Force Works #1
Day-Break
An Kree space cruiser has arrived in Earth orbit. On board are the Starstealth, a group of Kree soldiers seeking retribution for the downfall of their civilization.[1] They have two targets in mind and are scanning the planet’s surface to locate them. They pinpoint one of them as being in California. While Bo’sun Stug-Bar wants to strike right away, their leader Kalum Lo suggests that they wait until both targets are together.
This target turns out to be Wonder Man who has returned to the Palos Verde estate that once headquartered by the Avengers West Coast. He had come to rejoin the team only to learn from Iron Man that it had recently been disbanded.[2] However, Iron Man is looking to form a brand new group separate from the Avengers and wants to recruit Wonder Man as a member. They are soon joined by both the Scarlet Witch and Spider-Woman, who just returned from the disbanding meeting in New York to hear Iron Man’s pitch. Iron Man then invites them inside the ruined headquarters to discuss things.[3] Inside, they find John Walker aka the US Agent waiting for them. When asked why he wasn’t in costume, Walker explains that he threw it away after the Avengers West Coast broke up.
With everyone gathered, Iron Man makes his pitch to start a brand new team. It will be different from the Avengers as they will be proactive against threats instead of reactive. The armored hero says that they will be dealing that could be galactic of importance. With the technology of Stark Enterprises behind them, Iron Man intends to focus this new team on defense and security of the planet. The Scarlet Witch isn’t certain she is ready to join the new group because she is still adjusting to the death of Mockingbird, the disappearance of Hawkeye, and the dissolution of the west coast branch.[4] US Agent also wants to mull it over, but Wonder Man and Spider-Woman are willing to sign up right away. With that, Iron Man offers to show them their new headquarters, the Works.
In space, the Kree Starstrealth continue to track Wonder Man’s movements but as he moves to a location in Ventura, California, something starts blocking their scanners.
This would be the shielding of the Works, a former Stark Enterprises manufacturing facility that Iron Man has retrofitted into their brand new headquarters. He shows everyone around, explaining its many automated functions and defenses, calling it a “Smart Building” that can be adapted to their every need. He then introduces them to PLATO a holographic artificial intelligence that operates the facility autonomously. Using holographic projections, Iron Man shows off other parts of the facility including all of the amenities, living quarters, garage with highway access, and the Vroom Room, a training facility that utilizes the bleeding edge in virtual reality technology. Everyone is impressed but John Walker assumes that Iron Man is going to be calling the shots. Surprisingly, Tony tells them that he won’t be doing any such thing, saying that he had burned his friendships in the past by not being transparent and wants someone else to lead the group.[5] Instead, Stark decides that the Scarlet Witch should be leader since she did a good job during her short tenure as leader of the Avengers West Coast.[6] With that, everyone is allowed to check out their private quarters before they make a decision.
He personally shows Spider-Woman to her private room which he has set up with Julia’s daughter Rachel in mind. Julia is more than happy with the accommodations and agrees to join. Tony next visits the Scarlet Witch to petition her further about leading the team, however when he arrives Wanda has already made up her mind and agrees to lead the new team. He tells her that her first task will be dealing with John Walker. Wanda finds him down in the combat testing lab looking over the new suit and weapons designed by Tony Stark. Walker admits to her that he is having second thoughts about joining up because he has always be seen as nothing more than a second rate Captain America.[7] Wanda, however, knows John very well from their time on the Avengers together and knows that he can become the backbone of this new group. This sufficiently convinces the US Agent to come out of retirement and join. With everyone on board, Iron Man then shows Wanda and Simon the hanger bay and their new hex-ships then asks them to hand out collar stud communicators to the rest of the team. With that, Iron Man takes off for the east coast to politely inform the Avengers of the formation of this new team.
In space, the Starstealth detect that their target is moving again and heading back to Avengers Compound. As luck would have it, their secondary target is already in that location. With the opportunity for revenge opening itself up to them, the group mobilizes to strike.
Back on the ground, Scarlet Witch and Wonder Man have returned to Avengers Compound to gather their remaining personal affects. There they find the Black Widow and the Vision tearing down the remaining equipment that belongs to the Avengers. Wonder Man is not particularly happy to see them because he’s still upset that the west coast team was disbanded. That’s when they are ambushed by the Starstealth. As the heroes deal with their attackers, the ship in orbit begins bombarding Wonder Man and the Vision with an ion cannon that is causing them to overload. Joining the Kree invaders is a Rigellian Recorder model number RE-404. He is curious about the sensations Wonder Man is feeling from the ion cannon blast. Simon learns from the robot that the Kree are bombarding him and the Vision with bio-spores that will cause the Vision to experience a core melt down and make Wonder Man explode. This will cause a chain reaction that would then destroy the Earth. In fact, the Kree were able to get the information to create the bio-spores from its own memory banks.
That’s when US Agent (wearing his new costume and energy shield) and Spider-Woman arrive to join the fight. While everyone is busy dealing with the ground troops, Wonder Man has the Recorder take him up into space to shut down the ion cannon aboard the Kree ship in orbit. Forcing his way on board, Wonder Man has to fight through a hoard of the Starstreath in order to make it to the controls and shut down the ion cannon.
