FAQs about Axol

(FAxols?)

What’s With the Name “Axol”?

Short Answer: I have named the self-repairing Model 23 Ablative Armor after the axolotl, a salamander that can regrow body parts.

Long Answer: There are lots of armors with nicknames, whether it’s Hulkbuster or Extremis or Silver Centurion. So I figured the Ablative needed one too.

Since the Ablative Armor is always losing bits and replacing them, I started researching animals that give up body parts when attacked. Autotomy is the scientific term for the process of sacrificing a body part in order to escape; the most common example is a lizard that loses its tail when attacked. The king of regrowth is the axolotl, a type of salamander that can regrow body parts up to and including sections of its brain. As a bonus, Axol sounds like axle, a key component in most Iron Man armors. (Check out this blog for a more detail explanation.)

Other names I considered were Percy (after Percival’s Spiny Mouse, a mouse that can regrow its skin without producing scar tissue), Liz, Sally, Iggy (short for lizard, salamander, and iguana), Skink, Gecko (two more creatures that can sacrifice their tails), and Tommy (a play on the word autotomy).

I have no authority to name it Axol, but I respectfully hope that Mr. Laws, the writer of the comic in which this armor debuted, doesn’t mind. To find out more about my naming of the Ablative Suit, click here.

Related Article: An Axol By Any Other Name…

Is the Ablative Armor Model 23 or Model 24?

Isn’t Model 23 “Shades”? Isn’t Model 24 “Tank”?

The MCU movies use the term mark for each armor. The comics use the term model. Shades and Tank are both marks.

Why Is It Called Ablative Armor?

Short Answer: Ablation is the process of breaking or wearing away to protect underlying layers.

Long Answer: In simplest terms, ablation involves parts that break away/wear away so that impact energy/heat isn’t transferred to the main body. The most well-known real-world application are ablative heat shields that protect space vehicles upon atmospheric reentry.

For its intended purpose as an outer space exploration armor, the armor tiles break and dissipate the impact energy from asteroids and comet tail debris. If it were solid like a normal Iron Man suit, every impact could cause a dent in the armor once the suit’s energy shield depleted. In space, these impacts would be extra difficult to deal with, since every hit would send Iron Man spinning in circles and cause the wearer to constantly reorient. Since the tiles of Axol are helping remove the impact energy from the suit, reorienting is much less of an ordeal.

While not technically ablative, similar ideas are at play in consumer vehicles. Crumple zones are parts of a vehicle that are designed to compress during a crash, absorbing some of the impact energy instead of transferring that energy to the vehicle’s occupants. Formula 1 race cars will also break apart when hit, taking the crash energy with each piece while the driver stays safe in the rigid safety cell.

Related Article: What’s Under the Ablative Armor’s Tiles?

Why Do The Tiles Fade?

Short Answer: Practically, it’s easier for the artists. In-universe, the space between the tiles widens and compresses.

Long Answer: Take a look at any piece of art for Axol and you’ll notice that you never see all of the tiles drawn at once. This makes sense from a practical standpoint: drawing all those tiles would be incredibly impractical for the artist. It would also just look busy panel after panel.

But let’s look at it from a practical, Marvel Universe explanation and get me a classic no-prize! Each tile is made of a very hard material, meaning that there has to be some space in between each tile so that the wearer can move at all. When they bend in one direction, that space is closed and you can no longer see the seam. When they bend in the opposite direction, the seams are opened. I like to imagine the armor in constant motion.

For a real-world example, consider a snake chain necklace. When one side is compressed, the opposite side is open.

Related Article: The Iron Man Ablative Armor Statue

Where’s the Original Art?

Short Answer: The cover of Iron Man #416 is the only piece I have located.

Long Answer: I’m having the hardest time contacting the original artist and designer Robert Teranishi, so please email me if you can get me in touch with him.

When it comes to the Iron Manual art by Carlo Pagulayan, the owner of some armor art has been found. The location of the page containing the Ablative, however, still remains unknown to me.

