Force Works #18
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeForce Works #18 serves as a pivotal chapter in 'The Crossing,' the sprawling 1995 crossover that ran across Avengers, Iron Man, War Machine, and Force Works — one of the most structurally ambitious, if polarizing, mid-decade Marvel events. Within the issue, Moonraker's true identity as the spirit of Gustav Brandt (Mantis's father, the former Zodiac member Libra) is dramatically revealed for the first time, a revelation designed to deepen the temporal-manipulation conspiracy at the heart of The Crossing. The issue also marks the debut of V.I.R.G.I.L. (Virtual Integrated Rapidly-evolving Grid-based Intelligent Lifeform), the clandestine sub-basement AI that would become a key antagonist before its destruction two issues later. Taken together, these moments crystallize how thoroughly the series used Force Works as the ground-level lens through which the corrupted-Iron-Man storyline was felt among the team he built.
In "Welcome to Nowhere," the latest chapter of Force Works #18 (1995), Wanda, Spider-Woman, Moonraker, and Fisher crash-land in a forgotten corner of Vietnam—now a hidden warzone teeming with danger. As they face Apocryphus and his forces, Moonraker’s past begins to resurface, revealing his true identity as Gustav Brandt, while Black Widow reunites with U.S. Agent, War Machine, and Hawkeye to plan their next move—unaware that Iron Man is already closing in with orders for a full-scale strike. Meanwhile, back at the Works HQ, Amanda senses something is wrong and ventures into the mysterious basement, where secrets lie buried. Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, with art by Yancey Labat and Rey Garcia, and a cover by Labat and Garcia, this issue blends high-stakes action with creeping dread.
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The entire Force Works series was written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning from its 1994 launch — one of the early major American ongoing titles for the duo who would later become celebrated for their cosmic Marvel work. By issue #18, penciling duties had passed to Yancey Labat (with Rey Garcia on inks), the latest in a succession of artists that had cycled through the book since Tom Tenney departed after issue #3. The issue was edited by Nelson Yomtov and Mike Marts under editor-in-chief Mark Gruenwald, and was one of the final Force Works installments produced before the book was effectively folded into The Crossing's conclusion and then shuttered alongside the broader editorial upheaval that accompanied Marvel's mid-decade financial difficulties.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Title: 'Welcome to Nowhere'; cover date December 1995; on-sale October 19, 1995 (Week 42, 1995).
- First appearance of Moonraker as Gustav Brandt — the issue reveals that 'Slade Truman,' who debuted as Moonraker in Force Works #16, is actually the transplanted spirit of Gustav Brandt, father of Mantis and former Zodiac member Libra.
- First appearance of V.I.R.G.I.L. (Virtual Integrated Rapidly-evolving Grid-based Intelligent Lifeform), a secret sub-basement AI counterpart to P.L.A.T.O., discovered by Amanda Chaney when she investigates high-level temporal radiation beneath the Force Works headquarters.
- Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning; penciled by Yancey Labat; inked by Rey Garcia; colored by Ian Laughlin; lettered by Jack Morelli; edited by Nelson Yomtov and Mike Marts under EIC Mark Gruenwald.
- The issue is a chapter of 'The Crossing,' a 1995 crossover spanning Avengers, Iron Man, War Machine, and Force Works #16–20, in which Iron Man is revealed to have been a long-term pawn of Kang (later retconned as Immortus in Avengers Forever #8).
- The B-plot advances The Crossing's espionage thread: Black Widow arrives at Mesa Viento Airstrip to meet Hawkeye, U.S. Agent, and Jim Rhodes, with the group now convinced Tony Stark framed Hawkeye for murder; a shadowed Iron Man then contacts his 'masters' to deploy a sanction team against them.
- Moonraker's identity as Gustav Brandt was itself later retconned: Kurt Busiek's Avengers: Forever #8 revealed that 'Moonraker' was actually a Space Phantom employed by Immortus, and the real Gustav Brandt denied being Moonraker when confronted by the Avengers.
- The story and its crossover context were collected in Avengers: The Crossing (Marvel, 2012), which reprints Force Works #16–22 alongside tie-in material from Avengers and Iron Man titles.
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Wanda, Spider-Woman, Moonraker & Fisher crash in the "disappeared" Viet Nam, and are attacked by Apocryphus and his soldiers. As they fight, Moonraker's memory returns and he tells Julia that his real name is Gustav Brandt [Libra]. Black Widow joins the fugitives U.S.Agent, Jim Rhodes [War Machine] and Hawkeye to decide their next step, whilst unbeknownst to them, Iron Man has tracked them down and issues orders to deploy a maximum sanction strike team against them. Back at the Works HQ, Amanda realizes that something strange is happening, and investigates the mysterious basement area.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
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