Created by: Kurt Busiek, Sean Chen
1st appearance: Iron Man Vol 3 #11 (December, 1998)
Nationality: American
Real Name: Parnell Jacobs
Aliases: Parns; War Machine
Team Affiliations: Team War Machine; War Machine Armored Support
Relatives: Glenda Sandoval (ex-wife)
Height: 6’2” Weight: 189 lbs.
Eyes: Brown Hair: Black
Skills and abilities: USAF Pilot/Combat Veteran; Weapons Master; Advanced Engineering Skills (second only to Tony Stark in his understanding of the War Machine Armor); Security and Hardware Expert; “One Man Pit Crew” with the knowledge to rebuild and modify the original War Machine suit design
Powers: none
Weapons: Parnell’s armor works just like the original War Machine Armor worn by Jim Rhodes which has the same abilities as Iron man but more armaments.
Biography:
Early Years
Parnell Jacobs and Jim Rhodes met during their military days and developed a strong brotherly bond. While serving near Hawaii, Jacobs carried an injured Rhodes to a local base hospital. While there, Rhodes introduced Jacobs to his childhood friend and Jacob’s future wife Glenda. Once Rhodes and Jacobs finished their respective tours of duty, Jacobs convinced Rhodes to join him as a mercenary/gun runner. After doing this for a while Rhodes drew weary of it and quit. Jacobs became wealthy doing his activities, but Glenda; now his wife; could no longer abide with her husbands “job”, so Jacobs told her he would quit as soon as he could sell the armor; would turn out to be a lie. Jacobs eventually would settle down with Glenda in London. Jacobs hit a bit of luck when he found a suit of War Machine armor which had been lost; presumably in the timestream. (War Machine Vol 1, #17-19) Jacobs sold the armor to one of his associates named Stuart Clarke, who in turn sold the armor to Sunset Bain, owner of Baintronics, who wanted to use the armor against her nemesis Tony Stark. Jacobs remained with Clarke for weeks training to use the armor; now modified by Clarke with extra armaments; and using his contacts to eliminate anyone who would connect him to Glenda or the armor. Jacobs was paid by Bain to pilot the armor, which he used to fight Iron Man and Warbird (Carol Danvers) after attacking one of Baintronics’ competitors. Although Jacobs completed his tasks and destroyed the competitors’ plant, the armor was damaged, causing Jacobs to flee. After receiving more upgrades, Jacobs attacked Iron Man again and had him on the ropes ready to take him out were it not for the arrival of Rhodes and Glenda. Jacobs remembering the bond he shared with Rhodes and his promises to his wife discards the damaged exterior of the armor and flies away with the original suit. (Iron Man Vol 3 #11-15; 18-20)
Keeping it for later use, Jacobs hid the armor in a warehouse in Brooklyn, but was arrested thereafter. After serving his time, he was paroled. Two weeks later, he contacted Clarke for protection from Bain, who had been tracking Jacobs since his release in hopes of finding the whereabouts of the missing armor. Clarke and Jacobs set up a meeting and upon confirmation from Jacobs that he still had pieces of the armor. Clarke shoots Jacobs and takes the armor for himself. Jacobs, expecting a doublrcross, survives the shooting and uses it to fake his death and relocate. (Punisher War Journal Vol 2, #17)
Dark Reign
Jacobs was hiding out in Santo Marcos, a nation where he had conducted his gun running operation for years. He had contacted his wife and let her know he was alive, and she gets extremely angry with him. A few weeks later, she signs on as a medic for a company, which sends her into a warzone. While in Santo Marcos he witnessed War Machine come in and wipe out the Santo Marco army, including a retrofitted Sentinel which was used to terrorize the citizens. Rhodes located Jacobs and grabbed him and parts from the Sentinel and took them to his satellite which was orbiting Earth. Rhodes tells Jacobs he needs him to upgrade his armor with the newly acquired parts and reconfigure the War Machine armor to reduce the stress it put on Rhodes. Due to injuries Rhodes had recently received, he was now a cyborg, although he had plans to have his consciousness transferred into a body which was being cloned for him. Jacobs resists at first, but when Rhodes tells him how the company his wife was working for is now holding her captive and his plan to rescue her, Jacobs agrees to sign on. Among the newly amped up armaments Jacobs supplies the armor with is the ability to incorporate other technology into it. Rhodes and Jacobs manage to rescue his wife, but not before she becomes infected by the “Ultimo virus” developed by the company. Rhodes was able to absorb the virus from all infected and Jacobs flew Rhodes satellite in and released an EMP which neutralized Rhodes. Jacobs went on to help Rhodes and his team track down where the virus was created and take it down. This put them on Norman Osborn’s hit list. War Machine gets captured after a battle with the Iron Patriot, and his team goes into hiding, but makes plans to free Rhodes. Jacobs went on to help Team War Machine retrieve Rhode’s cloned body which was stolen by Osborn, free Rhodes, and bring to justice the group known as the “Bainesville Ten” which was responsible for tortures, stolen elections, and both foreign and domestic assassinations. (War Machine Vol 2, #1-12)
US War Machine (MAX Comics)
Jacobs and Rhodes were friends from back in the day who along with two others had trained in the Iron Man armor. Jacobs wanted to make a name for himself, so he stole one of two War Machine prototypes for his own use. Jacobs was stopped by Rhodes and one of the other Iron Men, but was able to get away with the prototype. Jacobs was in need of money for his family since his wife was pregnant, and sold the damaged armor to HYDRA. Jacob’s wife Glenda had taken a job for a company which turned out to be an AIM front operating out of Latveria. .Jacobs attempts to steal the second prototype from Rhodes because his wife had been kidnapped by the group and would trade her for the armor. When Rhodes is recruited by SHIELD to command their new War Machine Special Ops Unit, Rhodes was given the choice by Nick Fury to put Jacobs on the team or let him go to jail. Rhodes agrees to place Jacobs on the team, saying, that Jacobs knowledge of the armor was second to none. Rhodes and Jacobs and the rest of the squad were sent in by SHIELD to retrieve info from the AIM headquarters. They found Jacob’s wife there, and spoiled the plan AIM was trying to put in motion. (US War Machine #1-12)
