Noteworthy Issues: West Coast Avengers #1 (September, 1984)

In light of the fact that Disney+ had that great Hawkeye series, I thought it would be worthwhile to look into a Hawkeye-specific comic, but not one of Hawkeye’s solo series.  No, instead, I am opting for the time he (with then-wife Mockingbird) set up their own Avengers team on the West Coast.  You know, a virtual West Coast Avengers.

Apparently, it started off as a four issue mini-series.

Issue:  West Coast Avengers #1, September 1984

Writer:  Roger Stern

Artists:  Bob Hall and Brett Breeding

The Plot:  Newlyweds Clint “Hawkeye” Barton and Bobbi “Mockingbird” Morse are trying to set up a new Avengers team outside of Los Angeles.   One small problem:  they have no Avengers to start with.

Commentary:  I have to admit that I like this set-up, and it is helped out enormously by the fact it’s written by Roger Stern. Stern is one of those old school writers whose work always manages to pack more plot into 22 or so pages without really trying than most, and that is every bit on display here.  Clint Barton is nothing but excited about the opportunity to lead a new Avengers team out in California, and new wife Bobbi isn’t even sure she deserves to be there.  It seems there’s an Avengers by-law that says the team can have no more than six active members at a time.  I have seen bigger Avengers teams, so I am guessing that rule no longer applies, but the solution to “too many Avengers” seems to be to have Clint and Bobbi go off and form their own six-member squad on the other side of the country.

To help out, the Vision, chairman on the East Coast, puts out a call to three reservist Avengers, asking them to go see Hawkeye for a pitch.  That would be Tigra, who doesn’t want to be a full-time Avenger at-present as she prefers to work with private eye Jessica Drew; Iron Man, who is currently Jim Rhodes and no one will listen to him long enough to find out it isn’t the Iron Man they all know; and Wonder Man, who is concentrating on his career as a Hollywood stuntman.  A potential sixth member takes the form of the blind hero the Shroud, following Tigra after she leaves Jessica’s office in a manner suspicious enough for Jessica to call Shroud to follow her.  The Shroud’s darkness-casting powers do cause the new Avengers team some problems, but he is eventually taken down and declines membership when offered because it would blow his cover as he is posing as a crimelord in order to take a number of underworld gangs down from the inside.

That, in a nutshell, is what happens here.  For all practical purposes, there is no West Coast team when the issue is over as none of the three heroes the Vision called commit to anything.  Hawkeye just rather assumes they will.  But it is a strength to Stern’s writing that he managed to nail the basic personality of each of the characters here.  Clint is nothing but enthusiasm and delight.  It is beyond his powers of comprehension that any of these people would tell him “no”.  Bobbi doesn’t believe she belongs there even with Captain America’s personal endorsement as she’s just a non-powered S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.  Tigra is the opposite of Clint when it comes to enthusiasm, and Jim Rhodes just wants the others to listen to him long enough so he can explain he’s not the experienced Iron Man they think he is.  Wonder Man gets less to do as he sits out most of the Shroud confrontation, coming in at the end and missing Clint’s whole spiel, but he’s the relaxed guy looking to go Hollywood, and he likewise may also be uninterested in being a full-time Avenger right now.  Basically, Stern has set up a group where most of them don’t even know if they want or deserve to be there, and the only thing that might be keeping them together is Hawkeye’s inability to listen to objections.

If anything, it was a bit disappointing that, well, there doesn’t seem to be any set-up for any sort of antagonist.  There’s no master villain hiding somewhere to strike.  The only real physical confrontation is a misunderstanding on who and what the Shroud is.    By issue’s end in what was, again, touted as a four issue mini-series, there isn’t really a team or a reason for them to be there aside from the “no more than six” rule.  I am sure they would meet an actual villain soon, but I would have hoped it would have been at least briefly in their first issue.

Grade:  B