Can He Get His Guns Back Now?
Nick Spencer brings his Palmer Addley saga and Iron Man 2.0 to an end, wrapping up a series that has objectively been rather good yet has never really been a good fit for its lead character.
Spencer's big story ends with, reasonably enough, a War Machine versus Iron Man story that does fit naturally into the story of Palmer Addley's technology taking control of the population. This makes for a solid, action-packed confrontation, but it isn't one that is likely to be remembered as one of the more entertaining battles between the two armored heroes. What it does succeed in doing is giving the story's antagonist a voice and physical being for Rhodey to hit.
Meanwhile, Suzi Endo and Reed Richards work on a scientific solution to Addley's infection. Endo's role in Rhodey's supporting cast is one I have really taken a liking to. It began in Greg Pak's War Machine series, but I enjoy how Spencer has further developed it. The solutation she and Richards come up with is a little deus ex machina, but that is honestly to be expected when it comes to stories like this. And as far as stories like this go, Spencer sells this solution much better than the average miracle cure.
This issue is an unfortunate mess of artists with four going at this issue. The combination of their styles really does not work well. Some of the art looks clearly rushed while some other pages do manage to look decent. And while Ariel Olivetti does deliver some pages, his style really never fit the tone of this series and especially not that of this particular issue.
It's a shame that another series starring Rhodey is ending with its twelfth issue, but the truth is that I understand it happening this time around. While the character clearly doesn't have enough of a fanbase to support a series on his own, he does have a fanbase, and Iron Man 2.0 probably never really appealed to most of that group. Much of the theme of this series has been a rejection of War Machine. The series began with the War Machine armor being ridiculed for its excessiveness and discarded. But War Machine fans like the guns. Those of us who want a more sophisticated and technologically advanced armor have Invincible Iron Man to read. Why would I want Rhodey to get a slimmer armor loaded up with stealth capabilities? This is supposed to be James Rhodes. This is supposed to be guns blazing, rockets firing and bombs busting. This isn't a character meant for intrigue and chessboard manipulations. James Rhodey is an action hero, and Iron Man 2.0 has continually resisted that.
One thing Iron Man 2.0 makes very clear is that it is a serious shame DC lost Nick Spencer, because here he is at Marvel, showing that he could have written a hell of a Mr. Terrific series for them.