Stark Industries, later also known as Stark International, Stark Innovations, Stark Enterprises and Stark Resilient, is a multi-national conglomerate appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Frans Robert Bernstein, Stan Lee, and Jack Kirby, the company first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39 (December 1962). Stark Industries is depicted as being owned and run by businessman Tony Stark, who is also known as Iron Man, and was founded by Tony's father and namesake, Howard Stark, from whom he inherited the company.
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Stark Industries has a logo modeled after the defense contractor Lockheed Martin and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange as SIA. During the press conference scene, Stark is seen entering a building that resembles the entrance to Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works facility. An airplane similar to the Lockheed YF-22 stood as a statue in front of the Stark Industries facility, much like the prototypes on display at the Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California.
Contents
Publication history
Stark Industries first appeared in Tales of Suspense #40 (April 1963), created by Robert Bernstein, Stan Lee, and Jack Kirby. The company was first identified by name in issue #48.
History
Stark Industries was founded in 1939 by Howard Stark, and then headed by his son Tony after Howard's death. Over the years, through bankruptcy, Tony's "death", Tony's return and hostile takeovers, the company has gone through many name changes including Stark International (later Stane International), Stark Enterprises, Stark/Fujikawa, and Stark Solutions.
Stark Industries
Stark Industries is primarily a technology and defense company. It manufactures the armor worn by Iron Man and War Machine, builds the Helicarriers used by S.H.I.E.L.D, and produces the Quinjets used by the Avengers.
Tony Stark – Chairman of Stark Industries
Obadiah Stane – Executive Officer (deceased)
Happy Hogan – Former head of security
Pepper Potts – CEO
Dr. Gray Armond – Head Designer.
Harmon Furmintz – Member of Stark Industries' biochemical division. He worked for Genetech and was born around 1918. He was a child prodigy and was recruited as candidate for Super Soldier Project, but was rejected due to having hemophilia. He attempted to gain the power of Terrax, but his body and mind were destroyed by Shafear.
Jacob Fury (Scorpio) – Former research scientist.
Sally McIntyre
Eddie March – Former part of the Iron Legion.
Kevin O'Brien
Ralph Roberts
Anton Vanko (Crimson Dynamo) — Former Head Scientist and Chief Developer (deceased)
Arwyn Zurrow – Head of the Miami facilities.
Project: Caribbean (staff unknown) – Stark Industries made an effort to start a plant in Haiti, however it was destroyed by Night Phantom.
Stark International
Originally Stark Industries, the name was changed when the company ceased manufacturing munitions, with Tony handing over the CEO position to Pepper Potts. The company was taken over by Obadiah Stane after a hostile takeover and renamed it Stane International.
Tony Stark – Original Head
James Rupert Rhodes – Pilot, later acting CEO
Bambi Arbogast – An executive assistant.
Yvette Avril – Worked for the French branch of Stark International and was brought to the US to become vice president of the Long Island facility. She unsuccessfully attempted to save the company when Tony Stark went on a major drinking binge and quit after takeover by Obadiah Stane.
Bethany Cabe –
Dianne Carruthers –
Morley Erwin – Owned Circuits Maximus as well as working Stark International. He is the brother of Clytemnestra Erwin. He also assisted Jim Rhodes in learning to use the Iron Man armor. Erwin was killed when Obadiah Stane had the Circuits Maximus building bombed.
Abe Klein – Director of engineering. – Tony Stark's old electrical engineering professor. Killed by Mordecai Midas.
Scott Lang (Ant-Man)
Kristine "Krissy" Longfellow – Secretary. She posed as Tony Stark's secretary to be close to him without involving him with a criminal.
Harold Marks (Techno-Killer) – A research technician. He left to work for author James Spencer; built an armor to gain respect and vengeance from perceived lack of appreciation
Vincent "Vic" Martinelli – A security guard. He was a former soldier and architect who worked for Williams Innovations before working at Stark International. He remained with Obadiah Stane after his hostile takeover due to difficulty in finding a new job.
Stane International
After driving Tony Stark back to alcoholism, Obadiah Stane wrested control of Stark International from James Rhodes after a hostile takeover and renamed the company after himself. Stane renewed the munitions manufacturing. However, after Stane was killed, the company was run by a mysterious cartel which was eventually bought out and reabsorbed by Stark Enterprises.
Obadiah Stane – CEO of Stane International.
Joel Arons – He was involved in a project that kidnapped Myron MacLain. He stole Captain America's proto-adamantium shield
Joseph "Joe" Faulkner – General manager.
Dr. Edward "Edwin" Earl Hawkins – Designed the Mass Acquisition Unit. He aided Giant Man (Bill Foster) in battling Doctor Nemesis.
Karaguchi Inoyawa – Sought to rebuild Red Ronin for peaceful purposes.
Joseph "Joe" Kilman – After being fired for unknown reasons, he sought revenge by trying to take control of Red Ronin
Vic Martinelli
Michael Craig Stockton (Doctor Nemesis) – Sought to coerce Edward Hawkins into creating a mass acquisition warhead.
Stark Enterprises
After regaining his personal fortune following Obadiah Stane's death, Tony established a new company, Stark Enterprises, in Los Angeles.
Tony Stark – CEO and founder
James Rhodes – Former CEO (when Stark was in suspended animation following his first "death"; quit upon Stark's revival); former pilot
Rothvichet Poch – Former lawyer, vice-president and CEO. Alvarez defended Tony Stark in the trial of Kathy Dare.
Bambi Arbogast - receptionist and former member of the US Department of Defense.
Veronica Benning/Victoria Michelle – Tony Stark's physiotherapist.
Bethany Cabe – Security chief and former bodyguard of Tony Stark.
Diane Carruthers –
Lee Clayton
Ed Deal – Worked on the VLS-2980 Project.
