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2020 Force Works #2: Review

Mar 2020
Matthew Rosenberg, Juanan Ramirez

Story Name:

(no title given)

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

2020 Force Works #2 Review by (March 28, 2020)
Roberto Di Salvo helps out with the art chores.

The cover is of course misleading because the team don't get turned  into Deathloks.

US Agent comments that Mockingbird is an old teammate. This refers to their time in the West Coast Avengers.

Ultimo 1st appeared in Tales Of Suspense #76-78 being controlled by Mandarin against Iron Man. His true alien origin was revealed in (the recently-synopsised) Iron Man (1998) #24. His latest app was in War Machine (2009) #7-12.

This MODOK is a clone of the original, with the same giant head flying around in a jet-chair. He started up in Hulk (2008) #29. After spending some time as a member of the brainy-villain group Intelligensia and AIM he sort-of turned over a new leaf and joined the Secret Avengers, which also involved Mockingbird. But after that he slid back to his old evil ways. His last apps documented on this site were as BRODOK in the 2018 WCA series (no MB or USA). Since then he had a stint in Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (2015) #47-50 and parts in Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #38 and Dr Doom #4.





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

2020 Force Works #2 Synopsis by Rob Johnson
Last issue War Machine led a Force Works team of Quake and US Agent to the aid of Mockingbird in Lingares. They found her but were attacked and captured by an army of Deathloks.

Now they're being taken, minus armour and weapons, to the Deathloks' base camp. Along the way they pass some *very* large footprints, which worry their captors. They are thrown into a cage with the human guerillas they battled last issue. Quake can speak Spanish and asks them what's going on, while the other 2 revive unconscious Mockingbird.

Now Daisy Johnson relays the explanation to her teammates (and us). The thing they call The Giant attacked their South American island, and someone they call The Scientist offered to help them. He turned dead soldier into Deathloks but they weren't enough to stop The Giant. So the Deathloks started increasing their numbers by converting the living.

Deathloks enter and start to take 1 of the guerillas away, but James Rhodes leads his team to stop them. More Deathloks arrive and their leader demands the prisoner. Rhodey says "Over my dead body" so they zap Force Works to semi-paralysis and take *him* instead. Quake manages to use her power to cause the ground to rumble until a Deathlok hits her. But then louder sounds make the enemy run out. Then Quake shakes the front of their cage down and they exit to see that the giant is the alien robot Ultimo.

Ultimo stomps through the camp unfazed by the Deathloks' gunfire. The 'Loks follow it into the jungle. And Force Works find a truck for the guerillas to escape in. But our heroes have to stay to rescue Rhodes ...

... who is about to be operated on by the boss 'Lok and 2 others. His paralysis has worn off and he manages to stab the boss in the eye with a scalpel before they fasten him down on the operating table.

Mocky and USA have found some guns to shoot Deathloks with and Quake uses her powers against them (even though doing so without her special gauntlets is painful and damaging to her). They're losing the battle until Ultimo stamps on some of their foes. But he's an equal-opportunity robot so next he uses his eye-blasts against FW.

Boss-Lok says the cyborgisation operation is easier to do on live rather than dead patients. Rhodey begs him to kill him 1st. But then a cyborg runs in to warn the boss that 'The Maker' has returned. The 'borgs exit at speed and a voice tells Jim that he has need of him. And Rhodey recognises the newcomer.

The other 3 FWers are in trouble again when War Machine arrives in his armour to save the day. And he's brought Agent's shield, Quake's gauntlets and MB's battle staves. And WM's helper introduces himself - it's MODOK (and obviously it's he who created the 1st batch of Deathloks) who invites himself onto the team.



Juanan Ramirez
Juanan Ramirez
Federico Blee
Juanan Ramirez (Cover Penciler)
Juanan Ramirez (Cover Inker)
Matt Milla (Cover Colorist)
Letterer: Travis Lanham.
Editor: Darren Shan. Editor-in-chief: C. B. Cebulski.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

U.S. Agent
U.S. Agent

(John Walker)
War Machine
War Machine

(James Rhodes)

Plus: Quake (Daisy Johnson), Ultimo.

> 2020 Force Works: Book info and issue index

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