Avengers West Coast #70
The Pacific Overlords Part I: The Big One!
Spider-Woman, aka Julia Carpenter, is out on patrol around New Port Beach. Having just arrived in California from Denver, Colorado, she isn’t entirely sure why she has come out in costume as she isn’t certain if she wants to become the area’s next new superhero.[1] That’s when she notices a boat pulling up to the pier and from it come the super-villains Kuroko and Jawbreaker. Seeing Jawbreaker carrying a mysterious trunk as well as the unconscious Taifu, Spider-Woman deduces that they aren’t up to any good and ambushed them. However, she is no match for Jawbreaker’s cybernetic strength of Kuroko’s invisibility and is quickly knocked out to sea. This distraction gives Taifu time to recover but he is quickly knocked out again. Kuroko decides that they should get a move on as their master is still waiting for them.
Meanwhile, the first meeting of the new Avengers West Coast roster goes off without a hitch.[2] Hank Pym and the Wasp are glad things are going smoothly as it will allow them to soon witch over to reservists so they can get their personal lives in order. When Janet is cavalier about wanting to go out and meet men, Hank is unoffended as they mutually agreed to end their relationship for good.[3] Meanwhile, the ever flirtatious Tigra asks Iron Man if he can set her up on a date with Tony Stark. Since Iron Man is Tony Stark, he tells her that his alter-ego is away on business. This doesn’t phase Tigra who decides that they should go out instead and tells him to hold on while she slips on something less comfortable to wear than her usual bikini.[4]
Hawkeye also takes the opportunity to apologize to the Scarlet Witch about for his recent complaining since she has has gone through a much harder time than he has recently.[5] Wanda tells him it is all right as she is putting the past behind her and has decided to move forward. That’s when Quicksilver arrives and tells Wanda that he is leaving. Although he has been selected to be a reservist he only struck around until Wanda got back on her feet after recently losing her powers. Now that she is back to normal he’s taking off.[6] Before he goes, they recall how they were all Avengers together under Captain America many years earlier.[7] When Wanda wishes that they had a leader of Cap’s caliber taking over for Hank Pym, it gets Clint thinking.[8] As Hank and Janet part ways, the Scarlet Witch decides to check how Wonder Man is doing. She catches Simon on the phone setting up a date with an actress to go to a wrap party. After the call, Wanda tries to get him to talk, but Simon is still bitter that she ended their all-too-brief relationship and takes off.[9]
By this time, Jawbreaker and Kuroko have arrived at their master’s hideout, hidden inside the Filmland in Wax museum. They enter the secret laboratory of Doctor Demonicus who has set up shop here after being driven away from his previous bases of operation by various heroes.[10] After securing the traitorous Taifu, Demonicus shows the pair another prisoner of his, the Living Lightning whom he managed to reconstitute after he was seemingly destroyed in a fight with the Human Torch.[11] Demonicus hopes he can convince the Lightning to join his Pacific Overlords with the promise of restoring his humanity. With all this out of the way, the Doctor then opens the trunk that was brought to him and claims its content: A chunk of the alien Lifestone which will be instrumental to his latest schemes.
Meanwhile, Tigra and Iron Man are returning to Avengers Compound from their date when they catch Spider-Woman sneaking onto the property. Tigra doesn’t recognize her and tries to attack, but she is stopped by both Iron Man and Hawkeye who recognize her from past encounters.[12] Spider-Woman tells them about her encounter with the Pacific Overlords and she leads them to their hideout. Using a scanner, Pym is able to uncover the secret passage to the underground lab. There they are attacked by a massive bruiser called the Big One. As the Avengers fight their foe they quickly realize — to their horror — that Big One is a literal child who has been mutated into a massive hulk. After Spider-Woman wraps Big One up in her psi-webbing the team tries to figure out who would be responsible for such an atrocity. Even though his language skills are limited due to his age, the Big One is able to tell them that the man responsible is none other than Doctor Demonicus. Although they now know who they are looking or, they have no idea where he went or what he’s planning.
