Avengers West Coast Annual #7

Assault on Armor City Part 2: Locate

Credits

This story continues from Darkhawk Annual #1…

During a battle with Savage Steel, Iron Man and Darkhawk have uncovered a plot to duplicate Tony Stark’s Iron Man technology. With Jim Rhodes captured, Iron Man wants to personally shut down the facility trying to replicate his technology and to save his friend. As such, he has asked the Avengers West Coast for help. With Hawkeye and Wonder Man agreeing to defend Stark Enterprises from attack, Spider-Woman and the Scarlet Witch are asked to rendezvous with Iron Man and Darkhawk.[1] When they also try to call in US Agent to assist, they get no response and have to go without him.

At that moment, US Agent is in downtown Los Angeles where he is running a sting operation on a drug deal. He is interrupted by Lou, a member of the Commission who wants to enlist him for a job to recover a stolen suit of Iron Monger armor.[2] The Agent isn’t too eager to work for them after his experiences with Mike Clemson, the agent who initially sent him to try and kill Spider-Woman and was later caught up in the Deathweb fiasco.[3] Lou insists that Clemson was a rogue agent when he is winged by a bullet shot from one of the drug dealers US Agent was trying to stop. US Agent takes the drug dealers down and decides to take the Commission job when he is offered to be paid for his services.

Meanwhile, Iron Man and Darkhawk are flying over Kansas City heading west. They discuss the interrogation they had with Savage Steel where they learned that he was under the employ of Anthony Power. Iron Man explains that Power was a political extremist who once went so far as to try and launch an attack on Russia.[4] He also recounts how, for a time, Power had transferred his mind into the body of his catatonic son.[5] This lasted until US Agent (then acting as Captain America) killed Matthew Power’s physical body.[6] This caused Anthony’s mind to be transferred back into his original body. The pair have arrived at their destination by the time Iron Man is finished his explanation, and the Avenger tells Darkhawk that now they have to wait.

Down below, Anthony Power has his men rough up Jim Rhodes as he is being interrogated. Power wants to know why Jim was posing as the Mauler prior to Savage Steel getting busted. Rhodes, however, refuses to talk, telling them that all he’ll give is his name, rank, and serial number. At one point, Jim manages to break free and tries to make it to the door, but the guards manage to subdue him again. Power then vows to get a straight answer out of Rhodes, even if it kills him.

While above, Darkhawk is getting impatient when a Quinjet carrying the Scarlet Witch and Spider-Woman arrives on the scene. The four heroes then land and attack Power’s facility. Inside, a team of scientists have just finished reverse engineering the Iron Monger armor and used its technology to build an army of Mek-Men robots. Darkhawk manages to destroy the Iron Monger suit and while he, the Scarlet Witch, and Spider-Woman deal with the Mek-Men, Iron Man goes deeper into the facility. Iron Man finds the central computer and hacks into it to learn how much data Power had stolen from Stark Enterprises and begins erasing all the information they stole regarding his Iron Man technology. Although he is briefly interrupted by two Mek-Men, Iron Man succeeds infecting the computer with a tapeworm virus that will purge it of all the stolen data.

Its at this time that Professor Power learns about the intruders in his facility and the damage they have done. Fed up with Iron Man’s interference, Anthony decides to kill Jim Rhodes by pulling some live wires from a nearby electrical panel and electrocuting his prisoner. Luckily, Iron Man arrives just in time to blast Power away with his repulsor rays. Iron Man then makes short work of Power and his guards just as Darkhawk and the others rejoin him. He checks to make sure that Jim is still alive. Rhodey is alive and well but allows himself to pass out after the ordeal that he just endured. With the immediate battle over, Iron Man tells the rest of his team that he learned who was responsible for the data breach at Stark Enterprises: Advance Idea Mechanics.

Meanwhile, Hawkeye, Wonder Man, and Living Lightning have arrived at Stark Enterprises to stand guard. As the head of security assures them it is unnecessary he is blasted from the air. When the trio look up they see the Seekers, Raiders, and other armored warriors diving down at them from the sky.

… This story concludes in Iron Man Annual #14.

