WHEN JIM RHODES WAS IRON MAN (1980s)

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at the period during the 1980s when Tony Stark’s latest bout with alcoholism prompted him to let his pilot Jim Rhodes take over as Iron Man. 

IRON MAN Vol 1 #169 (Apr 1983)

Title: Blackout

Villains: Magma and Obadiah Stane

Synopsis: Iron Man (Tony Stark) is very drunk but is recklessly flying around New York City. His lapse back into heavy drinking was triggered by a combination of being dumped by his latest love interest Indries Moomji and corporate rival Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges in the movies) outmaneuvering Stark in several business deals recently.

Tony faces trouble from the mayor over minor damage caused by his “employee” Iron Man. NOTE: This was back when Tony kept it a secret that he was Iron Man and claimed the hero was just his high-tech bodyguard to explain why they both often showed up at the same locations at the same time.

At a board meeting, Stark gets more pressure regarding his careless spending and mountains of debt he has run up. Obadiah Stane is trying to talk the angry creditors of Stark International into letting him buy and assume the debts, which would give him very serious leverage over Tony’s business.

Tony’s personal pilot and friend Jim “Rhodey” Rhodes, who had been a supporting character in the series for years at this point, catches Tony drinking even more after the meeting. Iron Man’s old supervillain foe Magma, his tank and troops attack Stark’s Long Island HQ. 

When Tony proves too drunk to handle his Iron Man armor, Jim Rhodes dons it instead and flies out to face Magma and company.

IRON MAN Vol 1 #170 (May 1983)

Title: And Who Shall Clothe Himself in Iron?

Villains: Magma and Obadiah Stane

Synopsis: Rhodey struggles to control the Iron Man armor and is getting manhandled by Magma and his troops. With some coaching from Tony he manages to turn things around and defeat the villains.

Rhodey/ Iron Man also saves Tony’s life from the Knight (as in chess piece), a costumed supervillain covertly hired by Obadiah Stane. After a lengthy conversation, Rhodey agrees to remain the new Iron Man, resigns from the Avengers and encourages Tony to get help. Stark refuses and leaves to go partying.

IRON MAN Vol 1 #171 (Jun 1983)

Title: Ball and Chain

Villain: Thunderball

Synopsis: Time has passed. Rhodey has become more proficient with the Iron Man armor with help from Stark International tech Morley Erwin. Elsewhere, Tony Stark wakes up from another drunken blackout to find himself in bed with Heather Glenn, Matt Murdock’s (Daredevil’s) love interest at the time. She and Tony have booze with their breakfast.

The supervillain Thunderball, a member of the Defenders’ recurring team of supervillains called the Wrecking Crew, seizes a power station at Niagara Falls. He begins issuing demands as he holds the employees hostage.

Rhodey becomes Iron Man and saves the hostages while defeating Thunderball. That night Heather abandons Tony at a party since he is too drunk to notice. She leaves with one of Daredevil’s current foes, Tarkington Brown. 

IRON MAN Vol 1 #172 (Jul 1983)

Title: Firebrand’s Revenge

Villains: Firebrand and Obadiah Stane

Synopsis: Time has passed. Tony Stark was arrested after a night of drunken debauchery. Yvette Avril, the operations manager for Stark International, has him bailed out. Tony escapes from the media covering his latest misadventure and has a cab driver take him to a liquor store.

Elsewhere, Rhodey shows off his increasing mastery of the Iron Man armor to some kids in the park. He gets summoned to the Stark HQ on Long Island by Yvette Avril. She informs Iron Man that she needs Tony’s signature on documents to try to hold off Stane’s takeover of Stark International, but Tony can’t be found. 

Iron Man (Rhodey) flies to Avengers Mansion to get help finding Tony from Captain America. They at last find Tony drunk in a hotel down in the Bowery. The hotel is attacked by Iron Man’s old foe Firebrand, who is setting the Bowery on fire as “revenge” against society.

Captain America evacuates the hotel guests while Iron Man defeats Firebrand. During the fight, Tony Stark slipped away. Soon, the deadline passes and Obadiah Stane will become the new owner of Stark International.

IRON MAN Vol 1 #173 (Aug 1983)

Title: Judas is a Woman

Villains: Obadiah Stane and the Sisterhood of Ishtar

NOTE: The title officially switches to “The All New Iron Man” to solidify Rhodey’s replacement of Tony Stark as Iron Man. 

Synopsis: Much time has passed. Two of Obadiah Stane’s goons find Tony Stark passed out drunk in an alleyway, get him cleaned up and dressed in new clothes, then drive him out to Stark International’s Long Island HQ.

