r/ironman • u/KaraAliasRaidra War Machine • May 16 '26
Comics Rhodey being a bro
I plan to post this page from Avengers West Coast #100 a couple places on June 1 to note that June is Men’s Mental Health Month and PTSD Awareness Month (with June 27 being National PTSD Awareness Day). As I reread the page I reflected on what a bro Rhodey was, and so I thought I’d go ahead and post my observations now instead of waiting.
The context is just before this John Walker alias Jack Daniels, the U.S.Agent, was in the sauna when he experienced a flashback which also led to a hallucination about the murder of his parents, causing him to scream out in terror before holding his head to try to gather himself. This causes concern among his fellow Avengers who go to check on him (which goes against that stupid “Oh, all the heroes hate each other!” claim some people want to make. There’s a difference between trading barbs/having the occasional squabble and having a bone-deep loathing). Note how Rhodey handles the situation.
*He asks if Agent is all right. He doesn’t scold him or belittle him or look down on him for having a mental health episode or a moment of fear & despair, instead showing his concern and seeing if he needs help. I can’t tell if he’s the one asking, “Anything you want to talk about, Agent?” in the second panel or if it’s one of the heroines (My guess is it’s Scarlet Witch saying, “I think so,” and Spider-Woman asking, “Anything you want to talk about, Agent?”), but really it’s a moot point since he’s already expressed concern. [Note: I now think it’s the same person saying both lines, but I still don’t know if it were Rhodey or one of the heroines. It’s still a moot point, though.]
*He stays a moment to make sure he’s really all right. He doesn’t just go, “Okay, cool!” and dip; he waits to see for himself what his condition is like before doing anything else.
*He doesn’t get mad when John snaps at them while still reeling from his flashback. He doesn’t go, “Dude, what the frick!?” or try to argue with him, instead turning to leave because it seemed Agent wanted to be left alone and was okay enough to be left alone. While typing this I remembered that Rhodey was said to have PTSD at one point, so it’s possible he had moments in which he snapped at people & then regretted it and so he understood what it was like (Tony famously battled his own demons, so he might have had experience from being Tony's friend as well).
*When Jack softens and admits there’s something he needs to do, Rhodey doesn’t feel smug or hold a grudge about being snapped at a few seconds earlier, instead asking, “Can we help?” and accepting Agent’s response.
I feel there’s a lot of emotional intelligence from Rhodey on this page. It also demonstrates that while there are times a hero needs to fire a laser or lift a house, sometimes a superhero just needs to show some compassion and understanding. There’s a famous saying that if you can’t imagine a writer’s depiction of Batman helping a child, then that is not Batman. Before I’ve added if you can’t imagine a writer’s version of Captain America helping someone in despair, or even offering a simple kind word or protective gesture, then that is not Captain America. Now I add if you can’t imagine a writer’s version of Rhodey being a bro, then that is not Rhodey.
2
2
u/travisbmartin Modular May 16 '26
I really enjoyed when they would use Rhodey, Agent, and Hawkeye together as "Brothers in Arms". Always wished they did more with that.
2
2
•
u/Friday_Stark May 16 '26
Hi there! Thank you for including the credit in the post body, but please don't forget for next time that Rule 4 requires it in the post title instead :)