Recurring Characters

Avengers West Coast (Iron Man, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, Mockingbird, US Agent, Living Lightning, Spider-Woman), Darkhawk, Professor Power, Jim Rhodes, Seekers (Chain, Grasp, Sonic), Raiders

Continuity Notes

1. When Living Lightning compares Iron Man to Captain America, Hawkeye corrects him by saying there is no contest between the two. This prompts Wanda to muse about how Hawkeye used to antagonize Cap when he first join the Avengers. Indeed, when Hawkeye first join the group back in Avengers #16, he thought he would be a superior leader over Captain America. Over time he came to respect Cap and recognize his leadership skills.

2. The Iron Monger was a suit of armor created by Obadiah Stane, adapted from early designs of Iron Man’s armor. Stane got access to this information when he took over Stark International back in Iron Man #172. He constructed the suit in Iron Man #200 and later committed suicide in that same issue after being defeated by Iron Man. A suit of Iron Monger armor ended up in the possession of the Commission on Superhuman Activities as seen in Captain America #354. Presumably, it was this suit that was stolen.

3. Mike Clemson tried to get US Agent to kill Spider-Woman in Avengers West Coast #71. He later was involved in Deathweb’s plot to assassinate a third party Presidential candidate in Avengers West Coast #84-86.

4. Power’s plot to launch a nuclear attack on Russia was chronicled in Captain America #264. Power was acting behind the scenes, working with Morgan McNeil Hardy.

5. In Marvel Team-Up #117-118 it was revealed that Matthew Power was left in a vegatative state after serving in the military. Professor Power later transferred his mind into the body of his son, Matthew, in Marvel Team-Up #124.

6. During the period US Agent was operating as Captain America (from Captain America #333-350) he encountered Professor Power. He kill Mathew Power’s body in Captain America #338.

Topical References

• US Agent is offered $1500 a week to work for the Commission. While this may have been a lot of money in 1992 when this comic was fist published, it’s not so much now. Adjusting for inflation this amount would be $3166 in 2022 money.

• When discussing Power’s planned attack on Russia, Iron Man refers to the nation as the Soviet Union asking Darkhawk if he remembers that place. This is because, at the time of this story, the USSR had collapsed a year prior. This should be considered a topical reference.

• When giving his “serial number”, Jim Rhodes jokingly lists off the names of breakfast cereals (get it?) Such as Post Toasties and Frankenberry. This should be considered a topical reference as they are real world products. Particularly Post Toasties as that cereal was discontinued in 2017.

A Study in Scarlet

The Scarlet Witch is running through a training session to make sure she has the best control over her hex powers. She tells herself that this workout is important as it will keep her from getting depressed in light of the fact that her husband, the android Vision, was disassembled and left an emotionless shell and that her children — figments of her imagination — no longer exist.[1] Momentarily distracted, a missile brushes past her head, knocking off Wanda’s head piece and the wig she is wearing while she waits for her hair to grow back in. She curses herself for the dumb idea of cutting it in the first place back when she was under Magneto’s influence.[2]

Suddenly a shimmering portal appears before her and Wanda sees an image of the Vision — from before he was disassembled — screaming in agony. The focus of the portal suddenly pulls out and reveals that she is witnessing the night the Vision was kidnapped by Vigilance, the organization that had him taken apart. She is surprised when she sees herself arrive on the scene and at first she wonders if this is merely a memory she has forgotten. That is until the Wanda in this scene actually saves the Vision’s life. The Scarlet Witch realizes that her hex powers haven’t somehow opened a portal to the past, but to another reality where things went differently.[3]

Time skips ahead and Wanda sees what would have happened on the day that her boys —Billy and Tommy — were erased from existence. The events play out as they originally did, with Agatha Harkness coming to the Avengers to tell them that Wanda’s twin boys were nothing more than fabrications of her imagination. The team was then attacked by Master Pandemonium who had come seeking the fragments of Mephisto’s soul that were used to create the boys.[4] However, in this reality, when the Avengers banished Pandemonium, Agatha Harkness used her magic to spare Tommy and Billy’s lives. Upon returning to Earth, Agatha explained that while the children were a product of Wanda’s imagination they represented her dream of having children. Seeing how happy Wanda and the Vision were having children, Harkness decided to spare the twins from the oblivion.

