The Story Behind Axol, Iron Man’s Ablative Armor
The introduction of the Ablative Armor in Issue #416. (artist: Robert Teranishi, inks by Eric Cannon and Robin Riggs)
The image of the Ablative Armor from the All-New Iron Manual. (artist: Carlo Pagulayan)
The Ablative Armor was created in 2003 by Robin Laws and Robert Teranishi for a three-issue arc of Iron Man titled “Vegas Bleeds Neon.” It only appeared in the latter two issues of the arc, #416 and #417 (also known as vol. 3 #71 and #72, December 2003 and January 2004). Robin Laws recalls the inspiration for it:
“If I remember correctly, editor Tom Brevoort suggested a temp suit of armor after having the main suit smashed up in the previous arc. One of the challenges of writing Iron Man is that his suit is supposed to be super invulnerable, so you have to ration the number of times it gets damaged. But if it doesn't get damaged Tony's not in trouble and there's no tension. So I figured a suit that is designed to be damaged would allow me to finesse my way around that problem. I also thought it would be interesting to have him rely on a not-ready-for-primetime prototype.”
On its introductory page, Tony Stark introduced it as “Ablative Armor Mark 1” and notes that it is a prototype. The armor is better known today as Model 23 (or Model 24, depending on which Iron Manual. is referenced). Aside from its polymer kiln being offline, the Ablative Armor still functioned at the end of issue #417 but was replaced by the Pentagon Armor in the next issue.
Where does the Ablative Armor appear?
Aside from those two Iron Man issues, this armor appeared in a single panel of Infinity: Heist #3 (art by Al Barrionuevo w/ Pat Olliffe) alongside many other suits in the Hall of Armor. This is a unique situation, because most artists don’t include it whenever the Hall of Armor is shown. That means it has only shown up in three comics in 63 years of Iron Man appearances.
The only other person to draw the Ablative Armor was Carlo Pagulayan for the All-New Iron Manual (2008). When the Iron Manual TPB drew materials from that book, the same image of the Ablative Suit was used once again.
To continue its legacy, I have named the armor “Axol” and created this site to document everything I can about it. You can find images of this unique Iron Man armor in the following books:
– Narrative issues in which the Ablative appears –
Iron Man #416 (vol 3, #71), October 2003. First appearance of Iron Man’s Ablative Suit.
Iron Man #417 (vol 3, #72), November 2003. Last full appearance of Iron Man’s Ablative Suit.
Infinity: Heist #3, January 2014. Cameo of the Ablative Suit in one panel.
Infinity: Heist / The Hunt TPB, February 2014. Reprint of the Ablative from Infinity: Heist #3.
– Books with reference images of the Ablative Armor –
All-New Iron Manual (July 2008). Single image of Iron Man’s Ablative Suit, also used on the back cover. Identified as Model 24.
All-New Iron Manual (back cover. Axol appears far right, fourth down).
Iron Manual TPB (November 2008). Single image of Iron Man’s Ablative Suit, reprinted from the All-New Iron Manual. Identified as Model 23.
– The Ablative Armor does NOT appear in the following books –
Iron Man #415 (vol. 3, #70) (September 2013)
Iron Manual Vol. 1 (1993)
Iron Manual Mark 3 (June 2010)
Iron Manual 2020 (March 2020)
Iron Man Manual HC (December 2013)