West Coast Avengers Appreciation

[Flash's Lightning]

I actually began reading the west coast version of the Avengers before I began the Avengers proper series, so I break out those comics every now and then. Are there any other fans of the classic WCA/AWC series?

Favorite character: Spider-Woman II
Runner up: Wonder Man (back when his character wasn't so loopy)

Favorite issues: 84-86, Jessica and Peter
Runner up: 17-23, Lost in Space-Time

Favorite cover: #3, Tigra vs Kraven looks so awesome. Hated how Kraven makes Tigra seem so weak though in the battle. She should have torn him to pieces, but I digress...
Runner up: #17

I actually wasn't a huge fan of Force Works though, it just didn't have the same feel. It was like taking the 80's feel of AWC and giving it a 90's coat of paint, and it just felt unnecessary.

[Nomads1]

Actually, there are quite a lot of Whacos fans in these boards. A lot of people enjoyed WCA more than the main book when it was being published, myself included.My favorite period of the book was the Roy Thomas / Dave Ross period, followed by Byrne, and then Englehart, but I have a fondness for the whole run of the book. Also didn't see a need for the "modernization" of the WCA into Force Works (storywise, dead wife or not, I don't think Clint would have taken easily the disbanding of the team he founded. He would have fought the ECA tooth and nails for the right to continue the group, and there were enough heroes operating on the west coast for him to put together a team: Wasp, Tigra, War Machine, Living Lightning, She-Hulk - she was originally a resident of L.A. - Black Goliath, etc...) , nevertheless, I did enjoy the book.

Peace

[Flash's Lightning]

Actually, there are quite a lot of Whacos fans in these boards. A lot of people enjoyed WCA more than the main book when it was being published, myself included.My favorite period of the book was the Roy Thomas / Dave Ross period, followed by Byrne, and then Englehart, but I have a fondness for the whole run of the book. Also didn't see a need for the "modernization" of the WCA into Force Works (storywise, dead wife or not, I don't think Clint would have taken easily the disbanding of the team he founded. He would have fought the ECA tooth and nails for the right to continue the group, and there were enough heroes operating on the west coast for him to put together a team: Wasp, Tigra, War Machine, Living Lightning, She-Hulk - she was originally a resident of L.A. - Black Goliath, etc...) , nevertheless, I did enjoy the book.

Peace

I'm glad I'm not the only one. Over at DC, it was the JLI characters being mistreated, and here at Marvel it seems as though the WCA's don't get any respect. SpiderWoman II is now just a plot device to see the future. US Agent and War Machine are the two most in the forefront, but even they aren't exactly top tier. Tigra at least is finally rebounding after the Hood subplot; she's doing well at the Academy. Black Goliath is dead. She-Hulk is now catatonic last I saw, and we don't even see the others.

*edit to add that Hawkeye is probably exempt from this, but he was an Avenger east before he was west

[fedup23]

I just finished filling in my few missing issues of the entire run last month at MotorCity comic con. I have always loved the series. The West Coast compound doesnt seem the same serving as the AA kids school. :(

[graffiX]

I loved West Coast Avengers growing up. It really got me started on team books. My favorite character at the time was Hawkeye and my favorite story arc was the Lost In Time run.

I started to lose interest after the Byrne run. At that point my main focus shifted to the X-books.

[Jack Hart]

West Coast Avengers was my favorite comic of the time. I really wanted to be a big Force Works guy, but the 1st issue was the only one I got. The death of Wonder Man really pissed me off, and that was that.

[marshal99]

Favorite cover: #3, Tigra vs Kraven looks so awesome. Hated how Kraven makes Tigra seem so weak though in the battle. She should have torn him to pieces, but I digress...

You have to remember Tigra actually has a bit of history with Kraven the hunter dating back to one of her earlier appearances in Marvel chillers.


Kraven then later defeated and kept Tigra as a mind control slave in marvel team-up so Kraven actually do have history of beating Tigra.


