WW PHILLY: CHRISTOS GAGE TALKS WAR MACHINE

[MattBrady]

Cast your mind back to Secret Invasion #1. What was one of the first things the Skrulls did? They took down Iron Man by introducing a virus that disabled all StarkTech, designed by Tony Stark.

As readers saw in that issue and the next, Stark wasn’t about to roll over, so he started working on a whole new suit of armor, immediately. But Stark’s a smart guy. You’d think that he would have had a plan in place in case his entire technology base went down.

He did.

That story will be told in Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #33-#35 by Christos Gage and Sean Chen. Seems that when Iron Man’s armor suffers a catastrophic failure, Jim “Rhodey” Rhodes, aka War Machine, gets a message.

We spoke with Gage for more about the arc that’s being called “War Machine: Director of SHIELD.”

Newsarama: You've coming on after Stuart Moore’s run on Iron Man: Director of SHIELD with your first issue in September, but this arc is tied to events seen in Secret Invasion #1, correct? How so?

Christos Gage: Right - I begin with #33 and stay through #35, comprising the Secret Invasion crossover issues of the book. As I understand it, Stuart's story takes place before Secret Invasion. Ours begins at the point in Secret Invasion #1 where Tony Stark's Iron Man armor (along with all the other StarkTech in the world) is disabled by a Skrull virus. The thing about Secret Invasion is that it all takes place in a pretty short time period. By our second issue, we're all caught up to the core book in terms of the larger progress of the war.

NRAMA: So, it’s the failure of Tony's armor that activates War Machine...was that the hand you were dealt to write by Marvel, or did they ask you to come up with a story set within a time frame that moved the character from point A to point B?

CG: Given that Iron Man is pretty prominently featured in Secret Invasion proper, there wasn't much opportunity to tell a story heavily involving him that wouldn't be a re-hash of what's already in there. So Marvel had decided they wanted the arc to focus on War Machine, given the character's popularity with fans, his relationship to Tony Stark, and James Rhodes' presence in the Iron Man film-all of which sounded pretty cool to me, especially as I'd already been working with War Machine in the pages of Avengers: The Initiative. If I recall correctly, Bill Rosemann came to me with the premise that Iron Man going down activates a failsafe in Rhodey's armor. Beyond that, it was a back-and-forth process as to deciding what should happen next. Where he fights the Skrulls, how, who else is involved…that was all figured out in our brainstorming sessions.

NRAMA: So what kind of message does Rhodey get when Tony's armor fails? “Tony’s down, trouble!” or “Hey Rhodey, this is Tony…my armor seems to be down for a little while – can you run by my place and water my plants and make sure the cats are fed?”

CG: It's essentially a prerecorded message from Tony in which he tells Rhodey that he's probably dead, and asks War Machine to carry on the fight against whoever's responsible. Tony has always been the kind of man who plans for every eventuality, and with his StarkTech being incorporated into law enforcement, the intelligence community and any number of other places, he knew there was a chance it might be compromised. Rhodey is his ace in the hole, his doomsday weapon. It turns out Tony designed the latest War Machine armor to be immune to any attack against StarkTech…which means the War Machine is still rolling!

NRAMA: Where is Rhodey as a character these days? As you said, you (and Dan Slott) have been handling him in The Initiative recently where he's kinda...part man, part machine now, right?

CG: Yep, as we saw in Avengers: The Initiative #11, Rhodey has become something of a cyborg, under as yet unrevealed circumstances. Obviously this is a huge change in his life, but thus far he seems to be dealing with it by throwing himself into his work as Commander of the Initiative training facility, Camp Hammond. As a practical matter, the bad news is that Rhodey needs his suit to survive. The good news (for humanity, anyway) is that he has more weapons at his command than ever before. The War Machine no longer ends with the suit of armor.

NRAMA: What are you pulling from for this spotlight on Rhodey? Who is he in your view?

CG: To me he's a man who has always stood up for what he believes in and never shied away from the tough battles. From his childhood, surviving the streets of Philadelphia, to his service as a Marine, to his tenure as Iron Man and then War Machine, he's the guy you want at your back when everything goes to hell. What he hasn't been is the general; the guy who gives the orders that cause others to live or die. He's always been the one on the front lines. Sure, he's led others into combat, but he's been right there with them. Now Rhodey is going to have to make the kinds of decisions Tony usually makes, where there is no positive outcome, just one in which fewer people die. He's not happy about it…and whoever has the misfortune to take him on is going to find that out.

NRAMA: So even though the Skrulls anticipated Iron Man's armor...are they going to shut down War Machine just as easily?

