Comic Book History
Who is WAR MACHINE? WAR MACHINE is James Rhodes a Marvel superhero appearing mostly in Iron Man related comic books. James Rhodes first appeared in Iron Man #118 (January 1979) by David Michelinie, John Byrne and Bob Layton.
First Appearance James Rhodes was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force who served tours of duty in Southeast Asia. A combat pilot, he was stranded in the jungle behind enemy lines after his helicopter was shot down. He encounters Iron Man while he was escaping from his captors in his first prototype suit of powered armor.
Tony Stark would offer Jim Rhodes to work for him, which would later turn into a strong friendship.
Rhodes would become Stark's confidante knowing his secret of being Iron Man. When devastating personal problems caused Tony Stark to abuse alcohol and become incapable of using the Iron Man armor responsibly, Rhodes put it on in order to defend his friend's company.
Still using the Mantle or Iron Man, Jim Rhodes joins the West Coast AVENGERS and had several adventures with them.
Tony Stark would fix his life and return to wearing the Iron Man armor, but he gave Rhodey another armor, which would make Rhodey his own hero known as the WAR MACHINE.
In one storyline, James Rhodes would lose the WAR MACHINE armor in the time stream. This prompted Rhodes to return to civilian life thought that would not last long as he ended up acquiring a brand new alien armor known as the Eidolon Warwear. The warwear system needs an organic partner to function. It bonds with the partner at the genetic level and cannot be separated from its host without killing the host. The resulting bodyglove-like suit has the ability to appear and disappear. This suit also has the power to heal its wearer's injuries.
Returning to service as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Jim Rhodes would guard the mutants as the commanding officer and head combat instructor for Sentinel Squad O*N*E* and as a key member of the Office of National Emergency. He used an armor that was similar to the design of previous Iron Man powered armors and was based on the primary Sentinel piloted armors that the squad used in combat. The armor was derived of S.H.I.E.L.D. technology and Stark-designed upgrades. While in this outfit, Jim Rhodes would also pilot a larger advanced Sentinel model codenamed "WAR MACHINE". The armors were constructed of a unique mix of steel and fiberglass and contained many offensive and defensive improvements in weaponry and enhancements.
Rhodes would later return to an actual WAR MACHINE suit during the Fifty State Initiative where he was made field commander and a director of Camp Hammond to help train SHRA (Super Hero Registration Act) registered recruits.
Jim Rhodes would then become a military consultant at a base in Dubai and test piloting combat planes. Terrorists bombed the base, where Rhodes works at, and Jim Rhodes was severely injured. Dieing from his injuries Tony Stark saved his with life cybernetic implants and James becomes a cyborg.
During the alien Skrulls invasion, Rhodey received a distress signal from Tony Stark that instructed Rhodey to take command of a space satellite that he had constructed. The control pod of the station enabled Rhodey to transform the entire satellite into a giant suit of hi-tech armor. With this armor, he was able to successfully repel a Skrull armada approaching Earth.
Jim Rhodes, with Tony Stark's permission, went back to working for the U.S. government as "Iron Man 2.0". This was an attempt by Stark to keep the government from building their own Iron Man without his permission. He considered Rhodes the only person he trusted to pilot the government-owned suit. After Rhodes' WAR MACHINE armor was severely damaged, Stark upgraded it. The new armor has phasing and invisibility abilities.
WAR MACHINE
ANIMATED APPEARANCES X-Men: The Animated series In X-Men: The Animated series, when the Shi'ar's M'Kraan Crystal caused natural disasters to happen all over the Earth, WAR MACHINE was one of the heroes seen helping innocent bystanders.
Spider-Man: The Animated Series WAR MACHINE also made an appearance in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, where we see him teaming up with Spider-man against Venom and Carnage.
Iron Man: The Animated Series In the 1994 animated series Iron Man, WAR MACHINE appeared as a member of Iron Man's "Force Works".
Hulk Animated Series WAR MACHINE and Iron Man made a guest appearance on the Incredible Hulk's animated series.
