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In order to better distribute the Avengers' expanding roster, chairman Vision suggested the formation of an extra division of Earth's Mightiest Heroes to operate on the West Coast. With Hawkeye appointed as the leader, the West Coast Avengers were assembled.[5][1] The team usually dealt with demonic related threats, with its members being profoundly scathed by many of these encounters.[2][2][6][7][8][9][10] They were also closely involved with Tony Stark's adventures and crises as Iron Man.[11][12][7][9] Ultimately being reviewed as an unnecessary and wasted operation, the West Coast Avengers were disbanded, reforming as the independent group Force Works.[13][14] More recently, the team's legacy was revived by the new Hawkeye, who rebranded it as a project sponsored by a reality TV show.[15]

History

Golden Coast's Mightiest Heroes[]

While the majority of the active roster of the Avengers based in Manhattan were temporarily kidnapped and forced to participate in Beyonder's secret wars,[16] long-time member Vision declared himself chairman in the Wasp's absence. Foreseeing a great threat to come in the form of the Dire Wraiths, the Vision proposed a second team of active Avengers to better combat them. Receiving governmental permission from National Security Council liaison Raymond Sikorski, the Vision appointed veteran member Clint Barton, the master archer and trick shooter Hawkeye, as chairman of the West Coast division of the Avengers[5] based in Los Angeles, California.[17] Team leader Hawkeye moved to the picturesque Avengers Compound with his wife and first teammate Bobbi Morse, the special agent Mockingbird,[17] after evading an ambush orchestrated by their former enemy Crossfire.[18]

Other heroes invited to the West Coast Avengers were the animalistic detective Tigra, the super-heroic stunt actor Wonder Man and the new invincible Iron Man. Before making their foundation official, the West Coast Avengers assembled to intercept an infiltrator in their Compound, the enigmatic Shroud, a hero who pretended to be a crime-lord to fight illegal activities. After Tigra sorted out a brief misunderstanding, Hawkeye invited the Shroud to the West Coast Avengers, but he declined as a way not to damage his villainous façade.[1] Being a replacement to the original Iron Man proved to be a personal problem to Jim Rhodes in the Avengers; unaware of his secret identity, they treated him as if he were his predecessor, the experienced Tony Stark. He better adjusted to the team when they helped him arrest the new terrorizing Goliath,[19] leading him to eventually reveal his secret to his teammates.[20]

By coincidence, Wonder Man came upon an bank robber bearing an unidentifiable visage in Los Angeles, assembling the Avengers to track him down. The terrified robber known as the Blank evaded the Avengers. Unexpectedly, the mechanisms that hid his appearance ultimately summoned Graviton back from his extra-spatial exile,[21] a consequence of a past confrontation with the Avengers.[22] Having the Blank as his lackey, Graviton planned to take control of Los Angeles. Counting with the Shroud's help, the Avengers Tigra and Wonder Man investigated the Blank's suspicious criminal activities, being surprisingly massacred by Graviton.[23] With Wonder Man captured, the Avengers stroke back at Graviton, who had associated himself with crime-boss "Madame Masque" -- actually Tigra in disguise. Overpowered by Iron Man and then surprised by Tigra, Graviton was ultimately put out of commission by Hawkeye.[20] Later on, the West Coast Avengers teamed up with the East Coast Avengers to fight the maleficent Maelstrom.[24]

Reclaiming his position as Iron Man, Tony Stark joined the West Coast Avengers in Rhodes' place.[25] Following his return, Dr. Hank Pym, a founding Avenger who had left the team in shame, visited the Compound to research the new Goliath's condition. Though offered a place in the active line-up, Pym turned it down, acting as a resident scientist only. Pym's visit coincided with attacks by robotic automatons. In their investigation, the Avengers were surprised by Ultron-12, an updated version of their long-time enemy, the evil artificial intelligence created by Pym. In a first unsuccessful strike, Ultron attempted to capture Wonder Man. Ultron's ally, the Gorilla-Man, managed to free Goliath, and, together, the three villains incapacitated the Avengers and kidnapped Pym and Wonder Man. The Avengers realized they faced the Lethal Legion, led by Wonder Man's brother, the Grim Reaper.[11]

