Avengers West Coast #102
The Avengers West Coast are Finished!
Both teams of Avengers have gathered at Avengers Mansion where the Vision declares that the Avengers West Coast have been deemed a failure and are to be shut down.[1] This comes as a shock to the team itself, particularly their leader the Scarlet Witch who demands answers.
The Vision explains that the western roster has been overshadowed by the core team, it has had an unstable membership, the absence of Wonder Man,[2] the groups increasingly erratic behavior and the fact that their headquarters is insecure and frequently under attack.[3] The Vision also points to the fact that the Avengers West Coast is becoming a costly operation to maintain and is only remaining solvent thanks to funding provided by the Maria Stark Foundation.
Captain America also points to the team’s loose cannon nature and un-Avengerly conduct, pointing to the recent incident in Genosha where War Machine fought Exodus as well as US Agents using brute force in the conflict instead of proper diplomacy.[4] The Vision proposes folding the west coast team into the core Avengers, bumping its membership into reserve status, this is not well received either. Giant-Man speaks up as a founding member and expresses a desire to figure something out. That’s when Iron Man arrives to give his own opinion as a founder as well.[5]
Iron Man points out the division between the two teams go much deeper than recent events, pointing to the schism starting during Operation: Galactic Storm when there were disagreements about if they should execute the Kree Supreme Intelligence for the war crimes he committed. While Captain America was staunchly against the idea, Iron Man and a group of other Avengers disagreed and seemingly killed the Supreme Intelligence anyway.[6] US Agent is about to get violent but Iron Man puts a hard stop, telling him that there will be no fighting here.
Seeing how tense things are getting, Jarvis interrupts the meeting to say that he has put out some food and refreshments. Both teams agree to take a break and while it does let off some steam, things are still tense between the two factions.[7] Iron Man thanks Jarvis for cooling things down for a bit and then tries to make peace with War Machine. However, Jim is still mad at Tony for betraying his trust and rather than listen to what Stark has to say, Rhodey quits on the spot and flies off.[8] Captain America takes issue with how Iron Man decides to leave things alone for now, pointing out that these divisions are just like Galactic Storm all over again. This angers US Agent who confronts Cap and almost throws a punch if not for Iron Man stopping him and reminding him that now isn’t the time for a fight.
The two teams decide to return to the meeting room and put the fate of the West Coast Avengers to a vote. Captain America, the Black Widow, Black Knight, Hercules and the Vision all vote to disband the group, while the Scarlet Witch, US Agent, Sersi, Spider-Woman, Giant-Man all vote to keep the team going. With Crystal abstaining from voting it is all left for Iron Man to make the deciding vote. He shocks everyone by voting to disband. Then in another surprise move, all the remaining west coasters — Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, US Agent, and Spider-Woman — quit the team, tossing away their Avengers ID cards.
Outside, Iron Man tells the Scarlet Witch that he voted to disband the Avengers West Coast because he has come up with a new idea and wants her and Spider-Woman involved, telling them that he’ll be in touch. After Iron Man leaves, Julia asks Wanda if they made the right decision, to which the Scarlet Witch tells her to ask again in six months.
As the dissolved west coast team leaves Avengers Headquarters, they are unaware that they are being observed by a group of individuals who are very interested in recent developments particularly how they will impact their targets, Wonder Man and the Vision.[9]
US Agent later takes a ferry out to the Statue of Liberty. Having lost total faith in the Avengers he tosses his shield and costume into New York Bay.[10]
Some time later, Wonder Man returns to Avengers Compound to announce his return to the team. However, he finds the place in ruins and totally deserted. Calling out for someone he ends up running into Iron Man who tells him that the team has been disbanded.
… This story continues in Force Works #1.
Recurring Characters
Avengers West Coast (Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Goliath, Wonder Man, US Agent, Spider-Woman, War Machine), Avengers (Captain America, Giant-Man, Vision, Black Widow, Black Knight, Hercules, Sersi, Crystal), Edwin Jarvis, (unidentified) Kalum Lo, Bo’Sun Stug-Bar
Continuity Notes
The Vision refers to the AWC as his failed experiment. It was the Vision who first proposed the formation of a west coast roster in Avengers #243.
Wonder Man quit the Avengers West Coast in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #17-18 due to his increasingly erratic behavior caused from being exposed to a nega-bomb explosion in the 9th issue of that series. Wonder Man was cured of this condition in issue #25 but remained off the team. The Vision states that their last record of Wonder Man’s whereabouts was when he fought the Hulk in the nation of Kanem. This was in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #26.
The Avengers Compound in California has seen better days after being attacked by Ultron in Avengers West Coast #89-90, the Pacific Overlords in issue #93 and the Power Platoon, Quantum, and Wundarr in issue #97.
This is in reference to the Bloodties event which took place in Avengers #368-369, X-Men (vol. 2) #26, Avengers West Coast #101, and Uncanny X-Men #307.
Giant-Man and Iron Man were founding members in Avengers #1, while Cap joined in issue #4 and the Vision in issue #58. Not long after this, in Avengers (vol. 3) #1, Captain America will be given founder status retroactively, taking over the position held by the often absent Hulk.
Operation: Galactic Storm took place in Captain America #398, Avengers West Coast #80, Quasar #32, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #7, Avengers #345, Iron Man #278, Thor #445, Captain America #399, Avengers West Coast #81, Quasar #33, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #8, Avengers #346, Iron Man #279, Thor #446, Captain America #400, Avengers West Coast #82, Quasar #34, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #9, Avengers #347, Captain America #401, Quasar #35. Although the Avengers believe the Supreme Intelligence had died, we saw in Avengers #347 that he downloaded his consciousness away from his physical body before the dirty deed was done. He’ll turn up again in Imperial Guard #1-3.
Giant-Man finds himself conflicted as he was a member of the west coast team for so long. He joined up on a support capacity in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #1 but returned to active duty in issue #21. After a break between issues #36 to 42, Hank took on a leadership role in Avengers West Coast #60. He then switched to a reserve status starting in issue #75. At the time of this story, Hank had just recently rejoined the east coast team in Avengers #366.
Jim is mad at Tony for faking his death in Iron Man #284 and keeping his survival a secret to nearly everyone including Jim. When Tony revealed he was alive in issue #289, Jim quit working for him. Eventually, as War Machine, Rhodes joined up with the AWC in Avengers West Coast #94. He and Tony will eventually reconcile in Iron Man #312.
These mysterious beings are called the Starstealth, a group of Kree that seek revenge against the Avengers for the collapse of the Kree Empire during Galactic Storm. We’ll see more of them in Force Works #1 and 12-14.
Although US Agent ditches his costume and shield here, he’ll go back to this look again in Avengers (vol. 3) #1.