Always liked the west coast avengers , not a huge fan of al milgrom art though.

[Flash's Lightning]

That's cool, I didn't realize they had such a history. I think it's mentioned they know each other, though I didn't realize the extent.

I still wish she'd have torn him apart...

[turtletrekker]

The original mini and the team-up with the east-coasters in Avengers 250 were my favorite, all too brief, era. As I understand it, and if Roger Stern happens upon this thread, perhaps he can confirm or deny, the original plan was for the the two teams to alternate tales in the main book, but the mini was so successful that a new monthly was created. Kind of a shame, as I would have loved to see the team remain under Stern's creative control for a while longer.

[Nomads1]

West Coast Avengers was my favorite comic of the time. I really wanted to be a big Force Works guy, but the 1st issue was the only one I got. The death of Wonder Man really pissed me off, and that was that.

It pissed me off too, seeing that Simon was always my favorite. However, I did give the book a chance, and, IMHO, Force Works turned out to be pretty good. I don't think it mesured up as a substitute to WCA, seeing that the book had a completly different feel to it, but, standing out on it's own, it was quite good. Lot's of crazy and interesting concepts.

The original mini and the team-up with the east-coasters in Avengers 250 were my favorite, all too brief, era. As I understand it, and if Roger Stern happens upon this thread, perhaps he can confirm or deny, the original plan was for the the two teams to alternate tales in the main book, but the mini was so successful that a new monthly was created. Kind of a shame, as I would have loved to see the team remain under Stern's creative control for a while longer.

That's pretty much the way I heard it. Englehart was back at Marvel, and intrested on working again with the Avengers. Since Marvel wanted to keep him happy, they gave him the book, and the rest, as they say, is history. I too, would have liked to see Stern continue ahead of the team.

Peace

[Bad Wolf]

I liked the original miniseries and the Byrne run. Really dislike the Englehart.

Favorite character: Tigra

[baltiroo]

Love the Whacos so much even though I stumbled onto them in the mid-80 issues. I was so intrigued that I got all the back issues to complete the series. Great interplay and while there were some hiccups for the most part it was solid. Wish that we could see the Whacos assemble again (besides the brief War Machine reunion a few years ago - although that was pretty awesome!).

[XPac]

I have every issue of West Coast Avengers... it was probably the only time I thought about collecting comics from a completist perspective... so I was a fan.

Favorite character was probably Wonder Man. Though I wasn't a huge fan of the arrogant "team jerk" phase he went through at the start of it.

Favorite era was probably Byrne's run.... for a while I actually felt that West Coast Avengers was THE Avengers book. As much as I loved the Wackoes, it did have a sort of B team stigma.

Favorite issues were probably the annuals with the soft ball games against the East Coasters. That was just a fun era for the book in general. Later annuals weren't quite as cool.

It's a shame West Coast Avengers ended for Force Works. I understand the idea behind it... but I think having a book that had a more distinct identity beyond just being an Avengers team in Cali made sense. But I just didn't like the book all that much. And it killed Wonder Man... that pretty much killed my buzz for the book right out of the gate.

[Will.S]

My first Avengers issue was also a West Coast Avengers issue.

I really enjoyed the mini series and the various Annuals that XPac mentioned. Interestingly, the closest thing to it these days is Avengers Academy which has a good bunch of WCA characters and is a great title to boot.

I also thought Greg Pak bringing the team back in War Machine was a nice touch.

[Frank]

I loved the Byrne WCA, there was such a "anything can happen" feel to it, Byrne was let out of his cage and he was screwing with the team just for fun. I also liked the roster with WM, Hawkeye, Wanda, Tigra, Wasp, US Agent, Human Torch, Pym. When Byrne came along, it's like he knew he was a star and he was coming in with that perceived notion, people wanted him take shake things up, to impress them because of his status and he didn't want to disappoint them. I wish he would have stayed a lot longer. Once the Vision thing ended, he was gone.

The Englehart stuff was also pretty fun, it was pretty crazy.