Appearing in "Challenges"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Stark Industries (Main story and flashback)
- Pepper Potts (Main story and flashback)
- ⏴ Howard Stark ⏵ (Only in flashback; death)
- Lance Jessup (First appearance)
- Sally McIntyre (First appearance)
- Marjorie Anderson (First appearance)
- Chet Anderson (First appearance)
- Mike (an engineer) (First appearance)
- Gary (a technician) (First appearance)
- U.S. Government
- Senator Harrington Byrd ⏵ (First appearance chronologically)
- ⏴ General Thaddeus Ross ⏵
Antagonists:
- Republic Oil and Natural Gas
- Board of Directors
- Jonas Hale ⏵
- John T. Gamelin ⏵
- Hugh Jones ⏵
- Simon Krieger ⏵ (First appearance)
- Board of Directors
- Saboteur (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- God (Invoked) (Only in flashback)
- ⏴ Maria Stark ⏵ (Only in flashback; death)
- U.S. Government (Mentioned) (Only in recap)
- Morgan Stark ⏵ (First appearance chronologically) (Main story and flashback)
- Countess Stephanie de la Spiroza ⏵ (Behind the scenes) (Only in flashback)
- Joanna Nivena ⏵ (First appearance chronologically) (Only in flashback)
- Toshiro Kanada (Death in recap)
- Wong-Chu (Only in recap)
- Ho Yinsen (Only in recap)
- Jim Rhodes (Only in recap)
- ⏴ Jeanne (Last appearance) (Only in flashback)
- ⏴ Edwin Jarvis ⏵ (Only in flashback)
- Lady Alyssa Gervase (First appearance) (Appears on screen)
- Daily Globe (Name only)
- Josie (Pepper Potts' cat)
- Dr. Strange (Carlo Strange) (Only in recap)
- Hulk (Bruce Banner) (Only in recap)
- Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) (Only in recap)
- Ant-Man (Hank Pym) (Only in recap)
- Ant-Man's Ants (Only in recap)
- King Arthur (Mentioned)
- Marco Polo (Mentioned)
- Vasco da Gama (Mentioned)
- Wright Brothers (Mentioned)
- Nicky Anderson (First appearance)
- ⏴ Clint Barton ⏵ (Cameo)
- Alex (Tony Stark's friend) (First appearance)
- Charleton Carter ⏵ (First appearance chronologically)
- Daily Bugle (Name only)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth (Main story and flashback)
- North America (Main story and flashback)
- United States of America (Main story and flashback)
- New York (Main story and flashback)
- New York City (Main story and flashback)
- Queens (Main story and flashback)
- Flushing (Main story and flashback)
- Stark Industries Headquarters (Main story and flashback)
- Flushing (Main story and flashback)
- Brooklyn
- Queens (Main story and flashback)
- Long Island
- Republic Oil and Natural Gas Headquarters (First appearance)
- Executive Boardroom (First appearance)
- New York City (Main story and flashback)
- M.I.T., Cambridge, Massachusetts (Mentioned) (Only in flashback)
- Washington, D.C.
- New York (Main story and flashback)
- United States of America (Main story and flashback)
- Asia (Only in recap)
- Southeast Asia (Only in recap)
- Europe (Only in flashback)
- Monaco (Only in flashback)
- Monte Carlo (Only in flashback)
- United Kingdom (Appears on screen)
- France (Appears on screen)
- Monaco (Only in flashback)
- Egypt, Africa (Mentioned)
- North America (Main story and flashback)
Items:
- Iron Man Armor Model 1 (Main story and recap)
- Wasp's Suit and Bio-Synthetic Wings (Only in recap)
- Ant-Man's Suit and Helmet (Only in recap)
Events:
- World War II (Referenced)
Synopsis for "Challenges"
- Synopsis not yet written
Notes
Continuity Notes[]
- Pages 1-2 recap the airport battle first shown in Tales of Suspense #41.
- Howard and Maria Stark's death was originally shown in Iron Man #288.
- Pag. 7-8 recap Pepper Potts' promotion, straight from Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man #1.
- Pag. 12-13 show the origin of Iron Man, first shown in Tales of Suspense #39 and retold in Iron Man #144 and Iron Man #267.
- Republic Oil and Natural Gas was Roxxon Corporation's previous and original name.
- Pag. 22 recaps several early Iron Man adventures, including his fight against the evil Dr. Strange from Tales of Suspense #41 and the battle against the Hulk from Avengers #1.
- Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, briefly appears on the Coney Island bus taken by Pepper at Pag. 28.
Chronology Notes[]
Characters in this story also appear in other stories between this issue. The affected characters are:
Iron Man (Tony Stark)
- ⏴ Pag. 3 ⏵
- ⏴ Flashback Pag. 4-5 ⏵
- ⏴ Flashback Pag. 6, Panel 3 - Pag. 7, Panel 1 ⏵
- ⏴ Flashback Pag. 9 ⏵
- ⏴ Flashback Pag. 10, Panel 1 - Pag. 11, Panel 2 ⏵
- ⏴ Flashback Pag. 11, Panels 3-8 ⏵
- ⏴ Flashback Pag. 14, Panel 1 ⏵
- ⏴ Flashback Pag. 14, Panels 3-4 ⏵
- ⏴ Pag. 16-20 ⏵
- ⏴ Pag. 21, Panels 1-2 ⏵
- ⏴ Pag. 23-32, Panel 1 ⏵
- ⏴ Pag. 32, Panel 2 - Pag. 46 ⏵