Stane is officially taking over after months of red tape, and he cruelly wanted Tony to be on hand when he had a construction crew alter “Stark International” to “Stane International.” Iron Man is also on hand. He, Yvette Avril, Morly Erwin and several other Stark higher-ups tell Stane to his face that they are resigning rather than work under him.   

Stane taunts Iron Man that if he can find Indries Moomji, the woman who dumped Tony, and bring her back to New York maybe it will help Tony give up booze. Iron Man first carries Tony to Philadelphia, where he has his (Rhodey’s) mother Roberta Rhodes take care of him.

Iron Man tracks Indries to a mansion/ fortress in America’s desert southwest. She confesses to Iron Man that she was never in love with Tony Stark. She is part of the Sisterhood of Ishtar, the world’s highest paid “escorts” who have been given every advantage possible through cosmetic surgery and “pheremone enhancement”.

Indries says she ran out on Obadiah Stane after completing her job to romance and then dump Tony. Stane wants her back and obviously lied to Iron Man to get him to find her for him. Not even Stane can compare to some of the other clients of the Sisterhood in terms of power and money, so she will just move on to her next customer safe from Stane’s revenge.

In Philadelphia, Tony Stark drinks Roberta’s cooking sherry and runs away.

IRON MAN Vol 1 #174 (Sep 1983)

Title: Armor Chase

Villains: The Knight and Obadiah Stane

Synopsis: Stane insists he owns Iron Man’s armor, but Iron Man tells him to take it to the courts and flies off. He tries to enter the lab where Tony Stark’s other suits of Iron Man armor are held but Stane’s Chessmen member the Knight fights him and drives him off.

NOTE: The Knight, the Bishop and the Rook were the Chessmen, armored villains created by Obadiah Stane. Tony Stark as Iron Man had been fighting them in the recent past.

Rhodey and Morly enact a plan to keep the armor out of Stane’s clutches. Iron Man breaks into the armor vault, attaches remote controls to all eleven suits of armor and has Morly remotely fly the suits away and down into the sea out in international waters. The Knight arrives and tries to capture Iron Man, who outfights him and flies off.

Nick Fury contacts the new Iron Man to try to force him to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. by telling him he’s sending agents to retrieve the armor from the ocean floor. Rhodey tells him off and vows to get Tony’s suits of armor before Fury does.

IRON MAN Vol 1 #175 (Oct 1983)

Title: The Treasure of Red and Gold

Villain: Warlord Krang

Synopsis: Morly tries to talk Rhodey into just letting S.H.I.E.L.D. have the extra suits of armor but he tells Morly about how Tony recently refused to let Nick Fury and his agents use the armor because S.H.I.E.L.D. has gotten untrustworthy.   

Nick pilots a high-tech jet/ submarine to try recovering the armor but Iron Man arrives to oppose him. They fight it out near a sunken ship where the armor landed last issue. Their battle is interrupted by the arrival of Warlord Krang (see cover) and his army. NOTE: Krang is a renegade Atlantean and old foe of Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner.

The now three-way battle rages on. Krang and his troops nearly kill Fury but Iron Man saves his life. Nick is able to tell it’s a different man as Iron Man now. Rhodey defeats Krang and his army and recovers all the suits of armor.

IRON MAN Vol 1 #176 (Nov 1983)

Title: Turf

Villains: The Guardian and Obadiah Stane

Synopsis: Obadiah Stane continues running Stane International in an autocratic way. A perpetually drunken Tony Stark has been sleeping on the streets with other homeless people. Morly decides he wants to start his own business and Rhodey agrees to help. 

In the meantime, as Iron Man he helps the Sisterhood of Ishtar investigate an interdimensional being that has been guarding a subterranean portal beneath their fortress for centuries. Friska, a bald telepath among the Sisterhood, helps him. Iron Man helps the Guardian fight off evil, incomprehensible beings and seal the portal. The Guardian dies from its wounds.

IRON MAN Vol 1 #177 (Dec 1983)

Title: Have Armor Will Travel

Villain: Flying Tiger

Synopsis: The police find Tony Stark in the gutter on the verge of dying from alcohol poisoning. They have an ambulance take him to a hospital for treatment.

None of the people even recognize Tony in his current condition.  

Rhodey/ Iron Man wants to buy into the startup business being launched by Morly Erwin and his sister Clytemnestra. To pick up some extra money Iron Man joins Power Man and Iron Fist at Heroes for Hire. His first job is to protect shady businessman Regis Fusskey on his trip to a fictional South American country.     

The nation turns out to be a Narco State and Iron Man must fight Spider-Woman‘s recurring foe the armored supervillain called Flying Tiger, who kidnaps Regis. Iron Man defeats the villain and frees Regis while also negotiating a big bonus above the fee to Heroes for Hire.

