Iron Man (Antonio "Tony" Stark) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is the Ultimate Marvel version of the fictional superhero Iron Man, who first appeared in the fourth issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Mike Allred. He later appeared in the Ultimates and often appears in other Ultimate Marvel titles. In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, the character is a wealthy industrialist, billionaire playboy, genius inventor, business tycoon and world-renowned scientist, who created the Iron Man armor, an exo-suit with high-tech equipment and superhuman capabilities, which grants the wearer with abilities, such as super-strength, flight, enhanced durability and the ability to fire weaponized energy blasts and beams. Like his mainstream counterpart, he has a drinking problem, being commonly depicted as a charismatic and womanizing alcoholic, with a snarky and sarcastic sense of humour, who suffers from a life-threatening affliction; in this case an inoperable brain tumor. With a life expectancy anywhere between six months and five years, he chose to become a philanthropist and superhero, deciding to use the remaining time he has left to live, for a noble purpose. Another major difference from his mainstream counterpart is that this version of Iron Man has an Italian mother hence why he is called "Antonio". While the character is yet to be featured in his own ongoing series, Stark's early life and origins were initially explored in the Ultimate Iron Man miniseries written by science fiction author Orson Scott Card. However, this origin story is no longer considered canon in the Ultimate Marvel Universe and was retconned as only being a fictional Japanese anime version. On the other hand, the character's adult years have been covered mainly by Mark Millar (in his Ultimates work) and Warren Ellis. Fictional character biography Ultimates In the limited series The Ultimates, when Tony Stark first hears that Nick Fury is assembling a team of superheroes, he volunteers his services. After helping defeat the Hulk, Stark develops a friendship with Thor and Steve Rogers. Though he has many great accomplishments, during the first volume of the Ultimates, he remains unsure of himself, clearly shown when he's heavily beat down and throws up in his own helmet. He acts arrogant, but also constantly doubts his own abilities. In the last issue he seems to decide that he can't continue fighting until a