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Cover: Bob Layton

Iron Man #118

Name: Iron Man #118
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Jan 1979 · Marvel · 0.35 USD

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“At the Mercy of My Friends!”

★ 1st appearance — Jim Rhodes★ 1st appearance — War Machine★ 1st appearance — War Machine (James Rhodes)★ 1st appearance — James Rhodes

About this Issue

Iron Man #118 is the debut of James 'Rhodey' Rhodes — the future War Machine — making it the opening chapter of one of Marvel's most significant supporting-character arcs of the Bronze Age. Rhodes's introduction brought a rare and meaningful Black perspective to a Marvel title at a time when such representation was largely absent from the Iron Man book, with the creative team deliberately building him as a character whose race, military background, and moral discipline would stand in contrast to Tony Stark's. The issue also sets up the armor-malfunction subplot that seeds directly into the landmark 'Demon in a Bottle' arc beginning just two issues later, giving #118 a structural importance beyond its debut status. On top of all that, Bob Layton's cover — depicting Stark in freefall while frantically assembling his suit — proved so visually resonant that it has been cited by Jon Favreau as the direct inspiration for a memorable sequence in the 2012 film The Avengers.

In "At the Mercy of My Friends!", Tony Stark finds himself betrayed by a rogue faction within SHIELD, who seek to seize Stark International and force it back into weapons manufacturing. With his Iron Man armor failing inexplicably, Tony is left defenseless—thrown from a helicarrier hangar bay and plummeting toward the ground. Written by Bob Layton and David Michelinie, with dynamic art by John Byrne and Bob Layton, and a cover by Bob Layton, this 1979 issue delivers a tense, high-stakes thriller where loyalty is tested and survival hangs by a thread.

writer, artist, inker Bob Layton · writer David Michelinie · artist John Byrne · colorist G. Wein · letterer Irv W. · cover Bob Layton

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $16

CGC 9.8 · 126 in census $377

CGC 9.6 · 240 in census $152*

CGC 9.4 · 217 in census $83*

CGC 9.2 · 113 in census $78

CGC 9.0 · 105 in census $73

CGC 8.5 · 88 in census $65

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CGC 8.0 · 84 in census $60

CGC 7.5 · 54 in census $37

CGC 7.0 · 40 in census $37

CGC 6.5 · 24 in census $37

CGC 6.0 · 23 in census $27*

CGC 5.5 · 11 in census $24*

CGC 5.0 · 6 in census $23*

CGC 4.5 · 6 in census $21*

CGC 4.0 · 5 in census $20*

CGC 3.5 · 7 in census $20*

CGC 3.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 2.5 · 1 in census $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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CGC 9.6 ▾ $175–$298 6 listings

CGC 9.6 $175 CGC 9.6 · Newsstand $184.5 CGC 9.6 $195 CGC 9.6 $228.87 CGC 9.6 $249 CGC 9.6 · Signed $298

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CGC 9.2 $72 CGC 9.2 $125 CGC 9.2 $165 CGC 9.2 · Signed $225

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CGC 8.5 $80 CGC 8.5 · Signed $419.89

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History

The issue was produced by the newly assembled creative team of writer David Michelinie (script), Bob Layton (co-plot, finished art, cover), and John Byrne (pencil layouts), with Roger Stern editing and Jim Shooter as editor-in-chief — a lineup that would go on to define the most acclaimed period in Iron Man's publishing history. Layton has described #118 as the issue that 'set the stage for a new era' in the series, introducing both Rhodes and the concept of Tony Stark's Hall of Armor in the same installment. The story itself — a rogue S.H.I.E.L.D. cell attempting a hostile takeover of Stark International — also plants the first hint of Iron Man's armor malfunctioning without warning, a dangling thread that Michelinie and Layton would resolve in #120 by revealing Justin Hammer as the saboteur, launching 'Demon in a Bottle.' The issue shipped with an October 1978 release date despite its January 1979 cover date.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of James 'Rhodey' Rhodes (Earth-616), who would later become Iron Man (#169–170) and War Machine (#282).
First appearance of Mrs. Bambi Arbogast, Tony Stark's secretary, who becomes a recurring supporting character throughout the series.
Creative team: plot by David Michelinie & Bob Layton; script by David Michelinie; pencil layouts by John Byrne; finished art and cover by Bob Layton; colors by Glynis Wein (Oliver); letters by Irving Watanabe; editor Roger Stern.
Rhodes's debut is a cameo — he appears in a single panel as Stark's personal mechanic/pilot before Tony decides to fly the helicopter himself to a S.H.I.E.L.D./NATO Helicarrier conference.
The issue features the first in-story malfunction of Tony's Iron Man armor (the Uni-Beam activates spontaneously), a plot thread revealed in #120 to be caused by Justin Hammer's remote tampering — seeding the 'Demon in a Bottle' storyline.
This issue also features what is often cited as the first full appearance of Tony Stark's Hall of Armor, displaying earlier Iron Man suit models (MK I–IV cameos).
Bob Layton's freefall cover — Tony plummeting from a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier while donning his armor mid-air — was cited by Jon Favreau as the visual inspiration for the analogous scene in Marvel's The Avengers (2012).
Rhodes was among the earliest African American characters in the Iron Man title to be developed into a long-term central figure, filling a narrative gap that writer-artist Denny O'Neil would later expand significantly when he replaced Stark with Rhodes as Iron Man starting in #169 (1983).