IRON MAN ANNUAL Vol 1 #6 (Dec 1983)

Title: To Free the Eternals

Villains: Deviants

Synopsis: In the skies over Holland, Rhodey/ Iron Man practices aerial maneuvers with the 32nd Flight Squadron via some old contacts in the service. In the middle of it all, the Eternals of Earth use their technology to seize control of the Iron Man armor like Moon Dragon and the Eternals of Titan did long ago during the First Thanos War. 

Iron Man and his armor are pulled to Olympia, the hidden European realm of Earth’s Eternals. NOTE: Yes, these are the Eternals that appeared in a Marvel movie a few years back. They were created by Jack Kirby in the 1970s as ripoffs of his own New Gods over at DC.   

Kro, leader of the evil race of Deviants, has led them in a takeover of Olympia. Iron Man was summoned to help Ikaris, Thena, Makkari, Ajak, Gilgamesh, Sersi, Zuras and Titanis (at right) in defeating the Deviants and retaking Olympia for the Eternals. Our hero is invited to stay for victory parties and he accepts.

IRON MAN Vol 1 #178 (Jan 1984)

Title: Struggle

Villain: Alcoholism, I guess

Synopsis: While Rhodey continues partying in Olympia for a few days with the Eternals, back with Tony Stark, he has stabilized enough and is released. He rejoins his friends in the gutter and takes a bet that he can’t make it until Midnight without a drink.

It’s difficult and Tony does win the bet but also realizes how low he has sunk. NOTE: The “Assistant Editors Month” notice on the cover was a company-wide event at Marvel Comics that month. Readers got goofy things like Iron Man’s back to us in the corner logo.

IRON MAN Vol 1 #179 (Feb 1984)

Title: Mission into Darkness

Villain: Radioactive Man

Synopsis: Iron Man’s next job as a superhero for hire takes him to Hong Kong. He is hired by a Hong Kong film studio to protect shipments of their movies to mainland China since they’ve been sabotaged recently. 

Thor’s old Chinese supervillain foe Radioactive Man mistakenly thinks Iron Man is in Hong Kong investigating an operation being run by himself and his mysterious boss. The green skinned villain attacks our hero and wins the first round against him, but Iron Man defeats Radioactive Man in the rematch.

Rhodey reveals to his employers that the villain’s radioactivity is what unintentionally ruined the films being transported. With Radioactive Man defeated, Iron Man collects his fee, and we readers see that R-Man’s boss was the Mandarin – the real Iron Man’s archenemy.

IRON MAN Vol 1 #180 (Mar 1984)

Title: This Ancient Enemy

Villain: The Mandarin

Synopsis: The next day, Rhodey is hanging out in Hong Kong enjoying himself after a job well done. The Mandarin, meanwhile, still mistakenly thinks Iron Man showed up because he is on to the work Radioactive Man was doing for him.

The Mandarin decides to strike first and lure his archenemy into a trap. From his castle in China he broadcasts a large Iron Man hologram in the sky above Hong Kong. Rhodey spots it and dons his armor.

As Iron Man he follows the hologram to the Mandarin’s lair in mainland China, where the villain attacks him. In the ensuing battle he easily defeats our hero because Rhodey is still too inexperienced to take down a man like the Mandarin.

The villain realizes it was too easy, so it must be someone other than Tony Stark in the Iron Man armor. (In the past he had easily beaten Happy Hogan and later Michael O’Brien when they temporarily wore the armor.)

Rhodey does not have Tony’s built-up immunity to the Mandarin’s mind-control ring and the villain forces him to remove his helmet, showing the Mandarin his face. Disgusted not to be up against his old foe he hands the enthralled Rhodey a sword and orders him to cut his own throat with it.

IRON MAN Vol 1 #181 (Apr 1984)

Title: Though My Life Be Forfeit

Villain: The Mandarin

Synopsis: In a brief moment of mental clarity, Rhodey flees in a panic, putting his helmet back on as he flies away and dives into the Pacific Ocean to hide. The Mandarin shrugs with contempt and enacts his plan since he has stolen for himself the equipment Radioactive Man failed to acquire.

The Mandarin flips the switch and his now-completed device begins blackening and killing all of the rice crops in China. Not only will this endanger the stability of the Communist Chinese regime that he hates, but he hopes they will raid other countries for rice and thus start a nuclear war.   

As usual the Mandarin plans to sit out the conflict in his castle with his people and then emerge to rule the world that remains after the nukes drop. Iron Man, flying back toward Hong Kong, notices the blackening crops and realizes the Mandarin is behind it. 

