Iron Man: James "Rhodey" Rhodes, the War Machine Appreciation 2019

[Hypestyle]

... so what's this latest situation in the latest Iron Man issue? Something involving Ultron?

[Tony Stark]

Really hate that Rhodey is not in the suit now.

Same. Hate that thing he rides around in.

... so what's this latest situation in the latest Iron Man issue? Something involving Ultron?

You guys should really check out Tony Stark Iron Man #17. You'll enjoy it.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Iron Man #127 Oct 1979
"A Man's Home is His Battlefield..."
The story opens in Justin Hammer's Villa, where Iron Man blasts away the army of super-villains.
Iron Man asks Justin Hammer himself, what is a businessman doing with a goon squad like this.
Hammer replies that the explanation is quite obvious.
Iron Man's foes need money to develop their weapons, to pay for their bail, to replace broken equipment.
He offers sanctuary and financial aid to these gentlemen and ladies, in exchange for 50% of their profits.

Justin Hammer concludes that none of the villains can face Iron Man alone.
He orders them to attack en masse, as this is their only chance to defeat him.
The villains obey his command and join forces against Iron Man.
Iron Man uses physical force against the crowd of assailants.

Iron Man suddenly starts flying, transporting the surrounding villains with him.
He flies through a wall and to the open ground outside. He then turns his attention to the Beetle.
He grabs hold of the wings of Beetle Armor MK I and removes them. Now unable to fly, the Beetle calls for help.
The Leap-Frog responds to the call and attempts to rescue the Beetle.
Iron Man takes control of the Beetle's tentacles, uses them to swing the Beetle around,
and forcefully throws the Beetle to the Leap-Frog. The two villains collide in mid-air, taking them both out of the fight.

Hammer orders the Water Wizard to use his powers against Iron Man.
The Wizard questions Hammer's sanity and attempts to escape instead.
He mentions almost getting killed while fighting in the Vietnam War, while his only opponent was an army.
He uses his powers to create a surf-scooter to use as his escape vehicle.
He acknowledges that he still owes Hammer money for the bail he paid,
but promises to eventually send him a check to settle the debt.
Hammer is angry because of the Water Wizard's lack of gratitude.
But he takes note that he and his operatives might need to escape the Villa.
He instructs Spymaster to alert the Villa's navigator that he needs to prepare the lift pods.

As the battle continues, the Blizzard and the Melter combine their powers for an attack against the Iron Man armor.
They fail to even scratch the armor. Iron Man grabs both villains and causes their heads to collide.
They are both out of the fight. Constrictor then traps Iron Man in his coils.

Iron Man tells the Constrictor that he has read information about him.
He has read how the Constrictor stuns people with his electric coils.
He informs the villain that Iron Man operates on electricity.
He can absorb the Constrictor's electric attacks and use their power to boost his own strength.
He uses the additional strength to stretch the Adamantium coils of the Constrictor and to slip right out of them.
He then grabs the coils and uses to swing the Constrictor around.
He sends the villain flying towards Man-Killer, taking them both out of the fight.

With the super-villains either defeated or missing in action, Justin Hammer orders his armed guards to hold off Iron Man.
The guards are suddenly attacked by machine gun fire.
The attackers are the Monaco Police, which is operative five helicopters and flying above the Villa.
They order the guards to surrender. Iron Man flies up to greet them, and discovers Jim Rhodes aboard one of the helicopters.
Rhodes explains that he had trouble convincing the police hat the real Tony Stark had been abducted.

He wants to know the whereabouts of his boss. Iron Man claims that Tony Stark was safely transported to the shore.
He notices police boats surrounding the Villa. He wants to get to Hammer before the police does.

Meanwhile, Hammer prepares an escape plan. The entire island villa begins rising on a cushion of jet-powered air.
The Villa flies away at an ever-increasing spreed. Iron Man realizes that the flying island is heading towards international waters,
which would allow Hammer to escape police custody. He prepares to attack the Villa. His attack splits the structure in two pieces,
while Hammer's agents struggle to escape the ruined building. Phillip Barnett finds himself in the waters below,
and has never learned how to swim. He calls for help, and is rescued by Iron Man.
Iron Man wants him to testify as a witness in court.
Barnett fears double-crossing Hammer, but then realizes how much Iron Man can hurt him.
He offers his confession by either writing or on tape.

