Ablative Armor: Theories of design for this weird Iron Man suit
If I die, I can’t be an eye donor because I’ve studied this image so much it has been burned into my corneas.
When you take a look at a collection of Iron Man’s suits, you can pretty much tell right away that Tony Stark built them. This is true for both the movies and the comics. Even if you make them grayscale — take away the red and gold — you can still tell that nearly all of them are iterations of each other.
That’s not really true with Axol, Iron Man’s Ablative Armor. Because of the flowing lines (counterintuitively made up of straight-edge tiles), the suit has been compared to ocean crabs, aliens, and armor you might see in Japanese animation. A matte finish certainly distinguishes it from other armors. The faceplate also gets a lot of attention, which one web article — Just Some Really Silly Iron Man Armors — called “nightmare-inducing.” Axol is just a weird suit in more ways than one.
For instance, he changes a lot depending on the panel. Trust me when I say that people doing commissions of this armor have a hard time knowing exactly what to do. (When I asked one artist if I could see the work-in-progress, he just responded “Pissed.” That non-sequitur told me everything I needed to know.) Sending them to the Essential Ablative Panels page helps a little, but the Ablative Armor is hard to pin down.
While the Model 23 Ablative Armor might not always be consistent from panel to panel, the designer and artist, Robert Teranishi, put more thought into the design than you might imagine. Let’s take a look at why I think it looks the way it does.
The Large Boots
Ah, the “leg warmers.” Maybe it’s because I grew up in the 1980s that I have a love / hate relationship with them. They spark nostalgia, and at the same time I realize just how ugly true leg warmers are.
But the oversized boots (called greaves and sabatons on traditional armor) certainly play a part on the Ablative Armor. Since the “Vegas Bleeds Neon” storyline allows the armor to work on Earth, the suit obviously functions with and without an atmosphere. This suggests that the boots have specialized equipment that optimizes their use for both environments: repulsors for Earth, and unknown propulsion in outer space. It could be a different kind of repulsortech, it could be another type of energy, or it could even be something as simple as compressed air or other gas.
The Big Gauntlets
My theory for the gauntlets is pretty much the same as my theory for the boots. They have to be larger than usual to accommodate the extra tech for outer space movement. I also have an idea that the arms are covered in extra tiles in case the user has to throw up the arms for protection, such as shielding the faceplate. Why the thumb-hole sleeves? No idea. Do they look cool? Yes, I think they do.
Here’s something interesting about the gauntlets: the circle on the back. What is this? We really don’t know, but Carlo Pagulayan, the artist of the Ablative in the Iron Manual, seems to think it’s a repulsor on the back of the hand. Repulsors are usually on the palm for stabilization (and blasting), but Mr. Pagulayan has interpreted it as a sort of hand cannon. And I’m cool with that. [EDIT: Big update on this at the end of the article.*)
Pagulayan on the left, Pagulayan on the right.
Still, as big as his forearms are, they’re not the most egregious use of gauntlets in Iron Man history…
I’m looking at you, Teen Tony.
The Helmet Ridge
I’m pretty confident that I understand the design of the helmet ridge and the odd disc on the back of the helmet. This is almost certainly part of an advanced communications array.
The only good image of the back of Axol’s head.
Tony designed the Iron Man Ablative suit to work on extraterrestrial bodies such as comets and asteroids. This means the suit will most likely be in deep space, or, at the very least, pretty far from Earth. The extra communications equipment would allow Tony to communicate through Earth’s atmosphere, or perhaps take over satellites for better communication.
Due to the ablative design of the armor, Tony obviously anticipated encountering lots of debris…debris which could also get in the way of communications. The reflective nature of comet tails (the sun’s light reflecting off this debris is the only reason we can see the tail) could disrupt these signals. The biggest offender, I think, would be meteors made primarily of iron. Tony would need this boosted equipment to communicate if he were on the far side of a metal space visitor.
The Collar
I think the collar is all about protection. Most Iron Man suits don’t have such a collar, and I think this one is about protecting the neck from projectiles. Nightclub has extra metal near the collar, but I think that probably has something to do with his stealth projection capabilities.
I would like to know what those rectangles are on either side of the collar, though.
[EDIT: It’s a month later and I had a thought after writing about all of Axol’s abilities in a different blog. The collar might house extra oxygen supplies for when the suit is used in outer space. It is near the head, after all. The rectangles could be access points for refill cartridges.]
What I Still Don’t Know
I’m just theorizing about all of the above, of course. The only way to really get any answers would be to contact Robert Tenanishi, and I’ve confirmed with comic art collectors that he’s pretty impossible to get ahold of. For that matter, would he remember his intentions on something he designed 18 years ago? So I still have the following questions that may never get answered.
• Why the overall decapodian appearance? (And why not Zoidburg?)
• Why the huge codpiece with a point that wouldn’t allow Tony to bend over? Was he taking restrictive design cues from the Punisher?
• Why does it have four-pack abs?
• Why the shoulder pads? (Perhaps it’s another 1980s reference like the leg warmers.)
• Why the rib ridge?
• Why does the traditional Iron Man “widows peak” come down lower than the eyes, and why is it not directly connected to the helmet?
• What purpose do those lines on the upper leg serve? What about the ones to the inside of each underarm?
• What are those rectangles on either side of the collar? [See EDIT above]
• Seriously, we’re in an election year. Why not Zoidburg?
Iron Man has been making space armors for a long time, and each is designed with some special additions. While there’s a lot about Axol we don’t know, I think the above explanations make a good amount of sense. Considering I’ve thought about Ablative Armor Iron Man more than anyone on the planet — or anyone off-planet riding a meteor — we’ll just say that’s the way it is until I hear different from the original designer. And if you can get me in touch with him, contact me right here.
The greatest mystery of all…what purpose does the cowboy hat serve?
We all miss things when reading comics. When I was re-reading the two comics Axol is in, I noticed that I glossed over what might be the answer to the question, “What are those circles on the back of his gauntlets?
*[EDIT] It appears that Tony is pushing the back of his gauntlet in order to remove the containment field, since it’s disappearing. I think that those circles might reveal “remote controls” for auxiliary equipment that Tony can’t control with his mind or internal tech.
Question answered? If only we could get ahold of the original artist! If you know how to get me in touch with Robert Teranishi, please contact me here.
