The Lieutenant Marvels are fictional characters, a team of superheroes in the Fawcett Comics and DC Comics universes. They first appeared in Whiz Comics #21 in 1941. The physical appearance of the three characters was based on three real-life members of the Fawcett Comics staff: Paul Peck (Tall Billy), Ed Hamilton (Hill Billy), and Frank Taggart (Fat Billy).^[1]

Publication history[link]

The Lieutenants appeared periodically in the adventures of Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family through the early 1950s, and also when the characters were revived by DC Comics in the 1970s under the title Shazam!, although rarely. They were retconned out of existence during the Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985. Some people, such as Jonathan Woodward in his Annotated Crisis on Infinite Earths website, suggest that the Lieutenant Marvels died in the last battle of the Crisis on Infinite Earths ^[2], although Who's Who in the DC Universe claims they survived but lost their powers.

The characters were recently reintroduced in Trials of Shazam! #2, only to lose their powers in the same issue.

Fictional history[link]

Brooklyn, New York City has its own Billy Batson, and he travels to the W.H.I.Z. radio station with two other Billy Batsons, one from the Western United States and one from the Southern United States, to visit the "real" Billy. To prevent confusion, the western Billy suggests he be called "Tall" Billy, the southern Billy is renamed "Hill" Billy and Brooklyn's Billy is given the title "Fat" Billy. At the "real" Billy's suggestion, all four Billys form the Billy Batson Club. Billy reveals he is Captain Marvel to them, and says they should only says Shazam when he gives them a wink.

The nefarious Dr. Sivana hatches a plan to kill the "real" Billy Batson and sends his three henchmen to find out where Billy lives. Sivana's goons mistakenly find the other Billy Batsons instead and capture them. The mysterious Captain Death captures Tall Billy, Nazi Agent Herr Geyer captures Fat Billy, and bandit "Biggy" Brix captures Hill Billy. Sivana uses them as bait to trap the real Billy after hearing he is their friend, having Brix deliver a note, and demanding he comes to the Mill as Billy. When this happens he is knocked out and captured.

Sivana and his henchmen gag Billy and tie him and the other Billys to a log heading towards a buzzsaw, then leave. Billy is able to remove his gag on the buzzsaw, but his shout of "Shazam" can not be heard over the roar of the buzzsaw. With seconds to spare, Billy enlists the aid of his club members and they all shout "Shazam" together.

When the smoke clears, Captain Marvel sees that the other Billys have transformed as well, into Tall Marvel, Hill Marvel, and Fat Marvel. Hill Marvel remarks that they have each changed into Captain Marvel but Fat Marvel counters that by saying that there is only one Captain Marvel. Tall Marvel suggests that they are really Lieutenant Marvels, hence the trio's name.

The Captain and his three Lieutenants easily defeat Sivana and his henchmen, knocking their plane down and apparently killing all the villains except Sivana. After shouting "Shazam" and transforming back into their civilian identities, the three Billys head back home. The Lieutenants returned from time to time during the Fawcett Comics era to aid their hero. In Captain Marvel Adventures #4 they are again kidnapped by Sivana's henchmen. Captain Marvel follows the kidnappers to Sivana's base. The three Billys are tied up under three sharp pendulums. However Billy transform with them and they defeat the henchmen. They hear a noise in a shed, and find Sivana's daughter Beautia bound and gagged inside. They release her and she reveals Sivana did this. They fly away before Sivana detonates tons of dynamite under the house, then defeat him. They were probably put in suspended animation until 1973, along with many Marvel characters, by the Sivanas. They make their first DC appearance in Shazam #30, when the whole Marvel family is called upon to destroy Sivana's steel menagarie, which is threatening to wreck Pittsburgh.

The Lieutenants Marvel exist in current DC Comics continuity, but without powers.

Powers and abilities[link]

By shouting "Shazam!", the three Billy Batsons are transformed into the Lieutenant Marvels. In this form, they each have the powers of Captain Marvel: the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury. Since they have to share the power, they are each only one-third as powerful as Captain Marvel.

In other media[link]

In the direct-to-video animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, three superpowered henchmen with powers similar to the Marvels are employed by Superwoman, a criminal, parallel universe incarnation of Mary Marvel,^[3] and referred to as her Lieutenants. However, instead of the "classic" Lieutenant Marvels, the trio appear as criminal counterparts of Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., and Uncle Marvel (listed in the film's credits as, respectively, "Captain Super", "Captain Super Jr.", and "Uncle Super").

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• The Lieutenant Marvels at Marvel Family website
• Earth-S Marvel Family Index
• The Lieutenant Marvels at Captain Marvel Culture website

The Iron Monger is an identity used by several fictional supervillains published by Marvel Comics. The first and most notable person to take up the identity is Obadiah Stane. He first appeared in Iron Man #200 (November 1985), and was created by Dennis O'Neil and Luke McDonnell.

Actor Jeff Bridges portrayed Obadiah Stane in the 2008 Iron Man film.

Publication history[link]

Obadiah Stane, who would become the first Iron Monger, debuted in Iron Man #163 (October 1982). He dons the Iron Monger armor in issue #200 (November 1985), and commits suicide in the same issue.

Fictional character biography[link]

This section requires expansion.

Obadiah Stane[link]

As a child, Obadiah's father Zebediah Stane was a degenerate gambler and Obadiah's mother died of unknown reasons. One day, his father, who considered himself on a "lucky streak"; played a game of Russian roulette and shot himself in the head. This trauma caused Obadiah to lose all of his blond hair and go bald and shaped him for years to come. From there on, Obadiah Stane was a ruthless manipulator who studied his adversaries to find weaknesses to exploit. Stane enjoys chess, and lives his life with the same kind of methodical logic that he uses in the game. In addition, he is a strong believer in using psychological manipulation to his advantage. For instance, in a childhood chess match against another boy whose skill at least equaled his own, he killed the boy's dog so that the other would be distracted from the game.

In adulthood, as a wealthy financier, Obadiah Stane becomes the president and CEO of his own company (Stane International) as a munitions dealer. He also goes into business with Howard Stark. After Stark and his wife died in a car accident, Stane turns his sights on acquiring control of Stark International, the industrial corporation he had worked with, now owned by Tony Stark (the son of Howard Stark). Stane has his agents, the Chessmen, attack Stark Industries and assault James Rhodes, a confidant of Tony.^[1] He also confronts Tony Stark in person.^[2] Stane also sets up Indries Moomji as Stark's lover without Stark knowing that Moomji is actually the Chessmen's Queen. Meanwhile, Stane and his associates conspire to lock Stark International out of various business deals. Stark eventually learns that Stane is the mastermind behind these attacks, but is unable to confront him. The assaults on Stark, his business, and his friend push Stark to the edge, and he catastrophically relapsed into alcoholism.^[3] With the help of S.H.I.E.L.D., Stane buys out Stark International, which he then renames Stane International. Stark, having fallen off the wagon, relinquishes his armor to Jim Rhodes and disappears to be a homeless vagrant. Rhodes becomes the new Iron Man while ignoring Stane's demands to relinquish the armor. Rhodes, as the new Iron Man, eventually thwarts Stane in his attempt to take over the Iron Man battle-suits.^[4]

Stane proceeds in manufacturing and supplying munitions and weapons to S.H.I.E.L.D. and others who could pay for them. When Tony Stark left, he left behind notes and information on the Iron Man armor. These notes are incomplete and hard to analyze, but Stane assigns a team of scientists to decipher them; they eventually create the Iron Monger armor which, according to Stane, is "far superior to Stark's Iron Man armor". He even considers selling them to the highest bidder or creating an army of Iron Mongers, using them to "take over any country he wanted".