The Reaper had sent Nekra and Black Talon to capture the Vision. Instead, his wife, the Scarlet Witch, was taken hostage by mistake. The Vision and the Scarlet Witch confronted the Grim Reaper's Legion, who escaped, prompting the couple to contact the West Coast Avengers to stop their enemies.[26] The Reaper wished to transform the Vision and Wonder Man into a uncorrupted and powerless version of his brother Simon Williams, but his erratic and disrespectful leadership made his allies question him.[27] Ultron attacked the Avengers in one of their flying Quinjet aircrafts, causing the ship to crash and the Avengers to get captured. In a surprise strike, Mockingbird astonished the Grim Reaper, who got abandoned by the Lethal Legion. In the end, the Grim Reaper apparently perished in battle, and Wonder Man and the Vision accepted that Simon William's memory survived in them both.[28]

Pandemoniac Adventures[]

Struggling with the mythic source of her feline abilities, Tigra had disagreements with the Avengers. She was hunted down by Kraven the Hunter, defeating him when rejoining her teammates.[29] The West Coast Avengers then considered having the Thing from the Fantastic Four as their final member. He refused, eventually returning to the Avengers Compound after finding the unconscious Firebird by chance. Upon waking up, Firebird informed the Avengers about the devilish Master Pandemonium attacking her. In search of the "five", Master Pandemonium also attacked the Thing, who fended him off alongside the West Coast Avengers.[2]

Tigra still faced problems with the catlike half of her soul, as evidenced by her lustful attitude, prompting Mockingbird to look for Jack Russell the Werewolf, for help in reaching the Cat People. Russell violently attacked the Avengers in their first contact, which also had Firebird, who had been investigating Master Pandemonium's whereabouts.[30] Russell's associate, Dr. Michael Morbius, instructed the Avengers on how to commune with the Cat People. Alongside the Thing and Firebird, the Avengers summoned the champion Balkatar, who then brought the Avengers to the Land Within, the realm where the Cat People had been banished to. The King of the Cat People agreed to merge Tigra's divided soul as long as she slayed Master Pandemonium.[31] Tigra agreed with the deal, hiding it from the Avengers as they returned to Earth.[32]

Meanwhile, Ultron-12 updated beyond his hate for his creator Hank Pym, approaching him to make amends. However, a version of Ultron-11 brutally damaged the benevolent Ultron, who recruited Wonder Man to save his "father". With Ultron-11's disappearance, Ultron-12 perished, much to Pym's dismay.[33] After Ultron was deactivated, the Avengers Compound was visited by Firebird's teammates, the Rangers. Firebird noticed they had been afflicted by demonic possession. Following a fight, Shooting Star was revealed to be one of Master Pandemonium's minions.[32] The Avengers tracked Pandemonium, with Mockingbird infiltrating his base. He was able to flee before Tigra could kill him. In the end, the Thing finally accepted to join the team, ending Firebird's hopes of integrating the Avengers in that moment.[34]

However, the Thing simply did not show up in the press conference for personal reasons, effectively never becoming a member of the team. Looking for the Thing, the Avengers found and defeated the macabre mind-controlling Headlok and his mental slave, the brutal Griffin.[35] Next, when investigating a possible corruption of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers were attacked by the mercenaries Shockwave, Machete, and Zaran.[36]

When the East and West Coast Avengers were charged of treason and subdued by Freedom Force, federal liaisons Henry Gyrich, Raymond Sikorsky and Val Cooper informed them one of their own had blown on them. Locked in the Vault, the Avengers broke free thanks to Freedom Force's rogue agent, the new Spider-Woman.[37] Contacting most of their past members, the Avengers attempted to identify the traitor, ultimately getting to Quicksilver. The resentful Quicksilver sought vengeance against his former teammates by associating himself with the Zodiac. After multiple clashes with the Zodiac, the Avengers were at Quicksilver's mercy. However, the Vision managed to convince Quicksilver of giving up on destroying the Avengers by exhibiting images of the Scarlet Witch's newborn children.[38]