Later on the docks of Monaco, Tony Stark and Jim Rhodes converse.
Justin Hammer was not among the people captured by the Monaco Police and he apparently escaped safely.
The police claim that they have enough evidence to use against Hammer in court.
Stark thanks Rhodes for his help, and Rhodes claims that he was only doing his job.
As they smile sincerely, the warmth of their friendship is re-assuring.

Mayor Ed Koch returns to Iron Man the version of Iron Man Armor Model 4 which was in police custody.
Koch explains that there will be no charges pressed against Iron Man for disobeying orders and using his spare armor.
Iron Man then meets Mr. Pithins, head of Stark International's public relations department.
Pithins does not seem happy. Even with the exoneration, the press is not though with coverage of Stark International.
Iron Man was still involved in a murder and the company still lost the Carnelian contract. Public confidence in them is down.

As Iron Man steps outside the CBS building, there is a crowd of New Yorkers outside.
He notices that a blonde little girl has dropped her doll. He retrieves the doll and offers it back to the girl.
The girl is terrified of him, since she saw him kill Kotznin of TV. She calls for protection.
Her mother promises to not let the bad man hurt her daughter.
The embarrassed crowd disperses, including the crying little girl. Iron Man suddenly feels alone.

He later blames his Iron Man armor for terrifying little children. He angrily shuts it in the armor case.

Plot by David Michelinie and Bob Layton. Script by David Michelinie. Art by John Romita Jr. (breakdowns) and Bob Layton (finishes).

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #6 Oct 1984
"A Little Death..."
After trying to escape the X-Men, the Wasp finds herself trying to get her escape ship under control.
Unable to figure out the strange controls, the Wasp ends up crashing the ship.
Unsure of where to go, she finds a holographic projector that shows her a nearby dome
and she decides to shrink down to wasp size to try and locate it.
On her way out, she turns and uses one of her bio-stings to destroy the ship.
Flying into a nearby swamp she fights off some aggressive insects and finds the dome that the ship showed her earlier.
Returning to human size the Wasp figures out what to do next when she is suddenly attacked by the Lizard.

Meanwhile, aboard the Worldship of Galactus, Doctor Doom uses a device
there to draw a strange energy he detected within the walls of the ship.
To his surprise this energy reforms into Klaw, the so-called master of sound.
Much to Doom's dismay, Klaw's mind has been affected by the ordeal,
but Doom learns that Klaw got trapped during a battle with Dazzler.
The mutant used her powers to convert his sound form into light energy that she then absorbed into her body.
Later when she was abducted by Galactus, she used that energy to try and attack him,
but the energy did nothing and Klaw's form became trapped in the wall.
Finding Klaw of no use to him, Doom then continues to find something that will help him stop Galactus and then the Beyonder.
Finding a control monitor, Doom views the events on Battleworld.
He sees the gathered heroes regrouping after their battle with his minions who have now fled back to Doombase
while Galactus himself continues to prepare the device that will help him consume Battleworld.
Doom quickly formulates a plan to spoil Galactus' plan
and uses a teleporter to send Klaw down to the planet to deliver a message to his minions.

When Klaw materializes in Doombase, he recites a code word that convinces Ultron that he was
sent by their mutual master, prompting the gathered villains to listen to what Klaw has to say.
Back in the swamp, the Wasp realizes that the Lizard has attacked her out of fear due to the fact that he has been injured.
Convincing the Lizard that she means no harm, the Wasp manages to get close enough to him to treat his wound.
While back at Magneto's base, the X-Men have returned to salvage what they can after it was blasted by Galactus.
Feeling weak, Xavier decides to take a moment to rest.
He then reaches out with his mind telepathically to see what the villains are up to.
Before the Enchantress detects his presence and uses her magic to block him out, Xavier learns how the villains are
planning to cause a volcanic eruption on the other side of the planet and summons his X-Men to venture out and stop them.
When he puts Cyclops in charge this angers Storm as she is the leader of the X-Men.
But when she confronts Charles with this, he warns her that if she refuses to follow his
orders he will not be against using his mental powers to force her to follow his bidding.
Storm concedes but still believes that he is leading the X-Men into defeat.

