War Machine is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by David Michelinie, John Byrne and Bob Layton as a supporting character for Iron Man, he first appeared in Iron Man #118 (1979) and became a superhero with the Iron Man armor in issue #169 (1983). War Machine has since been established as an independent superhero and appeared in multiple standalone series in addition to his appearances in Iron Man comics. Col. James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes is a military veteran and pilot who began working for Tony Stark, eventually discovering that he was Iron Man and then taking Stark's place when he was incapacitated. Stark subsequently gave Rhodes the War Machine armor. The character is among the earliest African American superheroes in mainstream comics. His race, his military experience, and his sense of morality are often used to contrast him with Tony Stark and to analyze the themes of Iron Man stories through a different perspective. War Machine is the primary romantic interest of Carol Danvers, while many of his other supporting characters and villains overlap with those of Iron Man.
War Machine has been the main character of two War Machine volumes (1994–1996 and 2009–2010), as well as other stories including The Crew (2003), Iron Man 2.0 (2011), and Iron Patriot (2014). An adaptation of War Machine appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, portrayed by Terrence Howard in Iron Man (2008) and by Don Cheadle in subsequent appearances.
Publication history
20th century James Rhodes was created by writer David Michelinie with artists John Byrne and Bob Layton. Rhodes first appeared in a single panel of Iron Man #118 (1979), introduced as a friend of Tony Stark, and he saw a recurring role as Stark's personal helicopter pilot. Many comic books and other works in popular culture had begun introducing duos of one white character and one black character. Such a development had not occurred in Iron Man until Rhodes's introduction. One African American character, Eddie March, was introduced as Iron Man's successor in Iron Man #21 (1970), but this character was severely injured and written out of the series before being elevated as Iron Man's partner. Shortly after his first appearance, Rhodes assisted Iron Man in defeating Justin Hammer throughout issues published in 1979. He was established as a more prominent supporting character in Iron Man #144 (1981), which described his connection to Tony Stark and how they met during the Vietnam War. This depiction of Rhodes made him a central character in Iron Man's history and origin, elevating his importance beyond what had been written for Marvel's black characters to that point. When Denny O'Neil was the writer for Iron Man comics, he chose to write Stark out of the role entirely in favor of Rhodes. Rhodes was first portrayed using Iron Man armor in Iron Man #169 (1983), when he had to fight a villain in the stead of a drunk and defeated Tony Stark. A black superhero replacing a white one was almost unprecedented at the time, with DC Comics having only recently attempted a similar change with its character John Stewart, who was created by O'Neil. From this change, O'Neil created a story arc in which Stark relapsed into alcoholism and Rhodes reluctantly took up the armor and the title of Iron Man. The change saw mixed reactions from readers, as Rhodes's tenure as Iron Man emphasized his lack of experience or expertise regarding the Iron Man armor. For the duration of the story arc, the Iron Man series focused primarily on Rhodes, with Stark's recovery being relegated to a subplot. It also included the Secret Wars crossover event, which featured Rhodes as Iron Man rather than Stark. Stark resumed the role of Iron Man in Iron Man #200 (1985). During Iron Man's 1988 Armor Wars story arc, Rhodes accompanies Iron Man in his mission to fight those who had acquired the Iron Man armor technology. Rhodes again served as a replacement for Stark beginning in Iron Man #284 (1992), while Stark was in suspended animation. He began using the War Machine armor at this time, continuing as Iron Man until Stark returned the following year in issue #289. Keeping the War Machine armor, Rhodes was established as a new superhero, War Machine. He subsequently appeared in Avengers West Coast beginning in issue #94 (1993), but the series ended shortly afterward. Iron Man writer Len Kaminski did not intend to give Rhodes the War Machine armor permanently, but editor Nel Yomtov insisted after it was well received. War Machine was one of several characters to serve as grittier and more violent anti-hero versions of established characters during the 1990s. The character received his own series with the release of War Machine #1 (1994), written by Kaminski and Scott Benson and penciled by Gabriel Gecko. This series featured Deathlok and Cable as supporting characters, and it ran for twenty-five issues across two years. War Machine was introduced with a story relating to Africa and the continent's politics, reflecting Western interest in the subject following widespread reporting of the Somali, Rwandan, and Liberian civil wars. By issue #15 (1995), the focus shifted to speculative fiction involving aliens and time travel. Rhodes was given symbiotic alien armor during this series to differentiate him from Iron Man, but the change was short-lived. The series ended during a larger reorganization of Marvel amid financial problems. In the years following the end of War Machine, Rhodes became a minor character with only limited appearances.
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