CG: Nope. Part of the reason they were able to do that to Tony is that they had infiltrated people close to him, like Dum Dum Dugan, so they were able to gather intel on him that way. But Rhodey has been playing it pretty close to the vest, revealing that he's now a cyborg only to a handful of people he trusts. Even Rhodey doesn't know exactly what Tony did to his newest suit of armor…and Tony hasn't told anyone. The Skrulls won't be able to use any cheat codes on War Machine…if they want to take him down, they'll have to do it old school.

NRAMA: So if you can, let’s hear a little more detail on Rhodey's mission here - Find Tony? Avenge Tony? Don't stop until the streets run green with Skrull blood?

CG: I'm going with number three. [laughs] In all seriousness, he does have a specific mission, but I don't want to give it away. I will say that you'll be seeing War Machine kicking some major green behind in an exotic locale, and other Marvel characters will show up as well. This isn't Rhodey trying to find Tony; the message he got assumes Tony is dead. This is about War Machine carrying on the fight-finding out who did this to Tony and making them pay.

NRAMA: And something else that can’t be neglected here - you're working with Sean Chen, who’s basically responsible for laying the foundation of how Iron Man is seen, since the restart with Heroes Return in the late ‘90s. You’re a huge fan…is it as cool as you’d imagined?

CG: It's awesome. Sean is one of my favorite Iron Man artists. I remember when he and Kurt Busiek took over the book and brought Iron Man back to his former glory. Sean's great with action, fantastic at rendering technology and he knows these characters like the back of his hand. It's so much fun coming up with scenes knowing how cool Sean is going to make them look! It's also pretty sweet having Adi Granov on the covers…see for yourself!

NRAMA: Finally – what’s the coolest thing you have Rhodey do in the arc...so far?

CG: Oh, man, I wish I could tell you. It's at the end of the first issue, and it just made the fanboy in me cackle with glee. Let's just say War Machine will be operating on a whole new scale…

[Tom Daylight]

So... what happens to the Knaufs' Madame Masque storyline, which was solicited then replaced at the last minute?

[HartyPotter]

Sounds really cool. War Machine is awesome when he really lets loose.

[BaronCreamO]

It turns out Tony designed the latest War Machine armor to be immune to any attack against StarkTech…

soooooo why wouldn't he just do the same thing to his own armor. I guess they explain that a bit later on in this article, but still, lol

[SageShini]

What? Dammit Marvel. You hooked me into getting Iron Man's WWH tie-in last year because of Gage, but I was SO going to avoid Secret Invasion if at all possible. But Gage writing War Machine (one of my favorite characters) who's been redesigned by (I'm guessing) Adi Granov and interior art by Sean Chen?! Can't...avoid...the awesome....

[shieldboy]

[quote=Tom Daylight]So... what happens to the Knaufs' Madame storyline, which was solicited then replaced at the last minute?
yeah...I am waiting for some answers...

[TOAA]

Why do i feel that Tony is going to receive some heat for turnning Rhodey into his doomsday weapon?

[CaptainCanad]

Originally Posted by Tom Daylight

So... what happens to the Knaufs' Madame Masque storyline, which was solicited then replaced at the last minute?

They needed some time off, was the reason for the initial switch; between their TV work and The Eternals they're busy people; I'm guessing Marvel took the opportunity to give them some extra room.

[Hanzo]

Originally Posted by BaronCreamO

soooooo why wouldn't he just do the same thing to his own armor. I guess they explain that a bit later on in this article, but still, lol

Maybe the War Machine is run so separately from the other StarkTech that if tony made the Iron Man Armour similarly secure it couldn't interface with the other bits of StarkTech round the world that he needs it to.

Thats the trade up, completely secure Armour but not anywhere near as integrated world wide as the main suit, great as a back up not so great as the main suit.

[razorwing77]

heh. I could have sworn Rhodey was a Skrull.

[christosgage]

Originally Posted by Hanzo

Maybe the War Machine is run so separately from the other StarkTech that if tony made the Iron Man Armour similarly secure it couldn't interface with the other bits of StarkTech round the world that he needs it to.

Thats the trade up, completely secure Armour but not anywhere near as integrated world wide as the main suit, great as a back up not so great as the main suit.

That's it in a nutshell. As Director of SHIELD and an Avenger, it's a good thing for Tony that his armor is so compatible with the tech used by SHIELD, SWORD, etc...unless someone manages to compromise it (and let's be clear, he designed it so that shouldn't be possible, the Skrulls are just really clever). Rhodey's suit doesn't need that same level of compatibility.