Meanwhile, at the heroes camp in the alien village, Colossus
continues to recover from the injuries he incurred in the last battle.
He finds himself torn between his feelings for his girlfriend Kitty Pryde back home
and these new feelings he has for Zsaji the alien healer who saved his life.
When she comes to heal him again he tries to open up his feelings for her, but the language barrier prevents her from doing so.
When she goes to depart, she is picked up by the Human Torch who does some areal tricks with her before kissing her
and taking her away, making Colossus grow even more jealous.

Elsewhere Captain America is planning strategies with Mister Fantastic, the Hulk, the Thing and She-Hulk.
When She-Hulk demands that they go looking for the Wasp, who is still missing,
Cap assures her that Captain Marvel is searching for them.

All this talk begins to get on the Hulk's nerves who demands that they go out and smash their enemies.
Not far away, Hawkeye is preparing some traditional arrows after the last of his trick arrows were used to boost Iron Man's armor.
Iron Man meanwhile tries to hit on Captain Marvel, who is uninterested
and confused -- unaware that the man inside the armor is not the Iron Man she has previously known.

For himself, James Rhodes wonders what has come over him and complains about his head hurting,
which has been happening a lot recently since he became Iron Man.

At that moment the X-Men attack the villains at the volcano in an attempt to foil their plans.
During the ensuing battle, Wolverine manages to get close enough to the Molecule Man to slash him across the chest
with his Adamantium claws, although Cyclops blasts Wolverine's arm to prevent him from striking a fatal blow.
The villains retreat with their injured comrade and Cyclops unleashes an optic blast in a volcanic cone
which causes the X-Men to flee themselves when the volcanoes begin to erupt.
While back at the swamp the Wasp finishes binding the Lizard's wounds when she is suddenly
shot through the chest with a laser beam fired by a massive vehicle piloted by the Wrecking Crew.
When the Lizard tries to attack them, they immobilize the creature with a stasis beam
and take the two prisoners even though they believe the Wasp is dead.
Back at the Heroes camp, things appear even grimmer when they see
that Galactus has almost completed his planet-devouring device.

As they contemplate what to do next they are unaware that a shadowy figure is observing their movements.

Story by Jim Shooter. Art by Mike Zeck and John Beatty.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #7 Nov 1984
"Berserker!" First appearance of Spider-Woman aka Julia Carpenter
The heroes gathered on Battleworld by the Beyonder have discovered someone spying on them at their camp.
When the Torch corners her, the mystery woman introduces herself as Spider-Woman.
When the other heroes question how another human they haven't previously met could be on Battleworld, Mister Fantastic
theorizes that since the Beyonder constructed Battleworld from planetary fragments a portion of Earth must have been used as well.
Spider-Woman confirms this by explaining that the entire city of Denver has been brought to Battleworld.
When she explains that she has come to help, she shows that she is more than capable by demonstrating her enhanced strength.
The other heroes decide to trust her considering the fact that Dr. Doom has too much raw power to need to plant a spy among them.
Suddenly they are attacked by a giant vehicle. When the Wrecker pops out of the porthole,
he tosses out the seemingly deceased body of the Wasp before the villains take off.
Some of the heroes try to chase after them but the vehicle is too fast.
Quickly, She-Hulk picks up the Wasp's body and hands it over to their healer, the alien
woman known as Zsaji, who tries to use her powers to revive the Wasp but to no avail.
The Avengers are furious at the death of their comrade and are ready to rush off and get revenge when
Captain America stops them and reminds them of the threat of Galactus who is still preparing to consume Battleworld.

