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Collecting Force Works #1-15, Ashcan Edition, Century: Distant Sons #1, Material from Iron Man/Force Works Collectors' Preview by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (writers) and Tom Tenney, Dave Taylor, Stu Johnson, Jim Califiore, Dave Ross and Jim Cheung with Tod Smith and Paul Ryan.
Things start off with Force Works: Ashcan Edition, a black and white promotional piece for the upcoming Force Works series. Things begin properly with Force Works #1. The West Coast Avengers are no more. Fed up of of the United States government interfering with Avengers business, Iron Man forms a new team from the remaining members of the West Coast Avengers. Just in time as well as a group of Kree warriors calling themselves Starstreath attacks and not everybody will make it out alive.
I had been led to believe that the art of the first few issues of Force Works was pretty bad and... yeah, it is pretty bad. Tom Tenney's art isn't quite Larry Stroman-bad, but it's right up there. At least we get some new artists starting with #5. I only wish that there was a regular artists that stuck around for the duration.
In #2, no sooner have the Kree been defeated, then a group of alien beings calling themselves the Scatter make their presence known. Wonder Man is seemingly dead after getting caught in an explosion caused by the Kree ion cannon. Force Works has help in the form of the mysterious Century. This also continues in #3 as the fight with the Scatter takes Force Works to Dallas, Texas.
The only other place I have ever seen Century is in that old Iron Man cartoon from the 90's. My guess is that Century faded into obscurity after Force Works was cancelled. I certainly haven't seen him in anything else since then. My research reveals that he would later go on to join Wonder Man's short-lived Revengers team. As far as I know Century hasn't appeared in anything else apart from his own self-titled one-shot where we get to find out his origin story.
In #4, Force Works travels to the country of Slorenia and does battle with the country's supposed protector Ember. If I remember correctly, Slorenia was the country that Ultron destroyed during the Ultron Unlimited story arc. It seems like other writers don't particularly care for anything or anybody that was first introduced in this series. century faded into obscurity after the series got cancelled and Slorenia ended up getting wiped out by Ultron.
There is also a back-up story where the team's new public relations and technical chief get to know the team's headquarters. The art of the back-up is by Tod Smith, so I suppose that's a relief. The story is basically a reason to catch the readers up with the backstories of the various characters.
Breath a sigh of relief as there is a new artist in #5. Paul Ryan replaces Tom Tenney as Force Works continue their fight in Slorenia and encounter Black Brigade, Slorenia's own armoured protector. This issue also has a back-up story, in which the team's new tech chief shows Rachel Carpenter (Spider-Woman's daughter) the Vroom Room, the team's own version of the Danger Room.
Dave Taylor is on pencilling duties with #6 and 7 as Force Works is swept up in the Mandarin's evil plan to take over China with the aid of an alien weapon that wipes out all technology. These two issues are part of the Hands of the Mandarin event that also crossed-over with Iron Man and War Machine. Unfortunately, this collection doesn't include the Iron Man and War Machine issues, so I suppose I will have to get the Hands of the Mandarin trade if I want the whole story arc. It's a pity that this collection only has the two issues of the crossover as the Mandarin is the only Iron Man villain that I actually like. The last time the Mandarin appeared was during John Byrne's short-lived Iron Man run in the Dragon Seed Saga story arc. The Mandarin lost his hands at the end of that arc, but now he has dragon hands for some reason.
Another issue, another artist. Stewart Johnson is on pencilling duty for #8 in a festive Christmas issue. Several Avengers guest star as Force Works prepare to throw a Christmas party.
It was nice to get a gentle, clam issue after so much action. There's just one thing that stuck in my mind, what the Hell was that monstrosity with tassles USAgent was wearing? It has the Stars and Stripes on the back as well. Real subtle! And Captain America! So many pouches! But seriously though, it was good to see some old friends meet up and catch up on what had been going on with each other. I understand there had been some tension since the West Coast Avengers had disbanded. I guess there were no hard feelings.
Things return to normal for Force Works (namely, more fighting) in #9 and 10 as the head to Australia to fight dream demons and meet an Aborigine hero known as Dreamguard. Jim Califiore is on pencils this time. I remember his work best from Exiles and Deadpool. These two issues also have a back-up story in which Force Works prepare for Wonder Man's memorial service.
Dreamguard looked pretty neat. It's a pity he only appeared in these two issues of Force Works. How many Aborigine comic book characters has there been any way? There's Gateway, the mysterious old man who was an X-Men supporting cast member back when they were hanging out in Australia, and isn't Bishop supposed to be of Aborigine descent as well?
Force Works return to Slorenia in #11 and 12. War Machine gives Force Work information that suggests the Slorene government are using genetically engineered soldier to wipe out the Dudak minority.
