Force Works #18 — Nick Peron

Nov 16

Nov 16 Force Works #18

Welcome to Nowhere

This story continues from Iron Man #322…

Force Works has gone out to investigate the disappearance of Vietnam on behalf of their teammate Moonraker, even though nobody else remembers the country ever existing.[1] In a hex-ship piloted by Fisher Todd, Spider-Woman and the Scarlet Witch accompanied Slade on this mission. Passing through a dimensional barrier, the hex-ship then crash landed in a forest bereft of any animal or insect life. Everyone is uninjured and after gearing up, the group exit the downed plane and begin looking around. They manage to get a safe distance away from the hex-ship before it suddenly explodes.

Moonraker admits that this place is nothing like the Vietnam he remembers and the group fans out to look around. Little do they know that they have been spotted by the Anachronaut known as Apocryphus. He is intrigued to find the heroes here and orders his troops to mobilize. When one of them asks if they should be bring the boy, as his turning isn’t complete, Apocryphus decides to bring him along anyway.[2]

While at the Works in California, Force Works’ newest member Cybermancer is informing Amanda Chaney who US Agent and an unidentified man in armor freed Hawkeye from the infirmary.[3][4] After being unable to track US Agent or contact the rest of the team, Amanda decides to call in Iron Man and the Avengers to look for Hawkeye. They then have PLATO try to pinpoint the location of the rest of Force Works. When PLATO mentions that they were looking for Vietnam neither Cybermancer nor Amanda have heard of the country. That’s when Rachel Carpenter — Spider-Woman’s daughter — says she learned about the country in school. Rather than dismiss Rachel, Amanda decides to listen to what she has to say. When Rachel offers to show her a book all about the country, Chaney follows Rachel back to her quarters.

Meanwhile, Hawkeye, US Agent, Jim Rhodes, and the Black Widow have all gone to ground at an abandoned air strip in Calexico. They all know that Hawkeye had been framed for the murders of Marilla and Yellowjacket. The only thing is that the evidence looks undeniable. When contemplating who could have doctored the evidence the can only go back to one name: Tony Stark. Elsewhere, someone is deep within a high tech fortress and asks the computer for a status update. They learn that Hawkeye has just been busted out of the Works and his location has been located. This person requests authorization for a sanction team and has their request granted.[5]

Back at the Works, Rachel Carpenter goes through her encyclopedia and is deeply upset that Vietnam is not there even though she swears it used to be. This deeply upsets her because she is afraid Amanda won’t believe her just like the rest of Force Works didn’t believe her that Moonraker hasn’t appeared until a few days ago, or that the Works is somehow haunted. Amanda tries to convince Rachel that Moonraker has been a part of the team for months. However, when she tries to think about the circumstances that led to him being part of the team she suddenly realizes that she can’t remember anything about it.[6]

While in Vietnam, the members of Force Works come upon an ancient temple. Moonraker suddenly recognizes it as Agaphaur and collapses to the ground as his mind is flooded with memories. He suddenly realizes the truth about his existence. When Spider-Woman tries to comfort Slade, he tells her that Slade isn’t actually his name, that it’s Gustav. Before the others can figure out what he means they are attacked by Apocryphus and his army. Wanda recognizes their foe from the Avengers files and demands to know what his master, Kang the Conqueror, is planning. However, he refuses to give any answers, saying Kang’s plans are of no concern to her.[7]

At the Works, Amanda Chaney has decided to look into the computer records regarding Moonraker’s membership on the team. She confirms that he joined the group during a mission a few months earlier. While PLATO confirms that the information is accurate, Amanda remembers none of the details. When asked to run a diagnostic, PLATO informs her that the Works is registering a high level of temporal radiation that is emanating from the sub-basement but he’s not sure how long this has been going on. This is the first Amanda has heard about this sub-basement and gets PLATO to open the elevator to this lower level.[8] Down in the sub-basement she discovers a massive computer being run by another artificial intelligence called VIRGIL. It explains that it is the spiritual successor of PLATO and was developed by Timely Industries, a company that Tony Stark will found many years in the future.[9]

As Amanda makes this startling discover, the battle in Vietnam rages on. Fisher Todd has been separated from the rest of Force Works and finds a little boy huddled in the forest. As the boy pleads for help Fisher is attacked by more of Apocryphus’ troops. Suddenly, the boy undergoes a startling transformation turning into a full grown adult with massive wings like a bat and lunges at the combatants. Not far away, Moonriker recovers from his mental break and drives off Apocryphus and his minions. When Spider-Woman asks Slade if he is okay, he once again tells her that he is not really Slade Trueman, but Gustav Brand.[10] He tells them that he has been sent to stop time from being used as a weapon to destroy reality. However, given the situation right now he fears that this warning may have come far too late.

