Avengers, Vol. 1, Issue 250 (December 1984)

WEST COAST CREDITS!

Writer: Roger Stern

Penciler: Al Milgrom

Inker: Joe Sinnott, Ian Akin, and Brian Garvey

WEST COAST SUMMARY!

The return of Maelstrom brings together the Avengers of both coasts for their biggest fight yet.

WEST COAST THOUGHTS!

If you’re wondering why we went from West Coast Avengers #4 to Avengers #250, it’s because I’m following the instructions at the end of the mini-series, which kindly suggested I follow  the West Coast Avengers here. So here we are.

The first thing I noticed about the issue is Al Milgrom’s art, who has always been the artist I associated with West Coast Avengers. While I loved his art as a kid, it’s a bit of a step down from Bob Hall’s work in the mini-series.

Stern does a good job making the West Coast Avengers’ appearance in the book make sense, as well as progressing the storyline he established in the mini-series. Though, if this issue were the first time I met the West Coast Avengers, I’d think they were just a group of insecure and whiny heroes.

Tigra and Wonder Man continue to be touchy. If they’re in a relationship, it hasn’t been mentioned at all, unless I somehow missed it.

There’s really nothing to really say here. It’s all pretty much by the numbers. Maelstrom appears. The teams unite. They fight Maelstrom and win. There’s a small bit about Captain Marvel conquering her fears which is just an easy way to remove her from the board, just like every JLA story has to get Superman out of the way first.

If it weren’t for the West Coast Avengers being here, I’d have no interest in reading this issue.

WEST BOAST OR ROAST?

Roast! For a big anniversary issue, this one falls short.

WEST COAST SCENE (OF THE WEEK)!

Iron Man: “I bet I can get everyone thinking the same thing. Am I right or am I right?”

West Coast Avengers, Vol. 1, Issue 4 (December 1984)

WEST COAST CREDITS!

Writer: Roger Stern

Penciler: Bob Hall

Inker: Brett Breeding and Peter Berardi

WEST COAST SUMMARY!

Once reunited, the team comes up with a plan to rescue Wonder Man and stop Graviton once and for all.

WEST COAST THOUGHTS!

This issue starts off strong with Tigra’s dramatic appearance as she rises to the surface with the Shroud. From there, there’s move pretty fast as the team decides to rescue Wonder Man…from the bottom of a pool.

Jim Rhodes finally steps up and announces to everyone that he’s really Iron Man. It’s a cool moment, but there’s really no reason why this particular time is any different to reveal himself than before. I’m just thankful that he doesn’t do the glove thing again like he did with Tigra. Hawkeye gets annoyed about all this, as he doesn’t like the idea of working with an amateur Iron Man. But naturally, thanks to a convenient one panel flashback, Hawkeye ends up accepting Rhodes as Iron Man.

Now we get to the big plan to rescue Wonder Man and stop Graviton. It’s strangely complicated and falls apart when you think about it too closely. But here goes: Tigra, pretending to be Madame Masque, and Hawkeye, dressed up as a hybrid of Simon & Simon, visit Graviton to see about consolidating the South California gangs. Madame Masque then flirts with Graviton and wins his trust. Just then, Iron Man appears and attacks. Graviton protects Madame Masque while Iron Man knocks Hawkeye into the bushes. Mockingbird, who has been pretending to be a bartender in Graviton’s pad (how this happened is not explained), appears and attacks. A dummy dressed like Hawkeye flies in on a rocket bike thing, which Graviton gets rid of easily. But the whole point of the dummy was to allow Hawkeye access to his costume and gear. While all of this is going down, Wonder Man has been slowly working his way to the top of the pool (Bob Hall really sells these scenes, by the way) and attacks Graviton.

So now the whole team is hitting Graviton with everything it has, particularly Iron Man who has a cool moment with an electric substation, until he’s weakened. Tigra then reveals that she was really Madame Masque and punches Graviton in the face, and Hawkeye appears with some tranquilizer arrows, and he’s finally down.

The thing is, it’s made clear that Graviton has been drugged somehow, which is why the team had a shot in defeating him. I’m assuming that it was Mockingbird pretending to be Diane Chambers that did it. But if that’s the case, why couldn’t she just use a stronger drug that would’ve knocked him out completely, rather than just make his groggy? Then the team could’ve swooped in and spent the evening writing stupid things on his face with a magic marker.

Not the best plan in the world. But it did rescue Wonder Man from the bottom of the pool.

The issue ends with the team finally reunited at the BBQ. And Wonder Man and Tigra get creepy and all touchy-feely (see image below) and Hawkeye making one of his overcompensating pep talks.

