The first volume, published between 2005 and 2006, was a five-part miniseries depicting the early life and origins of Tony Stark, and was drawn by Andy Kubert.
This volume follows directly on from the first series and depicts the early uses of the Iron Man armour, art by Pasqual Ferry and Dave McCaig.
Howard Stark, a master inventor and owner and CEO of his own billion dollar tech company, used a newly invented liquid, biological armor to ease Tony's agony; a buffer allowing him to interact with the world normally, but one he would have to wear for the rest of his life.
The biotechnology armor he wears is constructed out of genetically modified bacteria that are able to group together to dissipate kinetic energy when impacted upon, allowing the wearer to withstand tremendous blows and is able to dissolve any metal that can be oxidized.
This "side effect" worked well with Tony's regenerative capabilities, seeing as how his skin would regenerate as fast as the armor would eat it, making it a perfect fit.
Another secondary problem was that, initially, the liquid armor turned his skin a bright blue hue, making socialization and the idea of going to a normal school more difficult.
In Ultimate Iron Man #2, young Tony Stark is shown covered in the blue skin-armor developed by his father in issue #1.
Attempting to learn how to manufacture the bio-armor, Zebediah Stane (not knowing that the armor did not work correctly for normal humans), kidnaps and tortures Tony by washing off the armor with antibacterial soap causing Tony to scream in agony when his unprotected skin hit the air.
After the incident, a transparent version of the armor is developed, and, no longer blue, Tony begins attending a prep school.
His father has lost ownership of his corporation to Zebediah's now-wife Loni (who was Stark's first wife, before Maria) and they now live a middle class existence in a normal home.
Discovering that the bullies were following orders from an unknown individual, Stark's father decides, for their own protection and to put their skills to better use, to enroll Stark, Rhodes, and Nifara (another of Tony's friends), who witnessed the attack and were all of genius-level intelligence, into the Baxter Building program, a school for above genius intelligence.
Shortly after their arrival, Stark witnesses Obadiah murder a pair of students and then make it look like an accident, but is unable to prove it.
Ultimate Iron Man #5 shows that shortly after Howard's arrest based on planted evidence (by Obadiah) at the gruesome murder of his enemy Zebediah Stane, Tony gets his first taste of champagne at a party held by his father.
Howard is still wrongly imprisoned for the murder of rival Zebediah Stane, and teenage Tony is forced to run Stark Enterprises in his stead.
Tony goes to Obadiah's house in the Iron Man armor and confronts him on setting up his father and sending him to prison.
Dolores's men plan to kill the feds who delivered them the robot, but Ultimate War Machine shows up to save them.
Iron Man breaks into the compound and Loni floods it with poison gas trying to kill him, abandoning Obadiah.