Avengers Forever #4
Running Out of Time
Seven time lost Avengers have been gathered to protect Rick Jones from Immortus who wishes their old ally dead for unknown reasons. Surviving an attack on Chronopolis by Immortus, the band of heroes have escaped into the time stream in one of Kang’s time machines. Now they are in the time stream the only place where Immortus can’t get at them.[1]
Upon their arrival, the Avengers regroup and get to know the functions of the time ship, which is built to resemble the Sphinx of Egypt. Captain America has taken the previous battle pretty hard as countless individuals were killed, so Rick Jones tries to cheer him up.[2] Libra, their guide through all of this, reiterates that staying in the time stream is the best way to ensure Rick’s survival. When Hawkeye demands answers from the mystery man, he gets fed up with his non-answers and tries to start a fight. The other Avengers try to get him to chill out, but Libra takes this hostility as a sign that he must depart and slips away in the realm in-between. The Wasp then scolds Clint for driving off the one person who could possibly guide them through the trouble ahead.
Meanwhile, Yellowjacket and Goliath decide to figure out the ship’s computers and scan for any clue that might help them out of this situation. The other Avengers watch as the two men — the same man from two different points in his history — work together in tandem. However, when Goliath takes the lead on things, Yellowjacket gets frustrated and leaves him to it. Eventually, Hank is able to detect three chronal anomalies that might be Immortus at work. The group still wants to take the fight to Immortus and the Wasp agrees that they should split up into three groups to investigate each anomaly. The first team will consist of Hawkeye, Yellowjacket, and Songbird, with Clint in charge. The second will consists of Goliath and Captain America, while she and Captain Marvel will make up the third. When Rick sees that he is being left out he begins to complain. However, the others remind him that Immortus wants to see him dead and staying on the Sphinx is best place for him, besides they need someone to monitor things. Rick accepts this reasoning and when the three groups depart in smaller time ships he takes the command console. Still, he isn’t happy with the situation.
Goliath and Captain America soon arrive at their destination, a not-too-distant future where the world has been decimated by alien invaders.[3] Seeing resistance fighters on the ground, Cap and Goliath join the fight. They soon run into a team of this era’s Avengers which include the Black Panther, the Crimson Dynamo, Killraven, a very pregnant Jocasta, and Thundra. T’Challa is shocked to see that Hank and Steve are still alive and welcomes their assistance in the battle. After the battle, the two groups compare notes and T’Challa realizes that this Captain America and Goliath are experiencing the Destiny War and are not from his time. Steve and Hank learn that this world was has been invaded from aliens from Mars, or at least the red planet is the staging ground of their invasion.[4] The arrival of the two heroes comes at a fortuitous time as Black Panther and his Avengers are about to launch an attack at the Martain’s Earth base and drive them off the planet.
Elsewhen, Hawkeye’s team has arrived in the year 1873, much to the delight of Hawkeye who always loved learning about this period in history.[5] Their anomaly tracker takes them to the town of Tombstone, Arizona. After outfitting themselves in period appropriate clothing, they head into town to investigate. They find the town nearly deserted and witness a meeting between this era’s gunslinging heroes the Two-Gun Kid, Kid Colt, and the Rawhide Kid. Two-Gun called Colt and Rawhide in because the town has been taken over by Kang. As the trio prepare to head to the hotel that Kang opened in town they are suddenly attacked by a dinosaur. Hawkeye and Yellowjacket want to help, but Songbird recognizes what is going on and says that this is a temporal anomaly that the Avengers already resolved. Convincing them to return to the cave where they stashed their time machine, Songbird explains that Hawkeye’s future self and a team of Avengers will arrive to drive Kang out of this era and that they can’t interfere for fear of altering history.[6] When they arrive back at the cave, they discover that somebody had stolen their time machine, leaving them stranded.
Meanwhile, the Wasp and Captain Marvel arrive in California in the year 1959.[7] Their arrival coincides with a public address being made by then Vice President Richard Nixon. Janet figures that Nixon is likely the target of the chronal anomaly due to his historical significance. As she explains to Genis why, she mentions the historic moment when Nixon visited China in 1972. This is overheard by a man in the crowd who misinterprets what the Wasp has said and believes them to be communist operatives attempting to kidnap the Vice President and reports this to his comrades. When they get close enough to see Nixon, Genis-Vell’s Cosmic Awareness kicks in and he discovers that “Nixon” is actually a Skrull in disguise. Rather than create a panic, Janet suggests the draw back and change into costume.
The man who overheard them earlier, Hal Chandler, follows after them and after watching them duck into a tent changes his glasses to transform into 3-D Man. He joins up with the rest of his team — Venus, Gorilla Man, Marvel Boy, and the Living Robot — and confront the Wasp and Captain Marvel, announcing themselves as the Avengers!
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Wasp, Goliath, Captain America, Hawkeye, Yellowjacket, Captain Marvel, Songbird), Rick Jones, Kang, Immortus, Libra, Two-Gun Kid, Kid Colt, Rawhide Kid, Avengers-9930 (Black Panther, Crimson Dynamo, Killraven, Thundra, Jocasta, Living Lightning), Avengers-9904 (3-D Man, Gorilla Man, Marvel Boy, Venus, Living Robot), Steel, Thunder, Nightwind
Continuity Notes
The Avengers were all plucked from different points in history as seen in Avengers Forever #1 and explained last issue. They are:
Captain America circa Captain America #175, after he discovered that the President of the United States was secretly the leader of the Secret Empire.
Hawkeye was plucked out of time circa Avengers #99. This was after he returned to Earth following the Kree/Skrull War without his Goliath growth serum or his trick arrows.
Yellowjacket was abducted from Avengers #60. Actually Hank Pym, a mental breakdown convinced him that he was someone else and that he killed Hank Pym.
Goliath and the Wasp come from the present day, having been plucked out of time circa Avengers (vol. 3) #11.
Songbirdand by extension Captain Marvel) aren’t from the mainline Marvel Universe, but an alternate reality. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #5, it has been designated Reality-98120.
Rick Jones mentions how he got his mobility back thanks to the Destiny Force. Prior to this story, Rick had been crippled in Incredible Hulk #457. He will regained his mobility last issue.
Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3, this possible future has been index as Reality-9930. It is a variant of Earth-691, circa the invasion of Earth by the Martian Masters first seen in Amazing Adventures (vol. 2) #18.
Per Amazing Adventures (vol. 2) #18, the Martian Masters did not originate from Mars, only used it as a staging ground for their invasion of Earth.
Hawkeye is exited that the Wasp chose him as leader, figuring that she knew he had leadership qualities. She isn’t wrong, as Hawkeye would go on to lead the west coast branch of the Avengers starting in West Coast Avengers #1 through volume 2 #45. At the time of this story, the present day Hawkeye had also been leading the Thunderbolts since Thunderbolts #21.
Songbird’s correct, as those events will be depicted in Avengers #141-144.
This isn’t the 1959 of Earth-616, but an alternate reality. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3 designates it Reality-9904. It was previously seen in What If? #9. In this reality features a team of Avengers that were formed in the 1950s including the characters we see later on. These 1950s Avengers have counterparts on Earth-616 called the Agents of Atlas, who we’ll see in Agents of Atlas #1.
Topical References
References to the present day being in the 20th century in this story should be considered topical. The Sliding Timescale has pushed the Modern Age forward enough to a point that it does not begin until after the start of the 21st century.
