Ultimate Iron Man - Volume One

Volume One

Ultimate Iron Man #1 reveals that Tony Stark's genius is the result of an accident his mother (brilliant scientist Maria Cerrera, who is the wife of Tony Stark's father and works for him in research and development before he was born) suffered while she was carrying him in her womb. The accident changed the genetic structure of both her and her unborn child, but culminated in her death during childbirth. The child, named Antonio (Tony for short), developed neural tissue normally found only in the brain all throughout his body, causing his entire body to act as one massive brain, giving him tremendous mental capacity. However, one of the side effects of the accident from the minute he was born was a extreme dermal sensitivity, making even the sensation of air on his skin feel like severe burns due to the over stimulation of neural cells in his skin. His father, a master inventor and owner and CEO of his own billion dollar tech company, used a newly invented liquid, biological armor to ease Tony's agony; a buffer allowing him to interact with the world normally, but one he would have to wear for the rest of his life. Despite the pain, he is endowed with regenerative capabilities due to the same mutation that caused the neural cells to differentiate all over his body allowing him to completely regenerate whole body parts if necessary. The biotechnology armor he wears is constructed out of genetically modified bacteria that are able to group together to dissipate kinetic energy when impacted upon, allowing the wearer to withstand tremendous blows and is able to dissolve any metal that can be oxidized. The two disadvantages of this biotech armor, which made it unmarketable, are that it can be easily neutralized by being washed off with antibacterial soap and water and, more importantly, that it will dissolve a normal human's skin after a few hours if not thoroughly washed off. This "side effect" worked well with Tony's regenerative capabilities, seeing as how his skin would regenerate as fast as the armor would eat it making it a perfect fit. Another secondary problem was that, initially, the liquid armor turned his skin a bright blue hue making socialization and the idea of going to a normal school more difficult.

In Ultimate Iron Man #2, young Tony Stark is shown covered in the blue skin-armor developed by his father in issue #1. Attempting to learn how to manufacture the bio-armor, Zebediah Stane (not knowing that the armor didn't work right for normal humans), kidnaps and tortures Tony by washing off the armor with antibacterial soap causing Tony to scream in agony when his unprotected skin hit the air.

In issue #3, Tony's father arrives with a SWAT team and arrests Zebediah. During the skirmish, the toes on one of Tony's feet are severed (which, after a time, grow back due to Tony's regenerative capabilities, highlighting the extent of this ability). After the incident, a transparent version of the armor is developed, and, no longer blue, Tony begins attending a prep school. The story then fast forwards to an older Stark. His father has lost ownership of his corporation to Zebediah's now-wife (which was Stark's first wife) and they now live a middle class existence in a normal home. Tony is trying to follow in his father's footsteps as an inventor and is developing a prototype power-armor. Not the most popular student at his school, he is constantly picked on and bullied. Seeing that he, also, is the victim of his classmates, Tony eventually befriends fellow student James Rhodes.

Ultimate Iron Man #4 follows Tony Stark, shortly after befriending Rhodes, getting in a scuffle with bullies where they try and force Tony, feet first, into a lit furnace (having been lied to earlier that Tony would not be harmed by this action) that burns and destroys the lower half of his body and nearly leaves him dead. The altercation is interrupted by Tony's friends, causing the bullies to run away. Normally an injury like that would kill a normal human, but his friends watch, stunned, as Tony's body begins to regrow itself (and eventually regrows completely back to normal as if it never happened). Discovering that the bullies were following orders from an unknown individual, Stark's father decides, for their own protection and to put their skills to better use, to enroll Stark, Rhodes, and Nifara (another of Tony's friends), who witnessed the attack and were all of genius-level intelligence, into the Baxter Building program, a school for above genius intelligence. Also enrolled in the school is Obadiah Stane, the son of Zebediah. Shortly after their arrival, Stark witnesses Obadiah murder a pair of students and then make it look like an accident, but is unable to prove it. This incident hardens Stark's resolve to improve his armor and punish Obadiah. At this point, he has already begun to build a suit that closely resembles a traditional Iron Man suit, with Rhodes and Nifara helping him develop it.

Ultimate Iron Man #5 shows that shortly after his father's arrest based on planted evidence (by Obadiah) at the gruesome murder of his enemy Zebediah Stane (again, Obadiah's father), Tony, who was warned against alcohol by his father because it would affect his brain more than a normal human due to his decentralized brain tissue and increase his chances of alcoholism, gets his first taste of champagne at a party held by his father. He later says that while he was intoxicated, it was the first time in his life he was not in chronic pain. After his father's incarceration, Tony takes control of his father's company. Its at this point where two prototype variations of the suit are shown. One is roughly 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, designed for more practical testings, while the second is a large suit at least 20 feet (6.1 m) tall, for designing any additions to the traditional suit before including them to the more restricted design. The suit doesn't fly, but hovers or bounces and is not completely stable. Stark is forced to use the 20-foot (6.1 m) prototype to foil a terrorist plot to destroy his building. Though Tony is successful, the terrorists manage to detonate the bomb prematurely and completely destroy the suit. Tony is also injured, but due to physiology, bounces back quickly.