Iron Man#118

Iron Man #118

Jan 1979 · Marvel

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

About this Issue

Iron Man #118 is the opening chapter of one of the most consequential creative runs in Marvel's Bronze Age, marking the start of the Michelinie-Layton era that would reshape Tony Stark into a more grounded, humanized hero. Most significantly, it contains the first appearance of James 'Rhodey' Rhodes — who would go on to become Iron Man himself and then War Machine — making it the genesis of one of Marvel's most durable partnerships and one of the earliest sustained African American superhero roles in mainstream comics. The same issue simultaneously debuts two other long-running supporting characters, Bambi Arbogast and the Stark International Hall of Armor, and lays the groundwork for the armor-malfunction subplot that feeds directly into the 'Demon in a Bottle' arc. Co-creator Bob Layton has also noted that the issue's iconic freefall cover influenced a comparable sequence in the first Avengers film, per director Jon Favreau.

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History

David Michelinie and Bob Layton had only just taken over the Iron Man series a couple of issues earlier when they produced #118, deliberately overhauling Tony Stark's supporting cast by removing previous elements like Whitney Frost and introducing grounded new figures in Bethany Cabe and, here, Jim Rhodes. The creative division of labor was precise: Michelinie and Layton co-plotted, Michelinie scripted, John Byrne supplied layouts, and Layton completed the finished art and drew the cover, with Roger Stern editing. Rhodes's appearance in the issue is just a single-panel cameo — understated enough that his significance was not immediately apparent — yet it seeded a character arc that would span decades of Iron Man continuity.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of James 'Rhodey' Rhodes (Earth-616), who appears in a single-panel cameo as a Stark International helicopter pilot; he later becomes Iron Man in #169 and War Machine beginning in #282.
First appearance of Bambi Arbogast, Tony Stark's sardonic secretary, who becomes a recurring supporting character throughout the series.
First appearance of the Stark International Hall of Armor, which displays cameos of Iron Man armor Models 1 through 4.
Creative team: plot by David Michelinie and Bob Layton; script by David Michelinie; layouts by John Byrne; finished art and cover by Bob Layton; edited by Roger Stern.
Story title: 'At the Mercy of My Friends!' — Part 1 of 2; the antagonists are a rogue cell of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents attempting a hostile takeover of Stark International; Nick Fury appears as a guest star.
Iron Man's Uni-Beam malfunctions without explanation in this issue; the cause — remote interference by the villain Justin Hammer — is not revealed until Iron Man #120.
The issue has been reprinted internationally at least seven times, including in French (Strange #120, 1979), Spanish (Héroes Marvel #67, 1980), and domestically in True Believers: Iron Man 2020 – War Machine #1 (April 2020) and the Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Romita Jr. Omnibus (2013).
In 2022, the issue was re-released digitally on the VeVe NFT platform with four exclusive variant covers, two featuring new artwork by Marco Turini.