Stane assigns the Termite to sabotage another business rival.^[5] He also forms an alliance with Madame Masque.^[6]

While living on the streets, Stark befriends a pregnant homeless woman, Gertl Anders. She dies in childbirth, whereupon Stark promises to protect the child. This vow helps Stark overcome his alcoholism.^[7] When Stark recovers, he joins Rhodes, along with twins Morley and Clytemnestra Erwin, in starting a new company in Silicon Valley^[8], which is eventually dubbed Circuits Maximus.^[9] Stark builds a new prototype armor, resembling his original gray suit, in order to test new designs; Stark ends up using the armor to stop an out-of-control Rhodes^[10], and then to assist the West Coast Avengers against Doctor Demonicus, while using the Avengers' facilities to construct an advanced armor, the Silver Centurion.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Realizing that Stark is once again a potential threat, Stane orders the abduction of Bethany Cabe, and plans an attack to take out Iron Man, whom Stane has deduced is currently either Rhodes or one of the Erwins. He sends an attack drone, the Circuits Breaker, to destroy Iron Man, but both Rhodes and Stark are able to defeat it. Stane further plots against Stark by switching the minds of Masque and Cabe, and by abducting Stark's old friends Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts, and Bambi Arbogast. He also has a bomb planted inside the Circuits Maximus dome, killing Morley Erwin and wounding Rhodes and Clytemnestra.^[11]

When Cly confronts Stark at the hospital, Tony realizes he has to face Stane directly; he collects his newly-completed Silver Centurion armor from the Avengers compound, and flies to Long Island. Stark confronts Stane on the property of Stane International and defeats Stane's agents, including the Chessmen, who had proven a match for his previous armor. Stane dons the Iron Monger armor and confronts Stark personally. The Iron Monger is more powerful than the previous Iron Man armor, but not the Silver Centurion model, which includes such features as the ability to absorb the heat from the Iron Monger's thermal rays and channel it into the armor's own energy supplies. Stane tries to defeat Stark by tricking him into entering a room where Happy, Pepper, and Mrs. Arbogast are being held in suspended animation tanks that could sustain them for months; the walls of the room were covered with photo-electric cells that would trigger a circuit sending 200,000 volts into their bodies if Stark moved, leaving him with no choice but to stand in the room and starve to death to keep them alive. Refusing to give up, Stark calmly uses his armor's sensors to discover that the trap's power source is located within the firing arc of his chest-plate's uni-beam weapons, allowing him to destroy it.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Having freed his friends, Stark then confronts Stane and the villain learns that even in his armor, he is no match for Stark's genius and practiced skill with his own tools. Finally, Stane uses his last card: Gertl Anders' infant son, whom Stane had abducted from an orphanage. Stane tells Stark to remove his helmet or he would crush the baby between his palms. Stark, having detected interfering frequencies in his armor's systems throughout the battle, deduces that Stane isn't experienced enough to pilot the armor without some help in the form of an external computer. He uses his armor's pulse bolts to destroy the nearby building containing that computer, causing Stane's Iron Monger armor to seize up and fall to the ground as Stark swoops in to catch the baby; since Stane based the armor on Stark's old designs, Stark knew that the armor would freeze if it lost the control of an outside source. Stane then removes his helmet and confronts Stark. Stane says defiantly that he has one thing left; the ability to deprive Stark of the enjoyment he'd receive in his enemy's humiliation and defeat. Refusing to be arrested and humiliated, he then raises his hand to the side of his head and, using the repulsor ray beam, disintegrates his skull.^[12] Stark later obtains complete control over his own company, which he renames Stark Enterprises.^{[volume & issue needed]}

During the Dark Reign storyline, Obadiah Stane in his Iron Monger armor was chosen as a member of Pluto's jury of the damned to decide the fate of Zeus.^[13] When the lord of Hades power was undone, it was Iron Monger who laid the first blow upon him, accompanied by the sound effect 'SHTAAANNE'.^[14]

During the Chaos War storyline, Obadiah Stane is among the dead characters in the Underworld that Pluto released in order to defend the Underworld from Amatsu-Mikaboshi^[15]

Simon Steele's employee[link]

Industrialist Simon Steele constructs another Iron Monger suit, and has an employee wear it in battle against Dominic Fortune.^[16]

Guardsman[link]

After Stane's death, the original Iron Monger armor was obtained by the United States government. General Lewis Haywerth has one of the Guardsmen use it to test the combat skills of a U.S. Agent.^[17]

Slagmire[link]

Stark's former college classmate Joey Cosmatos builds a third Iron Monger suit, working from Stane's plans. This suit is worn by the criminal Slagmire, an operative of underworld boss Mr. Desmond.^[18]

Cristoph Pfeifer[link]

The Red Skull later has one of his own agents use a suit of Iron Monger armor in an assassination attempt against the Viper, but the suit's wearer is apparently killed by the Viper's men.^[19]

The Cabal[link]

A group of renegade New York City Police Department officers calling themselves 'the Cabal' commissions Stane International to design a suit of combat armor that they would use to hunt down and kill criminals as their own personal Punisher agent. Various members of the Cabal wear the resulting Savage Steel armor at different times, coming into conflict with Iron Man and Darkhawk.

Ezekiel Stane[link]

Obadiah has a son named Ezekiel "Zeke" Stane who is introduced in The Order #8, as the brains and financial backing of a secret conspiracy to destroy the titular group, which has close ties to Stark. He would return in The Invincible Iron Man #1 to continue his vendetta against Stark in his father's name.^[20] He gradually adapts his body to become a complete cyborg to the extent he, for instance, regenerates injuries very quickly, no longer needs to breathe, and generates at least as much energy as Iron Man. He constructs a special exoskeleton to help him deal with excess heat (and turn it into even more usable energy).

Powers and abilities[link]

Obadiah Stane[link]

Obadiah Stane was a genius with an M.B.A. He was a master of psychological warfare, a cunning business strategist, and a champion chess player. However, he had a classic narcissistic complex; his ego was his greatest vulnerability.

As Iron Monger, Stane also used the Circuits Breaker, a flying robotic weapon that fires air-to-surface missiles. He also used a device created by Dr. Theron Atlanta for exchanging the consciousness of two human subjects.

The Iron Monger armor, manufactured by Stane International and code-named I-M Mark One, is an armored battle-suit of "omnium steel" (a fictional alloy), containing various offensive weaponry including a powered exoskeleton that amplified the user's strength, repulsor rays fired from the gauntlets, and an intense laser beam housed in the battle-suit's chest unit. The suit provides the user with the ability of subsonic flight, thanks to magnetically powered turbine boot jets. Since the Iron Monger armor was based on a modified version of Tony Stark's Iron Man design, the armor's abilities are very similar to the original red and gold armor, but with increased power. The repulsors were more powerful and the armor was also larger than the armor of Iron Man. It was presumably proportionally stronger as well. The Iron Monger (unlike the Iron Man armor) was also externally computer-controlled, Stane attempting to use the remote control to compensate for his lack of experience in using the armor, a vulnerability Stark exploited to disable the suit.

Other versions[link]

Ultimate Marvel[link]

Ultimate Marvel first shows a young Obadiah Stane in Ultimate Iron Man with Loni Stane (his mother) and visiting Zebediah Stane (his father) in jail (for kidnapped young Tony Stark, whose covered in the blue skin-armor that the elder Stane wanted to manufacture). During the visit, Loni tells Zebadiah that she'll divorce him and get half while Obadiah (their son) gets the other half after Zebadiah's death. The story then fast forwards to Obadiah being enrolled in a special school at his mother's personal request. Shortly after their arrival, Obadiah murders a pair of students (Link and Dodge) and make it look like an accident. This incident hardens Tony's resolve to improve his armor and punish Obadiah. At this point, he has already begun to build a suit that closely resembles a traditional Iron Man suit. Later, Obadiah visits Howard Stark (who apparently murdered Zebadiah) and has the guards attempt murder Stark, but they failed. Obadiah reveals that he's working with Dolores, who is responsible for the earlier terrorist attack on the Stark building, and Dolores convinces Obadiah to try and murder Howard. Obadiah drugs a prison guard with a "hypnotizing" bio-drug, and the guard tries to kill Howard. He fails, but Howard gets shot in the process and is in ICU and Tony sends one of his "robots" to protect his father in the hospital. Tony (in his Iron Man armor) goes to Obadiah’s house and confronts him on setting up Howard and sending him to prison for Zebediah's murder. Obadiah says it was all Dolores' idea, and sets up a meeting with Dolores and Tony. Obadiah also figures out that the armor is not a robot, and that Tony is actually inside, a fact he shares with Dolores before he meets with Tony.^[21]

Dolores and Tony make a deal. Dolores will give Tony the information about the terrorists with nukes who plan to bomb the city, and Tony will give Dolores one of his "robots". Tony, knowing that Dolores knows he wears the armor personally decides to trick him and actually bring an Iron Man suit that is remote controlled. Dolores and Tony meet on a place together, holding each other hostage while their friends confirm each others end of the bargain. Dolores is skeptical because the Robot isn't walking smoothly and is clumsy, and Tony is skeptical because the feds found a nuke but no terrorists with it, and the deal for terrorists. Dolores men plan to kill the feds who delivered them the robot, but Rhodes shows up to save them.^[22]

Tony then realizes that Dolores is no longer on the plane, and upon breaking into the cockpit he sees another nuke. He can't disable it, because then a separate bomb will go off, destroying the nuke and plane. War Machine goes to Dolores' Mansion, only to find him dead. Someone booby trapped his piano, and it blew up in his face while he was playing. Tony flies the plane low enough to the water that Obadiah can jump off into the water. He then gets his nanobots to disarm the nuke and set off the smaller bomb while he attempts to jump off the plane. They realize that another arms dealer was out to kill everyone (Dolores, Obadiah, and Tony).^[23]