Justifiably frightened after just getting his butt kicked, Rhodey sets the fear aside and flies back to try stopping the Mandarin “even if his own life be forfeit”. The Communist Chinese have launched missiles against the Mandarin and between them and Iron Man, the villain’s plan is thwarted, but he escapes.

Iron Man tries to catch him but is casually beaten again. The Mandarin gets away but Rhodey has prevailed in his first encounter with him.

IRON MAN Vol 1 #182 (May 1984)

Title: Deliverance

Villains: Alcoholism and a blizzard

Synopsis: Thor, the Wasp, Captain America, Hawkeye and Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) invite Iron Man (Rhodey) to rejoin the Avengers but he declines.

That night during a blizzard, Tony Stark helps Gretl Anders, a fellow homeless alcoholic, give birth to her baby although Gretl dies in the process. Tony gets the infant to a hospital before collapsing himself. The baby survives, as does Tony over the next several days. 

His ordeals have finally forced Tony to seek help. He goes to Rhodey, who gets his old friend treatment for alcoholism. NOTE: The baby was named Timothy Anders by the nuns at the orphanage which got custody of the baby. Tony Stark was reunited with him later and set him up financially.

IRON MAN Vol 1 #183 (Jun 1984)

Title: All Kinds of Fear

Villains: Taurus and the Maggia (Marvel’s Mafia pastiche)

Synopsis: While Tony Stark begins the long road back, Iron Man’s latest superhero for hire gig finds him working once again for shady businessman Regis Fusskey, this time to protect some of his properties.

It turns out Cornelius Van Lunt aka Taurus, leader of the supervillain team Zodiac, is now out of prison. Fusskey’s properties are being leaned on by both Taurus AND the Maggia for protection. Zodiac wants to retake all the global criminal territories that they lost while incarcerated following their last clash with the Avengers years ago.

Iron Man is caught in the crossfire between Taurus and the Maggia. The Maggia is defeated, and Taurus escapes while Rhodey destroys a Taurus LMD. 

IRON MAN Vol 1 #184 (Jul 1984)

Title: On the Road …

Villains: Taurus, Aries and Aquarius

Synopsis: Rhodey, Morly, his sister Clytemnestra and the still-recovering alcoholic Tony Stark move to California, where Morly and Cly are launching their new tech business called Circuits Maximus. Elsewhere, Taurus is holding a global video conference with his Zodiac teammates, all of whom are at large once again.

NOTE: Oddly enough, the supervillain team has even welcomed back Libra (Gustav Brandt), who betrayed them against the Avengers last time to save his daughter Mantis. But hey, it’s just a comic book.

Because the previous Aries and the original Aquarius died in solo criminal acts since then, Taurus has recruited and outfitted replacements for the pair. He sends the new Aries and Aquarius to kill Iron Man since he knows about Zodiac’s plan to retake all their former territories. Our hero defeats Aries and Aquarius, but the latter escapes. 

IRON MAN Vol 1 #185 (Aug 1984)

Title: The Zodiac Field

Villain: Aquarius

Synopsis: Iron Man is helping the authorities clean up the aftermath of his battle with Aries and Aquarius last issue as well as caring for innocent bystanders who got caught up in the clash. A married couple come forward from among the bystanders and ask for help from Iron Man.

It turns out they are two of Aquarius’ criminal operatives and they lead Rhodey into a hastily improvised trap set by that villain. Using an energy weapon called the Zodiac Field, Aquarius renders Iron Man helpless.

Remote coaching from Tony lets Iron Man free himself. He then takes down Aquarius and his underlings while Tony informs S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers about Zodiac’s return. Now in California, Iron Man founds the West Coast Avengers along with Hawkeye, Wonder Man, Tigra and Mockingbird, Hawkeye’s wife. 

*** In the next several issues, Rhodey continued serving as Iron Man while Tony Stark clawed his way back to sobriety and joined Morly and Clytemnestra’s business Circuits Maximus. Eventually it got to the point where the series had two Iron Man heroes at once – both Rhodey and Tony fighting side by side.

For Iron Man #200 (Nov 1985), with all of his friends – and baby Timothy Anders – captives of Obadiah Stane, Tony Stark was forced to take back the role of Iron Man full time. He upgraded to his Mark VII armor (see cover) and faced Stane, who was in his Iron-Monger armor. The story ended with Stane dead and his criminality proven.

Years later (1993), Rhodey got armor of his own and became the superhero called War Machine. 

FOR THE FIRST TWENTY IRON MAN STORIES FROM THE 1960s CLICK HERE.

FOR CLASSIC 1970s IRON MAN STORIES CLICK HERE.

FOR IRON MAN TEAMED UP WITH JACK OF HEARTS CLICK HERE.