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West Coast Avengers #4: Review

Nov 2018
Kelly Thompson, Stefano Caselli

Story Name:

(no title given)

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

West Coast Avengers #4 Review by (November 30, 2018)
In this issue (and #2) it is mentioned that Quentin Quire has lost much of his power due to a good deed. In Thor (2016) #19 the Phoenix Force gave him a bit of its power to defeat the Shi'ar gods K'ythri and Sharra. In Generation X #86 (Legacy numbering) he used it up to save the life of Jubilee.

Who are the villains at the end this issue?:-

Eel (Edward Lavell) is the 2nd Marvel villain to use that ID. The original (Leopold Stryke) was killed in Ghost Rider (1973) #21. The new guy surfaced in Power Man & Iron Fist #92. I think all of his apps have been as part of villain groups, but in Amazing Spider-Man (2014) #5 he seemed to have risen up the ranks in the Maggia.

Satana Hellstrom is the younger sister of Daimon Hellstrom and they are both children of Marduk Kurios, 1 of several beings to have used the name Satan in Marvel comics. She débuted in Vampire Tales #2 and like her brother she has vacillated between good and evil and all points between. Lately she was 1 of the Spirits Of Vengeance heroes with her brother in the 2017 SOV: War At The Gates Of Hell mini-series (under the Legacy banner).

Graviton's villainy began in Avengers #158-159. He was the main villain in the original West Coast Avengers mini-series. His last main app was Uncanny Avengers (2015) #26-27, followed by a cameo as a member of Hood's gang in Iron Man #600 (Legacy numbering).

Madame Masque is a long time enemy/friend/lover of Tony Stark, starting from Tales Of Suspense #97 through to Iron Man (2015) #5. Her last app was also in Hood's gang in IM#600, but before that she be-devilled Kate-Hawkeye in her (2017)#8-16.

Marvel Wiki says that the figure in the shadows behind Masque is Eleanor Bishop, Kate's mother who supposedly died along time ago. But at the end of Hawkeye (2017) #16 we (but not Kate) learned that she was alive and that Masque was working for *her*.





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

West Coast Avengers #4 Synopsis by Rob Johnson
BRODOK has sent a bunch of giant female monsters to attack Venice Beach LA, but the West Coast Avengers have discovered that they have been created from innocent women who spurned his advances. And last issue America Chavez and Hawkeye (Clint Barton) followed Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) to BRODOK's Advanced Image Mechanics base and saw him turn Kate into a giant Lady Hawk (complete with giant bow and arrows).

Fuse (Johnny Watts) is trying to talk a blue aquatic giant down when he and Kid Omega (Quentin Quire) see a giant arrow land. Quentin telepathically contacts Clint to find out what's happening. We see Clint and America at AIM fighting Lady Hawk and BRODOK, still refusing to admit he's really the villainous M.O.D.O.K.. BRODOK attacks them mentally so Chavez forms a star-portal for Quire to pop through and fight mind-to-mind.

Barton slips back into the AIM lab looking for a way to undo the change to Kate. He finds a machine labelled 'aversa' which Quire mentally tells him is Latin for 'back', so he trundles it outside. Quentin keeps BRODOK busy while Barton zaps him with the aversa-ray. And handsome-ish BRODOK reverts to big-head-on-little-legs MODOK. And Lady Hawk whacks him into the side of the building - she easily threw off the only partially-done brainwashing that went with her conversion to monster. Quire reads her mind and says she wants to stay Lady Hawk until they've dealt with the other giant women. And she picks up MODOK and throws him a long way away.

In Venice Beach Fuse's sister Ramone Watts is helping people out of her building which has been damaged by a giant orange woman. Johnny tries to tell her it's too dangerous but she insists on going back in to look for more residents. She tells *him* in his currently-vibranium body to go help Gwenpool who's trying to non-violently subdue a dragon-lady.

In flashforwards to their Reality TV interviews we see Fuse saying he should *never* argue with his sister. And Ramone saying that she's proud of her brother, but don't tell *him* that.

But Lady Hawk flies in carrying the aversa-ray with Clint on her back and Kid Omega and America follow under their own steam. Lady Hawk flies off to battle a giant flying insect-woman. Gwenpool is still riding her dragon. America and Fuse double-team a red monster. Friendly giant Tigra punches the aquatic 1. Kid O protects civilians from falling debris. And Barton de-evolves the orange 1.

The aquatic monster falls against Ramone's building. Fuse asks strong invulnerable America to go save his sister. The 2 girls' eyes meet. And in a flashforward interview Chavez admits that they are now an item. They exit the building and de-gianted Kate spots their closeness immediately. Quentin has de-brainwashed the giant-women (like he did for Tigra last issue) and Clint has also also returned 4 of the them to normal. He now zaps Tigra who swears to hunt down MODOK for revenge, and turns down a laughable invite to join the new WCA. Gwenpool stops Barton from converting the dragon who she says wants to remain like that, and now that she's not brainwashed she won't attack anybody.

Now for more flashforward interviews. Lovers Gwen Poole and Quentin Quire say they can't stand each other anymore - they both claim the other 1 never listens. Johnny Watts is happy until the interviewer asks about the land sharks from #1, which don't seem to be connected to BRODOK. And until he learns about America dating Ramone. And in the background Gwen and Quentin are snogging again. Kate refuses to tell them what it was like to be Lady Hawk. Then she gets phone call from Captain America which she's reluctant to answer. She's reformed the West Coast Avengers without consulting him. They're funded by Reality TV, and the last team that did that ended badly (New Warriors dying in Stamford and triggering Civil War I). And they've agreed to go on a late-night talk show.

Later that night they're on Jimmy Kimmel Live. He asks if it's confusing having 2 Hawkeye's on the team - the others answer "Yes". Clint bats away a question about being the only old fogie on a teen team. And when asked if they're really the WCA Kate's "Yes" is very tentative.

Various villains watch the TV program. Eel is dismissive. Satana is annoyed because she's just moved to the city. Graviton isn't happy either. Dutch Oven swears revenge for being rejected as a team member in #1. And Madame Masque plans to do something about them. And there's a figure in the shadows behind her.



Stefano Caselli
Stefano Caselli
Triona Farrell
Stefano Caselli (Cover Penciler)
Stefano Caselli (Cover Inker)
Nolan Woodard (Cover Colorist)
Letterer: Joe Caramagna.
Editor: Alanna Smith. Editor-in-chief: C. B. Cebulski.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Graviton
Graviton

(Franklin Hall)
Hawkeye
Hawkeye

(Kate Bishop)
Hawkeye
Hawkeye

(Clint Barton)
Ms. America
Ms. America

(America Chavez)
Tigra
Tigra

(Greer Nelson)

Plus: BRODOK, Eel (Edward Lavell), Fuse (Johnny Watts), Gwenpool (Gwen Poole), Kid Omega (Quentin Quire), Ramone Watts, Satana.

> West Coast Avengers: Book info and issue index

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