Meanwhile, Howard is recovered enough to go to prison, but the guards sent to escort him were not sent by the Police Department. Howard fights them off and escapes. Tony meets with him, and says that he thinks it was Loni that is the mastermind behind the scenes trying to kill them. Tony, Rhodes, Nifara, Howard, and Obadiah set off to Utah to find Loni. They arrive and their chopper explodes, injuring Rhodes. Obadiah falls off a cliff, but Iron Man catches him as terrorists arrive on the scene. Iron Man flees, but follows them as they take Obadiah to his mother, Loni, and their hideout. Iron Man breaks into the compound and Loni floods it with poison gas trying to kill him, abandoning Obadiah. After Tony beats Loni and tends to Howard, Obadiah (mad that his mother abandoned him for dead with the poison gas) enters the room and kills her. However, he decides not to attack Tony, stating that he had save his life several times and that they are now even. They are all picked up by the feds and go home.^[24]

In Ultimate Comics: Armor Wars, the mastermind behind the said events was Howard Stark Sr., whose human/machine armor slightly resembles the Iron Monger armor, along with some elements of Titanium Man. ^[25]

In other media[link]

Television[link]

This section's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (January 2010)

• Obadiah Stane appears in Iron Man: Armored Adventures voiced by Mackenzie Gray.^[26] In this version, he is one of Howard Stark's associates. Unlike Howard, Obadiah wants to use the company to create weapons in order to make more profit, without considering the deaths it will cause. He is the second-most prominent antagonist, after the Mandarin.

After Howard Stark rejects Stane's plans to upgrade the "Earth Mover" project, Stane is believed to have caused the aircraft explosion that killed Howard, but left Tony alive. He continues deny any involvement in the action (which in the season 1 finale was proven fact, as Gene aka the Mandarin stated it was his doing).

Howard Stark's death makes Stane the new CEO of Stark Industries, as Tony is too young to assume the post, and Stane ignores the boy's requests to be involved.

When an adult Tony Stark becomes Iron Man for the first time, Stane(who is unaware that Iron Man is actually Tony Stark) immediately becomes interested in his armor and tries to get Iron Man to side with him. In the episode "Iron, Forged From Fire (Part 2)", Obadiah tests out the modified Earth Movers on Iron Man, only for the Mandarin to attack and target one Stane's rings, which is quickly surrendered to the Mandarin. After a brief fight between the Mandarin and Iron Man, Stane tries in vain one last time to convince Iron Man to join him.

• In the episode "Cold War", it is revealed that Obadiah was responsible for the disfiguration of the scientist who became Blizzard while attempting to create a new weapon. Blizzard and Iron Man form an alliance against Stane, but Iron Man, understanding that Blizzard has no consideration in killing innocents in order to get Stane, eventually turns against his ally and reluctantly saves Stane from the freezing villain. Instead of thanking him, Stane expresses his disappointment that Iron Man was safe, and vows to find out who he is and take the armor from him. Losing patience with Stane's threats, Iron Man simply answers, "Your time is coming Stane," before shooting Stane's camera.

• In the episode "Field Trip", Stane is revealed to have a daughter named Whitney Stane. He has no serious interest in his daughter except for her homework, and she apparently dislikes him as well. This animosity leads her to become the show's incarnation of Madame Masque in the episode "Masquerade" and to impersonate him.

• In the episode "Seeing Red", Stane makes a deal with Project Pegasus scientist Anton Harkov to sponsor Harkov's research. Stane has the Crimson Dynamo armor upgraded before sending it with O'Brian (Stane's head of security) to find and capture Iron Man. Though the Crimson Dynamo succeeds in capturing him, Iron Man escapes before Stane can open the armor, thanks to a diversion caused by Pepper. After Iron Man defeats the Crimson Dynamo, and the Technovore virus has eliminated the data on the Iron Man and Crimson Dynamo armors, Stane has his secretary tell Anton that the offer of sponsorship is rescinded.

• In the episode "Chasing Ghosts," Tony Stark and Whitney Stane believe that Obadiah hired an assassin named Ghost to kill Stark, but it turns out that Obadiah was actually tipping off the FBI about the assassination attempt.

• In the episode "Best Served Cold", Whitney Stane (as Madame Masque) makes an attempt on her father's life, but is subdued, and Obadiah learns Madame Masque's true identity. When Whitney falls ill from her mask's effects, Obadiah tells Stark about the mask. In order to obtain a cure for Whitney, Stark travels as Iron Man armor to an arctic base where an unrefined ore that may help her is located. Meanwhile, Obadiah thaws out Blizzard and places an explosive on his costume in order to have him to obtain the ore first. When Blizzard backs out of the deal and freezes the explosive, he attacks Obadiah, only to end up fighting Iron Man and Madame Masque. After Blizzard is defeated, Iron Man knocks out Obadiah so that Madame Masque couldn't kill her father. After Whitney is cured, Obadiah thanks Stark for making it happen.

• In the episode "Invincible Iron Man: Disassembled," Obadiah Stane and Justin Hammer^{[citation needed]} are kidnapped by Whiplash^{[citation needed]}. In the episode "Ghost in the Machine," Obadiah Stane hires Ghost to steal the blueprints to the Iron Man armor. Ghost succeeds and Obadiah uses the blueprints to build the Guardsmen armors.

• In the episode "Armor Wars," Obadiah Stane makes a public service announcement that his Guardsmen^{[citation needed]} plan to bring down Iron Man, and then announces the upcoming Stark International Guardsmen Expo. At the expo, Obadiah Stane is introducing Firepower, the third Guardsman, when Iron Man appears. Using the a hacked expo television screen, Iron Man reveals that Force and Shockwave were actually criminals, and Obadiah Stane feigns surprise. Stane later makes a televised appearance stating that he had no idea the criminals used fake identities in order to get jobs at Stark International. Later, Stane is seen preparing to complete Project Monger for field testing.

• In "The Might of Doom", Stane contacts Doctor Doom for technological help with the Monger's power core. However, Doom uses the opportunity to sabotage the core, hoping to take out his competitors with the resulting explosion.

• The Iron Monger appears in the tenth episode of the second season, "Enter: Iron Monger." It is a huge machine, referred during the test to as a "mecha," and is capable of easily destroying the Crimson Dynamo 3.0 armor. Its size is stated as 30 feet, although Rhodey later stated it to be 40 feet. Since the Board of Directors was skeptical about the practicality of such a costly machine, Stane decided to give a demonstration by having it demolish an abandoned city area. However, during the test, a man, Professor Zimmer, entered the area, and Iron Man and War Machine intervene to save him. After the Iron Monger's test pilot, O'Brien, sees the reason for their action, he aborts the test and returned to base.

Later, the Iron Monger (now piloted by Stane himself) visits the same area again, where he fights Iron Man and War Machine. However, Tony Stark has managed to download the Iron Monger's schematics, and analysis reveals that the mecha depends on an uplink to an external processing unit in order to function properly. After the uplink is disrupted, the Iron Monger is easily defeated. The next day, Stark is seen in the Board of Directors' room with Roberta Rhodes and Zimmer, as Roberta tells Obadiah that Professor Zimmer won't file charges if Obadiah leaves his building alone.

• In the episode "Heavy Mettle," Obadiah Stane tests Iron Monger armor against tanks before military officials. The demonstration is crashed by Iron Man, who states that Obadiah Stane stole the Iron Man specs. Iron Man picks up Stane and flies him into the sky, telling Stane that he will put an end to Stane's "war." Stane replies that the war has just begun.

Stane sells the contract to the military, surpassing Hammer Multinational.

Using footage obtained by James Rhodes, Stark and Roberta Rhodes show footage of Stane receiving the Iron Man specs from Ghost. The Board of Directors fires Stane, who vows revenge on Iron Man and the Board of Directors. As security drags Stane from Stark International, a comment made by Tony Stark makes Stane realize that Tony Stark is Iron Man. Stane later steals the Iron Monger armor.

Eventually back in the Iron Monger armor, Obadiah Stane is seen piloting it to Roberta Rhodes' house, but Justin Hammer uses a device to make the armor go haywire. Later, Iron Monger takes Pepper Potts hostage. At the suggestion of Sasha^{[citation needed]}, Justin Hammer uses the Titanium Man armor to fight Iron Monger, but it does not go well.

When Iron Man arrives in the Hulkbuster armor, Iron Monger pins down Iron Man and reveals that he knows Iron Man's identity. Whitney Stane arrives and tries to convince her father to spare Iron Man for her. Iron Monger lifts his foot enough for Iron Man to escape, and Justin Hammer orders Sasha to take control of the Iron Monger armor and send it on a rampage. Iron Man discovers that someone is remote-controlling the Iron Monger and suspects that Titanium Man is behind this. While Iron Man fights Titanium Man, Iron Monger is being remote-controlled to kill Whitney. War Machine defends her by trying to take out the Iron Monger's legs. Iron Monger falls off the building, much to Titanium Man's amusement.

