West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #22
Lost in Space-Time Part 6: The Time of Sands!
Time Has Split in Six…
In Egypt, 2940 BC, the Avengers are trapped in the past with a broken time machine. They have agreed to assist the Priests of Khonshu overthrow the tyrannical rule of the time traveling Rama-Tut in the hopes of repairing their machine and returning home…
In Arizona, 1876 AD, Mockingbird has been freed from a love potion forced upon her by the Phantom Rider. With the aid of the Two-Gun Kid and Rawhide Kid, she now hunts down her captor to get revenge…
Mexico, 70 Years ago, Isabel Ramirez has devoted her life to Christianity for most of her 82 years of life….
New York, 7 years ago, the Fantastic Four are preparing to go back in time to ancient Egypt to in Doctor Doom’s time machine in the hopes of finding a cure for blindness for the Thing’s girlfriend, Alicia Masters.
California, yesterday, under the guidance of La Espirita, Hank Pym builds a new future for himself as a scientific adventurer by applying his past discoveries in new and exciting ways…
New York, now, Moon Knight orders his friend Frenchie to plot a course to California to deliver an important message from Khonshu, sent across time through the ages.[1]
Lordsburg, New Mexico, 1876 AD
Seeking revenge against the Phantom Rider, Mockingbird leads the Two-Gun Kid and Rawhide Kid ride into the town where the Rider — as Lincoln Clay — operates as the local marshal. However, when they arrive at the sherrif’s office they discover that Clay skipped town. They then ride out to the Phantom Rider’s hideout. They run into the masked outlaw in a canyon steeped in shadows. There, the Phantom Rider attempts to use his trickery to make himself appear to be a specter. However, Mockingbird now knows all his tricks and exposes them. However, she is too busy revealing how these tricks work that the Phantom Rider manages to escape.
Egypt, 2940 BC
The Avengers have been resurrected by the Egyptian moon god Khonshu in exchange for helping his followers free themselves from the oppressive rule of the time traveler Rama-Tut. They are led to a secret passage that connects the Temple of Khonshu to Rama-Tut’s underground facility. There, a priest gives them a map of the facility and warns them not to stray from the directions otherwise they’ll trigger the various traps that have been set down there.
As they search around the facility, the Avengers happen to spot Doctor Strange being carried away from some of Rama-Tut’s robots.[2] Since the sorcerer is unconscious, the Avengers decide to try and rescue him. However, they are swarmed by robots and are unable to stop a group from carrying Strange off and sealing him in a stasis pod. Luckily, Strange is able to send out his astral form before being sealed inside. His spirit then takes off to look for the soul fragment of his friend, Morgana Blessing. Unaware of all of this, Wonder Man tries to free Strange from the pod, but the force field protecting it prevents him from doing so. Hawkeye decides they should press forward and worry about freeing Strange later.
Soon they reach a monitor room that is tuned to Rama-Tut’s throne room. They are surprised to see the Fantastic Four are a prisoner of the rogue time-traveler. At first, they think they are the present day FF until they notice how young everyone is and realize that they are version of the team from the past. Regardless, Hawkeye believes if they help save this Fantastic Four they can still fix their busted time machine. As they leave the monitor room they run into another army of robots.
Ciudad Corazon, Mexico, 70 Years Ago
A young woman named Chita is brought to a special tree by her grandmother. Hidden inside is the family Bible. The grandmother tells her that it has been in the family for generations until it was stolen by the church. It was eventually stolen back and hidden in this tree for safe keeping for all these years. Now that the church has given up on finding it after all this time, the grandmother wants to pass it down to Chita.
That’s when they hear someone crying for help. It turns out to be a local boy named Benito Juarez who is holding on for dear life after a nearby rope bridge has fallen apart. The old woman helps Benito climb up to safety but the sudden strain causes the grandmother’s heart to give out. Chita is so touched by this self-less sacrifice she vows to study the family Bible every day for the rest of her life.
Egypt, 2940 BC
Wonder Man and Iron Man make short work of the robots, despite their recent differences.[3] Pushing forward, they end up running into armed guards in the next room.
As the battle rages on, Rama-Tut has been defeated by the Fantastic Four and he is making a hasty retreat back to his own era.
The Present
Hank Pym has found new purpose in life by using his past discoveries in a new way as an scientific adventurer. He has created an artificially intelligent flying ship named Rover and takes it for a test spin with La Espirita, who helped him see this new purpose.
After the test run, they head back to Avengers Compound where Bonita suggests they could read from her family Bible. She is confronted by the Moon Knight who managed to get past the compound’s security systems. Even though he knows that Moon Knight is a hero, Hank decides to test his mettle against the intruder. Although he has some advantage thanks to the shrunken-down devices he has hidden in his pockets. However, in a physical fight, Moon Knight is the better man and easily wins.
He explains that he was come with a message from the distant past to check a message left in Bonita’s family Bible. Taking the book he quickly finds the message written by Hawkeye asking for help from the 1700s. As devoutly religious woman, La Espirita is shocked to discover the message from the distant past. Moon Knight agrees with her that it was a miracle from God, however he knows that it was thanks to Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the moon who sent him to deliver this message, but he keeps this to himself. Knowing where his friends are now, Hank tells the others that they need to seek out the Fantastic Four right away.
