The essential arcs of War Machine: the acting under the Iron Man armor(from Iron Man #170, 1983) — the best by far; L'getting armor of his own (1992); there first solo series (1994); THE run by Greg Pak (2009); and its dead in Civil War II (2016). A career made of short windows, never long stories.
This character doesn't have a big arc in the usual sense. He has moments— a few issues here, a short series there — separated by long periods where he appears without doing anything.
This discontinuity is the characteristic of the file, and it has a practical consequence: the following list is made up of around fifty fascicles, all from abundant periods.
1. The interim (from Iron Man #170, 1983)
Denny O'Neil. The best character material, by far.
Tony Stark is out of state. Rhodes dons the armor, operates under the identity of Iron Man, and no one knows that it's not him under the mask.
What makes this sequence superior to everything else: the story doesn't pretend that it's going well. The armor was designed for another—their body, their mind, their reflexes—and the mismatch is treated as a real problem, not a formality.
It is also, on reflection, the only moment where this character is examined rather than employed.
2. His Armor (1992)
After thirteen years of wearing someone else's gear, Rhodes finally gets armor and a name to call his own.
The arc is worth what it concludes rather than what it tells. Thirteen years is a considerable length of time, even on the scale of periodical publishing, and this slowness gives the event a weight that a direct launch would not have had.
⚠️ Collection point: The armor first appears partially, then completely in the next issue. Two numbers for one moment — check which one you're buying.
3. The first solo series (1994)
Twenty-five numbers in the character's name. It is here that he obtains, for the first time, a title in which he is the subject and not the guest.
The series belongs to the period of overproduction, which makes it abundant and very cheap. It can be completed in full for a paltry budget — it is the most profitable purchase in the file in terms of satisfaction per euro spent.
4. Greg Pak's run (2009)
Twelve issues that finally treat dimension seriously military of the character: the chain of command, questionable orders, the responsibility of the one who executes.
It's the best modern attempt, and the one that best uses what's unique about Rhodes — a hero with a superior.
5. Civil War II (2016)
Sa dead, which sets off the central conflict of a major event.
Paradoxical arc: this is the moment where the character matters the most, and he is not an actor. For thirty-seven years he had been someone's second-in-command; it finally becomes central by ceasing to exist.
How to read this set
If you only read one thing: the interim sequence, from Iron Man #170. This is the only place where the character is really dealt with.
If you want the trajectory: the interim (1983), clean armor (1992), then Civil War II (2016). Three moments, three decades, and a legible progression — from replacement to issue.
If you want the modern character: the 2009 run, which can be read without knowing anything about the rest.
The question posed by this file
A basic remark, which explains why this bibliography is what it is.
War Machine is a spin-off character: it exists because another already existed. Its technology, its universe, its adversaries, its setting — everything comes from elsewhere.
Authors have struggled with the same difficulty for forty years: what can we say about a character whose specificity is not to have one? The best answers found are always the same — the dependence (1983), the emancipation (1992), the institution(2009).
This corpus considers that the first is the most successful, and that this is not a coincidence: a derived character is more interesting when the story assumes its derivation than when it attempts to erase it.
Collection side
These arcs are spread over four periods, three of which are cheap.
The only expensive segment is that of 1979, for the first appearance - which does not contain any of the arcs listed here.
Everything else — 1983, 1992, 1994, 2009, 2016 — belongs to abundant periods. ⚠️ On issues from the 1990s, the value is based entirely on the gradation: an average copy is worth practically nothing.
As always, condition and gradation determine value; relying on real recent sales is strongly recommended.
For number-by-number selection, see ourWar Machine key issues, and for the overview ourcollection guide.
Track your complete arcs and spot missing numbers with ourcollection management application.