Obadiah Stane is left in a coma. Whitney arrives and tells Tony, James, and Pepper to leave.

Film[link]

• Jeff Bridges plays Obadiah Stane as the main antagonist in the 2008 film Iron Man. This version of Stane is Stark's mentor, an old friend and business partner of his father's who handles the day to day workings of the company, while Stark serves mainly as "an idea man" (or "the Golden Goose", as Stane puts it). Obadiah Stane in the movie appears to have a keychain sized device that paralyses anyone in vincity who is not wearing ear protection for example ear plugs. Stane uses the device to steal the prototype armor and Stark's arc reactor that was keeping him alive. Although he at first appears to be a loyal and devoted friend to Stark, after the younger man returns from being held hostage in Afghanistan, it is revealed that he has been secretly plotting to wrest control of the company from him for years, and in fact ordered the Afghanistan attack as part of a failed assassination attempt. Using Stark's public decision to shut down the company's weapons manufacturing division as a pretense, Stane gets an injunction on behalf of the shareholders to essentially have Stark thrown out of his own company and take over. He then uses the fragments of Stark's prototype Iron Man armor, recovered from Afghanistan, to reverse engineer a larger, more powerful version, which he hopes to mass produce and use to revolutionize modern warfare. However, his scientists are unable to duplicate the arc reactor, and Stane is forced to steal Stark's, which also serves as his life support system, exposing the extent of his treachery and leaving the hero for dead. Stark is able to install the first arc reactor that Pepper Potts had mounted in a display case. By this point, however, Potts has stumbled onto Stane's criminal activities and alerts the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Although they move in to arrest Stane, they arrive too late to stop him from activating and donning his armor prototype, which he uses to crush them and escape. It therefore falls to Stark, using that obsolete arc reactor, to stop him as Iron Man. This results in a lengthy battle in and around Stark Industries' headquarters, but Stark is outmatched by Stane, as his old reactor is underpowered for his current suit. The battle climaxes when Stark lures Stane into an aerial melee, correctly gambling that his enemy would not be ready for the dangerous high altitude icing conditions he already accounted for. After the resulting fall, in which both men's armor are severely damaged (with Stark's armor now operating on only emergency back-up power), Stane is finally stopped when Stark orders Potts to overload the building's arc reactor. This unleashes a massive electrical surge that electrocutes Stane, after which he falls into the reactor itself, apparently killing him in the resulting explosion. His apparent death is subsequently covered up by S.H.I.E.L.D., which puts out a false story saying that he died in an airplane crash while on vacation abroad. In a deleted scene, Stane actually survived the blast and was still injured on the building next to the badly damaged Tony Stark and was stuck in the armor. Making a speech about his and Tony's relationship, he grabbed Tony's hand, saying that it was time for both of them to go. However, Tony simply detached the glove he was wearing, causing the Monger armor to slip and Obadiah to fall to his doom.

• While Stane does not appear physically in Iron Man 2, he's briefly seen on a magazine cover on a wall in Ivan Vanko's room.^[27]

Video games[link]

• Iron Monger is featured in the 2008 video game Iron Man voiced by Fred Tatasciore. As in the movie, he persistently objects to Tony's new decision not to sell weapons any more. However, unlike in the movie, his resistance to this new strategy goes beyond developing the Iron Monger suit, contacting A.I.M. to offer his services in helping them to develop weapons. With Stane's assistance, A.I.M. is able to create the Titanium Man armor, but their inability to perfect the power source means that the armor must periodically recharge during a fight, and the Titanium Man is thus defeated by Iron Man. With Tony distracted by dealing with A.I.M., Stane is able to complete the Iron Monger armor, subsequently facing Tony in a final confrontation before he is apparently killed as the arc reactor overloads.^[28]

Toys[link]

• Three Iron Monger figures are featured in the initial Iron Man film toy line by Hasbro, one of which features an "opening cockpit" that reveals Jeff Bridges' character inside. The second has a smashing fist action, with less movie accurate red lights. The third figure has since been repainted and released to appear more like the comic version's blue armor.^[29][30] A repaint of the Fist Smash Attack Iron Monger mold called Battle Monger in the colors of Iron Man, is an upgraded model according to its bio.
• A figure of Iron Monger, based on his appearance in the film Iron Man, was released in wave 21 of the Marvel Minimates line, and a battle damaged version was released as a retailer exclusive.
• A figure of Iron Monger based on his film appearance was released in the Iron Monger Attacks 4-pack from the Marvel Super Hero Squad line, packaged with 2 figures of Iron Man and one of War Machine, and Titanium Man. The same figure was released in the Crimson Dynamo Attacks 4-pack, packaged with 2 figures of Iron Man and one of War Machine. A second figure, based on his comic book appearance, was released in the Armor Wars: Part I 3-pack, packaged with Iron Man and War Machine.
• 2 figures of Iron Monger were released in Hasbro's 3.75" Iron Man 2 movie tie-in line. A figure based on his appearance in the film Iron Man was released in wave 1, and a figure based on the comic book armor was released in wave 4.

Novels and Books[link]

• In the novel Spider-Man: Venom's Wrath, an early scene features Spider-Man confronting a teenager named Daniel in a "cheesy exoskeleton" who calls himself the Iron Monger, and attempts to rob a movie theater (a police officer told Spider-Man that this was the third time he had attempted something like this). Spider-Man explains that "an ironmonger is someone who sells iron, not someone who wears it. Last guy to use the name was an industrialist, so it fit him." Daniel's suit includes a laser weapon he calls a "hydrogel blast", despite Spider-Man realizing that term makes no sense

References[link]

External links[link]

• Iron Monger at Marvel.com

War Machine (James Rupert Rhodes) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero appearing in comic books set in the Marvel Comics universe. The character of James Rhodes first appeared in Iron Man #118 (January 1979) by David Michelinie, John Byrne and Bob Layton. The War Machine armor, which became Rhodes' signature armored battlesuit, was designed by Len Kaminski and Kevin Hopgood.

Also known by his nickname Rhodey, Rhodes has been a featured character in the Iron Man animated series, Iron Man: Armored Adventures and The Invincible Iron Man animated film. He was first portrayed by actor Terrence Howard in the 2008 film Iron Man. Don Cheadle replaced Howard in the 2010 sequel Iron Man 2 and will reprise the role in Iron Man 3.

Publication history[link]

In addition to Iron Man and his own title War Machine, Rhodes has been featured in the ensemble titles West Coast Avengers; Force Works by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning; Sentinel Squad O*N*E; The Crew by Christopher Priest; and Avengers: The Initiative by Dan Slott and Christos Gage. Rhodes was also featured in the alternate-reality Marvel MAX imprint's U.S. War Machine series by Chuck Austen, and U.S. War Machine 2.0, by Austen and Christian Moore.

In the series Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Rhodes was featured in the storyline "War Machine: Weapon of S.H.I.E.L.D." written by Gage and artist Sean Chen.^[1] In this tie-in to the company-wide storyline "Secret Invasion", War Machine replaced Iron Man as the protagonist for the final three issues of the series.^[2] This led into a second War Machine ongoing series, written by Greg Pak with art by Leonardo Manco,^[3][4][5] which lasted 12 issues.^[6][7] Featured in the ensemble title Secret Avengers, War Machine is the lead character of the series Iron Man 2.0 by writer Nick Spencer and artist Barry Kitson.

Fictional character biography[link]

Origins[link]

James Rupert Rhodes,from the South Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Marine Corps 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 by Viet Cong rocket fire. He encounters Iron Man, who escaped from Wong-Chu's prison camp in his prototype suit of powered armor, for the first time. Defeating the Viet Cong soldiers that ambushed them, Rhodes and Iron Man discovered an enemy rocket base that was the origin of the rocket fire that grounded Rhodes in the first place. Destroying the base with a stolen Viet Cong helicopter, Rhodes and Iron Man flew the helicopter back to the American defense perimeter.^[8] At the base hospital in Saigon, Stark arrives in person to thank Rhodes for helping Iron Man and to offer Rhodes a job as his personal pilot. After the Vietnam War was over and after taking several career paths including mercenary work, Rhodes finally took Stark's offer and became Stark's personal pilot, chief aviation engineer for Stark International, and one of Stark's closest friends.

