Another trusted associate who moonlighted as Iron Man for a spell was James Rhodes, played in the films by Terrence Howard and Don Cheadle (not at the same time). A strong character who seemed doomed to live in Tony's shadow, a bit part player who turned up only when he was needed, it was with the War Machine storyline that Rhodey finally broke out of his sidekick role and became one of the central protagonists of the Iron Man title, as seen in the movies. Following a near death experience, Tony is shaky about getting back into the suit. So when the villainous Masters of Silence turn up and start breaking things, or whatever it is bad guys do, he elects to deploy a remote-controlled robotic armour instead of actually climbing aboard one himself. Inevitably that's not enough, so he goes back to the drawing board and comes back with War Machine, which has more than enough firepower to back up the evocative nickname. A few issues later Mr Stark "dies" and leaves both the War Machine armour and the place of CEO of Stark Industries to his pal, James Rhodes. In a series that's so focussed on the ego-driven Tony Stark, it's nice to let somebody else have the spotlight, especially a character like Rhodey who does things a little differently to his lifelong pal. The War Machine storyline explores the relationship between to the two characters to a deeper level than even the films manage, as well as being a lot of fun.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
