Scott Snyder (American Vampire, Human Torch) has spoken about reimagining Iron Man in the latest of the Marvel’s ‘Noir’ miniseries. The debut issue of the four-part Iron Man Noir miniseries – illustrated by Manuel Garcia – featured in Marvel’s solicitations for April.

Snyder says,

“It’s hard to imagine Tony Stark in armor in a noir setting, People have been kidding with me about if he’s going to be in a fedora and an iron pin-stripe suit.

“So, one of the things that I thought would be fun is to take a slightly different tack and think a little bit more about pulp and ’30s adventure stories than strict noir and hardboiled fiction, although, he certainly has his dark notes between his alcoholism and father issues.

“[Stark’s] adventures that have taken him all over the world to all these exotic and dangerous locations essentially are fuelled by his desire to cure this degenerative heart condition that he has. So, there is a sense of pathos and selfishness to the character, at least at first.”

As for Iron Man’s signature suit of armor, Snyder assures that artist Garcia worked long and hard to retain its refined look despite the time period of the series. The creative duo wanted to make sure they hammered in innovation without eliminating realism.

“We went back and forth with a lot of military tech that was available a couple years after when the story takes place, as Stark Industries is always on the cutting edge, We looked at a lot of fighter jets and a lot of artillery from the start of World War II and what we tried to do was create a suit that would be reminiscent of the really sleek airplanes that were being designed during that time of the golden age of aviation. It has some surprises to it, too.”

Iron Man Noir is the latest in Marvel’s series of gritty re-imaginings of its characters including Wolverine, the X-Men, Daredevil, Punisher and Luke Cage.