The all new Iron Man[link]

Due to Obadiah Stane's actions, Stark International was losing foreign contracts and going into heavy debt. With Stark's company and personal life in disarray, Stark relapsed into alcoholism.^[9] After an intoxicated Stark was defeated by Magma, Rhodes donned the Iron Man armor for the first time and defeated Magma.^[10] Stark asked Rhodes to be Iron Man while Stark continued his life of alcoholism. Rhodes, along with scientist Morley Erwin, quit Stark International and sent the remaining Iron Man armors into the ocean to protect Stark’s technology from Stane and S.H.I.E.L.D., who monitored the Stane takeover. Morley Erwin maintained the Iron Man armor and served as Rhodes’ technical support while Rhodes fought villains such as the Mandarin, Thunderball, the Zodiac, and the Radioactive Man as Iron Man. He became a charter member of the West Coast Avengers^[11] and fought in the Beyonder's "Secret Wars".^[12][13][14] Rhodes, Morley Erwin, and Morley's sister Dr. Clytemnestra Erwin planned to create a new electronics firm based in California. Rhodes took mercenary jobs to provide money for the armor's upkeep and to fund the company.^[15] Recovering from his alcoholism, Tony Stark joined the three and they formed the company Circuits Maximus. Due to the armor’s helmet being tailored to Stark’s brainwaves, Rhodes developed headaches and grew more erratic and aggressive.^[16] Stark helped Rhodes maintain the armor, but Rhodes' paranoia and hatred made him believe that Stark wanted to retake the armor.^[17] During a battle with Vibro, Rhodes went on a rampage to capture the villain and Stark was forced to wear his new testbed armor (resembling Stark's first Iron Man armor) to stop Rhodes and talk him out of his rage.^[18]

Rhodes sought help from Dr. Henry Pym to cure his headaches while Stark delivered Rhodes’ resignation to the Avengers and revealed his identity to Hawkeye and Mockingbird.^[19] Pym sent Rhodes to Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen (Shaman of Alpha Flight) and Rhodes cured himself of his headaches via a journey through a mystic dimension called "The Gorge" that revealed Rhodes’ guilt of feeling unworthy of the armor.^[20] While Rhodes was finally at peace and left his armor behind in the dimension, the armor was empowered by The Omnos, a being of extra-dimensional energy, and was returned to Rhodes.^[21] Rhodes resumed operating as Iron Man with Stark using his own testbed armor to assist Rhodes. Due to a bomb sent by Stane to Circuits Maximus that injured Rhodes and killed Morley Erwin, Stark became active as Iron Man again, donning his newly-completed "Silver Centurion" model, and defeated Stane.^[22]

Out of the armor[link]

Rhodes remained at Stark's side as Stark regained his personal fortune and built a new corporation, Stark Enterprises, remaining in California. Rhodes donned the red-and-gold armor once more when A.I.M. attacked the under-construction Stark space station. However, the armor's seals had been damaged in a shuttle explosion, causing Rhodes to suffer severe burns upon reentry; he survived only by Stark using his own armor as a heat shield to minimize Rhodes' exposure.^[23] After Rhodes recovered, he continued to play a key role in assisting Stark, particularly during the first Armor Wars storyline.^{[volume & issue needed]}

When Stark was shot by Kathy Dare and left paralyzed, he needed a fill-in for the role of Iron Man. Rhodes refused, citing the history between him and the armor, "not all of it good". Stark would call upon the former Force, Clay Wilson (known as Carl Walker at this point), to fill in, wearing the modified Stealth armor, until Stark could modify his regular armor to allow him to function normally inside the suit.^[24] Rhodes would reluctantly return to the armor to fight the Mandarin at the behest of the Chinese government, in order to allow Stark to seek medical assistance in their country. In the end, Stark (using a remote-control set of armor) and Rhodes team up with the Mandarin to stop the larger threat of the Makulan dragons.^[25]

Iron Man once again and the birth of War Machine[link]

The Masters Of Silence, three Japanese warriors tricked by Justin Hammer into attacking Iron Man, defeated Stark with technology that enabled them to not be affected by repulsors or unibeams.^[26] To combat the threat, Stark designed the "Variable Threat Response Battle Suit, Model XVI, Mark I" (nicknamed "War Machine"), a more heavily armed version of the Iron Man armor designed for all-out warfare. After Stark's apparent death in the comic book, he left Rhodes in control of Stark Enterprises as its new CEO, along with a new Variable Threat Response Battle Suit designed especially for Rhodes to continue the Iron Man legacy.^[27] As Iron Man once again, Rhodes used the armor and fought against threats such as the Living Laser, the second Spymaster, Blacklash, the Beetle, and Atom Smasher.

Upon the revelation that Stark was alive, Rhodes quit Stark Enterprises and the friendship between the two was fractured.^[28] After teaming with Iron Man against battledroids programmed to kill Rhodes, Stark wanted Rhodes to keep the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit stating that the armor always belonged to Rhodes.^[29] Rhodes eventually kept the armor and later adopted the name of War Machine.^[30] When the robot Ultimo went on a rampage, Rhodes called together Harold "Happy" Hogan, Bethany Cabe, Eddie March, "Carl Walker" and Michael O'Brien to pilot various Iron Man armors to take down Ultimo as the Iron Legion.^[31] He rejoined the West Coast Avengers as War Machine and served with the team until he resigned after an argument with Iron Man during an Avengers team meeting.^[32] During the beginning of the War Machine series, Rhodes was approached by Vincent Cetewayo, noted activist from the African country of Imaya and founder of the human rights organization Worldwatch Incorporated.^[33] Cetewayo offered Rhodes the position of Worldwatch's Executive Director, but the offer was declined. Cetewayo was kidnapped by Imayan forces led by the dictator President Eda Arul. Receiving no aid from S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Avengers, Rhodes traveled to Imaya as War Machine to free Cetewayo. Joined by Deathlok, the two evaded capture from a S.H.I.E.L.D. unit led by Major Bathsheva "Sheva" Joseph and joined the fight to liberate Imaya.^[34] Rhodes successfully led Imayan rebels into combat against Arul's forces, but failed to save Cetewayo from being killed by the Advisor, the apparent mastermind of Arul's rise to power. Shaken by the death of Cetewayo and finding something worth fighting for, Rhodes takes the position of Worldwatch's Executive Director and hired Sheva Joseph, who left S.H.I.E.L.D. after her assignment in Imaya.^[35]

During the Hands of the Mandarin crossover, Stark disapproved of the actions of War Machine in Imaya and demanded that Rhodes relinquish the armor when he returned to Stark Enterprises to get the specifications for his armor.^[36] The two men battled each other until the fight was stopped by Bethany Cabe, the Head Of Security for Stark Enterprises.^[37][38] While their armor was rebooting, the Mandarin captured Rhodes and Stark, discovering their identities. Century of the superhero team Force Works rescued Rhodes, but his armor was useless thanks to the Mandarin’s anti-technology field. Rhodes and Stark reconciled and joined with Force Works to stop the Mandarin and his Avatars from using the Heart Of Darkness for their plans of conquest.^[39] Stark gave Rhodes the blueprints to the War Machine armor and a fully upgraded armor with new armaments was made.^[40] Rhodes continued to use the War Machine armor in a solo superhero career, occasionally fighting alongside Stark and Force Works.

The Warwear[link]

After the events of the "Time War" storyline, in which Rhodes teamed up with Captain America, Bucky and Sgt. Nick Fury & his Howling Commandos to stop Neo-Nazis from sending modern weaponry to Nazi Germany, the War Machine armor was lost in the time stream.^[41] Rhodes returned to civilian life, but he ended up acquiring a brand new alien armor known as the Eidolon Warwear after meeting a mysterious woman named Skye and fighting an alien known as a Lictor.^[42] Skye was sent to teach Rhodes to use the Warwear and revealed that Rhodes was chosen to fight against Stark (who was under the control of Immortus disguised as Kang the Conqueror).^[43] Skye was fatally wounded by Dirge, another Eidolon Warrior sent by Immortus, and Rhodes defeated him in combat. Stark eventually breaks free of Immortus' control and sacrificed his life while Rhodes foiled Immortus' plot by using Dirge's Warwear to destroy the Starcore satellite armed with a chronographic weapon. S.H.I.E.L.D. was made aware of down, but Rhodes evaded capture. To protect Worldwatch, he resigns as Executive Director.^[44]

In Tales of the Marvel Universe, Rhodes rejoined Stark Enterprises to protect his friend's legacy while the Japanese company Fujikawa Industries bought out Stark Enterprises. Rhodes was kept around to help with the transition to Stark-Fujikawa. He was offered the job of President Of Corporate Liaison Operations, but kept away from Fujikawa's attempt to discover the secrets to Stark's Iron Man armor technology contained in a single gauntlet. Rhodes infiltrated the security system at Stark-Fujikawa's Research and Development facility, recovered the gauntlet, and purged the Fujikawa database of all Iron Man armor technology data by downloading the Eidolon Warwear directly into the Fujikawa computers to attack the system. Losing the armor as a result of the sabotage mission, Rhodes quits Stark-Fujikawa.^[45] After serving as one of Stark's trustees when Iron Man was presumed dead after the final battle with Onslaught, Rhodes starts his own marine salvage business called "Rhodes Recovery" and retires from superheroics.^[46]

Post War Machine[link]