The cover of Iron Man #416 does not contain an image of Axol, but it is the issue of his first appearance. The owner of the original pencils/inks has been kind enough to share them with this site.

Related Page: The Ablative armor art gallery

What Does The Creator Have To Say?

Short Answer: The original writer knows about this site.

Long Answer: Robin Laws came up with the concept of the Ablative Armor and wrote the issues, with Robert Teranishi designing and drawing. Here’s what Mr. Laws has to say about the inspiration for it:

“If I remember correctly, editor Tom Brevoort suggested a temp suit of armor after having the main suit smashed up in the previous arc. One of the challenges of writing Iron Man is that his suit is supposed to be super invulnerable, so you have to ration the number of times it gets damaged. But if it doesn't get damaged Tony's not in trouble and there's no tension. So I figured a suit that is designed to be damaged would allow me to finesse my way around that problem. I also thought it would be interesting to have him rely on a not-ready-for-primetime prototype.”

Is This Whole Site a Joke?

No, I actually find the Iron Man Ablative Armor quite cool and don’t think it gets enough attention.

No Really, Is This a Joke?

Stop asking! The only thing that’s a joke was CGC’ing those comics. They’re next to worthless, but I did it for fun.

So Why Devote a Site To Axol?

Short Answer: It’s a fun, creative endeavor to take my mind off 2020.

Long Answer: I’m here to inform, entertain, and get this weird obsession out of my mind and onto the web.

Axol appeals to me because of its interesting take on defense. It’s not just a “tougher armor” approach or a “boost the shields” approach. It has to sacrifice little pieces of itself in order to survive, the good of the many outweighing the good of the few.

Also, just look at those sexy leg-warmers.

What’s Your Endgame?

Short Answer: More appearance, more stuff.

Long Answer: I doubt we’ll ever see a Hot Toys Ablative Armor or an official Ablative Funco POP. But if we get enough people interested, who knows…we could see it showing up in future issues. It could become Iron Man’s “Wilhelm Scream,” showing up in the background of the weirdest places. I’m pretty darned good at writing comics, maybe Marvel could give me a call.

Related Articles: What’s My Endgame With This Ablative Suit Site? and 3 Ways I’ve Gone To Far With This Ablative Suit Nonsense.

Do You Collect Hot Toys?

Short Answer: Nope!

Long Answer: I just have Silver Centurion and Heartbreaker, though I commissioned my Axol statue to be 1/6 scale just like a Hot Toy.

Silver Centurion is special to me because it a) is a great crossover suit between the MCU and the comics, b) was screen-used in Iron Man 3, and c) was destroyed in the second issue of Iron Man I ever pulled off the spinner rack (#230).

I like Heartbreaker because he’s a big doofus who can’t seem to do anything right. Seriously, he looks cool but totally whiffed at the House Party.

For a better explanation of why I like these two armors (as well as the Hajime Sorayama variant), check out this page.

Related Articles: Would I Ever Build Another Iron Man Armor Site? and The Complete Guide To Hajime Sorayama’s Iron Man Metropolis Variant.

What Do You Collect?

AOL discs, Walk Hard snow globes, and posters from the 1952 movie The Importance of Being Earnest.

What’s the Deal With Iron Man’s Codpiece?

Short Answer: It a funny Google ranking to chase.

Long Answer: A couple of months ago, I noticed that I was ranking for the term “iron man codpiece” from mentioning Axol’s just once on a single page. It’s a strange codpiece because it wouldn’t allow him to bend at the waist. But ranking for it was pretty funny, considering the odd history of that weird piece of clothing / armor. I wrote a blog about codpieces, adding a variety of combination of the words iron and man and codpiece just to see if I could rank higher. Turns out it wasn’t hard, because I hit #1 very fast. Then I wrote another blog just to cement the achievement.

Related Articles: Iron Man Codpiece In My Life, Whether I Like It Or Not and How’s That Ranking For “Iron Man Codpiece” Coming?