The Avengers were then targetted by a vindictive Graviton and his elementally empowered allies Quantum, Halflife and Zzzax.[39] Tigra freed the captive Avengers by poisoning Graviton's minions into fighting each other. However, in order to be successful, she fell into deep problems with her sense of being.[40] Tigra's identity crisis was interrupted by a demonic attack by Master Pandemonium against his minion Allatou. With Tigra and Pym being kidnapped by the demons, the Avengers contacted the demonologist specialists Hellstorm and Hellcat for help in San Francisco. Sent to Allatou's hellish dungeons by Hellstorm, the Avengers and Master Pandemonium soon found themselves in the Land Within, where they were restrained by the Cat People.[6] Pandemonium was violently attacked, with Tigra being unable to execute him. As a punishment, she lost her Tigra soul and powers. Wearing Hellcat's suit, Tigra reassembled the Avengers. Defeating Balkatar, she was able to recover her full soul, being finally at peace with herself. Meanwhile, Master Pandemonium recovered one fifth of his soul, or one of the "five", and escaped. In the end, the Avengers returned home.[41] Before returning to Los Angeles, Pym and Tigra clashed with former Masters of Evil Tiger-Shark and Whirlwind.[42]

Lost in Space-Time[]

Wishing to recruit Firebird, the West Coast Avengers travelled to Albuquerque, New Mexico, but were unable to find her. Instead, they were attacked by monstrosities created by the villain Dominus. Confronting Dominus in his mountain, the Avengers fell into a trap that transported them to the past with Doctor Doom's Time Platform.[43] In one of their most fateful capers, the team became stranded in the past, being only able to travel backwards in time. Their first stop was the 19th-century Old West, where Hawkeye met his former cowboy allies Two-Gun Kid, Rawhide Kid and the Phantom Rider. The Avengers joined them to combat a gang of criminals, who were defeated and arrested. Wonder Man then suggested the Avengers to travel farther back in time to get pharaoh Rama-Tut's help in Ancient Egypt. When the time machine was activated, the Phantom Rider kidnapped Mockingbird, temporally separating her from the Avengers.[44]

With the rest of the team caught in the 18th century, Mockingbird was held captive in the 1800s and brainwashed with amnesia-inducing herbal potions into believing to be the Phantom Rider's lover. A hundred years in the past, Hawkeye was hurt by Spanish colonizers. Escaping the battle with the Avengers, Hawkeye recognized Firebird's ancestor and, after being nursed by her, requested her to pass a note for help through generations.[45] With Hawkeye unconscious, Iron Man led the Avengers in Ancient Egypt to find a way to return home, but the group was knocked out by an unfriendly Rama-Tut.[46]

In Ancient Egypt, the comatose Hawkeye was healed by the vengeful god of the moon Khonshu, who offered the Avengers his help. In the 19th century, Mockingbird was broken free from her abuser by Two-Gun Kid and sought for revenge. In the present, Khonshu possessed his avatar, the Moon Knight, and prompted him to contact Doctor Pym.[47] In the Avengers Compound, Pym had been helped by Firebird (who had rebranded herself as the catholic hero "La Espirita") into overcoming his demons and assuming a more active role as a super-hero. Moon Knight informed them about Hawkeye's note about the Avengers being stranded in the past.[48] Together, the Avengers Doctor Pym, Espirita and Moon Knight contacted the Fantastic Four to help rescue the team and managed to acquire a functional time machine.[49]

Reassembled, the Avengers escaped Rama-Tut and rescued Mockingbird from the 18th century, just after she had battled the Phantom Rider in a deadly duel that ended up with his death, as she refused to save him from his fate.[49] Back to the present, the West Coast Avengers stormed Dominus' base in retaliation for his schemes of mentally enslaving the human race. Invulnerable to the villain's control, the lunatic Moon Knight forced him to escape and abandon his plans, allowing the Avengers to finally return home.[50]

Upon witnessing the death of the East Coast Avengers by the hands of an Elder of the Universe, the West Coast Avengers teamed up with the Silver Surfer and approached the Collector for help. In the Realm of Death, Grandmaster manipulated the East Coast Avengers to fight the West Coast Avengers only to distract Death into falling under his control.[51] Grandmaster then forced the Avengers to fight a new Legion of the Unliving to prevent the obliteration of the universe in a bizarre game. With the Avengers defeated, Hawkeye tricked Grandmaster into releasing Death by cheating in a chance game. The grateful Death resurrected the Avengers and sent them back to Earth.[52] Espirita then left the team to walk her own path.[53]