Convincing the others to stay their hand, they begin to plan their next course of action, all save for She-Hulk, who storms off on her own.

Elsewhere, the X-Men retreat from the active volcanic region, and although they failed to stop a group of villains
Xavier is impressed that they were able to send Titania, Molecule Man, Absorbing Man and Doctor Octopus packing.
However, instead of returning to base, Xavier tells them to follow after
their foes while he, Magneto, Storm and Nightcrawler rendezvous with them.
Meanwhile, aboard the villains' craft, they care for the Molecule Man, who was seriously wounded by Wolverine's claws.
Seeing Owen's condition from the monitors at Doombase, Volcana rushes to
the Enchantress and asks the Asgardian sorceress to teleport her to Owen's side.
When Volcana tells Amora that she is willing to do anything, the Enchantress teleports her away, satisfied by this offer.
Volcana appears within the ship just as the two containing the X-Men and Magneto attack.
During the course of the ensuing battle, Wolverine manages to chop off the
Absorbing Man's arm while he is in the form of stone, but is burned badly by Volcana.
Outnumbered and outgunned, Volcana calls a strategic withdrawal and uses her powers to cover their escape.
At that moment aboard Galactus' ship, Doctor Doom continues to search
for something that will allow him to defeat Galactus and the Beyonder.
However, his plan to create a distraction by creating volcanic eruptions on the other side
of Battleworld has backfired and has succeeded only in alerting Galactus to Doom's presence.
Locating the intruder, Galactus uses his power to violently eject Doom from his ship.

Back at Doombase, Doctor Octopus and his crew return and Volcana almost gets into a fight with the Enchantress.
Titania stops her and warns the Enchantress that if Owen Reece dies she will rip her leg off and stuff it down her throat.
Elsewhere, the Absorbing Man wonders what to do about his severed arm. By holding it in place where it was cut,
he risks changing back to human form and is surprised when his gambit pays off and his arm reattaches itself.
While down below in the dungeon the members of the Wrecking Crew lock the Lizard
in a cell since he cannot be controlled after they seemingly killed the Wasp.
Leaving the Lizard to rot, the Wrecking Crew are unaware that Klaw has been secretly watching the entire situation unfold.
When Bulldozer retires to his room he notices that the wall has been ripped open from outside.
Suddenly he is ambushed by She-Hulk, who begins to pummel on him for his part in the Wasp's death.
Hearing the commotion, Titania enters the room and sees that the
She-Hulk has defeated every member of the Wrecking Crew in a fight.
She gets the jump on She-Hulk just as Doctor Octopus and Absorbing Man enter the fray.
In yet another part of Doombase, the Enchantress laments over her current situation and pines for the love of Thor.
Her thoughts are distracted by the return of Doctor Doom who has
just barely survived being ejected from the Worldship of Galactus.
He stumbles into his room and passes out, proclaiming that the battle is over.

As the other villains are pummeling She-Hulk, the other heroes have discovered that she is missing.
When Hulk and Hawkeye tell this to Cap and try to get him to mobilize a searching party, Captain America denies their request.
When Cap sees that others want to go out and rescue her, he reminds them all that the stakes are too high to make decisions of the heart.

Elsewhere in the village, Colossus is finally up and about after recovering from his injuries. He goes looking for Zsaji
and finds her as she is leaving her hut. When she suddenly collapses he is there to catch her.
Suddenly, Captain America is contacted by Professor X who tells him that he and his
team can go after She-Hulk while the X-Men take their place watching over Galactus.

With this bit of news, Captain America orders everyone to get ready to move out.
NOTE: The Beyonder created Battleworld from pieces of hundreds of worlds from across the universe. The city of Denver was one of those pieces.

Story by Jim Shooter. Art by Mike Zeck and John Beatty.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Iron Man #188 Nov 1984
"And Grimm Shall Be Their Name!"
The California entrepreneurs at last have a name for their new company: Circuits Maximus!