Despite staying in retirement and focusing on his salvaging company, Rhodes assisted Stark on occasion. In volume three of Iron Man, He helped Stark defeat freelance mercenary and arms dealer Parnell Jacobs, who was masquerading as a villainous War Machine.^[47] A former friend and mercenary partner of Rhodes, Jacobs was under the employ of Sunset Bain and piloted a version of the War Machine armor based on armor parts that Jacobs found from the discarded original and reverse engineering by Stuart Clarke.^[48] ta with allegiance only to himself.^[49] Joining forces with these two men along with Josiah X as Justice, Rhodes and The Crew took on the 66 Bridges gang and their CEO Nigel "Triage" Blacque.^[50]

Rhodes later becomes a key member of the Office of National Emergency (O*N*E) and the head combat instructor for Sentinel Squad O*N*E.^[51] He began developing doubts about the nature of his job, such as being ordered to arrest the Black Panther and Storm when they refused to sign SHRA.^[52]

Return[link]

When Rhodes served as a military consultant at a base in Dubai, a terrorist attack left Rhodes severely injured. Stark arrived in Dubai and rebuilt him with new limbs, bionics, and cybernetics. Rhodes once again becomes War Machine and was made field commander and a director of Camp Hammond to help train SHRA registered recruits of the Fifty State Initiative program.^[53] When the Skrulls invaded earth and unleashed a virus that disabled all Starktech systems along with Rhodes' life-support systems, he is forced to rely on Baron Von Blitzschlag's electrical powers to keep him alive while managing to activate a cluster of emergency generators in his armor that incorporated Stanetech parts in its design.^[54][55]

In the War Machine: Weapon Of S.H.I.E.L.D. storyline, Rhodes received a secret holographic message with coordinates after the global Starktech failure. Despite an intercepting Skrull fleet, Rhodes found a secret cloaked satellite in outer space with Suzanne "Suzi" Endo at the satellite ahead of him. Endo was there to help because of her background in cybernetics and Rhodes viewed another message from Stark revealing that Rhodes' armor, as well as the satellite, was independent from all Earth systems with Rhodes himself as a part of Stark's contingency plan. A Skrull fleet followed Rhodes to the satellite and Endo revealed that the satellite is a functional weapon with Rhodes being the key to its activation. With the satellite linked to Rhodes, it transformed into a giant "War Machine" robotic form.^[56] Destroying the Skrull fleet, he left the satellite to Russian airspace to destroy an escaping Skull ship. He made his way to a weapons depot in Tatischevo where the Winter Guard was protecting the nuclear weapons from the Skrulls. The Winter Guard ordered him to leave under the orders of the Russian military, but Rhodes ignored and was captured on a Skrull warship.^[57] He escaped and with Endo's help, used the warship to destroy the Skull fleet with the Winter Guard disobeying orders so that they could aid Rhodes. The last Super-Skrull attempted to detonate the nuclear warheads by turning himself into energy, but Rhodes used his armor's capabilities to absorb the energy.^[58]

"Dark Reign"[link]

In "Dark Reign: New Nation", Rhodes faced Anton Aubuisson, a corrupt former French soldier with the Roxxon Energy Corporation in negotiations with the Anunquit tribe in western Canada. Rhodes defeated Aubuisson and discovered the use of Ultimo technology given to Aubuisson by Eaglestar International, a corrupt paramilitary defense contracting firm. This led to Rhodes traveling to Santo Marco and finding Parnell Jacobs, once believed to be killed by Stuart Clarke.^[59] Rhodes recruits Jacobs to be his "one-man pit crew" to stop Eaglestar's efforts after informing him that Jacobs' estranged wife Dr. Glenda Sandoval, a medic with Eaglestar, was in forced imprisonment. In a side story, a team under the direction of Bethany Cabe developed a clone body for Rhodes to take over. The team's facility was attacked and the clone body was taken by Norman Osborn.^[60] Rhodes, with support from Jacobs and Cabe, invades the Eaglestar headquarters in the nation of Aqiria. Rescuing Sandoval and dealing with threats such as the Dark Avenger Ares and civilians infected with Ultimo technology, Rhodes deduced that the Ultimo technology came from the United States where Ultimo was last seen. Rhodes took on the mission of destroying the Ultimo components with Sandoval, Cabe, Jacobs, former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jake Oh, and a returning Suzi Endo as "Team War Machine".^[61] The team faced the threat of Ultimo in the form of Morgan Stark, Tony Stark's cousin, with the help of Rhodes' former West Coast Avengers teammates and Norman Osborn in a temporary alliance.^[62] While Rhodes was captured after ruining Osborn's plan to make Ultimo his weapon, his team exposed the "Bainesville Ten", a group of high ranking officials and industry captains responsible for worldwide crimes. Despite Osborn's efforts to distract from the indictment of the group by putting Rhodes on trial at The Hague for war crimes, Rhodes and his team foiled Osborn's scheme with Rhodes himself transferred to his clone body after saving the life of a child.^[63]

In the "Stark Disassembled" storyline, Rhodes went to Broxton, Oklahoma where Tony Stark was left in a persistent vegetative state. Following recorded instructions from Stark, Rhodes extracted wires from Pepper Potts' Rescue suit and connected Captain America's shield to the implant on Stark's chest, which would be started by Thor's lightning, in order to reboot Stark's brain.^[64]

Heroic Age[link]

After the Siege storyline, War Machine joined the new Secret Avengers team, alongside Beast, Nova, Steve Rogers, Valkyrie, and Moon Knight.^[65]

Due to a government contract between Tony Stark's "Stark Resilent" company and The Pentagon, War Machine was assigned a new position as the US military's own "Iron Man". Now at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Rhodes is under the command of General Babbage, who has a personal grudge against Rhodes for his actions when he battled Ultimo and Norman Osborn in the previous War Machine series. His first assignment was to track down Palmer Addley, a former weapons designer for DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Addley is committing terrorist acts around the world, despite having been dead for months. When War Machine confronts the alleged dead man, Addley's response is to drop a nuclear weapon on him. Rhodes survives, but this prompts Tony Stark to replace his armor with a far more advanced model: the "Iron Man 2.0" armor.^[66]

During the Fear Itself storyline, War Machine is seen in Washington DC helping Ant-Man and Beast. War Machine learns from the Prince of Orphans that the "Eighth City" has been opened.^[67] War Machine then travels to Beijing and assists the Immortal Weapons in closing the portal, but not before having to battle Iron Fist who was unintentionally interfering with their mission by blocking the Immortal Weapon's connection to the city due to having become possessed by Agamotto's power. With Dr. Strange's help, Iron Fist is brought down and the portal is safely closed.^[68]

Powers and abilities[link]

Skills[link]

Rhodes was trained as an aircraft pilot and studied aviation engineering while in service with the United States Marine Corps. He is knowledgeable in aircraft operation/maintenance and has piloted various aircraft at Stark Enterprises. Rhodes is an experienced soldier trained in unarmed combat and military weaponry such as small arms. In addition to being a pilot, engineer, soldier, and businessman, Rhodes derives multiple abilities from various hi-tech armors, either designed by Stark Industries or extraterrestrial in nature. With his years of experience with both the Iron Man and War Machine powered armors, Rhodes is skilled in armored combat and uses a more physical fighting style compared to Stark.

Armors[link]

Iron Man Armor V[link]

• First Appearance: Iron Man #85 (April 1976)

Rhodes' first armor as Iron Man was a solar charged carbon-composite based steel mesh armor which provided him with superhuman-level strength and durability. It was armed with repulsors in each palm of the armor's gauntlets and a multifunctional unibeam projector in the chest.

War Machine Armor (Variable Threat Response Battle Suit Mark II, Model JRXL-1000)[link]

• First Appearance: Iron Man #284 (September 1992)

The original Variable Threat Response Battle Suit Mark I was a version of the Iron Man armor utilizing laser guided munitions. Stark gave Rhodes a modified version of the armor, Mark II Model JRXL-1000, created just for him with the inclusion of repulsors and a unibeam projector. The armor could be modified with various modular weapons and has an improved tactical computer system with automatic targeting. Additional weapons included pulse bolt generators, retractable shoulder minigun, variable-configured double-barrel cannons on each gauntlet, gauntlet mounted flamethrower, plasma blade on the left gauntlet, missile box launcher, micro-rocket launcher, particle beam discharger, and an electromagnetic pulse generator in the unibeam projector that could shut down any electronic device in a 50-mile radius. The armor also included a photon emitter that created a force shield, forcefield-based stealth technology, boot-jet propulsion, and a self-contained breathing system.

The second version of the armor, reconfigured by Stark, contained upgraded improvements such as heat seeking missile launchers, pulse cannon, and retractable weapon pods located on its back. Rhodes utilized different types of specialty ammunition as well as non-lethal weapons such as rubber bullets. Though Rhodes lost the original armor, he still possessed a functional prototype helmet and gauntlet.