With the criminal cartel known as the Zodiac was destroyed by a Life-Model Decoy version of themselves led by the LMD Scorpio, their former leader Taurus asked the Avengers for help. Wielding the Zodiac Key, Scorpio led his group in illegal actions and was confronted by the Avengers. Seeking revenge, the Zodiac build a Sagittarius doppelgänger of Hawkeye to infiltrate the Avengers Compound.[54] Hawkeye was kidnapped and replaced, but Sagittarius was easily outed by Mockingbird. However, the Zodiac had also replaced Tigra with their new member Leo.[55] The Avengers went to rescue Hawkeye with Taurus's help. Ultimately betrayed by the former Leo, Scorpio transported the Zodiac and the Avengers to its dimension, the realm of the Brotherhood, where the LMDs perished for being detached with the galaxy's constellations. The Avengers were transported back to Earth by the Brotherhood with Hawkeye and Tigra, but found Taurus missing.[56] Obsessed with getting revenge against the immoral Taurus, Moon Knight cruelly hunted him down, being radically opposed by the Avengers for his deadly approach.[57]

Meanwhile, when possessing his descendant who was one of the Rangers, the Phantom Rider planned to get revenge against Mockingbird and the Avengers by summoning the magnificent Arkon to strike against them. During the battle, the Phantom Rider secretly tormented Mockingbird. Arkon left after seeing honor in Wonder Man. Meanwhile, the Avengers lost Iron Man, who acted erratic for having had his technology stolen,[12] prompting the Wasp to provide the West Coast Avengers some extra support. Mockingbird secretly manipulated the Avengers into visiting the Grand Canyon, where she expected to find the Phantom Rider and end him for good. Orchestrating a deception, Mockingbird approached the Phantom Rider's host. Moon Knight prevented her from killing him and decided to back her by not revealing the true story to the Avengers.[58]

After Doctor Pym got clues about his late wife Maria being alive, the Avengers went to Budapest to investigate. They were trapped by Pym's former enemy Madame X, who led an army of super-villains he fought when he acted as Ant-Man. With the other Avengers taken hostage, Pym and the Wasp managed to evade arrestment, surprisingly finding the Vision and the Scarlet Witch captured.[59] The actual mastermind behind the ruse was revealed to be vengeful Quicksilver. Meanwhile, the Phantom Rider haunted the Avengers during this mission; when Mockingbird revealed she had allowed him to fall to his death to the Avengers, he managed to pervert Hawkeye into turning against his own wife. In a turmoiled escape, however, the Avengers got stranded in Latveria.[60]

Initially tortured by Doctor Doom, the Avengers were freed thanks to Khonshu, who threatened their aggressor.[61] Back to Hungary, Quicksilver had the Voice force the Avengers to hunt Doctor Pym down. Managing to escape the Avengers, Pym found his ex-wife captive in the prison being been a victim of experiments to become a M.O.D.O.K.. With the Avengers freed from the mind control, Pym left the group to take care of her.[62] Back home, the Avengers suffered a major crisis following their recent conflicts. Mockingbird and Hawkeye separated, as she was expelled from the team for not having shared the truth about the Phantom Rider's fate. Alongside with Tigra and Moon Knight, she formed an informal team to stop the Phantom Rider. In face of so many departures, Hawkeye counted with the Vision and the Scarlet Witch in the ranks of the West Coast Avengers.[63]

Following a bried clash with the Voice, the Avengers were asked for help by Mantis in recovering her missing memories.[63] Before they could help her, Bill Foster informed the Black Panther about the High Evolutionary's dangerous activities to mutate humanity, prompting him to contact the West Coast Avengers. In Wakanda, the Avengers fought the Evolutionary's forces who wished to steal Vibranium. Meanwhile, Mockingbird's estranged team went to the Savage Land and teamed up with Ka-Zar to meet Bill Foster and combat the Evolutionary. By becoming the new Giant-Man, Foster saved the Avengers from the High Evolutionary.[64] Investigating the mystery behind Mantis' lost memories, the Avengers fought the elder Cotati Swordsman in the Temple of Pama. During the fight, they learned the woman they had been with was a simulacrum of the real Mantis, who was ultimately revived following her duplicate's demise.[65]