And to celebrate their grand opening; Morley, Clytemnestra, Tony and Rhodey go out to dinner to an upscale restaurant!
However a couple of locals are very upset with the restaurant's owner!
And they go out to dinner...dressed as the Brothers Grimm!

When Shell-Head engages the strange duo,

he quickly learns that the pernicious pair are full of tricks!
And they must be bested with brainpower as opposed to firepower!
First appearance of the Grimes brothers as the Brothers Grimm.
NOTES: The costumes of the Brothers Grimm previously appeared in Spider-Woman #12.
This story takes place close to the events in Iron Man Annual #7.

Script by Denny O'Neil. Pencils by Don Perlin. Inks by Steve Mitchell.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

War Machine #8 Nov 1994
"Friendly Fire!" Guest-starring Iron Man.
James Rhodes finally confronts his former friend and employer, Tony Stark.

It's War Machine vs. Iron Man!


Story by Scott Benson and Len Kaminski. Art by Gabriel Gecko and Pam Eklund.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 Dec 1984
"Invasion!"
Second appearance of Spider-Woman aka Julia Carpenter
With She-Hulk in danger at Doombase, the heroes gathered on Battleworld rush to her aid.
Their attack attracts the attention of the Enchantress who has been drinking since she thought Thor was
slain by Doom's minions, but sees that he is actually alive and well. However she is too drunk to join the fight.
Also hearing the commotion is Volcana who is still caring for the Molecule Man
after he was seriously wounded by Wolverine in an earlier battle. She refuses to leave his side.
While down below in the dungeon the deranged Klaw frees the Lizard from his cell.
Elsewhere still, the rest of the villains are still pounding on the She-Hulk when they hear the attack and rush off to stop it.
Before leaving, Doctor Octopus lands one more blow in the hopes of killing She-Hulk.
While in his quarters, Doctor Doom continues to try and recover after being
expelled from the Worldship of Galactus as his bodyguard Ultron guards the door.

The heroes are ambushed by the villains and during the fight Iron Man's armor is damaged by the Wrecker.
The Thing tries to tackle the Absorbing Man but suddenly reverts back to human form, forcing Spider-Woman to come to his aid.
While Thor ties up Doctor Octopus, Pile Driver tries to square off against Hawkeye,
but cowers away when the bowman manages to strike him with an arrow.
The Hulk comes crashing in on the Enchantress but is knocked out by her enchanted charms.
When she tries the same thing on Captain America, he resists her long enough to knock her out with his shield.
While Spider-Man squares off against Titania, Hawkeye and Ben Grimm run into Klaw and the Lizard and are concerned that they are outmatched.
Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, Thor and Spider-Woman later locate Volcana and Molecule Man and try to attack.

Molecule Man responds by erecting an indestructible screen around them and Volcana unleashes large
fire blasts that fries Iron Man's armor, but Captain Marvel manages to pass through in her light form,

and the heroes cease their hostilities when they find out that Owen has been seriously injured.
While not far away, Spider-Man manages to get the best of Titania,
delivering her a humiliating defeat and knocking her out of the fortress.

Meanwhile, Captain America and the Human Torch are squaring off against Ultron.
Ultimately the Torch defeats the robot by unleashing his nova flame, overheating his circuits and rendering the killer robot inert.
Captain America then storms into Doom's quarters and seeing the state that Doctor Doom is in, considers Doom no threat and leaves.
With the battle over, Mister Fantastic and the others find Hawkeye and Ben Grimm playing patty-cake, thanks to the limited intellect of their foes.
Soon She-Hulk is found and is placed in the medical bay along with the defeated members of the Wrecking Crew, while the rest of the villains are locked up.
While back in the alien village, Colossus rushes the unconscious Zsaji to her room.
There he finds the bottle of mind melding gas and uses it to learn what ails her.
He discovers that the constant use of her powers to heal the various heroes have taxed her system and threaten to kill her.
Colossus then professes his love to Zsaji.
Elsewhere, Hawkeye and Captain Marvel return to discover that Zsaji pushed her powers to the limit so she could revive the Wasp.
While from their look out, the members of the X-Men notice that Galactus is getting dangerously close to completing his world devouring device.