With that, the window to this other reality closes although Wanda tries to prevent it from doing so. Since this all happened at random, the Scarlet Witch figures she’ll never be able to peer into this alternate reality again. However, knowing that — at in one timeline — her family is still together and living happily gives Wanda the strength to keep moving on.

Recurring Characters

Scarlet Witch

Continuity Notes

1. At the time of this story, Wanda’s been through kind of a lot. The details:

   • First, her husband, the Vision was disassembled by an organization called Vigilance. While he was put back together he no longer had any emotions, effectively ending their relationship when he opted to leave her side. See West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42-45 and Avengers #312.

   • Not long after this, Wanda’s children were erased from existence during a battle with Master Pandemonium in Avengers West Coast #51-52. The children were originalyl created by Wanda’s magical powers making her pregnant. Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #3-12. They will be reincarnated in new bodies however, as we’ll learn in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #6.

2. After her ordeals, Wanda was influenced into becoming evil by Magneto but she eventually returned to normal as seen in Avengers West Coast #56-57 and 60-62. Here she refers to Magneto as her father. Wanda was led to believe this in Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4. However, it’s since been revealed that she is not Magneto’s daughter after all. In fact, she is not even a mutant. While her biological mother has been revealed to be Natalya Maximoff, the true identity of her biological father (as of this writing in October, 2022) has yet to be revealed. See Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5 and Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #3.

3. This alternate reality has been indexed as Earth-92077. The Unofficial Appendix lists this reality number without quotations, meaning that it has an official designation. It has been mentioned somewhere in a publication. Probably buried in one of the Marvel Handbooks published sometime after 2010. It’s not in the reality appendix of the hardcovers. I haven’t been able to find it, but if you know where it’s listed send me an e-mail and let me know.

4. As explained in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #9, Master Pandemonium was given his powers by Mephisto after he got in a fatal automobile accident. Mephisto tricked Master P into thinking that his soul had been broken into fragments and scattered. Pandemonium hunted for the fragments, little knowing that they were actually fragments of Mephisto’s soul after he was briefly destroyed by Franklin Richards in Fantastic Four #277. This was all explained in Avengers West Coast #52.

Mile High Mayhem

Julia Carpenter, aka Spider-Woman, is on a flight back to California with a on hour lay-over in her old hometown of Denver, Colorado. She decides to pass the time by meeting up with her old friend Yvonne, whom she hasn’t seen since college. The pair step into a nearby restaurant to catch up on old times.[1]

Julia explains that she went on a trip to decide if she should quit her current job. Not telling Yvonne that she’s actually Spider-Woman and is part of the Avengers West Coast, she says that it’s not that she doesn’t like her work or her co-workers, she just feels that doing so will give her more time with her daughter Rachel. The two catch up their persona lives and show each other photos of their children.

That’s when they notice a security guard rushing to talk on of the managers of air traffic control who is on his lunch break. Julia overhears how there is a plane that has suffered two engines going out and their landing gear is jammed. Julia tells Yvonne that this has got her upset and she excuses herself to go to the bathroom. This flimsy excuse allows Julia to change into Spider-Woman and she races out onto the runway to see what she can do to help make sure the plane lands safely. Using her psi-webs, Spider-Woman is able to soften the aircraft’s emergency landing and helps the passengers evacuate.

Once her job is done, Spider-Woman races back into the airport to change out of her costume. She realizes that she can’t give up being Spider-Woman because if she had, the passengers on the plane could have all been killed. When Julia returns to Yvonne, she is relieved that hadn’t figure out Julia is also Spider-Woman. Julia’s flight is delayed for another two hours and Yvonne stays with her the whole time. As it comes time to board her flight, Julia tells Yvonne to keep living her idyllic life. That’s when Yvonne drops a bombshell she’s been keeping this entire time: She has cancer and doesn’t have much long to live.

After a heartfelt goodbye, Julia boards her plane and on the flight home she comes to realize that no woman is truly unhappy as long as she is still alive.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Woman

Continuity Notes

1. Here it is mentioned that Julia was once married to Larry Carpenter. They have been divorced for many years now. Her marital situation was first explored in Iron Man #214. Julia doesn’t mention that Larry is dead here because this story takes place prior to Avengers West Coast #84-86.

