AVENGERS:
WEST
COAST AVENGERS- SINS OF THE PAST (Marvel,
2011; Hardcover)
Collects
Avengers
Annual
No.
15, West
Coast Avengers
Nos. 10-16, and West
Coast Avengers Annual
No.
1 (cover
dates July, 1986- January, 1987)
Writer:
Steve Englehart, Danny Fingeroth (Avengers
Annual No.
15 only), and Mark Bright (co-plotter, West
Coast
Avengers Annual
No. 1 only)
Artists-
Pencilers: Al Milgrom, Steve Ditko (Avengers
Annual No.
15 only), and Mark Bright (West
Coast
Avengers Annual
No. 1 only); Inkers: Joe
Sinnott, Klaus Janson (Avengers Annual
No. 15 only), and Geoff
Isherwood (West
Coast
Avengers Annual
No. 1 only)
Steve
Englehart handles things so much differently than writers do
nowadays. All of the character development occurs while things are
happening, be it a battle, team meeting, etc. No 4-6 or more pages
wasted on breakfast table conversations where nothing actually
happens, unless you consider characters interrupting one another and
speaking in a singularly snarky voice as something happening. Wonder
Man's increasing arrogance, Tigra losing her soul, Hank Pym losing
his mind...these things all occur in ways that are organic to the
overall narrative and story.
 |
| Remember when superheroes didn't kill? Me too. |
One
of the charms of this title is how mismatched and disproportionate
the power levels are between the various heroes. You have Hawkeye,
whose only power is shooting arrows. Arrows for crying out
loud! I've always thought that he was a terrible Avenger, but here he
shines only because he is trying to be better than he really is as a
team leader. Mockingbird, while trained by S.H.I.E.L.D, only has
battle-staves to battle universe shaking threats. Iron Man is of
course extremely powerful. I love how he is constantly refining his
armor. Tigra gets a power upgrade in this book, and Wonder Man is
realizing how powerful he really is. It was a treat seeing Hellcat
(formerly known as The Cat, as in Claws of the...) and
Hellstorm, formerly the Son of Satan, back in action again, although
they were not official Avengers.
While
I enjoy Englehart's writing, his penchant for C and D list Bronze Age
villains can get silly at times. The Griffin, Razorfist, Zaran the
Weapons Master, Shockwave, Zzzax, Tigershark, and Whirlwind see our
heroes barely working up a sweat. Some of the new villains leave a
lot to be desired as well. Headlok? Quantum? Halflife? At least
Master Pandemonium is an interesting adversary. Fortunately we see
the West Coast Avengers put through the paces by some serious
heavyweights, such as Graviton, Freedom Force (formerly The New
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants), and the Zodiac.
Wonder
Man's new costume design is hideous, crossing the worst aspects of
his original costume with the worst aspects of his '80s one.
Mockingbird's new costume is a more subtle redesign. Both costume
changes occurred in issue 12.
I
don't usually associate Al Milgrom with quality artwork, but when
paired with a heavy handed inker like Joe Sinnott he does just fine.
They define the look of the title while Englehart spins his seemingly
endless subplots and epics. Like the rest of the run of this title,
these comics didn't redefine the medium or set the world on fire.
What they did do is provide solid, classic superhero stories, and for
that I am grateful. Life is heavy enough, and sometimes I just want
to see good guys beat up on bad guys and save the day.
Junk
Food For Thought rating: 3.75 out of 5.
The
OCD zone- That winking Hawkeye picture on the dustjacket from the
cover of issue 14 creeps me out.
The
late, lamented Marvel Premiere Classic line was sort of a
junior Masterworks line. Classic material presented in
hardcover with nice paper and sewn binding at a much lower MSRP.
Linework
and Color restoration rating: 5 out of 5. The restoration is
excellent throughout the book.
Paper
rating: 5 out of 5. Heavyweight thick coated stock, a bit too
glossy for my taste but still very nice.
Binding
rating: 5 out of 5. Sewn binding. The book lays about 95% flat.
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