Egypt, 2940 BC
After defeating the guards, the Avengers get into Rama-Tut’s throne room and discover that it is empty. Racing back to the monitor room they witness as Rama-Tut escapes this era in his time machine. Worse, the time traveler has set a self-destruct device that will destroy all his future tech hidden in the temple. Hawkeye orders everyone to try and find the Fantastic Four. However, the group had found what they came for — a potential cure for blindness — and return to their own era. Worse, Doctor Strange — now free from his own prison — has also completed his mission in this era and returns to his own era as well.
Wonder Man is furious that they missed every opportunity to get their time machine repaired. While everyone else is admitting defeat, Hawkeye refuses to give up, no matter what.
The Present
Hank Pym has called Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four in the hopes of using their Time-Platform to rescue his time-lost teammates. Unfortunately, his call has come too late as the Fantastic Four have just fight off an alien invader named Dominus who got away after destroying their time machine.
Recurring Characters
West Coast Avengers (Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Iron Man, Hank Pym, Wonder Man, Tigra, Moon Knight), Le Espirita, Doctor Strange, Two-Gun Kid, Rawhide Kid, Frenchie, Phantom Rider, Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, Thing)
Continuity Notes
There is a lot going on in this opening splash page. The details:
The West Coast Avengers were sent back in time in a broken time machine that can only go backwards by Dominus in issue #17. Most of the team ended up in ancient Egypt in issue #20 and agreed to help liberate the worshipers of Khonshu from Rama-Tut last issue.
Mockingbird has been trapped in the 1800s since the Avengers ended up there in issue #18. When they tried to go back further in time, Bobbi was kidnapped by the Phantom Rider who forced her to take a love potion in the following issue. She broke free from his spell last issue and has been out to get revenge.
This story sets Isabel Ramirez’s events has happening in the year 1917. This causes some issues with the Sliding Timescale, see below for more details.
The Fantastic Four’s activities were chronicled in Fantastic Four #19. The narrative states that this story takes place 10 years prior to the present day of this story. This is not an accurate measurement of the Sliding Timescale, which dictates that the events of FF #19 would have actually happened about 7 years prior to the present day.
Hank Pym suffered a series of set back and losses, including a divorce, getting kicked out of the Avengers, being framed, retiring from heroics, losing his “son” Ultron, and being dumped by Tigra, Hank Pym was about ready to end it all in issue #17. See also Avengers #213, 217, 227-230, and West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #7 and 16.
Here, Iron Man and Wonder Man recall seeing Strange back in the year 1776. The pair crossed paths in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #20. However that story explicitly shows them narrowly missing Strange. This error is likely made to the benefit of readers. Why was the Sorcerer Supreme in the year 1776? To stop an evil wizard named Stygro. See Doctor Strange (vol. 2) #17-19. That all said, Doctor Strange’s presence in ancient Egypt is actually from months after his time in 1776. See Doctor Strange (vol. 2) #53.
Wonder Man has been a bit of a dick since West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #17, when he stated that the “old guard” of Avengers, such as Iron Man, need to step down and let newer members a moment to shine.
Topical References
This story fames the present day as taking place in the year 1987 and all measurement of time between the different eras are calculated with that in mind. That said, the year of the present day should be considered topical due to the Sliding Timescale, which pushes the Modern Age forward in time. For example, the Modern Age has been pushed forward so that it no longer takes place in the late 20th Century, only beginning after the start of the 21st Century.
This story refers to Native Americans as Indians. This is an incorrect term to use. However, since its only being used by characters who existed in the 1800s, it’s use is historical.
Further to the above, Chita and Benito Juarez are presented in this story as La Espirita’s grandparents. The narrative of this story states that their appearance takes place in the year 1917. See below for further information.
Firebird’s Family Tree
Due to the Sliding Timescale, which pushed the Modern Age forward in time, Firebird’s family tree would constantly be subject to change if all the dates in question were taken at face value. In this story, Chita and Benito Juarez are identified as Bonita/Firebird/La Espirita’s grandparents and that her great-grandmother
The narrative states that the flashback involving them takes place in the year 1917 and that the family bible was passed onto them by Isabel Ramirez who stole the Bible in 1847 and hid it for 70 years. As the Sliding Timescale pushes the Modern Age forward, it becomes increasingly impossible for Chita, Benito, and Isabel to be alive in the dates in question and still be directly related to Bonita.
In Firebird’s most recent profile from Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #4 still refers to Benito and Chita as her grandparents. Isabel’s relation is listed as Bonita’s ancestor and Chita’s grandmother.
Marvel has yet to provide clarification on how to resolve these issues. There are a couple of ways you could chose to interpret it:
The first, is believing that the events involving these characters are locked into the year 1917. In this case, the familial relations to Bonita would be subject to the Sliding Timescale as the Modern Age is pushed forward. One could assume that Bonita had grandparents named Benito and Chita, just not the ones featured in this story. This is a logical solution since it is common for children to be named after past family members.
Alternatively, one could assume that the year 1917 is a topical reference and that these events actually take place sometime in the nebulous Pre-Modern Age that exists prior to Fantastic Four #1, happening about 63 years prior to the start of the Modern Age. The only thing that needs changing is the amount of time the family Bible was hidden from the church and the relationship with Isabela to Chita. In this instance, one could assume an ancestor named Isabel Ramirez stole the Bible and a descendant with the same name kept the Bible safe until passing it on to Bonita.
In terms of upkeep, I am always for a solution that doesn’t require needing to go back and changing things again a decade after. So in my opinion the later solution makes the most sense to me and as such the year 1917 is topical.