Irony Man

Irony Man is a popular fictional hero set in the Wonder Comics universe. Originally penned in 1892, Irony Man has changed little since then, captivating readers the world over through a combination of brilliant writing and breath-taking illustration and unique crayon shading.

History

Unlike such characters from the Wonder Comics universe like The Magnet, One-Eye, Professor W or BAMF-Man, Irony Man was not "born" with any powers, ie, his powers have been "obtained artificially" and are "not naturally occuring" (similar to characters like Captain Planet and Mosquito-Man).

His first appearance in 1892 was in Unusual W-Men #1337 as the arrogant, selfish billionaire Tony Stahk who is approached by the W-Men in an attempt to thwart the evil Rita Repulsa. Shocking readers all over the globe, Stahk refuses the plea, apparently consigning the world to its doom.

Stahk's best friend, however, who later became Battle Machine, persuaded him to rethink his stance, and after much deliberation, Stahk agreed to aid the W-Men in their defence of the world.

Donning a state-of-the art metallic suit that enabled him near God-like powers, Irony Man turned the tide of the battle between the W-Men and the forces of Rita Repulsa in what has come to be referred to by comic buffs as Helm's Gate, an epic saga that revolutionised the graphic novel industry.

Irony Man has since played an integral role in many of Wonder Comics' major story arcs, having key parts in the Gulf War, Vampires and Age of Empires sagas.

Powers

Irony Man is fitted with a full-body suit that grants him several abilities, supassing even those of his close friend Battle Machine and Captain Planet.

Flight: Using turbocharged boots, Irony Man can attain speeds of up to Mach 0.3 in space. His suit, however, does not allow him to breathe in a vacuum.

Beams: Irony Man has several blasters, lasers and death rays at his disposal. In the penultimate issue of the Age of Empires series, Irony Man focuses the power of his suit to destroy the White House and melt both the polar ice caps at the same time, saving the world. He is also able to kill a yak from 200 yards with Mind Bullets.

Strength: Assisted by his suit, Irony Man is able to lift objects more than twice his weight. In Ultimate Irony Man #8, Irony Man is shown to lift a tortoise, saving the trapped Butterfly-Man.

Surveillance: Irony Man's suit is also fitted with GPS and Bluetooth, allowing him the stay in touch with allies and spy on enemies. Many compare this feature of his suit with the top-end Nokia cell-phones that are only just circulating in the present day.

In addition to the above, Irony Man is also able to withstand immense forces, making him one of the hardiest characters in the Wonder Universe. In Ultimate Irony Man #666, Irony Man faces against God, Lucifer, Satan, David Blaine and Chuck Norris at once, and prevails as none of the assorted deities were able to defeat him.

Trivia

Irony Man is often referred to in various media texts throughout history, dating back to primitive cave paintings in ancient Brunei. More recently, though it is said that Irony Man was based on the real-life exploits of VR Man, a disputed fact that has yet to be resolved at time of writing.

Bruce Almighty: In this sequel to The Passion of the Christ, Irony Man's influence is obvious as the main character is able to stand up to and, at times, defy God.

Evan Almighty: The third installment of Minnie Driver's epic movie trilogy, the ark that is used near the end of the movie bears a striking resemblance to certain elements of Irony Man's suit.

A Few Good Men: The classic musical starring Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise is remembered for the line "You can't handle the truth!" during an exchange between the two men, a direct homage to Irony Man's famous battle cry.

Robocop: While it has been found that any resemblance to Irony Man's suit of armour is but a coincidence, the line "Friends call me Murphy, you call me Robocop." is also lifted from Irony Man's first solo novel, which ends with the line "Friends call me Irony Man. You call me Irony Man."