WEST BOAST OR ROAST?

Boast! Despite the over complicated nature of the team’s plan, this is a fun issue. Every one gets a moment or two to really shine, especially Iron Man and Wonder Man. I’m happy to see the mini-series ending on a high note.

WEST COAST SCENE (OF THE WEEK)!

There’s nothing like a little awkward flirting while everyone watches…

]]> http://www.puffchrissy.com/headline/west-coast-wednesdays-west-coast-avengers-vol-1-4/feed/ 0 http://www.puffchrissy.com/headline/becks-new-toons-on-the-blog-does-drunk-hulk/ http://www.puffchrissy.com/headline/becks-new-toons-on-the-blog-does-drunk-hulk/#comments Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:56:03 +0000 Christian A. Dumais http://www.puffchrissy.com/?p=4397 Beck from New Toons on the Blog came up with the clever idea of cartoonify-ing tweets back in 2009 and has been doing it regularly ever since. I discovered him last Friday when he graciously used one of Drunk Hulk’s tweets from earlier last week to create this comic:

I encourage you to go to Beck’s site and go through his comics. Beck’s work is a mad hybrid of Gary Larson’s The Far Side crossed with something you’d find in The New Yorker. I absolutely love it.

Go and discover it for yourself.

And follow him on Twitter. Who knows, maybe he’ll cartoonify you next.

I was reminded of this last Christmas when I saw him again in the States and within an hour, my stomach was aching from laughing so much. We have a certain shorthand – as friends do – in getting each other to laugh, but I’ve seen him work a room of drunk strangers into uncontrollable fits of laughter. A lot of this has to do with the fact that he’s overflowing with enthusiasm, and it’s impossible not to get caught up in it.

He’s also been amazingly patient with my bullshit over the years whether that’s been spotting me money even when he didn’t have any (those midnight pancakes don’t pay for themselves!), transporting my unconscious body from Point A to B, supporting my romantic interests even when they were overtly destructive, and dealing with my incessant moodiness. On top of that, he allowed me to write about him when no one else was comfortable with the idea.

For those who’ve paid attention to my work over the years, you’ve probably noticed that Sean has always had a major role in my life. His presence is significant in Empty Rooms Lonely Countries, and when I was putting together Cover Stories, I was thrilled to have him participate in the project in a way that allowed his knowledge and talent of music (both personally and academically) to really shine.

The fact that I can call him Dr Murray is something that delights me to absolutely no end. His students are lucky to have him, and I hope they catch on to that quick enough to let him know.

Anyway, today is his birthday.

My friend and brother deserves the best day possible. And the best year possible. It pains me that I can’t be there (in fact, I can’t remember the last birthday I was there for).

Happy Birthday, Sean Murray.

I love you, brother.

West Coast Avengers, Vol. 1, Issue 3 (November 1984)

WEST COAST CREDITS!

Writer: Roger Stern

Penciler: Bob Hall

Inker: Brett Breeding

WEST COAST SUMMARY!

The West Coast Avengers get a little downtime after rescuing Los Angeles from a freak snowstorm. But before they can enjoy their BBQ, Wonder Man and Tigra help Shroud resolve a gang matter that brings them face to face with Graviton.

WEST COAST THOUGHTS!

The cover’s not exactly accurate as only Tigra and Wonder Man (with the Shroud) have a tangle with Graviton, but that’s no big deal.

The first thing that surprises me about this issue is how continuity heavy it is, as the snowstorm at the beginning of the issue ties in with events happening in Thor at the time, Wonder Man’s exposition with Tigra brings up a lot of Avengers’ history, Jim Rhodes confession to Tigra is connected with events in Iron Man, and Graviton’s exposition brings up past Avengers and Thor stories, as well as Secret Wars. Not that it’s a problem, because the book does a great job in citing what issues to look up for the rest of the story, but I’d forgotten how these old comic books so willingly flaunted its own continuity.

That said, the introductory conflict (snowstorm) is a side effect of a story the book has nothing to do with and hadn’t been hinted at before, and it disappears as suddenly as it appears. Right now, if we looked at all the conflict’s the team has had, it would amount to a misunderstanding, a fight with a hack villain, and a snowstorm that has nothing to do with anything.

I’m really starting to wonder why I loved this team so much.

Once the snowstorm is over, Hawkeye decides to have the first annual Avengers BBQ. Everyone is pretty pumped up about this except Wonder Man, who is still bummed out about letting the Blank get away coupled with his issues about being resurrected from the dead. All this has him wondering if he’s really Avengers material. Luckily, Tigra is there to talk to him after Iron Man passes on the opportunity. And Tigra tells Wonder Man her own insecurities, all the while flaunting her half naked body in front of him, even going as far to show him her amulet that allows her to look like a normal woman.  It sounds terribly dirty, I know.

