(Iron Man III#19 (fb) - BTS) - Clarke
upgraded the armor, making it larger and more "tank-like."
PARNELL JACOBS
Real Name: Parnell Jacobs
Identity/Class: Human technology user
Occupation: Mercenary;
formerly United States Air Force pilot
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Unnamed
mercenaries;
formerly Sunset
Bain, Stuart
Clarke, James Rhodes
Enemies: Iron Man (Stark), Warbird (Danvers)
Known Relatives: Glenda Jacobs (wife)
Aliases: "Big Bird", "Parns", War Machine
Base of Operations: Mobile;
formerly an unidentified prison;
formerly a warehouse at Kingsland and
North Henry, Brooklyn, New York;
formerly London, England;
formerly North Africa
First Appearance: Iron Man III#11 (December, 1998)
Powers/Abilities: A United States Air Force combat veteran, Parnell Jacobs used his training to pilot the rebuilt War Machine armor. Jacobs' armor had the same attributes as the original suit -- jet boots, repulsor rays, energy cannons, rocket launchers -- with some additional armaments. The armor later had a tank-like outer shell added to it, along with a greater stockpile of weaponry, including a wrist-mounted pulse-phaser rifle, but this additional gear was soon discarded.
History:
(Iron Man III#12 (fb) - BTS) - Parnell Jacobs joined the United States Air Force and underwent pilot training.
(Iron Man III#20 (fb)) - While stationed in Sin-Cong, Jacobs' chopper was shot down. Rescued by fellow officer James "Rhodey" Rhodes, they soon formed a strong bond.
(Iron Man III#14 (fb) - BTS) - Rhodes grew to think of Jacobs as a brother.
(Iron Man III#20 (fb)) - Jacobs and Rhodes spent time together on and off duty. While serving near Hawaii, Jacobs carried an injured Rhodes to a base hospital. While there, Rhodes introduced Jacobs to Glenda, and the two soon fell in love.
Jacobs talked Rhodes into becoming a mercenary, luring him with the prospect of greater wealth. In time, Rhodes grew to dislike the jobs Jacobs lined up and finally ended his partnership with Jacobs after they were hired as gun runners for the dictator of Santo Marco.
(Punisher War Journal II#17 (fb) - BTS) - Jacobs befriended Stuart Clarke, founder of Clarke Futuristics. Despite a good working relationship, Clarke regarded Jacobs as being "useless in a clutch" and not being much of an idea man.
(Iron Man III#14 (fb) - BTS) - Jacobs' work brought him to Casablanca, where he regularly patronized a local bar.
(Iron Man III#15 (fb) - BTS) - Jacobs spent time in North Africa before settling down with Glenda, who he'd married by this time, in London, England.
(Iron Man III#19 (fb)) - Finding the War Machine armor formerly worn by Rhodes, Jacobs promised Glenda he'd give up the mercenary and munitions trade as soon as he sold the armor. Speaking to Clarke, now also known as the criminal Rampage, Jacobs was assured he'd have a better chance of finding a seller in the USA.
(Iron Man III#19/Punisher War Journal II#17 (fb)) - Jacobs brought Clarke the armor, standing by while he inspected the helmet.
(Iron Man III#11 (fb) - BTS) - Clarke and Jacobs sold the armor to Sunset Bain.
(Iron Man III#19 (fb) - BTS) - Clarke rebuilt the armor, adding additional armaments during its reconstruction.
(Iron Man III#11 (fb) - BTS) - Jacobs continued to work with Clarke, training with the revised War Machine armor.
(Iron Man III#18 (fb) - BTS) - To ensure secrecy around his use of the War Machine armor, Jacobs used his contacts to eliminate anyone who would connect him to it or track down Glenda.