In these two issues we get some more information about the people of Slorenia. Ember is the mystical protector of the Dudak minority, while the Slorene people have their own protector in the form of another mystical being known as Volkvhy. The feud between the two peoples became infected with mystical power, leading to the creation of the two protectors. No side can truly win as one side grows with power, the other is weakened, then the balance is reversed.
The Avengers guest-star in #13 and 14 as Force Works head to the Vault to deal with the Kree warriors the defeated in #1 who have taken over the prison. The Avengers reveal that the Kree are wanted for murder on 16 worlds and are to be extradited for an off-planet trial. Force Works are furious as they want the Kree warriors to face justice on Earth for their part in Wonder Woman's death. There is another artist on pencil duties, this time it is Dave Ross.
I'm always happy to see the two Avengers teams interact with each other, even if Iron Man insists that Force Works aren't Avengers any more. You can see why people make the mistake, the team was formed with the remains of the old West Coast team after all. I am always happy to see Hercules, but this was during his clean-shaven period. Hercules should never shave his beard. Being clean-shaven does nothing for him.
In #15, USAgent returns from visiting the grave of his parents to discover Force Works headquarters deserted with a giant alien spaceship overhead. Another new artist on pencils in this issue, Jim Cheung.
It was nice to see USAgent get a moment in the limelight. I never used to care about him all that much. I always thought he was little more than a poor man's Captain America. I soon changed my tune when I red Mark Gruenwald's Captain America run. He actually made me care about the character.
The collection ends with Century: Distant Sons, a one-shot that delves into Century's backstory. I don't particularly care for the character, so I couldn't really get invested in the story. A rather disappointing ending to a collection that didn't suck as much as I thought it would. The art for the first four issues was pretty bad, but the writing is pretty decent throughout. I loved Abnett and Lanning's work on Guardians of the Galaxy, so it was good to see some of their early work.
The rest of Force Work's run was taken up with The Crossing, the infamous story arc that was running through the various Avengers titles at that time. It turns out that Kang the Conqueror had been controlling Iron Man since day one, so the Avengers end up bringing a teenage Tony Stark from an alternate reality to stop him. Ultimately this wouldn't matter as much of what happened during The Crossing was undone with the Heroes Reborn/Return story arc. The original Tony Stark was back and everybody soon forgot about teen Tony. I'm kind of curious to see if The Crossing is just as bad as its reputation suggests. The trad paperback is out of print and it isn't available digitally, so maybe that's a blessing.
My rating: 3 stars.
Things start off with Force Works: Ashcan Edition, a black and white promotional piece for the upcoming Force Works series. Things begin properly with Force Works #1. The West Coast Avengers are no more. Fed up of of the United States government interfering with Avengers business, Iron Man forms a new team from the remaining members of the West Coast Avengers. Just in time as well as a group of Kree warriors calling themselves Starstreath attacks and not everybody will make it out alive.
I had been led to believe that the art of the first few issues of Force Works was pretty bad and... yeah, it is pretty bad. Tom Tenney's art isn't quite Larry Stroman-bad, but it's right up there. At least we get some new artists starting with #5. I only wish that there was a regular artists that stuck around for the duration.
In #2, no sooner have the Kree been defeated, then a group of alien beings calling themselves the Scatter make their presence known. Wonder Man is seemingly dead after getting caught in an explosion caused by the Kree ion cannon. Force Works has help in the form of the mysterious Century. This also continues in #3 as the fight with the Scatter takes Force Works to Dallas, Texas.
The only other place I have ever seen Century is in that old Iron Man cartoon from the 90's. My guess is that Century faded into obscurity after Force Works was cancelled. I certainly haven't seen him in anything else since then. My research reveals that he would later go on to join Wonder Man's short-lived Revengers team. As far as I know Century hasn't appeared in anything else apart from his own self-titled one-shot where we get to find out his origin story.
In #4, Force Works travels to the country of Slorenia and does battle with the country's supposed protector Ember. If I remember correctly, Slorenia was the country that Ultron destroyed during the Ultron Unlimited story arc. It seems like other writers don't particularly care for anything or anybody that was first introduced in this series. century faded into obscurity after the series got cancelled and Slorenia ended up getting wiped out by Ultron.
There is also a back-up story where the team's new public relations and technical chief get to know the team's headquarters. The art of the back-up is by Tod Smith, so I suppose that's a relief. The story is basically a reason to catch the readers up with the backstories of the various characters.
Breath a sigh of relief as there is a new artist in #5. Paul Ryan replaces Tom Tenney as Force Works continue their fight in Slorenia and encounter Black Brigade, Slorenia's own armoured protector. This issue also has a back-up story, in which the team's new tech chief shows Rachel Carpenter (Spider-Woman's daughter) the Vroom Room, the team's own version of the Danger Room.
