When Did Tony Stark Let Rhodey Know He Was Iron Man?

CBR

By Brian Cronin

Published Feb 15, 2020

In their feature looking at how superheroes have revealed their secret identities, CSBG shows when Tony Stark told Rhodey he was Iron Man.

This is "Got Me a Secret," a feature where I spotlight notable instances of comic book characters revealing their secret identities to people.

Today, we look at when Tony Stark revealed his secret identity to his best friend, James "Rhodey" Rhodes.

James Rhodes first appeared in Iron Man #118 (by Bob Layton, David Michelinie and John Byrne)...

However, it was two issues later (by Layton, Michelinie and John Romita Jr.) that we saw how close Rhodes was to his boss, learning that they have been together since the Vietnam War and Rhodes quickly puts himself into danger when he learns Tony is in trouble...

Rhodes and Bethany Cabe get into some real trouble trying to help Tony...

And they find even more trouble later on...

The biggest proof of Tony and Rhodey's friendship came in Iron Man #125, when Iron Man had been framed for murder (and in a really clever way, as the armor was manipulated, so Iron Man literally DID murder someone in front of the world. He just wasn't in control of his armor at the time. How do you prove that Justin Hammer controlled your armor?) and Tony goes to clear his name and Rhodey volunteers to go along for the ride...

From that point forward, Rhodey's role in the comic was more of Tony's best friend than anything.

We saw their first meeting in Iron Man #144 (Joe Borozowski pencils, Layton and Michelinie their regular gigs), as first Rhodey meets the newly-minted Iron Man...

We see Rhodey bail them out of trouble with his flying skills...

And then Tony Stark offer Rhodey a job...

In Denny O'Neil's run, Iron Man #165 (by O'Neil, Luke McDonnell and Steve Mitchell) sees the bad guys realize that they need to cut Rhodes out of Tony's life...

Without Rhodey to lean on (and a whole pile of extra stress), Tony begins to binge drink, a fact that he can't hide from Rhodey when Rhodes finally escapes from the bad guys and their associates..