

NRAMA: Talking offensively, what are some modern equivalents that could be compared to Stark's arsenal of repulsor beams, miniaturized explosives, variable lasers, and such? Could electromagnetism be a realistic source of a lot of Iron Man's offensive capabilities--for example, stuff like RAIL/COIL guns or EMP based tech?

ERB: Repulsor beams are the very stuff of artistic convenience. After looking at several years’ worth of usage, it seemed to do what needed to be done. It was hard to pin anything down. But, I tried to imagine what being “repulsed” would have to be. A non-explosive expansion of energy? Explosives are measured by the speed of the expanding gasses. Familiar explosives are in the range of 15,000-25,000 feet-per-second. If I used a couple of “fudge factors” using indistinct terms, like “low density plasma” (better known as fire!), I felt confident of getting away with murder! If a spot of air in front of you “expanded” at say, 1,000 ft/sec, I imagine one would be “repulsed.” Step up the energy to suit the need, and there’s your “miniaturized” explosives!

Good old lasers are still the best sci-fi weapons for all purposes! We are surrounded by lasers these days, nice low-power jobs in CD and DVD devices, cops use them to check your speed and surveyors and golfers can use them to measure distance. But add a few dozen watts and you can cut metals. So Stark would have had efficient solid-state lasing well before it was announced to the public. Tuned lasers allow you to adjust the color/energy to the subject. Most purposes are served by infra-red lasing, which is easier to coax out of solid state materials than visible spectrum energies—but, of course, Tony would need something flashy now and then! He would also use them for ranging and volumetrics, communications.

The “Unibeam” design, for me, was a reflection of the renewed interest in particle beams that were aroused during the Strategic Defense Initiative of the early 80s. I was able to see lots of declassified general science stuff that made me an instant expert! The trick with particle beams is that they don’t work well in atmosphere. But they will work swell in vacuum or inside a conductive path like a plasma. So, it’s easy for me to specify a super-powerful laser capable of creating a small plasma beam path that can fit in a disk the size of mayonnaise jar lid! Once you have the conductive path, you can run all manner of particles down it. Electrons, protons and maybe neutrons if there’s a generator for all three. We have particle accelerators in every TV/computer monitor vacuum tube set, “electron guns,” so that was not such a leap. Putting them all together was! And you may recognize what I have described as most of an everyday lightning bolt! In Stark’s case, the plasma comes first.

Linear accelerators, Rail and COIL guns, are proven technology. What has been released to the public are simple demonstrators. But you and I know that’s only what’s been shown from behind the curtain! The ideas have been around for decades prior. Toss in room-temperature super-conducting magnets and you have tiny linacs that can shoot nearly invisible “bullets” at hypersonic speeds. Oh, they’re out there… somewhere on the internet, some guy hand-builds a “rail” pistol that he’s trying to sell to the military!

Electro Magnetic Pulse seemed more difficult—as familiar as magnetism is to every kid, it’s still a mysterious force. EMP does its damage by making electrons move in their conductors by the application of a mighty magnetic field—the two are related and where one is, so is the other. Generally, EMP is made during a nuclear detonation, making a kinder, gentler version might be a lot easier by invoking super-conducting magnetic antennae with a super-duper clever design! (Sometimes, I wind up driving off the road with superlatives, but, hey that’s comics!) Can you make a magnetic force in a beam-like shape? Focus it like radio frequencies? Not sure. But if anyone can, it’s Tony Stark! Magnetism spreads out in all directions and is not easily containable. Magnetic monopoles, theoretical “one end” of the familiar North/South magnet, may be the answer. But that’s real high-falutin’ physics and may be beyond this earth. I’m happy thinking Tony wangled beamable EMP out of complex antennae design with those antennae being made out of exotic materials.

End of Part One…

[sweetmisery]

This will be great! Cant wait to get it!!!

[weaselwelch]

Great interview. I just may have to pick this up.

[jshirleyjr]

You had me at Eliot R. Brown.

He should be named the official techical guru for Marvel and DC universes.

JWSJr.