(Iron Man III#11) - After several weeks of training, Jacobs was called into action as War Machine and sent to attack the Astrodyne Systems plant in Redmond, Washington. Confronted by Iron Man, War Machine saw an opportunity to test the limits of his armor. Defeating Iron Man, War Machine was stopped from finishing him off by Warbird. Escaping her, War Machine held Iron Man over the edge of the roof of the Astrodyne plant, telling Warbird he would throw him over if she didn't let him finish his job.
(Iron Man III#12) - Iron Man recovered long enough to free himself from War Machine, giving Warbird an opening to attack. Firing at them, War Machine's blast hit Astrodyne. Attacking Iron Man and Warbird while they argued over her recent dismissal from the Avengers, War Machine successfully destroyed the Astrodyne plant. Offered a bonus to be extra destructive, War Machine engaged Iron Man and Warbird again, taking on the latter alone after Iron Man's departure. Returning with a Negator Pack designed to shut down any construct containing Stark technology, Iron Man attached it to War Machine who tore the device off, crushing it. Striking a surprised Iron Man, War Machine fled, having completed his assignment.
(Iron Man III#19 (fb) - BTS) - Clarke
upgraded the armor, making it larger and more "tank-like."
(Iron Man III#18) - Jacobs watched a news report on Iron Man and Warbird's fight with Golden-Blade and Sapper. Wanting to test out his new and improved War Machine armor and eliminate the heroes, Sunset Bain persuaded him into waiting. Bain later saw Jacobs off from the Baintronics corporate headquarters.
(Iron Man III#19) - Flying through restricted airspace in the new War Machine armor, Jacobs shot down several fighter jets, leaving the pilots alive as a warning. Later, ambushing Iron Man en route to Baintronics, War Machine showed off the full extent of Clarke's upgrades to the armor. Watching the fight, Bain decided to eliminate Iron Man using the Jocasta artificial intelligence, utilizing it to launch weapon systems before remarking that it was "too bad" that War Machine would be caught in the attack.
(Iron Man III#20) - Avoiding most of the smart weapon attack, War Machine readied his systems to take Iron Man out. Halted by the timely arrival of Rhodes and Glenda, Jacobs' recollections of his past and Glenda's reminder that he promised to sell the armor distracted him long enough for Iron Man to recover and hack into Bain's Jocasta system. Iron Man used the connection to reroute Bain's hunter missiles at War Machine, damaging the armor but failing to completely stop him. Reminded by Rhodes of the rescue in Sin-Cong years earlier, Jacobs stopped his rampage against Iron Man, discarding the damaged exterior of the War Machine suit. Jacobs flew away in the original suit held within.
(Punisher War Journal II#17 (fb) - BTS) - Jacobs hid most of the War Machine armor in a Brooklyn warehouse to use at a later date. Soon after, he was arrested and imprisoned. Jacobs was later paroled.
As demand for the technology used in Stark's Iron Man suits grew on the black market, Bain, believing Jacobs might have hidden parts of the suit prior to his arrest, began tracking him down.
(Punisher War Journal II#17) - Two weeks after his parole, Jacobs contacted Clarke for protection from Bain, arranging a meeting at St. Marks Church in New York. Revealing to Clarke that he did have pieces of the War Machine suit hidden and that he planned on selling it rather than wear it again, Clarke shot Jacobs three times, leaving his body in the warehouse.
Comments: Created by Kurt Busiek (writer), Sean Chen (penciler) and Larry Stucker & Eric Cannon (inkers).
It's unclear when Jacobs and Stuart Clarke first met, so the placement of their first encounter in the profile is subject to change.
Parnell and Glenda's marital status prior to his stint as War Machine is unrevealed (but it seems very unlikely they stayed together for much longer, supported, perhaps, by her absence following his release from prison).
I assume Glenda was a nurse at the hospital where she met Jacobs (based mainly on her plain clothes appearance alongside Jacobs and Rhodes, both uniformed), but it's so far unrevealed what she was doing there.
The War Machine armor Jacobs found is the suit James Rhodes lost in the time-stream in War Machine I#17-19.
