If you think your girlfriend has too many shoes in the closet, know that it could be worse. At least she isn't as bad as Tony Stark . The hero better known as Iron Man has gone through more costume changes than David Bowie and Elton John combined. He has enough old armors lying around that he needs entire underground warehouses to store them all.

Iron Man 2 is hitting theaters this week. In honor of this huge superhero event, we've decided to dust off our old Many Armors of Iron Man feature. In this article we examine the evolution of Iron Man's armors in the comics and the live-action movies they've inspired. This massive update adds new armors that have been introduced in the past two years, as well as several classics we neglected to include last time.But even with this new update, it's impossible to include every single armor variation from the past 45 years. Let us know what we missed and what your favorite armor design is by posting in the comments section below.

The Mark I ArmorTales of Suspense #39 (1963)Stark's original suit of armor was born out of necessity. When most people are trapped in a POW camp and dying of a shrapnel wound, they tend to give up and wait for the end. Not Tony Stark. He built a giant armored weapon out of scrap metal that also used a giant magnet to keep the shrapnel from moving closer to his heart.In the original story, the suit was powered by "transistors", powerful little circuits that could do anything from manipulate the weight of objects to broadcast and distort Tony's voice over long distances. Even in its infancy, the Iron Man armor could do practically anything the story demanded of it. As long as its battery charge held out, of course.

The Gold ArmorTales of Suspense #40 (1963)Whether following the comics or the original Iron Man movie, fans know that the first thing Tony did after returning from his imprisonment was begin upgrading his Iron Man armor. In the movie, the evolution of the suit was swift. The Mark II model was but a coat of paint away from being a fully-realized work of art.Progress was somewhat slower in the comics, however. Visually, the only distinguishing feature between Tony's first armor and its follow-up was the color scheme. Realizing the harsh metallic look was scaring his would-be fans, Tony spruced up his look with a shiny coat of gold. This model received several other upgrades, including the ability to fold down into a more portable, storage-friendly form when not worn.

The Classic ArmorTales of Suspense #48 (1963)Ever the techno-geek, Stark spent endless hours upgrading and redesigning his armor. The first major revision resulted in the iconic red and gold suit.This armor was much more flexible and mobile than the Mark I Armor, and boasted such new gadgets as boot thrusters and repulsor rays that became common features in later models.While Stark continuously upgraded this particular suit, the general appearance of his armor changed very little over the following 20 years. Only the changing shape of the helmet denoted the fact that Stark was still tinkering with his greatest toy. For the simple reason that Stark sported this retro look for longer than pretty much every other armor combined, this is the armor that many fans consider to be the definitive suit.

The Space ArmorIron Man Vol. 1 #141 (1981)The Iron Man armor allows Tony to perform heroic deeds nearly everywhere on Earth. However, there are a few extreme regions where even Iron Man's shell is poor protection against environmental hazards. Readers in the '80s began to see Tony adopt situational armors to tackle his more unusual missions.The first of these was the Space Armor. Its function should be immediately obvious. This bulky suit allowed Tony to freely operate in the cold vacuum of space. While the Classic Armor could function in space for short times, this new suit included enough food and oxygen reserves to allow Tony to remain in space for days at a time.The Space Armor is fairly unwieldy and difficult to control on land, but in the outskirts of Earth's atmosphere it proves to be a billionaire's best friend.