War Machine #8: Review

Nov 1994

Scott Benson, Gabriel Hardman

::: click cover to ENLARGE it :::

Story Name:

Friendly Fire

Review & Comments

Rating:

War Machine #8 Review by T Vernon (February 5, 2019)

Comments: Scripted by the team of Scott Benson and Len Kaminski. Mandarin's Avatars (Q'Wake, Deluge, Butterfly, Foundry, Lich) are seen only in shadows, their official first appearance will be in FORCE WORKS #6.

Review: Iron versus iron action. The latest confrontation between the two armored ex-friends is mostly set up here with that opening recap of bad blood and the bulk of the battle is postponed until the next issue. Gecko's and Eklund's art suits the action well; the Mandarin pages are especially effective.

From Our Blog:

Gwen Stacy, beauty queen of Standard High School, was Peter Parker's (alias Spider-Man) first great love.

Gwen Stacy: Classic Beauty

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

War Machine #8 Synopsis by T Vernon

Story continues from IRON MAN #309.

As he dons the War Machine armor, James Rhodes looks back over his history of clashing with Tony Stark/Iron Man: their first meeting in Vietnam (IRON MAN #144), Tony asking Rhodey to be Iron Man the first time (#170), facing the Mandarin (#181), angrily quitting as War Machine (#291), and their recent spat over the specs for the armor (#309). Now he is headed to the Stark building for the confrontation.....

At Worldwatch headquarters, Rebecca Bergier, Ranald Jeffries, and Sheva Joseph are debating whether War Machine's association with the organization is now becoming a liability and why Director James Rhodes is not commenting on it. Rebecca is called to the phone by tabloid reporter Trace Miller, threatening to reveal her secret life on his TV show. She hangs up and decides the revelation will be on her terms; she calls everyone to her office.... [Her secret is that she's a lesbian, mentioned in later issues.]

At Stark as they are discussing War Machine's latest troubles, Mrs. Arbogast tells Felix Alvarez that Tony is drinking again....

War Machine arrives at Stark Enterprises and is met on the roof by Bethany Cabe who warns him not to start trouble. He heads to the main office where Tony meets him in his Iron Man armor. Rhodey demands the specs for the suit; Tony demands he surrender it, citing his latest “misuse.” Rhodey jets off angrily and Tony follows. They battle in the sky, unaware that the Mandarin is watching via the Heart of Darkness, plotting his revenge against them both and gloating about it to his unseen minions. The battle moves to the ground and Tony distracts Rhodey with talk while he secretly interfaces with Rhodey's armor, shutting it down. War Machine stiffens then topples to the ground. Is this the end?

Story continues in IRON MAN #310.

::: click cover to ENLARGE it :::