Some time prior to his Punisher War Journal appearance, Jacobs went bald. I think it's safe to assume the stress of prison life got to him.
Profile by G Morrow.
CLARIFICATIONS: Parnell Jacobs has no known connections to
Parnell Jacobs as War Machine should not be mistaken for:
(Iron Man III#20 (fb) - BTS) - Glenda was introduced to her future husband, USAF pilot Parnell Jacobs, by fellow officer James "Rhodey" Rhodes at a base hospital in Hawaii.
(Iron Man III#15 (fb) - BTS) - Glenda and Parnell married and moved to London, their lifestyle supported by Parnell's mercenary work.
(Iron Man III#18 (fb) - BTS) - Glenda hoped that Parnell would give up his mercenary and munitions work after he discovered an old suit of War Machine armor. Traveling to the USA to sell the armor, Parnell promised Glenda he would quit once he sold the armor.
(Iron Man III#15) - Glenda was stunned by the arrival of their old friend James Rhodes at her London home, bloodied from a recent attack.
(Iron Man III#18) - Glenda traveled with Rhodes to the USA, stunned that Parnell went back on his word and was now wearing the War Machine armor.
(Iron Man III#19) - Glenda and Rhodes were met at the airport by Pepper Potts. Glenda expressed her disbelief that Parnell was actually wearing the War Machine armor, telling them that he was a good man at heart and of his promise to sell the armor and quit. Glenda continued to remind the others of this on their arrival to Tony Stark's Washington state base of operations.
(Iron Man III#20) - Glenda and Rhodes arrived at a fight between War Machine and Iron Man, hoping to talk him into standing down. Finally believing the truth about Parnell, Glenda broke down in tears. She later apologized to Iron Man for the trouble Parnell caused, and was tended to by Rhodes.
--Iron Man III#15 (Iron Man III#18-20
images:
(without ads)
Punisher War Journal II#17, p9, pan1 (main image)
Iron Man III#20, p7, pan4 (in the USAF)
Iron Man III#19, p1, pan1 (as War Machine)
Iron Man III#20, p6, pan1 (Glenda Jacobs)
Appearances:
Iron Man III#11 (December, 1998) - Kurt Busiek (writer), Sean Chen
(penciler), Larry Stucker & Eric Cannon (inkers), Bobbie Chase
(editor)
Iron Man III#12 (January, 1999) - Kurt Busiek (writer), Patrick Zircher
(penciler), Larry Stucker (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Iron Man III#14 (March, 1999) - Kurt Busiek
(co-plotter), Roger Stern (co-plotter and scripter), Sean Chen
(penciler), Larry Stucker & Eric Cannon (inkers), Bobbie Chase
(editor)
Iron Man III#15 (April, 1999) - Kurt Busiek
(co-plotter), Roger Stern (co-plotter and scripter), Sean Chen,
Salvador Larocca, and Terry Shoemaker (pencilers), Cannon, Morales,
Stucker, Candelario, & Koblish (inkers), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Iron Man III#18 (July, 1999) - Kurt Busiek
(co-plotter), Roger Stern (co-plotter and scripter), Sean Chen
(penciler), Larry Stucker and Eric Cannon (inkers), Bobbie Chase
(editor)
Iron Man III#19 (August, 1999) - Kurt
Busiek (co-plotter), Roger Stern (co-plotter and scripter), Sean Chen
(penciler), Stucker & Cannon (inkers), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Iron Man III#20 (September, 1999) - Kurt
Busiek (writer), Roger Stern (co-plotter, scripter), Patrick Zircher
and Sean Chen (pencilers), Delperdang, Hunter, Mahlstedt, and Stucker
(inkers), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Punisher War Journal II#17 (May, 2008) -
Matt Fraction (writer), Howard Chaykin (artist), Aubrey Sitterson
(editor)
Last updated: 05/19/08
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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