Iron Man: Armored Adventures A teenage James Rhodes is featured as one of the main characters in the animated series Iron Man: Armored Adventures. In the show, he is also Stark's classmate and best friend at the Tomorrow Academy a science-intensive high school. As the series progresses, Rhodes becomes Stark's aide-de-camp, beginning as a backup operator using a remote system to assume control of the “Iron Man" armor. In the season finale, Rhodes gets the "WAR MACHINE" armor, which he uses to ferry Stark a suit of Iron Man armor and help against Fin Fang Foom and the Mandarin.
Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Superheroes WAR MACHINE made a quick appearance in the animated series Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Superheroes.
The Super Hero Squad Show Rhodes appeared in the episode "Tales of Suspense" from the first season of the animated series. The character appeared in armor during the episode, he was never referred to as "WAR MACHINE" and the armor appeared as a slight variation of the Iron Man armor.
LIVE MEDIA APPEARANCE Terrence Howard James Rhodes appeared in the 2008 film Iron Man played by Terrence Howard. Rhodes holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force and acts as the military's chief liaison to the weapons division of Stark Industries. Rhodey never had the chance to don any armor in this movie.
DON CHEADLE In Iron Man 2 Don Cheadle replaced Howard in the role of Jim Rhodes. The character would still the Mk II armor of Tony Stark, upgrade it with military weapons, and the movie version of WAR MACHINE is born.
POWERS & ABILITIESNote: Due to the nature of comicbooks being an on-going tale, the character's powers along with his appearance, is in a constant state of flux. Rhodes' powers are derived from his WAR MACHINE Armor.
Superhuman Strength: He is capable of lifting between 85-100 tons when wearing his armor.
Superhuman Speed: Even when not traveling for extended distances, the armor enables the wearer to move and react at high speeds.
Enhanced Durability: His armor is very durable, capable of withstanding tremendous amounts of punishment. It can withstand high caliber bullets with ease. He can also withstand rockets, torpedoes, and such, although he does take damage.
Flight: The armor can fly and travel at supersonic speeds.
Power Cells: The armor is powered by a combination of solar converters, electrical batteries and an on-board generator that uses beta particle absorption as a fuel source.
Energy Conversion Power Recharge: The armor is also able to convert nearby energy sources, such as heat or kinetic energy into electricity, or even drain electrical energy directly into the batteries for recharge.
Self-Contained Life-Support System & Environmental Protection: The armor can be completely sealed for operations in vacuum or underwater, providing its own life support, and is shielded against radiation.
Repulsor Rays: The armor can fire particle beams from either or both the palm gauntlets which can repel physical and energy-based attacks, traveling as a single stream or as a wide-field dispersal.
Unibeam: A powerful searchlight capable of projecting beams in virtually every light spectrum.
Lasers
Magnetism
Gatling Gun
Rocket Launcher
Miniature Heat Seaking Missiles
Phasing The Iron Man 2.0 armor has the ability to phase through solid objects. The only limit is that it cannot use its weapons while phased.
Invisibility the Iron Man 2.0 armor has the ability to become invisible. The only limit is that it cannot use its weapons while invisible.
Abilities
Skilled Engineer: Rhodes served several tours in Southeast Asia, studying while in the service to become an aviation engineer.
Skilled Aviator: He is a skilled helicopter pilot and is capable of maneuvering most if not all Stark-designed armors.
Skilled Combatant: Rhodes military training made him a very skilled hand-to-hand combat.
Skilled Marksman: Aside from his armor's weaponry, he is a very good marksman.
Skilled Survivalist
Skilled Tactician
Sources : http://www.comicvine.com/war-machine/29-1926/ : http://marvel.wikia.com/James_Rhodes_(Earth-616) : http://marvel.wikia.com/War_Machine : http://marvel.wikia.com/James_Rhodes_(Earth-616)/Gallery : http://marvel.wikia.com/Category:James_Rhodes_(Earth-616)/Quotes : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Machine : http://marvel.com/universe/War_Machine_(James_Rhodes) : http://www.ironmanarmory.com/eidolonwarwear.html: http://superheroshows.blogspot.com/2009/12/spotlight-on-war-machine.html
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