Phillip Grant – Computer hacker.
Chester "Chet" Harrigan – Former chauffeur to Tony Stark.
Bert Hindel – Former lawyer of Stark Enterprises. He was fired after he failed to clear up the Government civil suits brought on during the Armor Wars storyline. He also unsuccessfully defended Kathy Dare.
Happy Hogan –
Heuristically Operative-Matrix-Emulation Rostrum (H.O.M.E.R.) – An artificial intelligence working in Stark Industries.
Stark/Fujikawa
Created by a merger of Stark Enterprises and Fujikawa Industries following the apparent death of Iron Man.
Kenjiro Fujikawa – CEO, founder of Fujikawa Industries, father of Rumiko
Yu Kirin
Rumiko Fujikawa – Rumiko is a businesswoman and the daughter of Kenjiro. She was killed by an Iron Man impostor named Clarence Ward.
Morgan Stark – Cousin of Tony Stark. Became general manager of Stark-Fujikawa after Tony's "death".
Fujikawa Industries – The previous version of this company helped form Stark-Fujikawa. A Japanese firm which took over Stark Enterprises following the apparent death of Tony Stark.
Oracle Incorporated – Formed by Namor, the company was sold to Stark-Fujikawa. Formerly served as the headquarters of Heroes for Hire. After Tony Stark's "death", Bambi Arbogast seconded here.
Parallel Conglomerate – Subsidiary of Oracle Inc. (which would make it a subsidiary of Stark-Fujikawa).
Rand-Meachum – A company formed by Harold Meachum and Wendell Rand, became a subsidiary of Stark-Fujikawa.
Stark Solutions
The fifth company was run/owned by Tony Stark and was founded after his return from another dimension. It was shut down by Tony after he was defamed by Tiberius Stone who was subliminally influencing him.
Tony Stark – CEO
Happy Hogan
Pepper Potts
Svengoto Eriksson
Stark Industries/International
The sixth company owned/run by/founded by Tony Stark and was created after the closure of Stark Solutions. After the events of "The Five Nightmares" and "World Most Wanted" story arcs, Stark Industries went bankrupt and eventually closed down. It was also known as Stark International, both names formerly used in previous incarnations of the company. Its logo is the same as the S.I. Logo in the Iron Man film series.
Tony Stark – CEO
Joseph Jeremy "Joe" Arnold – One of the Security Department heads.
David Beaumont – One of the Security Department heads.
Arturos Benning – One of the Security Department heads
F.R.I.D.A.Y.
Happy Hogan – Tony Stark's bodyguard. Killed saving Stark from an assassination attempt
Michael "Mike" Jochum – One of the Security Department heads.
Kurt Kennison – One of the Security Department heads.
Takeshis Kobayashi – Head of Research & Development.
Archie Merchant – One of the Security Department heads.
Pepper Potts
Katherine Rennie – Tony Stark's personal secretary.
James Rupert Rhodes (War Machine)
Jack Rutledge – He was involved in the development of a Gamma Radiation Neutralizing Armor. He was later killed by Richard Cummings for covering up the death of Lisa Cummings.
Reception
Accolades
In 2011, Forbes ranked Stark Industries 16th in their "25 Largest Fictional Companies" list.
In 2016, Time ranked Stark Industries 3rd in their "18 Most Influential Fake Companies of All Time" list.
In 2018, Sideshow ranked Stark Industries 1st in their "Top 10 Superhero Corporations" list.
In 2019, CBR.com ranked Stark Industries 8th in their "Top 10 Fictional Marvel Companies" list.
Other versions
Amalgam Comics
An alternate universe iteration of Stark Industries, Stark Aircraft, appears in the Amalgam Comics story Iron Lantern.
Marvel 2099
An alternate universe iteration of Stark Industries, Stark-Fujikawa, appears in the Marvel 2099 imprint.
MC2
An alternate universe iteration of Stark Industries, Stark Global Industries, appears in the MC2 imprint.
Ultimate Marvel
An alternate universe iteration of Stark Industries appears in the Ultimate Marvel imprint.
Ultimate Universe
In Earth-6160, a world preceded by alternate history due to the interference of the Maker, the company is known as Stark/Stane, jointly led by Howard Stark and Obadiah Stane.
What If?
In a What If story, the company is known as Stark Interplanetary and created the Irondroids.
In other media
Television
Stark Industries appears in Iron Man (1994). Julia Carpenter (the second Spider-Woman) is depicted as the head of Stark Industries' research and development.
Stark Enterprises appears in Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
A Stark Enterprises building appears in the X-Men: Evolution episode "On Angels' Wings".
Stark International is featured in Iron Man: Armored Adventures. After Howard Stark is abducted by the Mandarin and presumed dead, Obadiah Stane becomes the CEO of Stark Industries. In the episode "Heavy Mettle", Stane is fired by the chairman of the board after Tony Stark and Roberta Rhodes show the board of directors footage of Stane making a deal with Ghost. In the episode "The Hammer Falls", Howard Stark returns and reclaims ownership of Stark International.
Stark Industries appears in The Super Hero Squad Show.
Stark Industries appears in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Stark Industries' Japanese branch appears in Marvel Anime: Iron Man.
A Stark Industries lab appears in Ultimate Spider-Man episode "Flight of the Iron Spider".
A Stark Industries billboard appears in the X-Men '97 episode "Bright Eyes".
Video games
A Stark Industries building appears in Spider-Man (2000).
Stark Industries appears in The Punisher.
A Stark Industries sign appears in the opening cutscene for Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds.
Stark Industries appears in Fortnite.
Theme parks
Stark Industries is featured in Marvel Super Hero Island at the Islands of Adventure theme park, part of Universal Orlando Resort.