War Machine (James Rhodes) Reading Order
Meet James Rupert “Rhodey” Rhodes, a skilled military pilot and one of the few people that Tony Stark trusts to use the technology of the Iron Man Armor. Created by David Michelinie and John Byrne, he made his debut in Iron Man #118 (January 1979) as a supporting player.
Who is James Rhodes aka War Machine? Born in Philadelphia, he first encountered Tony Stark when he was flying combat missions in Vietnam. After being shot down by Viet Cong rocket fire, Rhodes was trying to get his chopper back in the air when he came upon Stark, who was wearing a large powered armor prototype. The Viet Cong struck at that same time, and Stark’s outfit helped to stave them off. Rhodes and Stark traveled together to a neighboring enemy base where they stole a second helicopter and used it to return to the American lines.
When Tony relapsed into his alcoholism, James Rhodes took up the mantle of Iron Man for some time. But Rhodey was destined to be more than a replacement for another hero, he was destined to have his own alias: War Machine, and even later Iron Patriot.
Let’s simply say that Rhodey has lived many adventures with Tony Stark on the comic book pages, and even on the screen where he has been played at first by Terrence Howard, and by Don Cheadle since Iron Man 2 (2010). He should even soon headline his own film, Armor Wars (TBA).