Appearing in "Lost in Space-Time, Part Four: In the Meantime, in Between-Time..."
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Henry Pym
- La Espirita
- Rawhide Kid
- Two-Gun Kid (Matthew Liebowitz)
- Shamaz (2920 BC)
- Pharaoh Rama-Tut (2920 BC)
Antagonists:
- Phantom Rider (Lincoln Slade) and Banshee
- Pharaoh Rama-Tut (2940 BC)
Other Characters:
- Carlotta Valdez
- Duena
- Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange)
- Clea
- Ben Franklin
- Stygyro (Mentioned)
- Mrs. Olsen
- Fantastic Four (Mentioned) (as the Four in Blue and as the F.F.)
- Celestial Madonna (Mantis) (Mentioned)
Locations:
- Southwest US, (1876)
- Southwest US, (August, 1776) (northern Mexico)
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (July, 1776)
- Egypt (1776)
- Egypt (2920 BC)
- Egypt (2940 BC)
Items:
Synopsis for "Lost in Space-Time, Part Four: In the Meantime, in Between-Time..."
In 1776, the Avengers fly from the American west towards Egypt, but first make a stopover in Philedelphia to get Hawkeye some medical attention following his injuries in the previous issue. Since it's July of that year, they just barely miss Doctor Strange and Clea hanging out with Benjamin Franklin. They continue on across the Atlantic Ocean and over Europe until they reach the Sphinx in Egypt. They clash briefly with Ottoman soldiers that are amassed there for some reason while Wonder Man sets up the Time Platform, and soon enough they jump back to 2920 BC and are immediately attacked by the Egyptian soldiers there preparing for the Pharaoh's burial rites. The latest skirmish is ended when the Pharaoh's High Priest, Shamaz, recognizes the Avengers as time travelers and is able to talk to them in English. Shamaz explains that the Pharaoh will be entering suspended animation the next day and that he destroyed his own time machine 17 years earlier. He reluctantly lets them into the pyramid to talk to the Pharaoh, but as Rama-Tut is preparing his mind for suspended animation by entering a trance, he isn't very coherent or helpful. He only mutters that they might find more help during his first reign. Hawkeye is growing increasingly frustrated negotiating their way through in spite of his injuries and starts to collapse from fever. His teammates assure him that they can get through on his behalf and that he should rest. Clint relents and assigns Iron Man as interim chairman just before falling unconscious, which irks Wonder Man who has been competing with Tony for status. They activate the Time Platform once more to jump back to 2940 BC, when they are immediately shot by the then-nefarious Rama-Tut.
In August of 1776, a month after parting ways with the Avengers, Carlotta Valdez is traveling across California with her mission when her coach is attacked by Indians. She joins the battle but gets shot in the back by an unseen assailant. Before she dies, she makes the priest who had been traveling with her and her chaperone promise to guard the message she took from Hawkeye.
In 1876, Phantom Rider takes Mockingbird back to Lincoln Slade's hometown of Lordsburg to start a new life with her. As she changes into her new local dress, she decides to wear the old arrowhead she found as a necklace, a choice that Slade doesn't know hat to make of since he recognizes the head as something Hawkeye would use. While they settle in, Rawhide Kid and Two-Gun Kid are still on their trail.
And in the present day, Espirita continues to help Hank rekindle his passion for science by having him go over his expertise in robotics, a subject that Hank isn't as eager to get back into. As they head to the lab, they again just barely miss Hawkeye's message peeking out of the pages of Bonita's bible.
Notes
- The cameo of Doctor Strange and Clea with Ben Franklin refers back to Doctor Strange (Vol. 2) #18-19. As such, this Ben Franklin may actually be an evil wizard in disguise.
- Actually, any and all references to these four West Coast Avengers almost crossing paths with Doctor Strange and Clea in Philadelphia in July, 1776, are continuity errors because the events depicted in those issues of Doctor Strange were explicitly stated to all take place in the year 1775. Strange and Clea had traveled to London, England, in March of 1775 where they then boarded the frigate that was taking Ben Franklin to the American Colonies, and they met Franklin soon after the ship set sail on its voyage. Their stay in the past ended on May 5, 1775, after Franklin had been chosen as a member of the Second Continental Congress. The brief appearance by Strange, Clea and Franklin in Philadelphia must therefore take place in very early May of 1775 and not in July of 1776.
- A possible in-universe explanation would be that, sometime while the Avengers were traveling across the continent after leaving Carlotta Valdez in Arizona in July of 1776, the damaged time machine somehow activated and transported the four Avengers an extra 14 months further back into the past. How this could have happened without them being aware of it is a mystery.
- Having said that, it should be noted that the history of the Benjamin Franklin from the real world is slightly different from what was depicted in those Doctor Strange stories in at least two ways. First, the real Franklin was accompanied home from England by Temple Franklin, his fifteen-year-old grandson, but the MU Franklin was traveling alone. Second, the real Franklin was chosen by Pennsylvania to be a delegate to the Second Continental Congress on May 6, 1775, after having landed in Philadelphia on the previous day, May 5th, but the MU Franklin must have arrived at least a day earlier in order to have been chosen on May 5th.
- Actually, any and all references to these four West Coast Avengers almost crossing paths with Doctor Strange and Clea in Philadelphia in July, 1776, are continuity errors because the events depicted in those issues of Doctor Strange were explicitly stated to all take place in the year 1775. Strange and Clea had traveled to London, England, in March of 1775 where they then boarded the frigate that was taking Ben Franklin to the American Colonies, and they met Franklin soon after the ship set sail on its voyage. Their stay in the past ended on May 5, 1775, after Franklin had been chosen as a member of the Second Continental Congress. The brief appearance by Strange, Clea and Franklin in Philadelphia must therefore take place in very early May of 1775 and not in July of 1776.
- Also visiting Ben Franklin at this time was Captain America, who inadvertently gave him the idea for the American flag with his costume, as shown in Captain America's Bicentennial Battles #1.
- It's probably safe to assume Philedelphia in July, 1776 was just lousy with visiting time travelers.
- Rama-Tut of 2920 BC has renounced his evil ways and is preparing for a convoluted plan to oppose his past-self, Kang. The suspended animation he enters here ends in Avengers #129, where he teams up with the Avengers including Hawkeye and Iron Man, which is how they know this version of Rama-Tut is their ally.
- The Rama-Tut of 2940 BC, however, is actually from several decades earlier in Kang's personal timeline. This version of Rama-Tut is concurrent with his earliest appearance in Fantastic Four #19.
Trivia
- A discussion about what Doctor Strange suspects may have happened between Clea and Ben Franklin during their sea voyage from London to Philadelphia, and what various later stories have claimed about whether or not anything actually happened, can be found in the Notes section of the article on Franklin.
