The team is founded by the Avenger Hawkeye in response to a suggestion by fellow Avenger, Vision, who at the time wished to expand Avengers' influence. Hawkeye recruits Mockingbird, Wonder Man, Tigra, and Iron Man, with the last actually being Jim Rhodes as opposed to Tony Stark, a fact initially unknown to the team. Together the team defeat a petty criminal called the Blank and later the Avengers foe Graviton.
The team would later take on Henry Pym as a scientific advisor and compound manager and battle a range of both old foes – including the Grim Reaper, Ultron, Graviton, and Zodiac – and new opponents such as Master Pandemonium. Former Fantastic Four member Thing and the heroine Firebird briefly allied themselves with the team. Henry Pym, who is saved by Firebird from a suicide attempt, and the adventurer Moon Knight formally join, while Iron Man is expelled for his actions during the Armor Wars. The "Lost in Space-Time" storyline began in issue #17 (February 1987) when Dominus sent the team back in time. The marriage of Hawkeye and Mockingbird is placed in jeopardy when, during this arc, she allows the Old West hero the Phantom Rider to die in a fall for deceiving and raping her.
After a trip to Hungary to investigate a report on Pym's second wife, the Wasp, the Scarlet Witch, and the Vision assist the team. Mockingbird, Tigra and Moon Knight leave the team together as a new short lived team called the Ex-WACOs over the Avengers rule of not killing in regards to Mockingbird's encounter with Phantom Rider. The Vision and the Scarlet Witch join the team as to not leave it short handed. Former Avenger ally Mantis makes a brief appearance.
That was only the tip of the iceberg. I loved the West Coast Avengers, or rather the Avengers West Coast as they would be called down the road more than the main ensemble roster of the Avengers' line-up as this group had issues. A lot of them for that matter. It was my first taste of everything not being peaches and sunshine on these various superhero teams. These characters had normal human, yet very relatable issues. Hank Pym dealt with chronic bouts of depression. Not to mention being friend zoned by Tigra...
Tigra struggled with an identity crisis after losing control of her cat-like powers at one point and being reverted back to her human state. She feared becoming Tigra as she was losing herself the more she stayed in that form so she sought out to reclaim her identity as The Cat, but Patsy Walker had taken up that mantle and costume as Hellcat in her adventures with her husband Helstrom. Mockingbird and Hawkeye had numerous ups and downs in their relationship. They were set to be married but the previously mentioned incident between Phantom Rider deceiving and raping Mockingbird that led her allowing him to die caused their marriage plans to be put on hold. There was some deep shit in these comics and it got more intense as the years went on.
Tigra struggled with an identity crisis after losing control of her cat-like powers at one point and being reverted back to her human state. She feared becoming Tigra as she was losing herself the more she stayed in that form so she sought out to reclaim her identity as The Cat, but Patsy Walker had taken up that mantle and costume as Hellcat in her adventures with her husband Helstrom. Mockingbird and Hawkeye had numerous ups and downs in their relationship. They were set to be married but the previously mentioned incident between Phantom Rider deceiving and raping Mockingbird that led her allowing him to die caused their marriage plans to be put on hold. There was some deep shit in these comics and it got more intense as the years went on.
The love triangle between Wonder Man, Vision, and Scarlet Witch is juggled in this series as well as hinting at Scarlet Witch's mental instability after her "children" are revealed to be fragments of the soul of the demon Mephisto. This drove her insane briefly, which led to both Vision and Scarlet Witch to separate. For crying out loud, this comic even brought back the original Human Torch (Yeah, that was a thing before the Fantastic Four came around in the 1950s) into Marvel Comics' canon. Over the decades, the team's roster would constantly change with a who's who cast of heroes being a part of the team's roster. Eventually, the constant in-fighting and drama between the heroes proved to be to it's detriment as Captain America stepped in to formally disband the team.
Most of the original line-up would live on in the short-lived Force Works team, but that's where my fondness with the West Coast Avengers would end. Force Works wasn't the same. They tried to rehash what was great about West Coast Avengers with a new coat of paint, but it was ultimately plagued by a ton of the tropes and bullshit that littered a lot of comic books in the '90s. The only thing good that came out of Force Works were their appearances in both seasons of the Ironman animated series as part of the Marvel Power Hour.
For the series, Hawkeye appeared in place of U.S. Agent (though he did appear in the eight issue adaptation of the cartoon). Shortly after the characters were written out of the series, Force Works was canceled at issue #22 (April 1996).
Off-topic, but who actually fucking remembers who the hell Century was? He definitely has to be one of the most obscure and easily forgotten characters out of Marvel Comics' ensemble of new additions in the '90s.
The West Coast Avengers remain as a fond reminder for me that these heroes aren't perfect and they are as flawed as me or you reading this, but they strove to continue making the world a better place regardless. This corner of the Marvel Comics Universe served as my introductions to a lot of these lesser known characters (at the time) that I would come to continue to admire to this day, especially after they would "graduate" from this team and move onto the main Avengers team or onto their own solo adventures.
Most of the original line-up would live on in the short-lived Force Works team, but that's where my fondness with the West Coast Avengers would end. Force Works wasn't the same. They tried to rehash what was great about West Coast Avengers with a new coat of paint, but it was ultimately plagued by a ton of the tropes and bullshit that littered a lot of comic books in the '90s. The only thing good that came out of Force Works were their appearances in both seasons of the Ironman animated series as part of the Marvel Power Hour.
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| In the animated series, Hawkeye fills the void that US Agent played in the comics. |
For the series, Hawkeye appeared in place of U.S. Agent (though he did appear in the eight issue adaptation of the cartoon). Shortly after the characters were written out of the series, Force Works was canceled at issue #22 (April 1996).
Off-topic, but who actually fucking remembers who the hell Century was? He definitely has to be one of the most obscure and easily forgotten characters out of Marvel Comics' ensemble of new additions in the '90s.
The West Coast Avengers remain as a fond reminder for me that these heroes aren't perfect and they are as flawed as me or you reading this, but they strove to continue making the world a better place regardless. This corner of the Marvel Comics Universe served as my introductions to a lot of these lesser known characters (at the time) that I would come to continue to admire to this day, especially after they would "graduate" from this team and move onto the main Avengers team or onto their own solo adventures.
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