War Machine #19
Here Be Dragons
After losing his War Machine armor, Jim Rhodes headed to Matlin Lake to go fishing.[1] Instead of a relaxing vacation he had stumbled upon federal agents investigating UFO sightings in the area. He and Hawkeye later came to the rescue of a mysterious woman named Skye who seems to know what is going on was attacked by a creature called the Lictor.
Fleeing from the monster, Jim encountered a strange ball of light which encased him in a suit of symbiotic alien armor giving him the firepower needed to defend himself against the creature. Using the suit is second nature to him as he skins attack drones that can attack the monster from all sides. Seeing that it is out of its depths, the Lictor cloaks itself and retreats into the forest. Trying to make sense of what is going on, the new War Machine tries to revive Skye to get some answers but is ambushed by the cloaked monster. The monster then begins changing shape, shooting tentacles out of its mouth an an attempt to snare War Machine. Burning through this body horror, Jim sends the Lictor crashing to the ground. Suddenly, it reforms its body so that it now has wings so it can fly after its target.
Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, Sheva Joseph has been thrown a surprise birthday party by her friends at WorldWatch. At the party she is given a present from Archie Park. It is a model version of Jim’s old War Machine armor that not only can fly, but also doubles as a pen. Among the party goers are Rebecca Bergier and her brother Luke.[2] Excusing herself to go to the bathroom, Sheva runs into Rae LaCost and the two catch up. Joseph is shocked that Jim hasn’t been keeping in touch with her and invites her to join the party so the pair can catch up.[3]
Back at Matlin Lake, War Machine fends off the Lictor once more, sending the burning monster crashing into the lake. Returning to the ground, Jim is shocked when the armor he is wearing is absorbed back into his skin, leaving strange markings on his flesh. Skye has recovered by this point and she says that those are the marks that will identify him as Eidolon warrior forever. Jim doesn’t understand and doesn’t like the idea of being bonded to a strange alien technology he knows nothing about. Skye says he cannot be helped as the Eidolon Warwear chose him to be its host and that the powers that be sent the Lictor to test his worthiness.[4] Hawkeye catches up with them moments later and asks what’s going on. Jim also demands answers from Skye as well. Unfortunately, before she can provide any the Lictor emerges from the lake. Jim instantly suits up in his Warwear and this time he destroys the monster for good, much to the amazement of Hawkeye.
In Los Angeles, Sheva’s brithday party is over and she is walking home. She had a great time, except for what Rae LaCoste told her in private later one, something that seems impossible.[5] Suddenly Sheva experiences a time shift that sends her briefly back into the past some 25 years as she is crossing the street. The sudden shock causes her to stop and puts her in harms way from on coming traffic. Luckily, bystanders see this and pull her to safety just as the time shift ends.[6] Disorientated from the experience, Sheva races home ignoring the fact that she dropped Archie’s gift on the road. It lays there discarded until it is smashed into pieces by a passing car.
The next day in Matlin Lake, Jim Rhodes is packing up to head home. Hawkeye tells him that he’s off to participate at an Avengers reunion going on in New York.[7] Jim wishes him luck and tells him to keep his new Eidolon Warwear a secret. Accompanying Jim on the trip back to Los Angeles is Skye who doesn’t know where to start explaining everything that has happened to Jim. Rhodey tells her that the best place to start is at the very beginning.
Recurring Characters
War Machine, Lictor, Hawkeye, Hulk, WorldWatch (Rebecca Bergier, Travis Berkeley, Sheva Joseph, Archie Park), Rae LaCoste, Skye, Luke Bergier
Continuity Notes
Jim lost his War Machine armor during a trip through time, as seen in War Machine #15-17. It will turn up again in the possession of one Parnel Jacobs in Iron Man (vol. 3) #11-12 and 18-20.
Luke brings up how Jim helped him in San Revilla. See Force Works #12, War Machine #15, and Iron Man #317.
When last we saw Rae, she was going on a trip to Philadelphia to visit Jim’s family, as seen in War Machine #12-13. Jim was sucked into War Machine business and hasn’t talked to her since.
How Skye knows so much about the Warwear and the identities and motivations of the beings that sent the Warwear are (as of this writing in November, 2022) unexplained. I posit a theory in my index of last issue. My guess is that this is another component of the grand manipulation being perpetuated by Immortus at the time of this story. See Avengers Forever #8 to see what I’m talking about.
As we’ll learn in War Machine #24 that Rae was told by Jim’s parents that he has a son that he doesn’t know about. Apparently, Jim’s parents wanted him to raise the boy with his mother. When this revelation is made, Jim thinks it is unlikely and that his parents could have made it up to break him and Rae up. As of this writing (November, 2022) this claim has yet to be verified. However, since Jim has since interacted with his parents in later stories and the issue of a bastard child hasn’t been brought up, I think we can safely assume it was all bullshit.
Sheva’s time shift is a side effect of using a poorly made Nazi time machine causing her to suffer from “time fatigue”, as we saw in War Machine #15-17. Tragically, Sheva will continue to suffer from its degenerative effects until it causes her death in issue #24.
The Avengers reunion takes place in Avengers: The Crossing #1. It’s a disaster as people are murdered, the Avengers are attacked, and Hawkeye is framed for murder!
Topical References
When Sheva time shifts in this story it is stated that the present day is 1995. When she shifts back 25 years into the past everything is depicted as it would have looked in 1970. Both of these should be considered topical references as they are relative to the date of publication. Per the Sliding Timescale a particular calendar year cannot be placed on the present day. Likewise would her time shift of 25 years, as it would have taken her into a period still governed by the Sliding Timescale.
