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As I explained in Part 2, Let's Get It On, War Machine figuratively crashed and burned circa 1996 with the end of War Machine v1. In the later issues of the title, he was pushed out of the black and silvers and placed inside an alien suit of armor known as the Eidolon Warwear. Soon thereafter, his solo series was cancelled and the character threatened to slip into serious superhero obscurity.

All throughout this era, it's important to note that killing was never taken lightly by War Machine. A few baddies were killed here and there, but that led to many a crisis of conscience for our hero. I bring this up because the War Machine of the 90s is largely remembered as the "Iron Man that kills." He may have been more aggressive, but killing never came any easier to Jim Rhodes back then.

Anyway, by this point, the War Machine armor we all know and love was missing in action after Rhodey's time traveling journey back home from WWII in War Machine v1. And the Eidolon Warwear armor didn't last long either, as Rhodey was soon separated from that alien suit and left without a costume.

Oddly enough, it was at this time of Rhodey's greatest dip in comic book popularity that he received his most high-profile mainstream attention to date. At the end of the 90s, War Machine was featured as the newest playable character on the Marvel Comics side of the arcade smash hit, Marvel vs. Capcom. Granted, you never see War Machine unmask in this fighting game, but it's obviously intended to be Rhodey inside the suit -- you can tell by his playful quips and hard line attitude.

But back in the comics, James Rhodes was making only the most peripheral of supporting appearances from the late 90s into very early 00s. The only notable action came from Kurt Busiek and Sean Chen's run on Iron Man. Rhodey and the War Machine armor saw a bit of a resurgence, but this time the armor was piloted by the character of Parnell Jacobs, Rhodey's heretofore unknown "other best friend."

Busiek's War Machine story was short but notable, as threads from the tale would inform the armored character for the rest of the decade. This was evident when writer / artist Chuck Austen put his indelible mark on on the character in the U.S. War Machine MAX series.

Though Austen is always a hot-button topic for online comic book fans, most will agree that USWM was his finest work for Marvel and it left Rhodey in a better place than it found him.

Unfortunately for the 616 Marvel Universe, U.S. War Machine isn't in continuity. It occurs in an alternate reality where Rhodey was the first armored pilot and Stark was instead the second (along with some other stuff about building the armor with Victor von Doom). This book was released as a weekly series in black and white, Marvel's rare stab at a more manga-style of publishing, I guess.

Meanwhile, in the main Marvel 616 continuity, after quick set of very small supporting appearances in Frank Tieri's Iron Man, Rhodey became the headlining character in the ensemble adventure, The Crew. This comic was a "Money Train"-esque mystery by Christopher "don't call me Chris" Priest and Joe Bennett. It saw Rhodey pawn off the last of his War Machine armor and go at it plainclothes style while getting revenge for the death of his junky sister.

Dying after a short seven issues, Rhodey spun from the The Crew directly into Sentinel Squad O*N*E, which was both its own book and a short lived superteam of sorts in the X-Men Universe. Rhodey was the head of a military outfit that helped police the dwindling mutant population following M-Day (the culminating event of the House of M crossover).

In O*N*E, Rhodey piloted both full-sized Sentinel armor as well as his own Sentinel-esque personal armor (sort of like a fuchsia and blue Iron Man suit, if you will -- it actually looks pretty awesome). Rhodey could be found fighting with the Sentinels all the way up through Civil War, where he briefly appeared in Reggie Hudlin's Black Panther as one of the few characters to stand neutral in the epic hero vs. hero crossover battle.

Then, after years spent out of the own armor and mixing it up on the sidelines, War Machine was appointed the overseer of The Initiative program, starring as one of the more experienced members of Dan Slott and Stefano Caselli's superhero military outfit in Avengers: The Initiative.

But something wasn't quite right with Rhodey, as quick peaks here and there revealed that he was now more machine than man. This deformed and robotic Rhodey was a mystery for readers, as there was no foreshadowing and barely any flashbacks to fill people in on the deal.

Avengers: The Initiative would, alas, hold no substantive answers as Secret Invasion soon took hold of the Marvel Universe and sent Rhodey charging into the story arc known as War Machine, Weapon of SHIELD.

NEXT: It's War Machine on the battlefield in Superhero History: War Machine - Part 4, Back in Black!!!