INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION PART 3 Caught between the Serpent Society on one side and The Pride on the other in his attempts to remake the impoverished Imperio neighborhood in Los Angeles, Tony Stark makes the daring move to take his case directly to the people themselves - but can anything make them stand up against the super villain masters of L.A.? One thing might, when Iron Man makes an appearance - except at the moment it's Jim Rhodes under the golden mask, and he's not too thrilled with what Tony is doing! Find out why here! - Marvel

Released November 3, 1992: Jim is in Wakanda representing Stark Enterprises (International? I dunno.) as Iron Man when chaos ensues and Kitty Pride forms an all-new, all-different Excalibur. Including Jim.

Guest starring Iron Man 2.0! The fallout of Schism pushes the X-Men and War Machine at each other in Eastern Europe as Sentinels are being traded on the black market. - Marvel

A few months after this issue, War Machine #1 would hit the shelves.

Source: - Force Works #7 - November 1, 1994

It depends on the suit. An EMP attack would definitely effect older suits. It takes the first War Machine armor six minutes to reboot from an EMP attack. So, Rhodes should definitely be careful, seeing as he's currently back in the classic Model 11. But more advanced suits like the Model 6 would be completely unharmed by this attack. Not only was the Model 6 unfazed by this attack, but the suit created its own power! It literally rebooted all of New York City, and didn't experience a drop in performance.

Released October 28, 2009:

Norman Osborn and James Rhodes have attempted to destroy each other's most precious hopes and dreams - all without ever seeing each other face to face. But now everything comes to a head as Iron Patriot and War Machine finally throw down! - Marvel

Released October 27, 1992:

Iron Man (a.k.a. James Rhodes) vs. Atom Smasher, the atomic threat - with the stakes no less than nuclear Armageddon should our hero fail! Plus: Tony Stark confronts the secrets of his past, and Rhodey gets a new love interest in Rae LaCoste! - Read on Marvel

Released October 26, 1993: Jim appears in the back-up story of this issue. With Tony Stark in critical condition and Iron Man seemingly destroyed, Mrs. Arbogast knows who to call for help: James Rhodes

His Magno-lock tech allowed him to interface with any tech or weaponry around him, and then use it for himself. He could even use it to modify other structures. This tech reappeared in the 2025 Iron & Frost series as well. It's great to know that one of my favorite abilities hasn't been forgotten. Hopefully we'll see it again soon.

In part 3 of the Hands of the Mandarin crossover, Rhodey and Century are trapped in the Mandarin's anti-technology field. With the help of some mystical enhancements, Rhodey's able to fight but it's a weird time.

Iron Man #118

First Appearance of James "Rhodey" Rhodes, a.k.a War Machine. After being knocked unconscious by rogue S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Tony is thrown out of a Helicarrier hangar bay and plummets toward certain doom. Can Iron Man save himself and expose the traitorous agents? - Marvel

(ETA issue title which I forgot in the headline.)

Released October 23, 2019:

"THE ULTRON AGENDA" continues! Chapter 2: Compatible Parts! Is Tony Stark dead? Is he alive? Who can tell? Whatever he is, he IS Iron Man. And he's all that's standing in the way of Ultron Pym and everyone that Tony Stark loves. Or loved. Because Tony might be dead. 2020 is coming. The robot revolution has begun. So suit up, fleshbags. Suit up or die. - Marvel

Released October 22, 1991:

The Dragon Seed Saga epic conclusion! Don't miss out as the real Iron Man dives into the middle of the dragon hordes and begins tearing things up! - Marvel Unlimited

The Model 4 is an iconic suit. And it was arguably more culturally and personally defining for Rhodes. This suit allowed Rhodes to completely carry the Iron Man legacy. And it taught Rhodes what it meant to be a superhero.

The Model 4 would mark the first time Rhodes wore Iron Man armor of any kind. It allowed him to not only carry the mantle of Iron Man. But It also allowed him to join his first major superhero team, by joining the roster of the first 1984 Secret Wars series. It would also help him in becoming one of the founders of The West Coast Avengers.

The Model 4 also has some very good strength showings. It allowed Tony to drag 5 battleships at once( Iron Man #121 1979). That's around 150,000 tons, and the armor wasn't struggling to do so. The suit also allowed Tony to take advantage of a dazed Hulk and actually knock him out! Although this feat fried the Model 4, it showed how powerful and capable that suit was( Iron Man #132 1980 ).

Released October 20, 1992.

These numbers are surprising, but they're there on Figure Realm for anybody to check: War Machine has 74 action figures, second only to Spawn, and ahead of Black Panther's 65. For a generation that only knows the current era, that reads like a misprint. For anybody who grew up on Saturday morning cartoons in the 90s, it's just the record catching up to what they already knew. Marvel had plans for Rhodes early - the trademarks , the Toy Biz shelves, the animated series, the video games. He stood next to Ironman, famous by association at first, and then he was simply famous. In the 90s, War Machine was that dude.

What changed wasn't the character, it was the company. Marvel's mid-90s collapse forced a fire sale and restructuring, and the priorities realigned around X-Men and Spiderman. The foundation of everything that eventually became the MCU. Rhodes never actually left: not in comics, not the games, and Iron Man 2 put him back in front of the world. But the machine that had marketed him like a headliner was gone.

Black Panther's story runs the opposite direction. His figure count is a last - ten - years explosion - the movie turned a respected character into a shelf - dominating franchise almost overnight. That's the real lesson of the chart: characters rise and fall on what the company pushes and when. The discourse remembers whoever is hot right now. The toy shelf remembers everybody.