Wednesday is Comic Day!

I almost didn't pick this up, because War Machine/Rhodey's recent appearances in The Initiative weren't that interesting. I also wasn't sure I liked the direction they were taking him (ala Robocop). But, I, like many, fell for the 'it's a number 1 issue!' weakness and picked it up. The great cover by Leonardo Manco was also very alluring. I enjoyed it. I don't know if it is the type of book that I'll want to pick up in monthly floppy format. I think it might be more enjoyable in trade paperback. It doesn't look that tightly integrated into the 'soap opera' timeline of the Marvel Universe.

I liked it because they took the character in a direction they can't take Tony Stark/Iron Man. War Machine is a war-machine. He is heavily armed with real guns and rockets. He is a soldier and confronted with a legitimate enemy - he kills. From the introduction, it appears that this title is where Marvel plans to tell Iron Man type stories that they can't tell with Iron Man, because Iron Man is a super hero, and shouldn't kill. James Rhodes is a soldier, not a super hero.
When last we saw Rhodey, he was residing in a secret satellite and in a new War Machine costume made from untraceable, non-Stark technology, and assisted by Bethany Cabe. This first issue opens in a South American location identified as Santo Marco. We see local soldiers rounding up civilians while United Nations forces stand by impotent (just like the real world). These local soldiers have a repurposed Sentinel to help them identify tribal heritage so as to aid them in a genocide. War Machine appears and just destroys these soldiers. The violence is probably as brutal as the RATED T+ label will allow them. I think this book would work best as a MAX book, but Marvel would probably be resistant to tie the book into other titles that aren't MAX.
Maybe I missed a storyline, somewhere, but I've been wondering for the last year how James Rhodes got mutilated and became a cyborg. This issue either reveals that story or restates it. The final couple of pages indicate how this title fits into the Dark Reign story.
Greg Pak has proven himself a capable writer, in particular with the Planet Hulk story. Leonardo Manco's pencils are very nice and have the right moodiness for the story. This looks like a good start to the title.