Topical References

• The airport that Spider-Woman lands at is identified as the Stapleton International Airport. This should be considered a topical reference as it was replaced by the Denver International Airport in 1995.

• Yvonne specifically states that she is dying of breast cancer. At the time this story was published the survival rate for breast cancer was not very high. This was due to the fact that the mammogram — the revolutionary device that helps screen and catch this form of cancer before it becomes untreatable — was not widely available until 1997. According to the National Library of Medicine, the survival rate of breast cancer is now 95%. This will likely only trend upwards as new treatments come out in the future. As such, the type of cancer Yvonne is suffering from should be considered topical.

Ten Little Villains

Its a rainy evening in southern California and the Avengers West Coast are having a night in.[1] Ordering pizza they have decided to sit down and finally compile a list of their top ten villains.[2] This proves to be harder than they thought and there is much debate as they aren’t sure they have ten villains to choose from that aren’t already considered part of the eastern team’s rogues gallery. It’s decided that each member should come up with nominees for their list.

Spider-Woman nominates their most recent foes, the Pacific Overlords to be added to the list.[3] The Living Lightning also suggests they add the Night Shift, particularly since the team were the first ones to fight their new leader, the Hangman.[4] Wonder Man decides to nominate his brother the Grim-Reaper as well, which upsets him.[5] The Scarlet Witch can empathize with him, recounting how her brother Quicksilver had gone rogue in the past, even though he has since reformed.[6] Wanda then nominates Immortus to be on their list, even though he first meddled with the east coast team, his recent attempts to manipulate Wanda qualify him in her mind.[7] US Agent then points out that Master Pandemonium deserves to be on the list given how frequently he has fought the team in the past.[8] Iron Man then suggests adding Quantum and Half-Life, however since the pair were never really a team they are counted as two separate entries instead of one.[9] Hawkeye also suggests they add the Cat People,[10] as well as Dominus.[11] Lastly, Hawkeye thinks that the villain that deserves the number one spot is the first foe the team ever fought, Graviton.[12] When Iron Man suggests they also add the Blank — Graviton’s lackey at the time — Hawkeye declines since they haven’t seen that loser since that one encounter.[13]

With their top ten list done, US Agent suggests they next come up with a list of 101 bleeding-heart liberals that are a threat to the Republican Party. This is flat out rejected by everyone else.

Recurring Characters

Avengers West Coast (Iron Man, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, Mockingbird, US Agent, Living Lightning, Spider-Woman)

Continuity Notes

1. The west coast team decide not to add Ultron or the Zodiac to their top 10 list as the east coast team has fought them far more frequently:

   • Ultron first got his start fighting the east coast Avengers way back in Avengers #54. However, I’d argue that he’d also count as a west coast team as they have fought him on more than on occasion in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #1-2, 7, Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #1-2, and Avengers West Coast #66-68. He’ll also fight them again in issues #89-91 and Annual #8.

   • The Zodiac Cartel originally first fought the eastern team in Avengers #72. I would argue that the Zodiac team that the west coasters fought is distinct from the original cartel since they were all Life Model Decoys who then slaughtered most of the original group as seen in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #28-29.

2. US Agent mentions that he, Living Lightning, and Spider-Woman haven’t been on the team as long as the rest. US Agent was forced onto the team back in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #45, he was also briefly kicked off the team between Avengers West Coast #69. The Agent rejoin in issue #74 at the same time Spider-Woman and Living Lightning were offered membership.

3. The Avengers West Coast had just recently fought the Pacific Overlords in Avengers West Coast #70-74.

4. They first fought the Night Shift back in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #40 and again (when Hangman joined up) in Avengers West Coast #76-79.

5. Although the Grim-Reaper got his start as an east coast Avengers villain back in Avengers #52, he has mostly been targeting the west coast team around the time of this story due to his family relation to Wonder Man. See West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #1-2, Vision and Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #1-2, 12, and Avengers West Coast #65-68.