Hope you guys enjoy it!

Best,

CNG

[Beheader]

Originally Posted by BaronCreamO

soooooo why wouldn't he just do the same thing to his own armor. I guess they explain that a bit later on in this article, but still, lol

Well, I figure Stark has to be connected so he has instant access to his company, SHIELD, and various other contraptions. War Machine has his own server and doesn't need access to any Starktech stuff, besides actual human interaction to Tony himself.

[hamgravy]

CG: Oh, man, I wish I could tell you. It's at the end of the first issue, and it just made the fanboy in me cackle with glee. Let's just say War Machine will be operating on a whole new scale…

Maybe something on the scale of an Evangelion robot or Voltron...?

Bad Bad James Rhodey

"All those downtown ladies call him "Treetop Lover"
All the mens just call him "Sir""

[Corpulent1]

I'm still not too happy about Rhodey being a cyborg, but I trust Slott and Gage enough to give them the benefit of the doubt. They haven't steered me wrong on A:TI yet. Plus, Rhodey's been pretty underplayed in A:TI and in the Marvel universe in general since The Crew. I'm looking forward to seeing him step back into the spotlight a bit. He's a great character who I think sometimes gets the shaft simply because he's so associated with the '90s and its mandatory "EXTREEEEEEME!!!!!" take on a lot of superheroes.

[MattBrady]

Originally Posted by christosgage

That's it in a nutshell. As Director of SHIELD and an Avenger, it's a good thing for Tony that his armor is so compatible with the tech used by SHIELD, SWORD, etc...unless someone manages to compromise it (and let's be clear, he designed it so that shouldn't be possible, the Skrulls are just really clever). Rhodey's suit doesn't need that same level of compatibility.

Hope you guys enjoy it!

Best,

CNG

So Iron Man is Windows-based, and Rhodey is a Mac? With guns?



MattB

[Deadshot77]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

I don't know about the Rhodey as a Cyborg part of the story, but it sure will be nice to see War Machine back in action kicking azz!

[Corpulent1]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

So Iron Man is Windows-based, and Rhodey is a Mac? With guns?



MattB

Please, Tony Stark scoffs at Microsoft. Iron Man's a Mac and War Machine's Linux-based.

[Tony Snark]

Originally Posted by BaronCreamO

soooooo why wouldn't he just do the same thing to his own armor. I guess they explain that a bit later on in this article, but still, lol

because then there couldn't be hacky plot developments of iron man getting his armor disabled or taken over every 2 issues

[christosgage]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

So Iron Man is Windows-based, and Rhodey is a Mac? With guns?



MattB

Please! Rhodey would kick Justin Long's @$$!



CNG

P.S. Actually I am a Mac user for nearly 20 years, and would welcome any free stuff Apple wants to send me to pimp their company.

[Mideon]

Stark's been pissed at M$ ever since his Xbox360 got the Red Ring of Death. Apparently even he couldn't fix it.

[Corpulent1]

They should have Stark Industries release a video game system and have artists place it in any bachelor pads or kids' rooms they happen to be drawing for the next few months. That'd be cool.

[Doc_doom79]

Originally Posted by christosgage

That's it in a nutshell. As Director of SHIELD and an Avenger, it's a good thing for Tony that his armor is so compatible with the tech used by SHIELD, SWORD, etc...unless someone manages to compromise it (and let's be clear, he designed it so that shouldn't be possible, the Skrulls are just really clever). Rhodey's suit doesn't need that same level of compatibility.

Hope you guys enjoy it!

Best,

CNG

HELLS YEAH

Christos Gage on Iron Man...after that annual THIS MAN NEEDS TO BE GIVEN THE REINS! He is a great plotter, excellent dialogue, AND HE ACTUALLY DID HIS HOMEWORK ON THE CHARACTER.

Not to mention he is a fan of my fav Iron Man run (Busiek/Chen).

Chen just is a great draftsman through and through. I dont know, but the colorings on his run were much better the first 14 issues (Did 15-25 get a new colorist?)

I am about to spontaneously combust from such good news.

I just wish he'd been approached first to do the second ongoing...

[FilterKing]

WOOHOO! Will be first on line to get this. Go get 'em Gage!

[Doc_doom79]

Originally Posted by FilterKing

WOOHOO! Will be first on line to get this. Go get 'em Gage!

Hey...I'm gonna be first in line pal.

(Cracking knuckles)

[ausuran]

I can't wait. I love War Machine. This is gonna kick so much @$$ it's not funny. Plus, I love how he's written in the Initiative, so I trust Gage completely.