Force Works #7: Review

Jan 1995

Andy Lanning, Dave Taylor

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Story Name:

Heart of Darkness

Review & Comments

Rating:

Force Works #7 Review by T Vernon (March 12, 2019)

Comments: “Hands of the Mandarin Part 4 of 6.”--Cover. Scripted by the team of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. Tony Stark does not wear the Iron Man armor in this issue. The story of Pu-Yi, last emperor of China, can be found in the movie THE LAST EMPEROR and, of course, Wikipedia.

Review: The Good Guys strike back! Nice entry in the story arc features a lot of satisfying action, if hurt by the typical scratchy 90s art.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Force Works #7 Synopsis by T Vernon

Story continues from IRON MAN #311.

Having crashed the Pegasus into the Mandarin's castle, U.S. Agent, believing his teammates are dead, hurls himself at the villain's army; suddenly Spider-Woman appears by his side and together they overcome the larger force and head off in search of Scarlet Witch who is searching for the abducted Tony Stark...

...who is literally in the clutches of the Mandarin: the villain holds him by the throat with one dragon claw and about to deal the death blow with the other. Wanda arrives and hurls a hex at the baddie, knocking him through a wall which collapses on him. Mandarin is not so easily defeated and he rises in a burst of flame....

Nearby, US Agent encounters the Avatar Old Woman who enchants the stone floor into rising up to swallow the hero. Spider-Woman pulls him free (and hurling him into the foe) and they face Sickle (wielding a scythe), Warfist (superstrong), and Ancestor (who draws on his ancestors' power to increase in size and strength)....

Out in the nearby village, War Machine negotiates with the local warlord Chu Lo Yan who claims to be a descendant of the last Chinese emperor, Pu-Yi; they agree to join forces against their common enemy the Mandarin. Rhodey checks up on Century who, without his staff Parallax, is coming unhinged, his mind cycling through jumbled and chaotic memories....

Back at the castle, Scarlet Witch is engaged in a battle of magics with the Mandarin and manages to keep him distracted until Tony can conk him on the head from behind. Spider-Woman and US Agent arrive at this point and the Mandarin smiles, seeing that he can destroy all of his enemies at once. Scarlet Witch releases an unprecedented burst of hex power that knocks the villain down and unleashes all the power of his rings at once, threatening to destroy the castle. The heroes flee and Mandarin, quickly recovering, orders his Avatars not to pursue them as there is nothing they can do now to stop him...

...which is realized by the heroes as they regather outside the castle. And suddenly there is a mounted army heading straight toward them....

And the Mandarin wielding Parallax appears in Hong Kong, commanding his Avatars to take the city which will becomes the center of the anti-technology field, spreading to the world....

Story continues in WAR MACHINE #10.

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