Customer Reviews

West Coast Avengers: Assemble (Marvel Premiere Classic)

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I always was a soft touch when it came to the West Coast Avengers, and probably it's because these cats never really did escape their rep as the inferior branch, what with the truly big guns (excepting Tony Stark) always opting to stay with the New York roster. I sense a whiff of East Coast bias. The West Coast Avengers came into fruition around the time that the SECRET WARS limited series was going on and right after Hawkeye had just starred in his own mini-series and gotten married to lovely ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Mockingbird. The Avengers chairman, Vision, notes the overflowing roster and decides to expand to a second team, this team to be established in the Left Coast and headed up by none other than our favorite resident hothead, Hawkeye. For Clint Barton, this is his dream come true.

AVENGERS: WEST COAST AVENGERS ASSEMBLE collects issues #1-4 of the WEST COAST AVENGERS mini-series, IRON MAN ANNUAL #7, and material originally published in AVENGERS #239, 243-244, 246, & 250, and AVENGERS WEST COAST #100. Selected panels from AVENGERS #239, 243-244, and 246 are reprinted here to show the steps which led up to the founding of the W.C.A.

The West Coast team instantly sets itself apart tonally from its East Coast counterpart. Spearheaded by Hawkeye, this team fails to reflect instant gravitas and credibility. First of all, the headquarters is a sprawling, palm tree-festooned estate - Hawkeye insists on calling it a compound - which sits "atop the bluffs of the Palos Verdes peninsula." This sunny backdrop just can't help but lend a breeziness to the series. It's all very Avengers gone Hollywood. Also, the team members are made up of lower-tiered characters and prone to second guessing themselves. Tigra and Mockingbird, both underpowered, don't believe they have anything to offer to the Avengers. Wonder Man has issues with death, having just come back from it and his Hollywood stunt man gig is always beckoning. An insecure Jim Rhodes is reluctant to tell his team mates that he's the one inside the Iron Man armor. Even Hawkeye, his personal mantra is "How would Cap handle this?" So, yeah, there's this palpable inferiority complex.

It doesn't bolster the ego that one of their first real calls to action has these Avengers contending with the menace of, er, the Blank. The Blank is this really low-rent newbie super-villain, and to top that cup of embarrassment, he manages to get away. The Blank, by the way, really, really gets under Wonder Man's skin. Thank goodness formidable villainy does step in when the new Goliath and then Graviton surface in Cali. The caliber of these Avengers being what it is, with a tentative Wonder Man and a back-up Iron Man comprising the "big guns," it would take teamwork to win the day. And some sneaky disguises.

AVENGERS #250 features both Avengers teams taking on Maelstrom in a frantic bid to avert global cataclysm, and it ends with a celebratory sunset cookout at the W.C.A. spread in Palos Verdes. This is followed with the bittersweet tale "...And Make Death Proud To Take Us!" from AVENGERS WEST COAST #100, and it opens with Clint's visit to Bobbi's grave and his reminiscing over a past adventure which took place right after the West Coast move.

For me, the breakout character is easily the enigmatic Shroud. The Shroud back then was rumored to be a crimelord and, no, he doesn't become an Avenger, even though Hawkeye offers him membership, but he does become a firm ally. He pops up here and there.

So all this was early West Coast Avenging, and it truly exuded a fun, addictive vibe (for me, anyway) and served as a lighthearted counterpoint to the drama taking place over there in the more stuffy and traditional Avengers Mansion. This was before the tone got darker, before the tragedy with Mockingbird, before Hank Pym's suicide attempt, before the Scarlet Witch went insane. And I think, regarding this series, I associated the good times with Hawkeye and Mockingbird still being a happy couple. When that went away, this comic book lost me somewhere along the way.

In the mid-80's, Marvel decided to publish a second Avengers series (today we have five!). It all starts when Hawkeye returns to Avengers mansion with his new bride, Mockingbird. There's short time for celebration, as the Vision decides it's time to expand to the left coast! With Hawkeye as team leader, he sets up shop with his wife in Palos Verdes, California. Not too long after, he recruits Tigra, Wonderman, and Iron Man (Jim Rhodes). Their first battle is against the lame-ass Blank (what a loser!) He escapes, and somehow releases Graviton! Lame name, but you may know him better as Count Nefaria! Graviton turns out to be a most formidable foe, and it will take all of the Avengers cunning to stop this guy