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War Machine: Weapon of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Thanks to a massive early summer blockbuster movie, Iron Man sits at the forefront of everyone’s mind these days.  The hook?  The Iron Man of the comics is not even comparable to the Iron Man of the movies.  The Iron Man comic became a circus revolved around his political career at Shield and much of the aftermath of the Civil War.  Quite honestly, boring only subtly interjects my feelings on the comic.  The current story arc, however, focuses on one of the more interesting aspects of Tony Stark’s life: James Rhodes, aka the War Machine. 

James Rhodes has worn the War Machine mantle for years, though now it is as much life support as combat armor.  One of the commanders in the Sentinel ONE program and now one of the overseers of the Initiative training base, Rhodes continually proves himself the quintessential loyal soldier.  No surprise than that when he finds out because his current armor derives from Sentinel technology and not Starktech that the Skrull Invasion virus leaves him functioning, he dives headlong into the battle.  Somehow, he ends up in Russia, fighting alongside the Winter Guard against a battalion of Skrulls trying to take over a nuclear launch facility.  All of this leads into a new War Machine comic starting next month.

I generally find myself enjoying Christos N. Gage’s stories and War Machine keeps up that standard.  A very straightforward no-nonsense ‘super-hero’ story, it rings very differently from the current tone of the Iron Man books and I look forward to seeing if the series will hold this same style since Greg Pak takes over the writing.  Sean Chen’s art really gives the book life. His recognizable style mixed with Sandu Florea’s inks and Jay David Ramos’ colors make the art in the book stand out without being completely over the top.

This issue of Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (aptly renamed War Machine: Weapon of S.H.I.E.L.D.) takes a left turn from the series normal and Iron Man is nowhere to be found in this issue due to the events of Secret Invasion.  Honestly, it’s a nice break from the heavy material normally in the issue and a good lead in for what we should expect out of the War Machine comic.

Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. #35
“War Machine: Weapon of S.H.I.E.L.D. conclusion”
Writer: Christo N. Gage
Penciler: Sean Chen
Inker: Sandu Florea
Colorist: Jay David Ramos
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover: Adi Granov

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