Eidolon Warwear[link]

• First Appearance: War Machine #18 (September 1995)

The armor is a symbiotic bio-armor system of alien origin and provided Rhodes with superhuman strength, durability, and speed. The armor responded to Rhodes' commands and created weapons based on his thoughts and needs. When inactive, it was concealed inside a "mandala" or tattoo-like mark on Rhodes' chest. The left arm is capable of firing destructive energy blasts while the right arm is able to morph into a blade. The armor can "unskin" remote drones that are capable of feats such as discharging various types of energy, infiltrating electronic/computer systems, creating energy fields, and completing basic tasks. If the drone are destroyed, Rhodes feels pain due to the symbiotic connection. The armor can morph into a "full battle mode," which provided unspecified enhancement to both the armor and Rhodes himself. It was also capable of space travel with an unlimited life support system. During battle, the armor would have the strange ability to "sing" alien war songs.

Sentinel Squad Armor[link]

• First Appearance: Sentinel Squad O.N.E. #1 (March 2006)

During the Sentinel Squad O*N*E series, 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. Rhodes also piloted 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.

Stanetech Based War Machine Armor[link]

• First Appearance: Avengers: The Initiative #1 (March 2007)

Used during Avengers: The Initiative to volume two of War Machine, this version of the War Machine armor shows all the abilities of the previous iterations with bleeding edge military ballistics and weaponry. Unlike previous War Machine armors, the armor incorporated advanced components derived from Obadiah Stane's reverse engineering of older Iron Man armor that made him immune to any Starktech based systems attack. Rhodes' bionics required an added life support system with cybernetic implants linked to the armor's systems. The armor is composed of alloys such as titanium and Wakandan vibranium, coated for stealth capabilities, and capable of space and underwater travel. Armaments included sonic generators, pulse bolts, a minigun, and a retractable unibeam projector. The armor can interface with any system and has interlocking capabilities that integrated mechanical constructs to repair and upgrade the armor. During the second War Machine series, Rhodes used this ability to merge with jet fighters and tanks deliberately to gain their technology and weapons. At the end of the series, Rhodes (Now in a cloned version of his body) is seen wearing a non-cybernetic version of the armor.

War Machine Armor V[link]

• First Appearance: Secret Avengers #1 (May 2010)

Used during issues of Secret Avengers and appearances in other comic series, this upgraded incarnation of the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit has a similar design to the movie version of the War Machine armor with armaments similar to previous incarnations such as a retractable shoulder minigun, repulsor technology, and shoulder missile launcher. The armor was destroyed by a nuclear attack in the first arc of the series Iron Man 2.0.

"Iron Man 2.0" War Machine Armor[link]

• First Appearance: Iron Man 2.0 #3 (April 2011)

Created in the series Iron Man 2.0 by Tony Stark, this War Machine armor is a complete redesign after the destruction of the previous model. Designed by Iron Man 2.0 artist Barry Kitson, the armor emphasizes stealth, recon, infiltration, and combat readiness.^[69] Unlike its predecessors, it is a slimmed down armor with no visible external weaponry such as shoulder miniguns or missile launchers. The armor's color scheme is gunmetal with black detailing and has two lines on the helmet's left eye area that glows according to the repulsor reactor's color. The armor utilizes upgraded technology such as an updated Chameleon Mode (previously a feature of the "Silver Centurion" Iron Man armor) for optical invisibility, holographic projection, and camouflage purposes. The armor also possesses Ghost technology to phase through solid objects, scanner invisibility to become undetectable to all targeting systems, and a Combat Mode that can deploy weaponry which is normally hidden and increase the size and bulk of the armor. But the armor has limitations such as strain of the armor's repulsor reactor, disorientation from the Chameleon Mode, and the inability to be both invisible and intangible at the same time due to a compatibility issue.

Other versions[link]

Iron Man Noir[link]

In the Marvel Noir universe, James "Jimmy" Rhodes appears as Tony Stark's assistant/friend in the mini-series, Iron Man: Noir.^[70]

1602[link]

In Marvel 1602: New World, there is a character named Rhodes, a Moor who is the engineer of the armor worn by the Spanish nobleman Lord Iron. Rhodes accompanied Lord Iron to the New World and assists in Lord Iron's mission to hunt down David Banner, former advisor to King James I of England and the man who tortured Lord Iron when he was captured by the British.^[71]

Amalgam Comics[link]

In the Amalgam Comics Universe created by Marvel Comics and DC Comics, there is a character named Stewart Rhodes that appears in the comic Iron Lantern #1. A pilot and engineer employed at Stark Aircraft, he knows the secret of Hal Stark's double life as Iron Lantern. Stewart Rhodes is the amalgam of James Rhodes and John Stewart.^[72]

[edit] Marvel Zombies

In Marvel Zombies: Dead Days, War Machine is seen amongst the crowd of heroes who have survived the Zombie plague so far. His fate is not depicted.

In Marvel Zombies Return, Zombie Giant Man finds a way to enter parallel universes and invades a universe that resembles the time period in which Tony Stark was an alcoholic. Giant Man infected the parallel universe's Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts and a number of people at Stark Industries. The James Rhodes from the parallel universe finds the Iron Man armor located in a bathroom and puts it on to reach Stark. After Stark sacrifices himself to kill as many zombies as possible, Rhodes takes the name Iron Man and announces he will help the police fend off the zombies.^[73] He also becomes a member of this reality's Illuminati.^[74] Years later, Rhodes joins the New Avengers in a heavily armed suit reminiscent of the War Machine armor but in the Iron Man color scheme. This Rhodes is at least partly cybernetic, having escaped falling victim to the zombie virus himself by cutting off his limbs after being bitten in order to protect himself from the virus, the armor consisting at least partly of cybernetic limbs rather than a simple suit. The Avengers team assembled consists of Iron Man and the zombified Spider-Man, Hulk and Wolverine. Rhodes sacrifices one of his last three fingers to lure the Zombie Avengers to the Savage land. Then, using a nanite virus developed by Spider-Man, the team defeats the zombie Avengers, eradicating the zombie menace.^[75]

MC2[link]

In the MC2 alternate future, Rhodes gained superhuman powers after exposing himself to experimental microscopic robots. While Tony Stark had intended to test them on himself, Rhodes did not feel it would be right for Stark to unnecessarily risk his life. Although now blessed with exponentially-increasing invulnerability and an impressive array of energy-based attacks, the nanites slowly corrupt Rhodes' mind, eventually destroying his personality and leaving him as little more than a very powerful, humanoid robot. He eventually works as a personal bodyguard for Tony Stark, and although he adopts a superhero uniform (vaguely reminiscent of Superman, though with a different color scheme and no chest insignia) neither he nor Stark bother to come up with a moniker for him. Spider-Girl refers to him as "Fred" for most of her series, for simple lack of anything else to call him.^[76]

U.S. War Machine[link]

In the alternate-reality MAX imprint series U.S. War Machine, Tony Stark announces he is retiring from developing weapons after he and his bodyguard James Rhodes, who had piloted the MPI-2100 Mobile Infantry Suit a.k.a. the "War Machine" armor, had used lethal force in the defeat of foreign tyrant Doctor Doom's armies. He stated he was mothballing the War Machine armor and presented the SI1-211 "Iron Man" as his new bodyguard. Rhodes, however, uses the War Machine armor to fight rogue agents of the terrorist group Advanced Idea Mechanics, and after killing two of them is fired by Stark.^[77] Afterward, former War Machine pilot Parnell Jacobs attacks Rhodes at home in an attempt to steal the War Machine armor. After Rhodes defeats Jacobs, Colonel Nick Fury, head of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D., has Rhodes and Jacobs brought in to the agency's headquarters, the Skycarrier.^[78]

Jacobs reveals that his wife, Glenda Sandoval, was taken hostage by A.I.M., with the promise of release if Jacobs delivered the original War Machine armor. But Jacobs had sold that armor to another terrorist group, HYDRA, to gain money when he learned his wife was pregnant. S.H.I.E.L.D. retrieves the armor from HYDRA and, with the guidance of 12-year-old-genius armament designer "Scotch", reverse-engineers its technology to create its own version of the War Machine armor for a planned Special Operations division, dubbed "U.S. War Machine", with Rhodes in charge. Targeting A.I.M.,^[79] the team includes Jacobs, Dum Dum Dugan, and Sheva Josephs.

