The only time I liked a Comic Character which was not from any Manga would be Iron Man, with Wolverine coming in second and Green Lantern bringing up the rear. However, I never really paid attention to Tony Stark due to his Red and Gold armour which to me, looked kinda vintage. It was not until I read issue #200 which revealed his new armour; The Silver Centurion. This is the first armour which is not decked in red and gold.
Toys Representation
Like any other kid/teenager, I was into action figures and it was quite difficult to get the ones I wanted. The market was so saturated with Star Wars, Batman, He-Man and so on. But never right Iron Man nor the Green Lantern. That was until much later, I happened to see the Silver Centurion from the Marvel Legends. At that time, it was the only Silver Centurion and yeah, I got to have it.
With a total playtime of less than it took to fry an egg, the figure was kept out of sight. I can get past the joints and slightly bloated hands. But what got me was that inflated head at the front which looked as if it is going to explode. And that rubbery mask was quite a challenge to keep it on. And suddenly, with the curtains dropping, I realised that this toy is horrible. Then I stared to notice the shorter shoulder pads, the shrunken upper chest and especially, the chest repulsor (In the movies, its the Arc Reactor now) which was a simple inverted triangle and lastly, the enlarge collar. Never mind the discolouring of the rubber underpants but man, what has that rocket got to do with him?
(Image courtesy of Jonathan Acero Reviews in Spanish)
Adi Granov and the Iron Man 3 Movie
When the Iron Man movie came out in 2008, for the first time, we get to see how the Armour worked. The design looked plausible as if it could be realised within the next decade. The was the work of Adi Granov who did the artwork on Iron Man’s Extremis story arc. His design, was so breathtakingly fresh and looked so real. On the plus point, it would help the Toy/Figure manufacturers in hiding the joints. But after a decade of seeing Mr. Granov’s design and its variationseverywhere, I can say it pretty much got old, fast.
Still, in the third installment, I was so happy to see Tony Stark wearing the the Silver Centu… er, Mk33. However, its original comics feature of absorbing energy and chameleon stealth capabilities was never shown. What we got instead was a pair of blades and the suit ejection system. Huh.
Another Silver Centurion
Sometime in 2024, or to be more exact, 27th November, 2024, the comic West Coast Avengers #01 Vol 4 feature the Silver Centurion as drawn by
What I actually wanted to say…
I was (almost) desperate for another Silver Centurion figure. There are a few ways to achieve this;
- Getting a 7-inch (Diamond Select) off eBay, or other figures, or
- Creating a 3D comic version (which means learning 3D software and printing).