From there, it’s one coincidence after another which finally leads to Tigra, Wonder Man and Shroud confronting the Blank, and then finally Graviton. Graviton ends up double-crossing the Blank, as these villains do. And sends the Blank, Tigra and Shroud flying into the Pacific Ocean, leaving Wonder Man trapped under water in the pool. The issue ends with Graviton standing by the pool with two women in bathing suits as they watch Wonder Man drown. If you’re interested, one of the women looks frightened while the other looks fascinated.

The cliffhanger doesn’t really work, as we know Wonder Man is indestructible. So the possibility of Wonder Man drowning doesn’t seem to be that threatening.

A couple of other things: I love the fact that everyone is in costume at the BBQ, and how Rhodes, as Iron Man, is stressing out on how to eat without revealing his identity. Speaking of, he does reveal that he’s not Tony to Tigra, but does so by removing his glove. While I appreciate the whole “Obviously I’m not Tony because I’m black,” it would’ve made more sense just to take off the helmet and, you know, say, “I’m not Tony; actually, my name’s Jim.” Also, considering the amount of insecurity on display here, I’m not surprised the Avengers sent these guys out west.

WEST BOAST OR ROAST?

Boast and Roast! The writing here is a little awkward, especially in the exposition dumps. While I know it was how these stories worked back in the day, it feels like tire screeching decades later.

WEST COAST SCENE (OF THE WEEK)!

Iron Man caught red-handed?

I read one very creepy little vignette called “Leave Me the Way I was Found” by Polish writer Christian A. Dumais. It’s about a video that can drive people to suicide or homicide, that finds its way onto YouTube courtesy of a mysterious person who uses the handle “albertfish.”

There’s a bit more, including a bizarre bit of synchronicity. And yeah, I know I’m not Polish, but I don’t mind playing one on television.

If you like what you see, consider giving the magazine a shot and click the image below.

And so, I decided to make my own Chili Ginger jam.

The cool thing about this sort of thing is that you end up making a ton more than what you’d be getting at the store, which is why my refrigerator is full of jam. I even debated how many jars to buy and, of course, I didn’t buy enough. So instead of the 340 grams I’d be getting at the store, I now have about 1.4 kilograms worth of the stuff.

And amazingly enough, it tastes so similar to the store brand it’s crazy. I expected it to be good, but I didn’t expect to end up with jam that had the same taste and consistency of the real thing, especially on the first try.

Most importantly, it passed the Wife Test, which can be even more difficult when dealing with spicy dishes. She loved it.

In fact, it’s just the right amount of sweet and spicy, with just enough spiciness to keep things interesting. It’s not overwhelming at all (and a lot of that probably had to do with my decision to de-seed 50% of the peppers I used). It’s really a perfect addition to bread and meat.

I’m going to make a couple of more batches and play around with the recipe here and there. My goal is to try and make something new rather than imitate what I already love. Once I feel I have something solid, I’ll post the recipe here. But there’s a ton of recipes online already if you want to get a head start by yourself.

West Coast Avengers, Vol. 1, Issue 2 (October 1984)

WEST COAST CREDITS!

Writer: Roger Stern

Penciler: Bob Hall

Inker: Brett Breeding

WEST COAST SUMMARY!

Everyone practices working together as a team while Wonder Man has a run in with the bank robber known as the Blank. After the Blank escapes from Wonder Man, the team gathers to take down this low level nuisance once and for all. And finally, we get a brief look at the team’s first serious threat to come.

WEST COAST THOUGHTS!

This issue works a lot better than the first, that’s for sure. Hawkeye, who was glowingly optimistic in the previous chapter, comes off as being horribly passive-aggressive this time around. He has one run in with Iron Man that feels petty (see below), but maybe that’s Hall drawing Hawkeye to look angrier than Stern intended. Later, after Wonder Man’s first meeting with the Blank, Hawkeye is trying to calm Wonder Man. He says, “What’s eating you? Look, I can understand that you’re unhappy that you let him get away…” This is interesting because Wonder Man didn’t let him get away and I’m surprised Wonder Man didn’t punch him right there.

I’m also not buying why Jim Rhodes feels he needs to keep his identity a secret, especially when Hawkeye keeps saying things like, “Remember that one time when we made out, Tony? Remember how hot that was?”

