In the wake of the disbandment of the West Coast Avengers, Iron Man sensed the changing winds of the world and set about creating a new team--a team that wouldn't just avenge wrongs, but prevent them. And so was born Force Works.

Believing that Earth's mightiest should use their powers proactively to protect the planet, Iron Man selected U.S. Agent, Spider-Woman, Scarlet Witch, and Wonder Man to join him in creating the new team. Almost immediately, in the first issue, actually, the interdimensional traveler, Century, was introduced as Wonder Man's replacement (after ol' Wonder Man was thought to have been vaporized saving the world).

The Force Workers were led ostensibly by Wanda Maximoff A.K.A. The Scarlett Witch, but Iron Man often went off on his own or made decisions without consulting her. (This situation came to a head when "The Crossing" revealed that Tony Stark was a pawn of Kang. In fact, the entire Force Works team may have been an unwitting pawn in Kang's time-shifting conquest, assembled by his minion, Stark.) Wanda used her hex-powers to manipulate the Chaos Computer, a computer designed to analyze the flow of real-time data to predict trouble throughout the globe. The idea was that they would be able to intercede in events and prevent large scale problems.

The team was based at "The Works," Stark's cutting-edge, classified R&D facility for secret projects in Ventura, CA. State-of-the-art, The Works was a four-story "smart building," built into a natural canyon over a waterfall. It has integral defenses and sensors, self-sufficiency options, and is shielded from external sensor sweeps. The Works is also self-healing--it is capable of repairing itself thanks to Tony Stark's ingenius Engine Bugs (nannites).

The facility has a hangar level; a communications hub; a recreation deck with a pool and gymnasium; private living quarters; labs; the Vroom Room, a virtual reality training complex with hard-light holograms; even underground access to the Pacific Cost Highway--and almost anything else imaginable.

Before moving his super hero team in, Stark removed his corporate R&D people, although a skeleton support staff stayed on. The day-to-day operations, however, were run by P.L.A.T.O. (Piezo-electrical Logistic Analytical Tactical Operator), the holographic sibling to SE's own master computer, H.O.M.E.R. PLATO was a highly advanced machine intelligence endowed with freewill.

Force Works members often travelled in next-generation Quinjets called Hex-ships. Liveware software allowed the high-tech craft to be flown and controlled by thought--facilitated by special headgear.

The West Coast preventers barely had time to unpack before they were confronted by a Kree assault, a battle that cost the (corporal) life of Wonder Man, and introduced them to Century and a host of interdimensional scavengers riding on his coat tails known as the Scatter.

Later, despite the interference of a Rigellian Recorder (a robot bent on cataloging information and experiences) the second-string Avengers with the pun in the title (FORCE WORKS, get it??), battled Ember, Black Brigade, and the Mandarin before succumbing to Marvel's mid '90s trifecta--bad art, bad writing, and bad sales--lasting just 21 issues. Officially, the team disbanded shortly after "The Crossing" storyline.

This page is copyrighted 2004 by Tim Rassbach.

Iron Man and all associated characters are the property of Marvel Comics.