In the sequel series U.S. War Machine 2.0., Stark is furious that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s U.S. War Machine division exists and combats it as Iron Man accompanied by his own armored forces—Happy Hogan, Bethany Cabe, and Eddie March—in MPI-2100 Mobile Infantry Suits.^[80] Rhodes, now a major, and his division team with Captain America (James "Bucky" Barnes), Sam Wilson, and Clint Barton, to stop Doctor Doom from detonating stolen nuclear weapons planted on the Millennium Wheel in London.^[81]

Ultimate Marvel[link]

James Rhodes first appears as a prep school student and the victim of frequent bullying at the school due to his ethnicity, that he comes from a poorer family and the fact that he's there because of the school's racial quota.^[82] He finds an unlikely friend in a young Tony Stark who defends him against the bullies - much to his dismay because it only serves to attract more attention to himself and, thus, increase his torment. Stark is keen on Rhodes being his friend, while Rhodes, initially, is uneasy about Stark and his burgeoning friendship. Later, after Stark is severely attacked at school and is aided by Rhodes (which turns out to be a peripheral attack on Stark's father), both leave the school and with Stark's father's help, are accepted into the Baxter Building's School for Exceptional Children along with Rhodes's sister, one, because they are all strikingly intelligent, but also for their own protection. Both begin work on different projects and eventually, Stark takes Rhodes into his confidence and allows Rhodes a chance to wear and help design some of the armor he and his father have innovated. Rhodes and Stark's friendship strengthens and Rhodes is later seen making another armor version named "War Machine" which he is going to trade with Stark's "Iron Man" armor when both are fully developed. A couple of years later, Stark and Rhodes, in their respective armor, team up as fake "Robots" to take out a terrorist group for the government.^[83] This origin, however, was retconned as being a fictionalized history of Tony Stark's early years. Years later, Rhodes, now a Colonel, is seen sporting a new War Machine armor created by Tony Stark's older brother Gregory Stark of which both are, for some reason, now estranged, which he uses to save two abducted U.S. army officers from the hands of the Taliban. Once the officers had been secured, Rhodes decides to kill the unarmed civils and the enemy after they surrendered, giving the first glimpse into a more ruthless, apathetic and even sadistic War Machine; a far cry from earlier views of Rhodes. Later, in France, he attempts to capture a seemingly rogue Captain America as part of the reactivated "Project Avengers" with new armor that is quite larger, is bloated with numerous ballistic weapons (far more than Tony Stark's Iron Man armor), and can also, evidently, even transform into a German sports car. Rhodes is almost able to capture Captain America, but their last confrontation involves Cap being in a room full of school children. Rhodes' ruthlessness is shown ever further as he contemplates continuing his attack, until Cap reminds him that any "Collateral Damage" involving school children would be a Public Relations and Political nightmare prompting War Machine to back off, but for all the wrong reasons. He continues to work for Fury, also recruiting Tyrone Cash during the Ghost Rider incident, and is one of the last Avengers (with Hawkeye, Blade, and Punisher) led by Fury, until his return to S.H.I.E.L.D. Director.^[84][85][86]

In other media[link]

Collections[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• World of Black Heroes: War Machine Biography
• War Machine at Marvel.com
• War Machine at the Internet Movie Database

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Black Adam is a fictional character created in 1945 by Otto Binder & C. C. Beck. Originally created as a villain for Fawcett Comics "Marvel Family" Black Adam was revived as a recurring supervillain after DC Comics began publishing Captain Marvel/Marvel Family stories under the title "Shazam!" in the 1970s. As originally depicted, Black Adam was a corrupted ancient Egyptian predecessor of Captain Marvel who fought his way to modern times to challenge the hero and his Marvel Family associates. Since the turn of the 21st century, Adam has been redefined by DC writers Jerry Ordway, Geoff Johns, and David S. Goyer as a corrupted antihero attempting to clear his name. Featured roles in comic books series such as JSA, Villains United, Infinite Crisis, and 52 have elevated the character to a level of prominence in DC Comics. In 2009, Black Adam was ranked as IGN's 16th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.^[1]

Publication history[link]

Fawcett Comics[link]

The original Fawcett Comics version of Black Adam, which appeared only once during the original Fawcett run of Captain Marvel comics in The Marvel Family #1, is an ancient Egyptian prince named Teth-Adam (literally translating into "Mighty Human"), who is chosen by the wizard Shazam to be his successor as he was thought to be pure.

When Teth-Adam says the magic word "Shazam", he is transformed into a super-powered being, Mighty Adam. Possessing the same powers that Captain Marvel would later be granted, Mighty Adam is soon corrupted by the vastness of his powers. The wizard Shazam originally gives him ancient powers derived from Greco-Roman deities, though this was later changed and he instead gives him the powers of ancient Egyptian deities.

Deciding that he should rule the world, Mighty Adam overthrows and kills the pharaoh and assumes the throne. An angry Shazam gives his errant champion a new name — "Black Adam" — and, unable to take his powers away, banishes him to the most distant star in the universe.

Black Adam spends the next 5,000 years flying back to Earth. By the time he makes it back, in 1945, Shazam has appointed three new champions to take his place: Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel Jr. Adam's antics to take over the world cause the Marvels to seek counsel with Shazam, who tells them about Black Adam. Adam succeeds in gagging Billy and Freddy while they are talking to Shazam. He then ties them up, planning to kill them later. But Uncle Marvel releases them while Mary battles Black Adam, enabling them to transform. Adam does battle with the trio, known as the Marvel Family, but since all are equally invulnerable, the fight goes on and on without resolution. However, the non-powered Marvel Family member Uncle Marvel gets an idea from Shazam and tricks him into saying "Shazam," by repeating the word wrongly, reverting him back to Teth-Adam. 5,000 years of aging catch up with him in an instant when Captain Marvel knocks him out seconds after he transforms, and he dies, becoming a skeleton.

Black Adam wore a costume similar to Captain Marvel's, except that the red portions were black, and Adam did not wear a cape.

DC Comics[link]

This section requires expansion.

Pre-Crisis[link]

While he is defeated in the same story in which he debuted, Adam is resurrected nearly thirty years later in Philadelphia by Doctor Sivana's reincarnation machine in DC Comics' Shazam! revival of the Marvel Family characters.^{[citation needed]} He then destroys the machine so he cannot be sent back. According to Shazam! #28, Black Adam gets his powers from Shu (stamina), Hershef (strength), Amon (power), Zehuti (Thoth) (wisdom), Anpu (speed), and Menthu (courage). Black Adam accidentally time-travels to 1776 while going to the Rock of Eternity to destroy Shazam at Sivana's suggestion, he actually felt Adam's powers would be wiped out as well, but Cap accidentally threw him back in time. He and Cap battle and Adam realises he will have to use a trick. He makes his lightning strike Cap, turning him back to Billy, then seizes him and covers his mouth before he can finish saying his magic word. He then flies to a nearby ship and gets some rope to bind and gag Billy, after which he throws him into the sea. But Billy swims up, is saved by one of the colonist rebels, and freed. He realizes the man is Paul Revere, ironic since earlier in the story he repaired his statue. and returns to his own time when Shazam tells him Black Adam is there. He is once again tricked by Uncle Marvel into saying Shazam when he goes to him to get revenge, and gets amnesia from a punch by Captain Marvel. After that, Black Adam is also involved with Karmang in All-New Collectors' Edition # C-58 and tries to destroy both Superman and Captain Marvel. After several more defeats at Captain Marvel's hands, Adam joins Mister Mind's final pre-Crisis version of the Monster Society of Evil which stages an assault on the Rock of Eternity. The evil god of magic Oggar summons an evil army from the sands and dust of Egypt for Adam to lead after muting Billy with his magic. Despite being defeated, they escape. Black Adam is seen for the last time in the "Villains War" saga during Crisis on Infinite Earths. The Teen Titan Kole transformed Black Adam into a crystal statue, but it is not revealed if the change is permanent.

[edit] Shazam!: The New Beginning

Adam's origin is revised for the 1987 miniseries Shazam! The New Beginning. In this timeline, Adam was not banished to the depths of the universe, but to another dimension. The need for Captain Marvel to oppose him is made an integral reason for why Billy Batson is recruited by Shazam. Soon after that call, the corrupted champion is drawn from the netherworld by an inter-dimensional transport device created by Dr. Sivana. Roy Thomas and Tom Mandrake really give a degree of deepness in the character. Black Adam, after being drawn from the netherworld, speaks only in Egyptian (he also has lightly tan skin); he uses the Wisdom of Zehuti to learn English. The character is revealed to be far more cruel and ruthless than his present incarnation. Soon after he appears, he destroys Sivana's machine and is about to kill him. Adam then figures he needs a guide in this new world, and makes Sivana his slave instead. He admires the new world, which he describes as such: "Interesting city, whose towers dwarf even the temples of Memphis... wagons, which move without beasts to pull them (cars)... even a vast bridge of metal, spanning water as wide as even the Nile itself at flood!" When battling Captain Marvel, Adam, with his super-strength, holds an airplane full of passengers, and blackmails the hero into departing. After that, he kidnaps the airplane full of passengers, hiding all of them in the sea. Fortunately, Captain Marvel is successful in banishing Black Adam to the netherworld again, and saves the people.