Weekly Poll 11/15/06: Who is the Best West Coast Avengers Writer?

[DDM]

Of the following:


Roger Stern (West Coast Avengers #1-4 limited series)
Steve Englehart (West Coast Avengers #1-41, Annuals #1-3)
John Byrne (West Coast Avengers #42-57, Annual #4)
Roy Thomas (West Coast Avengers #60-101)


Who is the best writer for the West Coast Avengers of the given creative changes on the book?

[Rich L]

This is a tough one - I think all the writers made great impacts on the team but I really have to go with Steve Englehart if only for the 7 part time travel epic.

[XPac]

This is tough.

Byrne stuff was probably the most memorable stuff. If anything put the West Coasters on the map, it was his stuff.

But I feel in love with the team during Engleharts stuff (and Sterns).

I'm not sure who I would pick at the best... the only thing I'm completely sure of is that I wouldn't vote for Roy Thomas stuff. The art and writing just lost me around that time.

[Kirk G]

This is tough.

Byrne stuff was probably the most memorable stuff. If anything put the West Coasters on the map, it was his stuff.

Can't argue with that, but the reason is probably self-evident. John has said many times that his approach was not to write a different, second team of West Coast heroes... what he was writing was the Avengers, who happened to be based on the West Coast when appropriate for the story. Hense, he was actually writing THE AVENGERS and that's why it feels that way. Serious, well plotted, sweeping, involved, and comprehensive.

In concert with this, I had a hard time not voting for Roger Stern. He's worked so closely with John, and coordinated storylines so well, that it's hard to separate them out at times. Certainly they BOTH have a great love of the characters and respect for the history...(even though they both invovated.)

Roy Thomas may have laid down some cannon, but it didn't feel like internal consistance and wasn't as carefully plotted in arcs and continued story for me. Englehart? Well, that just felt VERY off the wall in developments for me.

[mattbib]

Each week we'll have a poll to determine the forum's current feel on a topic. Feel free to submit a poll idea if you have one!


This week we'll be using DDM's thread!

[DDM]

I would have liked more character development of Firebird (aka La Espirita) & more sinister villains from Steve Englehart. I just can't take a Cactus or Rock villains seriously.

I think John Byrne has the most memorable run, although it is more the pity since he was unable for finish his storyline involing Immortus & the Scarlet Witch.

Roger Stern's original West Coast Avengers stories are very good. He would have been perfect for the West Coast Avengers ongoing book as well.

[kcekada]

Byrne got my vote.

Englehart's 80s work wasn't on par with his 70s work. The stiff Milgron/Sinnott artwork didn't help matters either.

Byrne's WCA run was classic -- and ended way too soon.

[Kefky]

I'm gonna have to say Englehart. I wish I could say Byrne because the run started out VERY promising, and the characterization was always great, but the way he just abruptly left kills it for me. The run just feels really incomplete to me. Englehart's may have some corny stuff that doesn't hold up well, but it still feels to me like the most successful run the book had. He's also the definitive Hank Pym writer, as fat as I'm concerned. Seriously, if you ignore the corny stories and dialog, the characterization holds up perfectly well.

[hawkeye comeback]

i love engleharts run
the whole ghost rider:Mockingbird strory was brilliant
i like moon knight as an avenger espiccially in the place with the moons
wonder-man went arrogant then nice again

and Byrnes run really only focused on scarlet witch visz + wonderman.
the only other charecters who did a bit were hawkeye cause he quit
but i do love human torch (original) as an avenger

[DDM]

I think Englehart created Master Pandemoneum. He's a very powerful character, but I like the twist Byrne used when Pandemoneum completed his star, it was in fact, pieces of Mephisto's soul. In one sweep, Mephisto is more powerful & he conned Pandemoneum in thinking he gained something by making an unholy deal with a devil.

I'm slowly buying more West Coast Avengers stories. The Steve Englehart issues are a bit corny, but I love the richly detailed continuity nods of the past.

[Babylon23]

I have to go with Englehart. Byrne's run was excellent, but unfinished. Had he continued, I'm sure I'd be voting for him.

Englehart produced a couple of really great stories. My favourite would have to be the initial WCA/Vision and the Scarlet Witch crossover story from WCA 1-2. his work with Ultron was also excellent, and I loved the time travel story, especially the Ghost Rider/Mockingbird story. Plus, his character development with Hank Pym went a long way to undoing the damage inflicted by Jim Shooter (unfortunately, current writers can't let it go).

[Kirk G]

As long as he doesn't resort to those funky, disjoined diagonal pannels, I'll take ANYTHING that Byrne choses to write regarding the Avengers. (I wasn't nuts about Mr. Fantastic, Sue and Ben joining the team, but the point was that it wouldn't work, so I'm not terribly upset with that development.)

Whatever came of Roger Stern's subplot about the Black Knight's ebony blade absorbing the stinger charge from Moonstone's blast?

[Kirk G]

Oops. Double post. Sorry guys.

[rwsmith]

All I know is I want to see Moon Knight as an Avenger again. Put he and Hawkeye on the Mighty Avengers team and it would be perfect IMO.

[Zero Hunter]

For the total package deal I have to go with Byrnes run. Englehart had some really good stories, but the art hurt the overall product. If they would have had a better artist on his run it could very well be my first choice.

[Kirk G]

For the total package deal I have to go with Byrnes run. Englehart had some really good stories, but the art hurt the overall product. If they would have had a better artist on his run it could very well be my first choice.
I just can't separate out a story like that. To me, the story is SO MUCH supported or hurt by the artwork that I cannot for the life of me imagine it drawn by someone else, or re-imagined by someone else. (See Marvel's attempt at having someone else tell the earliest Marvel groundbreaking stories... and having it die...):rolleyes:

[Shellhead]

Byrne got my vote.

Englehart's 80s work wasn't on par with his 70s work. The stiff Milgron/Sinnott artwork didn't help matters either.

Byrne's WCA run was classic -- and ended way too soon.

I agree. And this was a weird poll for me, because my feelings about each of these writers would be different if we were talking about other titles.

To this day, I remain underwhelmed by Roger Stern's work on Avengers, but he did a really decent job on the WCA mini-series. I could hardly wait for the monthly ongoing after enjoying the mini so much.

Steve Englehart remains one of my favorite Avengers writers, but I really hated the corny villains that he often created for the West Coast Avengers. His WCA time travel storyline was pretty good, but I was often disappointed with his run.

I was just starting to waver in enthusiasm for John Byrne's writing when he took over WCA, but he really brought the title back to life. Even though I hated what he did with the Vision, I admired the storytelling and artwork enough to get over it, even the new bleached appearance. And he had a good point... Vision was better when he was more creepy and robotic than when he became the nice old almost-human guy who still looked like a traffic light gone wrong.

Roy Thomas is another one of my favorite Avengers writers, but I couldn't stand his work on West Coast Avengers. I realize that he needed the work, but he just seemed to be going through the motions with WCA. I had a complete run up through the Byrne issues, but I mostly gave up after a few Thomas issues. Once in a while, I would give it another try and then get disappointed again.

[icctrombone]

I vote for Brynes run . The other runs were forgettable.

[The M.E.]

I know I'm in the minority, but I loved loved loved Roy Thomas' run. I started collecting AWC with issue 68, and subsequently got all the backissues. I loved Byrne's run, but Thomas gave me Spider-Woman, Living Lightning, the Hawkeye-Mockingbird reunion and so many other things I loved. That was the height of my comic collecting days :)