The only good Iron Man runs were the two Michelinie/Layton runs and Extremis.

Marvel has tried to constantly "fix" Iron Man because they really didn't know what to do with him. Before Extremis, they tried to put a reset button on him and make him a teenager (that didn't stick); later they made him a secretary of defense (that didn't stick); then they made Extremis, which basically completely ignored all previous continuity, because Warren Ellis thought it sucked; and then they made him a villain in Civil War.

He was kinda important in Avengers I guess, but even there he was always "just a bodyguard"