War Machine (Parnell Jacobs)

Parnell Jacobs was a member of the U.S. Army who fought in Sin-Congese civil war in Asia alongside Jim Rhodes. After Rhodes saved his life, the two became friends. Later, Rhodes even introduced Jacobs to Glenda, who he later married.

After leaving the army, Jacobs convinced Rhodes to join him in the mercenary business. Eventually, the jobs Jacobs found were less and less ethical, and Rhodes eventually quit rather than participate in running guns to the dictator of Santo Marco. Through the money he earned, however, Jacobs married Glenda and moved to London, England.

Jacobs later encountered the discarded armor of Rhodes' superhero alter-ego, War Machine. Jacobs studied the armor and used it for the basis of many arms designs, which he then turned around to sell to Sunset Bain of Baintronics, a.k.a. the supervillain Madame Menace. Jacobs donned the War Machine armor to test the arms for Bain, who used him to attack her competition. This led to a conflict with the heroes Iron Man and Warbird. Soon, Iron Man encountered War Machine when working for Baintronics in his alter-ego of Tony Stark. Jim Rhodes returned with Glenda to convince Jacobs to stand down, but Jacobs refused to give up his mercenary life and fled.