… This story continues in War Machine #21.

Recurring Characters

Force Works (Scarlet Witch, US Agent, Spider-Woman, “Moonraker”, Cybermancer), Apocryphus, Iron Man (unidentified), Black Widow, War Machine, Hawkeye, Fisher Todd, Rachel Carpenter, Amanda Chaney, PLATO, VIRGIL

Continuity Notes

Vietnam disappeared off the map last issue making everyone but Moonraker forget it ever existed.
This young boy, only known as Kim, got trapped in Vietnam last issue as well. Upon his arrival he started to undergo a transformation into something less than human.
Last issue, Hawkeye was accused of murdering Marilla and Yellowjacket during the Avengers reunion party seen in Avengers: The Crossing #1. He was apprehended last issue. Hawkeye is being frame, the real killer is revealed to be Iron Man himself in Iron Man #323. He was freed by US Agent and War Machine in War Machine #20. The reason why Cybermancer didn’t recognize Jim Rhodes is because at the time of this story Jim had just received a new suit of Eidolon Warwear in War Machine #18.
Amanda Chaney treats Cybermancer like she is the Suzie Endo of this reality. In fact, this woman is actually the Suzie Endo from an alternate reality who has taken the place of her counterpart in this reality. She is secretly working for Iron Man and “Kang”. We’ll learn that she is an “impostor” in next issue and that she comes from a possible future in issue #21-22. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3 identifies this timeline as Reality-9528.
The identity of the person here is unrevealed but it’s clearly Tony Stark. The sanction team dispatched includes the Anachronaut known as Deadhunt 9000. See War Machine #21 for the details of that conflict.
Moonraker suddenly appeared on the team in Force Works #16. While everyone believes that he has been on the team for months, only Rachel knows that he hadn’t appeared prior to that moment. What’s the deal? We’ll get into that as we go along.
The Avengers previously fought Apocryphus and the rest of the Anachronauts during the Citizen Kang event which took place in Captain America Annual #11, Thor Annual #17, Fantastic Four Annual #25, and Avengers Annual #21. Although Kang is said to be the mastermind behind this plot, this turns out to be a lie. In reality, the man behind the curtain is Immortus, Kang’s future self, posing as his past self as part of a grand scheme to manipulate the destiny of the Avengers. This will all be revealed in Avengers Forever #8.
This mysterious sub-basement was first discovered by US Agent and Century in Force Works #15. At the time, it was only accessible via teleportation yet here there is now an elevator to get to it without explanation. One could assume that the elevator was didn’t exist until this moment because time travel? Your guess is as good as mine.
Or rather a possible future timeline where Cybermancer comes from as explained in Force Works #21-22.
Next issue, Moonraker explains that he is really Gustav Brand, aka Libra from the Zodiac crime cartel. He’ll say that he was recruited by the Priests of Pama to stop Kang and his daughter Mantis from altering reality and win a coming chronal war. This is all revealed to be bullshit, a fabrication created by Immortus to keep the Avengers busy. Moonraker is really a Space Phantom posing as Gustav Brand/Moonraker in order to sell the lie. This is all revealed in Avengers Forever #8.

Topical References

Rachel Carpenter is depicted wearing an Oakland Raiders jersey. This should be considered a topical reference for two reasons: (1) It is a real world sports team and (2) the Raiders moved to Los Vegas in 2020.
Rachel Carpenter is depicted looking through a copy of the World Book Encyclopedia. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world publication. One could also argue that Rachel wouldn’t be using a physical encyclopedia either since most reference books have gone on the wayside in favor of online mediums. I will have you know that World Book still (as of this writing) puts out an annual book set each year.
When looking through Force Works’ records, Amanda Chaney notes that Moonraker joined the team in October 1994. The year in question should be considered topical as it is relative to the data of publication.
VIRGIL states that Tony Stark will go on to found Timely Industries in the year 2009. This date should be considered topical especially since that year has already elapsed. Modern readers instead interpret this scene to mean that VIRGIL and Timely Industries come into being roughly 14 years into the future from this story as oppose to a specific date.