Recurring Characters
Avengers West Coast (Iron Man, Hank Pym, Wasp, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, Tigra), Quicksilver, Spider-Woman, Pacific Overlords (Doctor Demonicus, Big One, Jawbreaker, Kuroko, Taifu), Living Lightning
Continuity Notes
The reason why Julia has left Denver is because her ex-husband moved out that way and she decided to follow so she can be near her daughter, Rachel as will be explained in Avengers West Coast #72.
The team re-organized their roster last issue.
Hank and Jan were married years ago in Avengers #60. However, things tragically ended in divorce after Hank struck her in issue #213. More recently, the pair have been giving romance a second chance since West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42. However, last issue, the pair decided that they were better off as only friends from now on.
Iron Man is totally awkward during Tigra’s flirtatious display and for good reason:
First of all, Tigra had learned that Tony Stark and Iron Man were one and the same in Avengers #215-216.
Tigra has previously had a roll in the hay with Tony circa West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #12.
More recently, Tony went on a mission to brick all unauthorized use of his Iron Man armor putting him at odds with the US government. Since his double identity was secret at the time, Tony faked Iron Man’s death and then convinced the world he hired a replacement to wear the suit, as seen in Iron Man #225-232.
Tony has even maintained this ruse among those who previously knew his secret identity. However, Tony will drop all pretense among his teammates in Avengers West Coast #72.
Yeah, Hawkeye’s problems are like comparing apples to oranges to the Scarlet Witch. Clint is upset at being reprimanded for getting into a fight with US Agent last issue. Wanda on the other hand lost her husband, her children, and (briefly) her powers. See West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42-45 (the Vision is disassembled), Avengers West Coast #51-52 (the death of her children), 56-57, 60-62, (her manipulation by Magneto and Immortus and the loss of her powers) and 67 (her powers return) for the full story.
Here, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are referred to as mutants. However, years later, it is revealed that this is not really the case. When the pair were infants they were experimented upon by the High Evolutionary. In order to cover up his work he made it so they would register as mutants. See Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5.
Hawkeye, the Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver were part of the second team of Avengers under the leadership of Captain America as seen in Avengers #16.
Clint was the leader of the Avengers West Coast when the US Agent was assigned to the team in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #45. Although US Agent was supposed to take over leadership of the team, by the time Clint returned in issue #60, Hank Pym had assumed control of the team.
Wonder Man discovered that he was attracted to Wanda during the time the Vision was disassembled but it was unrequited. Wanda decided to give it a chance as she was recovering from her ordeals with Immortus starting in Avengers West Coast #63 but decided to end things last issue.
A footnote here briefly references Doctor Demonicus’ past appearances but doesn’t give issue numbers. They are referring to Godzilla #4-5, Shogun Warriors #12-14, and Iron Man #193 and 196.
The Living Lightning clashed with the Torch and was seemingly destroyed in Avengers West Coast #63. This story misattributes this to issue #62.
The pair first encountered Spider-Woman on the Beyonder’s Battleworld in Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #7-12. Iron Man more recently encountered her in Iron Man #214.
Topical References
Inside Hollywood in Wax are wax sculptures of famous celebrities, obviously. Among them are Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, Errol Flynn as Robin Hood, Cassandra Peterson as Elvira, John Wayne, and two other people I don’t recognize. These appearances wouldn’t necessarily be considered topical as wax museums often feature celebrities both new and old.
Jawbreaker recalls the “One of these days, Alice — Pow! Zoom!” catch phrase frequently uttered by Jackie Gleason’s character Ralph on the Honeymooners. The show ran from 1955 to 1956 and harkens back to the days when making jokes about hitting your wife were considered funny. It was a different time. This could be considered a topical reference. However, has endlessly been rerun in syndication to this day, so your milage on this may vary.