The Blank has all the Marvel trademarks of a bad guy. A down on his luck guy stumbles across an invention that provides him with a “slippery force-field”. Naturally, he decides to rob banks. And that’s about as deep as it gets for the Blank. It is interesting to note that his origin is a cool inversion of Daredevil’s origin.

The big high point of the issue is seeing Wonder Man moving by lifting the back wall of his house like a garage door, taking everything out of the house (not sure how he does this while holding the wall up), putting his things into one giant wooden crate made of the strongest wood in the world, and then putting the wall back down. Also of interest, books and fragile things go in the bottom of the crate and weights go on the top.

Anyway, this is the first time the team is working together to fight a legitimate threat that doesn’t amount to a misunderstanding. How do they do? Not so bad, but there does seem like a lot of emphasis on their searching for the Blank instead of the actual fight. I suppose this is to help ground the story and show how things are different on the west coast (This isn’t your grandma’s Avengers, kids!).

Most importantly, the ending introduces Graviton, who will be the big bad for the rest of this storyline. And the introduction shows a lot of restraint, ending with a final image that certainly works. Things look like they’re picking up.

WEST BOAST OR ROAST?

Boast! The sophomore issue doesn’t have the problems the first one did (stupid freshmen!) and the storyline has finally picked up some momentum.

WEST COAST SCENE (OF THE WEEK)!

Hawkeye can be a real jerk sometimes.

Leave Me the Way I was Found by Christian A. Dumais – This short tale is very Ringu-like and eerie, about a video that causes sickness in the masses. There’s a melancholy sense of doom that hangs over it like a cloud of acid.

Go and read the rest of the review here.

And when you’re done, go buy a copy of Shock Totem here.

]]> http://www.puffchrissy.com/featured/shock-totem-2-review-5-out-of-5/feed/ 1 http://www.puffchrissy.com/headline/west-coast-wednesdays-west-coast-avengers-vol-1-1/ http://www.puffchrissy.com/headline/west-coast-wednesdays-west-coast-avengers-vol-1-1/#comments Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:03:52 +0000 Christian A. Dumais http://www.puffchrissy.com/?p=4223

West Coast Avengers, Vol. 1, Issue 1 (September 1984)

WEST COAST CREDITS!

Writer: Roger Stern

Penciler: Bob Hall

Inker: Brett Breeding

WEST COAST SUMMARY!

Hawkeye gathers Mockingbird, Tigra, Wonder Man and Iron Man together for the first time. And before some of them can voice their concerns about being on the team, the West Coast Avengers compound is attacked by a mysterious figure.

WEST COAST THOUGHTS!

Even though this is the first issue of the series, this one feels exceptionally heavy in the exposition. Everyone seems to be talking to one another for the first time in their lives, even though it’s established they have known and worked together before. The use of a misunderstanding to provide the team with its first fight feels unnecessary and ultimately disappointing. On top of that, there’s no cliffhanger, unless readers are meant to be on the edge of their seats wondering if Hawkeye will be able to finish pep talking the team to death.

Through all that exposition, team dynamics are being established. Mockingbird appears to have a secret. Tigra is insecure about being on the team. Iron Man is actually Jim Rhodes instead of Tony Stark, and the team is unaware of this detail, despite the fact that Stark doesn’t stutter his way through conversations like Rhodes does here. And Wonder Man’s conflict appears to be his inability to effectively hide how incredibly lame he is.

Speaking of Wonder Man, his powers include invulnerability and an overabundance of pockets. He does have one cool moment where his body is so hot that water boils off of him when they try to cool him off. But then he immediately goes to his trailer (he’s a stunt man on a movie set) and puts on the kind of costume a schizophrenic hobo would find on a shopping spree at Goodwill. And then to make matters worse, he sports porn sunglasses from the Seventies.

If I’m not mistaken, this particular costume is the first of many poor fashion choices Wonder Man will be making throughout this series.

I want to point out that Rom being on the cover was the coolest thing ever when I was a kid. And I’m fairly convinced that his floating head on the cover was designed solely for me to part with three quarters for the issue. I’m not sure I’ve ever forgiven Marvel for lying to me like that.

Maybe if Rom were never on the cover, I would never have picked this comic book up, and I wouldn’t be spending my free time now re-reading all of these books. I’d be outside, with or without pants, running free, meeting people or doing whatever it is normal people do.

Yeah, it looks like this is going to be a long couple of years.

WEST BOAST OR ROAST?

I’m going to have to roast this one. The absence of a major threat to kick things off is problematic and there’s way too much standing around and talking.

Sorry, eleven year old me.

WEST COAST SCENE (OF THE WEEK)!

Really, Iron Man?

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