[Kahn]

Underrated legend. Never let it be said that you don't get your money's worth with Eliot Brown.

[vbartilucci]

It's truly amazing how much of today's technology was inspired by science-fiction and comics. So many scientists admit that their initial reading of comics and watching of Star Trek made them want to go out and make this stuff happen. There was that wonderful documentary about how Star Trek shaped the future, where one of the guys who invented the cell phone basically admitted they used the Enterprise's Communicator as a design goal.

So many bits of Iron Man's technology is here today, or inches away from being here, it's rather cool.

[xdemon]

I always wanted another Iron Manual. I can't wait for this.

Maybe Marvel can get him to do some Punisher Armory issues!

[NoPrize]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Elliot R. Brown you are indeed the Man. I cant wait to buy this. The HC Marvel Universe Manuals rock also.

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by xdemon

Maybe Marvel can get him to do some Punisher Armory issues!

Totally agree man, maybe when Punisher War Zone hits the screens, it's possible. BTW all Marvel handbooks are gold, with tons of info, absolutely fantastic, a must read for every fan. Peace.

[ShortBox]

Sounds great. I'll buy this and I hope the Marvel editors keep it on their desk, too.

I hope Eliot covers the Extremis enhancement. I don't have a huge problem with Tony Stark suddenly having what borders on a super-power. After all, Tony configured the enhancile himself and custom genetic engineering is the transistor of the late 2000s. But Marvel needs someone like Eliot R. Brown to spell out exactly what it is that Tony can and can't do so that Extremis doesn't become the equivalent of magic that can be called upon to get Iron Man out of any situation.

Iron Man should be able to communicate with with any device that has a form of wireless communication built into it and command the device to do anything within its existing capabilities. He should also be able to filter large amounts of data in his biotech interface layer the same way the brain filters optical input signals to create an image understandable by the brain. This alone represents a huge powerset that can be used in many inventive ways by writers. Iron Man should not be another Mitchell Hundered that can make any machine respond to his will, and he should not be able to command devices to do things outside their design parameters.

I think the Knaufs have handled Tony extremely well so far, but I am worried about other authors that don't work with the character regularly "breaking" him by giving him huge power upgrades that would fundametally change the stories you can write with him.

[Mega Gear X]

Originally Posted by xdemon

I always wanted another Iron Manual. I can't wait for this.

Maybe Marvel can get him to do some Punisher Armory issues!

LOL! 15 years for another Iron Manual...
I remember those Punisher Armories...kick-ass Jim Lee covers...

[s*p rules]

Must have, definite buy. Marvel should have put out an abridged version of this for Free Comic Book Day to coincide with the movie.

Speaking of which, I normally hate with a passion when a movie affects the way a character looks in the comics, but one thing the movie version of IM has gotten right is the round blaster--hole on IM's chest. I hate that the current comic version looks like Superman's shield. It really needs to change back to the classic "O".

[The Last Word]

60 Minutes aired a feature a few weeks back on a microwave gun. "Using technology similar to that found in a conventional microwave oven, the beam rapidly heats water molecules in the skin to cause intolerable pain and a burning sensation. The invisible beam penetrates the skin to a depth of less than a millimetre. As soon as the target moves out of the beam's path, the pain disappears."


See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...19/wirq319.xml

The 60 Minutes piece was amazing. The upside is the technology can save lives. The downside is that the use of non-lethal technology to disperse crowds means it is more likely to be used, which might have serious freedom of speech/assembly issues in the future.

[LazyHero]

Originally Posted by ShortBox

Sounds great. I'll buy this and I hope the Marvel editors keep it on their desk, too.
...
I think the Knaufs have handled Tony extremely well so far, but I am worried about other authors that don't work with the character regularly "breaking" him by giving him huge power upgrades that would fundametally change the stories you can write with him.

Absolutely! I'm so glad Eliot has updated the Iron Manual, and everyone at Marvel who's involved with the character should be forced to commit it to memory.