Back on the planet surface, the newly minted Force Works and their allies are pinned by enemy fire. The Scarlet Witch decides to try and tip things in their balance with a powerful hex. This causes the power packs on many of the Kree soldiers to suddenly overload and explode. When the smoke clears they there is now a new figure standing in the area. A strange being in battle armor with grey skin, and long white hair. The entity has no idea where he is and as Force Works tries to figure out if he is friend or foe, the Kree answer that question by firing upon the new comer. The alien joins Force Works’ side and introduces itself as Century, however he has no recollection of anything else about his past.[8] That’s when Iron Man arrives to join the fight, having been alerted to the crisis by PLATO.
In space, Wonder Man has just defeated the entire crew of the Kree ship. That’s when a sudden portal opens up in space and spews out a number of massive fireballs that cut through the Kree ship on their way to Earth. This ruptures the main power cells on the ion cannons and the Recorder warns Simon that they will explode in 12 seconds, destroying the Earth. Seeing there is no choice, Wonder Man uses his titanic strength to push the alien ship far enough from the Earth that no harm will come to the planet. Although Wonder Man succeeds, he is seemingly killed in the explosion.[9]
Seeing the explosion from the ground, Force Works fears the worst. However, before they can confirm Wonder Man’s status the fireballs strike the ground and emerging from them are alien creatures that Century identifies as the Scatter. He warns his new allies that these creatures are pure evil and to stay away. The warning comes too late and the team is swarmed. The Scatter manage to nab the Scarlet Witch, US Agent, and Spider-Woman and teleport away with them. Iron Man then demands that Century tell him everything he knows about the Scatter. Unfortunately, Century doesn’t remember anything more about them even though he is certain that he should. That’s when the Recorder returns from space and reports that Wonder Man sacrificed his life to save the planet. This devastates Iron Man who can’t understand how things with his new team could have gone so wrong so fast.
Recurring Characters
Force Works (Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, US Agent, Spider-Woman, Wonder Man), Century, Starstealth (Kalum Lo, Stug-Bar), Scatter, Recorder RE-404, Black Widow, Vision, PLATO
Continuity Notes
These Kree are seeking revenge on Wonder Man and the Vision for their involvement in the detonation of a Nega-Bomb that decimated the Kree empire during Operation: Galactic Storm. See Captain America #398, Avengers West Coast #80, Quasar #32, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #7, Avengers #345, Iron Man #278, Thor #445, Captain America #399, Avengers West Coast #81, Quasar #33, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #8, Avengers #346, Iron Man #279, Thor #446, Captain America #400, Avengers West Coast #82, Quasar #34, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #9, Avengers #347, Captain America #401, Quasar #35, specifically the Wonder Man issues.
Wonder Man had quit the Avengers West Coast in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #16-18. The West Coast Avengers were voted out of existence just prior to this story in Avengers West Coast #102.
The Avengers Compound has been in a state of disrepair since it was attacked by Ultron in Avengers West Coast #89.
Everyone believes that Hawkeye’s wife Mockingbird, aka Bobbi Morse, died during a battle with Mephisto in Avengers West Coast #100. In reality, this was a Skrull spy that took her place circa issue #91 of that series. The real Mockingbird will return in Secret Invasion #8 and the truth about her abduction and replacement explained in New Avengers: The Reunion #2. Since “Bobbi’s” death, Hawkeye abruptly left the AWC to spend some time alone. See Hawkeye (vol. 2) #1-4 and Marvel Comics Presents #159-161.
Tony is referring to how he faked his death between Iron Man #284 and 289 without telling anyone. Tony did so to undergo cryogenic suspension while he waited for a cure for his failing nervous system. When he revealed he was still alive to his friend Jim Rhodes, aka War Machine, Jim was furious and quit working for Stark and went solo.
Wanda was voted to lead the Avengers West Coast in issue #98 of that series. She didn’t last very long for reasons I already explained.
This is because US Agent was a second rate Captain America. When the US government confiscated the identity from Steve Rogers they gave it to John Walker from Captain America #333 to 350. He muffed the job pretty bad and the government gave the identity back to Rogers. However, they still found Walker useful and reinvented his as the US Agent in Captain America #354, giving him the costume and shield Rogers used during the period he was barred from being Captain America.
Century is was artificially created by the the Hodomurians. His personality is composed of the minds of Hodomurians greatest warriors and survivors. He was created to track down and destroy Lore, a Nexus Being that was responsible for making their home world vulnerable to the Scatter. This will all be explained in Century: Distant Sons #1.
Wonder Man doesn’t die per se, but finds himself lost in the gulf between life and death. His essence will be summoned back to the land of the living by the Scarlet Witch in Avengers (vol. 3) #2. After a time living as a being of pure ionic energy, Wonder Man will be fully restored to flesh in issues #10-11 of that series.
Topical References
When stringing his teammates along to his mystery proposal, Iron Man quips that he sounds like Perry Mason. Perry Mason is the titular lawyer of a series of novels by Erle Stanley Gardner that were published between 1933 to 1973. It has been adapted into television shows that ran from 1957-1966, 1973-1974, 1985-1995, and 2020 to present (as of this writing). The character was best known for his big reveal moments while in trail. This could be considered a topical reference, however the character has become eponymous with this sort of reveal. YMMV.
Additional Notes
The Recorder in this story doesn’t have a distinction in any of the Force Works stories or in any reference material (neither the Marvel Handbooks nor the Marvel Index) The term comes from Markus Raymond a writer over at the Unofficial Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe. I have adopted this unofficial distinction because all other Recorders have been given a number designation. #211 (first seen in Thor #132), #417 (see in Hercules #1), Zeta 9 (seen She-Hulk #7), and #451 (seen in Iron Man (vol. 5) #6). RE-404 is being used as a descriptor to differentiate the Force Works recorder from the others.
