Howard Stark was a brilliant inventor. He and his own father worked on various projects, and later founded Stark Industries. During WWII and after, he worked on various government projects. These included the Manhattan Project^[1] and housing the 'Arsenal' robots in a hidden subbasement in his mansion. The robots were only supposed to be activated if the US was overrun during a presumed Cold War conflict, but both known models have been accidentally awakened and stopped by the Avengers.

Howard married a woman named Maria and had a son, Tony. He constantly pushed Tony to be the best, telling him that someone must have 'iron in their backbone' to be successful. He had a severe case of alcoholism, something his son would later face on his own.

He was a contemporary of many other powerful businessman such as Warren Worthington II and Creighton McCall. Membership to the exclusive Hellfire Club was offered, but it seems Howard was uninterested in anything other than the lavish parties the club threw. It is believed Howard was also a member of the V-Battalion. He was targeted by the Red Skull (Johann Schmidt), and is rumored to have met the Watcher Uatu.

On the Ides of March, Howard and Maria were killed in a car accident. It has been hinted that the incident was not random and possibly arranged by the V-Battalion. Tony ran his father's company, started a charity in his mother's name, and later became Iron Man.

Stark said to Nathaniel Richards soon after joining the Brotherhood of the Shield that the Brotherhood would fake his death by car accident, calling his deceased status into question.^[2]