Hawkeye and Hawkeye are back in action and they’ve brought a few friends with them… Your Major Spoilers review of West Coast Avengers #1 awaits!
WEST COAST AVENGERS #1
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Stefano Caselli
Colorist: Triona Farrell
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Editor: Alanna Smith
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: August 22, 2018
Previously in West Coast Avengers: Kate Bishop recently moved out to California to start a new life as a private investigator. So far, she’s been able to handle everything the West Coast has thrown at her. But it’s been throwing a lot harder lately…
LAND SHARK!
There’s something strange afoot as this issue opens, with Clint “Hawkeye” Barton sitting down for a taped interview with… someone? The topic of discussion is Kate “Hawkwye” Bishop and her latest outings as the leader of a new super-team. We get a flashback to their first outing, fighting off Land Sharks (which, by the way, are really hilarious looking creatures) and successfully, albeit barely, driving them back into the ocean. The situation gets even more intense when they all realize that if/when the creatures return, there aren’t any West Coast super-teams ready to fight them, off, causing Kate to start a recruiting drive. Their net brings in Gwenpool and former X-Man Quentin Quire to enhance their team, and the additional power comes in handy when former West Coast Avengers Tigra comes out of the sea… and she’s a couple hundred feet tall! The team engages her in battle, but their fight is interrupted by B.R.O.D.O.K.: The Bio-Robotic Organism Designed Overwhelming for Kissing. He’s pretty hunky and has beautiful hair…
“I EVEN COME WITH FINANCIAL BACKING…”
The “videotaping for some sort of documentary” wraparound sequence feels a lot like ‘The Office’, but in all good ways, especially since Quire’s videotapers are providing funding for the WCA team. The setup has a lot of quirky characters fighting menaces that are at once goofy and threatening, and I really enjoy the art throughout this issue. Tigra, for one, has never looked better, and the design of new hero Fuse is pretty solid. I really enjoy how incredibly expressive all of Caselli’s facial expressions are. The lineup also makes perfect sense, as Kate has previously had interactions with Gwenpool, Clint and America are two of her closest friends and the new team is uniting around her leadership. When B.R.O.D.O.K. arrives, it’s the perfect absurd ending for a fun, quirky and entertaining team.
BOTTOM LINE: THEY HAD ME AT 200-FOOT TIGRA
In short, West Coast Avengers #1 is a solid start for the new team, with expressive and clear art (including the hilariously terrifying land sharks), well-done characterization and a compelling mystery at the core of the story, earning 4 out of 5 stars overall. It’s always funny when Marvel realizes every few years that none of their heroes are in California and does something about it for a moment, and this is one of the strongest West Coast Avengers first issues I’ve read (and I’ve read ’em all so far.)
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