Titanium Man


Titanium Man

(pop culture)The original Titanium Man was one of Iron Man's greatest enemies, introduced in Tales of Suspense #69 (1965) in the story “If I Die, Let It Be with Honor,” scripted by Stan Lee and penciled by Don Heck. An ambitious high official in the Soviet Union, Boris Bullski worked with imprisoned scientists to create a titanium steel battlesuit that was larger, more powerful, and more impenetrable than Iron Man's. The suit provided Bullski with vast superhuman strength and the ability to fly, and was equipped with powerful weapons systems. Titanium Man challenged Iron Man in an effort to prove his superiority physically as an armored man and politically as a Communist (a rivalry he would continue in many return bouts). Beginning with his second appearance, Titanium Man underwent experiments that nearly doubled his size, donning an even more powerful suit of armor; over the years he has taken on a fully robotic appearance. During a period when the original Titanium Man was believed to be dead, the Soviet genius called the Gremlin created and wore his own Titanium Man armor. Iron Man traveled to the U.S.S.R. to combat this new Titanium Man, and in their clash, Iron Man's boot-jet exhaust ignited his opponent's armor, and the Gremlin perished, in Iron Man vol. 1 #229 (1988). After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Bullski returned from limbo. (During this time a Titanium Man worked for the criminal organization A.I.M., but it is unclear if this was Bullski.) Enraged by what he regarded as the fall of Russia, the Titanium Man went on a rampage. Russia's Colonel Valentin Shatalov persuaded Iron Man's alter ego Tony Stark to wear the Crimson Dynamo's battlesuit so it would appear that a Russian hero defeated the Titanium Man. But during the ensuing battle, Shatalov activated the Dynamo's “fusion-caster” weapon by remote control, unleashing a powerful blast that killed the Titanium Man (Iron Man #317, 1995). In Iron Man vol. 3 #49 (2002), a mysterious Titanium Man battled Iron Man and destroyed a Stark communications satellite. This Titanium Man returned in 2004, and he turned out to be a Russian agent who calls himself Andy Stockwell. Iron Man defeated this Titanium Man, too, who—as of 2006—was last seen lost in outer space. Given the tenacity of all who have worn this armor, this Titanium Man will no doubt return or yet another one will arise to challenge Iron Man. The original Titanium Man appeared in the 1966 The Marvel Super-Heroes animated TV series and the animated Iron Man (1994–1996). But perhaps his most unusual appearance in media is in Paul McCartney and Wings' song “Magneto and Titanium Man” (1976), which also mentions the Crimson Dynamo.