CLAY POTTS

Real Name: Potts (first name may be Clay or may be unrevealed - see comments)

Identity/Class: Normal human

Occupation: Unrevealed

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: None

Known Relatives: Virginia "Pepper" Potts (sister), Harold "Happy" Hogan (ex-brother-in-law, deceased), Jamie Carlson (Teen Abomination, step-nephew), unidentified foster nephew and niece

Aliases: Clay Hogan (see comments)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed

First Appearance: (mentioned) Invincible Iron Man#23 (December 1999)

Powers/Abilities: Unrevealed

Height: Unrevealed
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Unrevealed

History:
(Invincible Iron Man#23 (fb) - BTS) - Clay Potts was the brother of Virginia "Pepper" Potts.

(Invincible Iron Man#23 - BTS) - Clay sent his sister a postcard.

Comments: Created by Kurt Busiek and Roger Stern.

   As of the writing of this profile Clay has never actually appeared, and indeed has only even been mentioned one time - see this profile's image for that. Nevertheless, as the sibling of a major recurring character he's still noteworthy. Heck, given Pepper is a major player in the MCU it's not inconceivable that Clay could show up there before he even appears in the comics.

   Just as Pepper is a nickname (what parent with the surname Potts would be so cruel as to genuinely name their child Pepper?), Clay may well be as well. Or it might be short for something, such as Clayton, although that "what cruel parent?" query would still arise.

   The 2008 Iron Manual mixed up the relationship between Clay, Pepper and Happy, identifying Clay as Clay Hogan, brother to Happy and brother-in-law to Pepper in both Happy and Pepper's entries; this was unfortunately repeated in the subsequent A-Z Hardcover collected editions. Less of an outright error, but still an error of omission, the Iron Man Index's entry for Invincible Iron Man#23 didn't mention Clay; while he wasn't physically present his BTS (behind-the-scenes) presence sending the postcard should have been mentioned, possibly with additional context in that issue's comments. These errors have been noted as errata, and if and when any of these get reprinted they should get corrected.

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Clay Potts should not be confused with:

• Virginia "Pepper" Potts - his sister--Tales of Suspense I#45
  

and has no known connections to:

• Clay Quartermain - SHIELD agent--Strange Tales I#163
• Clay - mutant assassin--Madrox#2
  
• or any other "Clay" or "Potts" characters

images: (without ads)
Invincible Iron Man#23, p9, pan1-2 (main image)

Appearances:
Invincible Iron Man#23 (December 1999) - Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern (writers), Sean Chen (pencils), Dan Panosian (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)

First Posted: 07/17/2025
Last updated: 07/17/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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