A classic Avengers spinoff comic is coming back in a big way and with a brand new team in this fall’s West Coast Avengers.
Assembling on the coast
It’s been a while since we’ve seen the West Coast Avengers. For such an iconic name, you’d have thought that it’d have been a mainstay at Marvel, but that was not to be the case. And we actually mean that whether you’re talking about the iconic original run or the uber stunted one that hit way more recently.
The former debuted in 1984, released as a mini-series before blasting into a full-fledged monthly the very next year. That book ran for over a hundred issues before folding, and then wasn’t seen again until 2018’s incarnation. The big return didn’t last long however, only running for ten issues before getting canned.
While it’s never clear as to why a comic gets the axe, we assume it was because of the title’s cast, which was iffy at best and loaded with all niche heroes outside of Hawkeye. But if that’s anything to go by, then the just announced book from writer Gerry Duggan and artist Danny Kim should do considerably better.
A pretty stacked roster, the new team is led by Iron Man himself and contains classic heroes like War Machine, Spider-Woman, and Firestar. But that’s not all, because there’s also a straight-up villainous robot on the team. Yes, it’s Ultron. How’s that going to work?
Well, it seems that Iron Man has reformed the metal monster, redeeming him before the world. We’re just going to add that that sounds like it’s destined for disaster, but what do we know. Tony has such a good history with this kind of stuff.
ULTRON RETURNS…REDEEMED? Iron Man and War Machine have put together a new team of Avengers – one that includes villains seeking a path to redemption. Their case study? Ultron – who, against all odds, seems to be walking the straight and narrow…for now. But does the success of one guarantee the success of all? Spider-Woman and Firestar have their doubts. And can any amount of heroics really absolve Ultron of his past?
“Redemption has been on my mind this year, and we’ll see who can be redeemed on the West Coast,” Duggan teased. “It’s a fun action story, but it’s also an Ultron tale – and one of my biggest Marvel swings yet. I previously had the pleasure of writing a pretty great horror story about Ultron wearing Pym’s face, and this is a very different tale with one of my favorite Marvel characters, in one of my favorite legacy titles in the city that has been my home for so long. Wait until you see what Danny Kim is cooking up. Find redemption in November in the city of Angels.”
Marvel Comics press release
Witness a disaster in the making (and we mean Ultron, who we don’t believe for a second will remain a hero for long) when West Coast Avengers #1 arrives on the stands this November the 27th.