Not only can writers "break" the character by making Extremis too powerful, they're more likely to do it by not making the armor itself powerful ENOUGH. This happened all throughout volume 3, and still happens every now and then. Just one of a hundred examples is how Iron Man gets blindsided. Like Daredevil, Iron Man should be nearly impossible to blindside, yet it happens over and over again by tech-ignorant writers and editors.

I'm not one of those fans who thinks Bob Layton is the only guy who can write Iron Man tech, but it seems to be a very short list. The Knaufs are doing a good job in this area, but honestly that's because they often just conveniently ignore some of the armor stuff that they don't have the best grasp of, instead of winging it and doing it badly. I'm still waiting for the writer who can take it to the next level like Layton, Michelinie and Kaminsky always did. John Jackson Miller was very promising with Iron Man tech, but his tenure was cut way too short. Kurt Busiek, Frank Tieri and Mike Grell were the low point, at least as far as real Iron Man tech, upgrades and weaponry are concerned.

[Black Ice]

Now this is nit-picking and being an anal retentive comic fan in a positive way! Its good to see people interested in the little details but not letting them get in the way of enjoying a comic book.

[Dave Elliott]

Originally Posted by jshirleyjr

You had me at Eliot R. Brown.

I was going to say the exact same thing. I'd love to see Eliot's Punisher Armory collected (and updated).

Hope you're doing well ERB.

Dave

[Hypestyle]

cool.. i'll check it out..

[TheToileteer]

But how does he go to the bathroom...?

Seriously, I'm impressed that anyone would be able to make so much semi-plausible sense out of Iron Man. I look forward to learning about the jet boots.

[Corpulent1]

This sounds super-awesome. I love seeing comics interpreted through the lens of realistic science.

[grendel824]

I love this stuff... I wouldn't be surprised if some of what's out there puts "fictional" Iron Man stuff to shame... there are most certainly "invisible" suits of power armor that are bulletproof and let guys jump three stories or so...

[SquidSquod]

Originally Posted by ShortBox

I think the Knaufs have handled Tony extremely well so far, but I am worried about other authors that don't work with the character regularly "breaking" him by giving him huge power upgrades that would fundametally change the stories you can write with him.

Most of the times it's the other way around. Historically, Iron Man is a character with power level as the same as street level-ers like Captain America & Spider-Man. Modern writers in Civil War and ASM tend to forget Extremis and other tech upgrades that Iron Man has received throught the years perhaps to keep up with tradition.

[beta-ray]

Was somewhat disappointed when the new MU handbooks came out... they were missing stuff by Brown. Now he's back!

Looks like a fun read.

[Cat-Scratch]

Well I'm stocked and will say that's it's about time that this was done again.

I just hope the fix colouring errors like the following - http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/IronManual/13.jpg

His stomach should be red, not gold.
It's a little thing but still, be professional and give me the full money's worth, huh?

[Corpulent1]

Originally Posted by Cat-Scratch

I just hope the fix colouring errors like the following - http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/IronManual/13.jpg

His stomach should be red, not gold.

No, it shouldn't.

[grendel824]

Originally Posted by SquidSquod

Most of the times it's the other way around. Historically, Iron Man is a character with power level as the same as street level-ers like Captain America & Spider-Man. Modern writers in Civil War and ASM tend to forget Extremis and other tech upgrades that Iron Man has received throught the years perhaps to keep up with tradition.

All I know is that he was ridiculously powerful in the old Marvel Super-Heroes roleplaying game.

I think he can function at various levels, depending on the needs of the story and any convenient decreases/increases in effectiveness - a very versatile character. While he wasn't a particular fan-favorite of mine (my countless posts defending him in CW to the contrary), he was my first choice to write when I took a shot at the ill-fated Epic relaunch. My idle speculation on what I'd do if I got to write him in an ongoing had him doing Cold War-esque spy stuff for SHIELD (sans armor as we know it) to encountering the Silver Surfer, and everything in between, including a Half-Life inspired story fighting a Dark Dimension incursion, a corporate takeover involving vampires, and a rivalry with Norman Osborne (if I wasn't so sure they never even looked at it, I'd be suspicious about how many of my story beats were incorporated in recent years). And it wasn't a mess, either.