Carlo Pagulayan commission: Iron Man’s Ablative Armor
It’s here! After months of waiting — mostly due to the postal services of the Philippines and the United States having trouble due to Covid — my custom commission of Iron Man’s Ablative Armor by Carlo Pagulayan is finally here. (Authenticity of the art can be verified on Comic Art Fans, as this piece has been uploaded by Mr. Pagulayan’s agent.)
Truly wonderful job, wouldn’t you agree? If you’re wondering why I chose this particular artist to commission, you haven’t read many of my blogs! Mr. Pagulayan is the only person other than Robert Teranishi (the designer of the armor) to draw an official image of the Ablative Suit for Marvel. Around 2008, Marvel had him draw new images of every Iron Man armor up to that point for the All-New Iron Manual.
That’s where the following image of the Ablative came from. (If you know where the original art for this image of the Ablative is, please let me know.)
I’ve always been impressed by how well Mr. Pagulayan interpreted the Ablative from the original Iron Man issues, considering it only appeared in two comics (#416 and #417). He has once again impressed me with his new flying rendition of my favorite armor.
The Gauntlet
Here’s an interesting tidbit. I interpreted the circle on the back of the armor’s gauntlet as some sort of remote control, but Pagulayan went a different direction and interpreted it as another repulsor.
Pagulayan’s renditions from 2008 and 2020.
Why do I bring it up? My research suggests that Mr. Pagulayan designed the Black and Gold armor (Model 42) that premiered in Iron Man Vol. 5 #1. In fact, he also did a variant cover for that shows his design work.
Look at that…extra repulsors on the back of the gauntlets.
So, am I saying that the Pagulayan interpretation of the circle on the back of the Ablative Armor’s gauntlet directly influenced the Model 42 Black and Gold? It’s not beyond the realm of reason. I think I’ll go and ask Mr. Pagulayan directly. Stay tuned.
Black and Gold Connection
Here’s another connection that I didn’t even notice until today. As some of you know, I have a little obsession with Hajime Sorayama’s Iron Man Metropolis Variant; click that link and you’ll find the most comprehensive guide for it on the web. And what was that variant based on? That’s right, the Black and Gold. So somehow I became the primary source of information for a variant armor of another armor that might have been influenced, in the smallest way, by the Ablative Armor.
Well There You Go!
I didn’t expect to learn anything new today, but look at that! A possible connection between Axol the Ablative Armor and the Sorayama variant.
Once again, I’d like to thank Mr. Pagulayan for the awesome image of the Ablation Suit. It’s a piece that will be up on my wall very soon.