Back at Doombase, Iron Man is impressed that Mister Fantastic seems unsurprised that an African-American is wearing the Iron Man armor.
While elsewhere Spider-Man notices that Thor got a new helmet and cape.
When Hulk tells Spider-Man that there is a device that creates costumes by thought,
he goes to check it out for himself since his own uniform is in tatters.
Finding what he believes to be the machine the Hulk was talking about,
Spider-Man thinks into it and a strange black ball comes out and lands in his hand.
Spider-Man is surprised when the blackness begins to spread up his arm and envelops his body in a new black and white costume.
As Spider-Man begins to wonder why it doesn't look like his old costume suddenly the ground begins to quake.
This is followed by a telepathic distress from Professor Xavier warning the heroes that Galactus is about to consume Battleworld.

NOTE: First in continuity appearance of Spider-Man's black costume.
This costume turns out to be an alien symbiote that will later bond with Eddie Brock and become the tenacious Spidey villain known as Venom.

Story by Jim Shooter. Art by Mike Zeck, John Beatty, Jack Abel and Mike Esposito.

[Hypestyle]

Back at Doombase, Iron Man is impressed that Mister Fantastic seems unsurprised that an African-American is wearing the Iron Man armor.
While elsewhere Spider-Man notices that Thor got a new helmet and cape.
When Hulk tells Spider-Man that there is a device that creates costumes by thought,
he goes to check it out for himself since his own uniform is in tatters.
Finding what he believes to be the machine the Hulk was talking about,
Spider-Man thinks into it and a strange black ball comes out and lands in his hand.
Spider-Man is surprised when the blackness begins to spread up his arm and envelops his body in a new black and white costume.
As Spider-Man begins to wonder why it doesn't look like his old costume suddenly the ground begins to quake.
This is followed by a telepathic distress from Professor Xavier warning the heroes that Galactus is about to consume Battleworld.

NOTE: First in continuity appearance of Spider-Man's black costume.
This costume turns out to be an alien symbiote that will later bond with Eddie Brock and become the tenacious Spidey villain known as Venom.

Story by Jim Shooter. Art by Mike Zeck, John Beatty, Jack Abel and Mike Esposito. [/CENTER]

I would like to see Jim Rhodes have a follow up conversation with Richards having an alternate War Machine armor in case Tony's security protocols get hacked. Could be very interesting to see what they both came up with.

[Tony Stark]

War Machine #8 Nov 1994
"Friendly Fire!" Guest-starring Iron Man.
James Rhodes finally confronts his former friend and employer, Tony Stark.

It's War Machine vs. Iron Man!


Story by Scott Benson and Len Kaminski. Art by Gabriel Gecko and Pam Eklund.

This was a good storyline. I remember reading it growing up and waiting for it to come to a head. I enjoyed this as the lead up to the Hands of The Mandarin.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Iron Man #189 Dec 1984
"A Thing That Bores From Within..."
The relationship between Tony Stark and James Rhodes continues to deteriorate!
And Rhodey, still plagued by headaches, thinks the ex-Shell-Head is trying to subvert his career as Iron Man!
While Tony is shocked to learn that Rhodey has joined the West Coast Avengers!

But before the former friends can resolve their growing differences, a new super-foe attacks: the Termite!

This intrusive villain is trying to destroy an electronics company for which Circuits Maximus has a contract!
And the golden avenger must root him out!

Does Iron Man have an exterminator on speed dial?
First appearance of the Termite.
Cameo appearances by Clytemnestra Erwin, Morley Erwin and Obadiah Stane.

Script by Denny O'Neil. Pencils by Luke McDonnell. Inks by Steve Mitchell.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Iron Man #310 Nov 1994
"Friends...and Other Enemies!" Guest-starring War Machine.
Iron Man and War Machine continue their epic battle.


But, when two best friends fight

can there really ever be a winner?

Story by Len Kaminski. Art by Tom Morgan.