Editing Iron Man (section)

===1970s===
{{Quote box
| quote = I don't feel Tony Stark is a dinosaur, a creature unable to change before the weight of time crushes him aside. Yeah, it is hard in 1977 to praise a millionaire industrialist, playboy and former munitions-manufacturer—but it isn't impossible to change that image. Which is what I plan to do.
| author = [[Bill Mantlo]]
| source = ''Iron Man #100''{{Sfn|Henebry|2015|p=116}}
| align = left
| width = 30%
}}
When Goodwin became Marvel's editor-in-chief, he assigned [[Gerry Conway]] as the writer for ''Iron Man''.{{Sfn|Howe|2012|p=188}} Conway was the first of several writers in a four-year effort to reform Iron Man, beginning in 1971, with stories that directly addressed the character's history as a weapons manufacturer.{{Sfn|Henebry|2015|p=111}} These stories were especially prominent during a run by [[Mike Friedrich]], in which corporate reform of Stark Industries was a recurring subplot.{{Sfn|Henebry|2015|p=112}}

Iron Man was one of several Marvel characters who declined in popularity during the 1970s, and the series went a period of time without a dedicated writer until Bill Mantlo took over in 1977.{{Sfn|Sacks|2015|p=138}} The following year, [[David Michelinie]] and [[Bob Layton]] took charge of the series, beginning with issue #116.{{Sfn|Sacks|2015|p=139}}{{Sfn|Ridout|1992|p=6}} While [[Inker|inking]] the series, Layton used issues of ''[[GQ]]'', ''[[Playboy]]'', and electronics catalogues as visual references,{{Sfn|Howe|2012|p=223}} which he and Michelinie used to stay informed on developments in real world technology so the Iron Man armor would always be a more advanced version of what existed.{{Sfn|Ridout|1992|p=6}} Layton was inspired by the vast collection of specialized outfits used by [[Batman]] when designing Iron Man's various armors.{{Sfn|Ridout|1992|p=7}}{{Sfn|Johnson|2007|pp=51–52}}

In ''Iron Man'' #117 and #118 (1978), Michelinie and Layton replaced many elements that developed over the series' run: they removed Iron Man's romantic interest [[Whitney Frost]] and Stark's robotic [[Life Model Decoy]] doubles, and they had Stark move to a different home.{{Sfn|Sacks|2015|p=140}} They introduced Iron Man's new romantic interest, [[Bethany Cabe]], as a feminist character who worked as his bodyguard.{{Sfn|Gilbert|2008|p=187}} Their goal was to push the character toward a more grounded, realistic portrayal.{{Sfn|Johnson|2007|pp=44–45}} The largest change they made was to make Iron Man an [[alcoholic]], an unprecedented move for a major comic book hero, which led to the "[[Demon in a Bottle]]" story arc that ran from issues #120 to #128 (1979).{{Sfn|Sacks|2015|pp=140–142}} At the same time, they introduced the character [[Justin Hammer]], who provided financial backing for several Iron Man villains.{{Sfn|Gilbert|2008|p=189}}