Dave Taylor is on pencilling duties with #6 and 7 as Force Works is swept up in the Mandarin's evil plan to take over China with the aid of an alien weapon that wipes out all technology. These two issues are part of the Hands of the Mandarin event that also crossed-over with Iron Man and War Machine. Unfortunately, this collection doesn't include the Iron Man and War Machine issues, so I suppose I will have to get the Hands of the Mandarin trade if I want the whole story arc. It's a pity that this collection only has the two issues of the crossover as the Mandarin is the only Iron Man villain that I actually like. The last time the Mandarin appeared was during John Byrne's short-lived Iron Man run in the Dragon Seed Saga story arc. The Mandarin lost his hands at the end of that arc, but now he has dragon hands for some reason.
Another issue, another artist. Stewart Johnson is on pencilling duty for #8 in a festive Christmas issue. Several Avengers guest star as Force Works prepare to throw a Christmas party.
It was nice to get a gentle, clam issue after so much action. There's just one thing that stuck in my mind, what the Hell was that monstrosity with tassles USAgent was wearing? It has the Stars and Stripes on the back as well. Real subtle! And Captain America! So many pouches! But seriously though, it was good to see some old friends meet up and catch up on what had been going on with each other. I understand there had been some tension since the West Coast Avengers had disbanded. I guess there were no hard feelings.
Things return to normal for Force Works (namely, more fighting) in #9 and 10 as the head to Australia to fight dream demons and meet an Aborigine hero known as Dreamguard. Jim Califiore is on pencils this time. I remember his work best from Exiles and Deadpool. These two issues also have a back-up story in which Force Works prepare for Wonder Man's memorial service.
Dreamguard looked pretty neat. It's a pity he only appeared in these two issues of Force Works. How many Aborigine comic book characters has there been any way? There's Gateway, the mysterious old man who was an X-Men supporting cast member back when they were hanging out in Australia, and isn't Bishop supposed to be of Aborigine descent as well?
Force Works return to Slorenia in #11 and 12. War Machine gives Force Work information that suggests the Slorene government are using genetically engineered soldier to wipe out the Dudak minority.
In these two issues we get some more information about the people of Slorenia. Ember is the mystical protector of the Dudak minority, while the Slorene people have their own protector in the form of another mystical being known as Volkvhy. The feud between the two peoples became infected with mystical power, leading to the creation of the two protectors. No side can truly win as one side grows with power, the other is weakened, then the balance is reversed.
The Avengers guest-star in #13 and 14 as Force Works head to the Vault to deal with the Kree warriors the defeated in #1 who have taken over the prison. The Avengers reveal that the Kree are wanted for murder on 16 worlds and are to be extradited for an off-planet trial. Force Works are furious as they want the Kree warriors to face justice on Earth for their part in Wonder Woman's death. There is another artist on pencil duties, this time it is Dave Ross.
I'm always happy to see the two Avengers teams interact with each other, even if Iron Man insists that Force Works aren't Avengers any more. You can see why people make the mistake, the team was formed with the remains of the old West Coast team after all. I am always happy to see Hercules, but this was during his clean-shaven period. Hercules should never shave his beard. Being clean-shaven does nothing for him.
In #15, USAgent returns from visiting the grave of his parents to discover Force Works headquarters deserted with a giant alien spaceship overhead. Another new artist on pencils in this issue, Jim Cheung.
It was nice to see USAgent get a moment in the limelight. I never used to care about him all that much. I always thought he was little more than a poor man's Captain America. I soon changed my tune when I red Mark Gruenwald's Captain America run. He actually made me care about the character.
The collection ends with Century: Distant Sons, a one-shot that delves into Century's backstory. I don't particularly care for the character, so I couldn't really get invested in the story. A rather disappointing ending to a collection that didn't suck as much as I thought it would. The art for the first four issues was pretty bad, but the writing is pretty decent throughout. I loved Abnett and Lanning's work on Guardians of the Galaxy, so it was good to see some of their early work.
The rest of Force Work's run was taken up with The Crossing, the infamous story arc that was running through the various Avengers titles at that time. It turns out that Kang the Conqueror had been controlling Iron Man since day one, so the Avengers end up bringing a teenage Tony Stark from an alternate reality to stop him. Ultimately this wouldn't matter as much of what happened during The Crossing was undone with the Heroes Reborn/Return story arc. The original Tony Stark was back and everybody soon forgot about teen Tony. I'm kind of curious to see if The Crossing is just as bad as its reputation suggests. The trad paperback is out of print and it isn't available digitally, so maybe that's a blessing.
My rating: 3 stars.
Category Story / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 77 x 120px
File Size 8.9 kB
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