"I…am…Iron Man!"

All right, try to get the Black Sabbath song out of your head for a moment; this is about the metal suited hero created by iconic comic book legend Stan Lee in 1963. No stranger to television, he first appeared as part of the 1966 series, The Marvel Superheroes. This time around, however, he was a headliner. Paired up with The Fantastic Four, Iron Man inhabited half of The Marvel Action Hour.

Debuting in 1994, Iron Man told the story of a billionaire playboy named Tony Stark, who as a result of a life-threatening heart problem, created a futuristic set of armor to keep himself alive. That was only one of the suit’s amazing abilities, however, as it also allowed Tony to fly, and was armed to the hilt with various advanced weaponry and gadgets, including handy “repulsor rays.”

Rather than left to fend for himself, Iron Man joined up with a formidable group of friends including archery expert Hawkeye, a sorceress named The Scarlet Witch, Tony’s girlfriend Julia Carpenter (otherwise known as Spider-Woman but perhaps not the same one you are thinking of) and War Machine, which was actually Tony’s friend Jim Rhodes, who also donned a special suit created by Stark. Handling all of the mission logistics with mathematical precision was the brilliant computer, H.O.M.E.R.

On the side of evil, Tony and pals had to contend with The Mandarin, a nemesis who was adorned with many powerful rings – and his sinister assistant, a dragon named Fin Fang Foom. Other bad guys included A.I.M (Advanced Idea Mechanics) and one of their creations known as M.O.D.O.K., which one might recollect was a guy with super-sized head. Other recurring villains included Dark Aegis, The Beetle, Blizzard, and Stiltman.

Twenty-six episodes were produced over the course of the two season run of The Marvel Superheros and it wasn’t uncommon for various subplots to weave through multiple shows. Jim went through a phase at one point where he refused to put on the War Machine armor, thanks to a bout with claustrophobia. And Tony had to deal with the fact that his suit had been destroyed in a notable two-part episode.

True enough to the comic book legacy that proceeded, the show managed to endear itself to die-hard fans and newcomers alike and although it only ran for two seasons, fond recollections remain for the brief time that Iron Man held a slice of the Saturday morning pie. And for fans who needed a little more Iron in their diet, a feature film called Iron Man was released in 2008, with Robert Downey Jr. taking on the role of Tony Stark.