War Machine is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by David Michelinie, John Byrne, and Bob Layton as a supporting character for Iron Man, he first appeared in Iron Man #118 (1979) and became a superhero with the Iron Man armor in issue #169 (1983). War Machine has since been established as an independent superhero and appeared in multiple standalone series in addition to his appearances in Iron Man comics.
War Machine on the textless cover of Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. #33 (November 2008). Art by Adi Granov.
John Lindley Byrne is a British-born American writer and artist of superhero comics. Since the mid-1970s, Byrne has worked on many major superheroes; with noted work on Marvel Comics's X-Men and Fantastic Four. Byrne also facilitated the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics's Superman franchise with the limited series The Man of Steel, the first issue of which featured the comics' first variant cover.
Byrne at the New York Comic Con, 2017
Fantastic Four #232 (July 1981), Byrne's debut as writer-artist. Cover art by Byrne and inker Terry Austin.
Spider-Man: Chapter One #1 (Dec. 1998). Cover art by Byrne, a homage to the cover for Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962), which was the first appearance of Spider-Man.