6. Wanda mentions how her brother Quicksilver briefly turned against the Avengers. As explained in X-Factor Annual #2, he was driven mad by the Inhuman known as Maximus. During that time, Quicksilver targeted the Avengers on two occasions in Avengers Annual #15/West Coast Avengers Annual #1 and again in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #33-36. He was cured of his madness in Fantastic Four Annual #21.

7. Immortus first targeted the Avengers back in Avengers #10. He had been manipulating the Scarlet Witch starting in Avengers West Coast #53. The west coast team clashed with him directly in issues #60-62.

8. Indeed, Master Pandemonium was one of the AWC’s earliest and most persistent foes as seen in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #4, 9, 14-15, and Avengers West Coast #50-52.

9. The AWC fought Quantum and Half-Life in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #12-13.

10. The team encountered the Cat People in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #6-7 and 15.

11. Dominus was responsible for trying to trap the Avengers in the past with a broken time machine that could only go backward as seen in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #17-24. Here, Hawkeye states that Dominus first antagonized the X-Men. Indeed, he first fought the mutant team in X-Men #21.

12. Graviton was the west coast team’s first villain fighting the group in West Coast Avengers #2-4 with the Blank. He fought them again with Quantum and Half-Life in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #12-13.

13. Indeed the Blank only fought the WCA that one time. He’ll be out of commission for years until he resurfaces again in Amazing Spider-Man #580.

Topical References

• The Avengers ordered pizza from Domino’s and are drinking Mountain Dew (gross). These should be considered topical references as these are real world products.

My Name is Legion

The Living Lightning is the guest of honor at this year’s Cinco de Mayo celebration in Los Angeles. After flying across the sky in his electrical form, Miguel Santos lands on a stage and resumes human form where he is joined by his mother Maria and brother José. They are introduced by a local politician and greeted with much fanfare. After addressing the audience, Miguel spends some time signing autographs for his fans.

Soon he is met by a man named Lou Denham and his two massive bodyguards. Lou was a former member of the Legion of Living Lightning, the terrorist organization that Miguel’s father was once a part of. Lou escaped the fate of the others when their hideout was destroyed by the Hulk some years ago.[1] Lou has been back to the ruins of their old hideout twice since then and noticed that someone had been tampering with the abandoned equipment there. He has correctly deduced that it was Miguel and that the equipment was somehow responsible for Miguel getting his electrical powers.[2] However, Lou hasn’t figured out how it all happened and has come hoping Miguel could show him so he can revive the Legion with an army of Living Lightings.

Miguel refuses, prompting Lou to have one of his men grab his mother and hold her at gun point. Miguel relents and says that they key was his St. Christopher’s Medal which he tosses toward Lou to look at. However, this is all a ruse as Miguel super-heated the piece of metal with his electrical powers. It burns at the touch, startling both Denham and his men. This allows Miguel to turn into his electrical form and blast the gun out of the hand of the bodyguard holding his mother hostage. The other gunman tries to shoot Miguel, but the bullets pass harmlessly through them and he quickly incapacitates them all.

Unfortunately, the stray bullets struck a little girl whom he just gave his autograph to. Santos is horrified, but the little girl is forgiving since it was an accident. The little girl is then taken away in an ambulance for treatment. This whole incident has taught Miguel that he needs to learn to be a smarter superhero from now on in order to prevent something like this from happening again. As Miguel takes off to follow the ambulance to the hospital, Maria tells José that she thinks her eldest son is going to be a good boy from now on.

Recurring Characters

Living Lightning, Maria Santos, José Santos

Continuity Notes

1. The Legion of the Living Lightning was trashed by the Hulk back in Tales to Astonish #97-99.

2. This was indeed the case. Miguel was poking around the ruined base and was jolted with electricity when trying to get the Legion’s old lightning cannon running again. See Avengers West Coast #63.

Topical References

• There are banners for Pepsi cola on display in this story. This should be considered topical as it is a real world beverage.

• One of the Cinco de Mayo revelers is depicted as listening to music on a Panasonic tape player. This should be considered topical as this is an obsolete technology as well as a real world brand.

Assault on Armor City Reading Order

• Darkhawk Annual #1

• Avengers West Coast Annual #7 <— You Are Here

• Iron Man Annual #14