Simultaneously, Mockingbird and her allies acted as vigilantes, striking at the criminal group known as the Night Shift. In retaliation, the Night Shift attacked the Avengers Compound but were captured. Their leader, the Shroud liberated them and explained the situation; the misunderstanding made Hawkeye even angrier with his ex-wife's actions.[66] Meanwhile, Mockingbird wished to stop the Phantom Rider for good, meeting Hellstorm for help. In an exorcizing ritual, the Phantom Rider was revealed alongside his heroic predecessor. Hellstorm conjured Khonshu to fight the Phantom Rider, prompting the Knights of Seth to intervene too as Khonshu's rivals. In the end, the evil spirit of the Phantom Rider perished and the heroic Phantom Rider helped the Avengers fend off Seth's army. Moon Knight departed for good withou Khonshu, Tigra returned to the West Coast Avengers, and Mockingbird went missing.[67]

Darker than Scarlet[]

When the Vision went missing, the Avengers Compound was attacked by Ultron, who turned out to be a poor and easily beatable replica. The Avengers realized they had been sabotaged from within and all the records about the Vision had been corrupted. Mockingbird revealed to be behind the betrayal[68] under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s orders. In fact, she had been tricked by the international operation known as the Vigilance. They captured the Vision in response for his attempt of controlling every computing system of the world in the past. A guilty Mockingbird helped the Avengers infiltrate a hidden complex, where the Vision was found dismantled.[69]

Back to the Avengers Compound, National Security Council liaison Sikorsky imposed the the stubborn U.S. Agent in the ranks of the team as field leader, which raised tensions[70] and caused Hawkeye to quit in protest, followed by Mockingbird. Meanwhile, Doctor Pym managed to rebuild the Vision, although he could not reconnect his memories to his emotions without Simon Williams' brain patterns, which Wonder Man refused to provide. With the Vision's personality being an emotionless slate, his marriage with the Scarlet Witch was ruined.[71] Meanwhile, Hawkeye and Mockingbird worked together to check out reports of an unsanctioned team of Great Lakes Avengers, an offbeat group of neophyte Midwestern heroes in Milwaukee, whom the pair offered their mentorship to.[72]

With the Avengers unable to restore the Vision, an angry Scarlet Witch sought for help elsewhere and was tricked by magnate Jeremiah Random, being assimilated and brainwashed into joining them. With her Quinjet destroyed,[73] the East Coast Avengers went to her rescue but were defeated.[74] The Great Lakes Avengers saved the Avengers, eliminating Random's influence. In the Avengers Compound, Tigra lost herself to her feral urges, being imprisoned by Pym.[75] Meanwhile, with the revelation that the Vision had no relation to the original Human Torch, the Avengers had doubts as to his origins. After being contacted by Ann Raymond, a former associate of the Torch, the Scarlet Witch was able to revive the Torch. Being asked to join the team, the Torch gratefully accepted.[76]

Moreover, Iron Man returned to team, hiding his true identity once again and pretending not to be Tony Stark. Struggling with so many personal crises, namely the dismantling of the Vision, her assimilation by Random, the Vision's identity problems concerning the Torch, the Scarlet Witch experienced an ultimate torment when her old mentor Agatha Harkness visited her to inform that her and the Vision's twins were only a magical manifestation of her will. Created from fragments of the demon Mephisto's soul, the twins were an interest of Master Pandemonium's quest of completing his missing soul. With the twins kidnapped by Pandemonium, Harkness sent the Avengers to their rescue.[7] Pandemonium was tricked by the Torch under Harkness' plan and saved the Avengers. He perished in battle, but so did the baby twins. Back to the Avengers Compound, a very traumatized Scarlet Witch had the memory of her children erased from her mind.[77]

The Scarlet Witch was then kidnapped by Lord Ghaur as one of the Brides of Set,[78] which caused her to collapse and go catatonic.[79] Following the Vision permanently rejoining the East Coast Avengers and battles between the West Coast Avengers and the U-Foes,[80], the Freedom Force,[81], the Mole Man,[82] and the Mandarin, all influenced by the prince of lies Loki, a mentally deteriorated Scarlet Witch was taken advantage of by Magneto.[83] After Thor led the Avengers to end Loki's actions, they were surprised by a villainous Scarlet Witch, who easily overpowered them alongside Magneto.[84] Quicksilver facetiously pretended to be part of the attack against the Avengers,[85] going with Magneto and the Scarlet Witch to Asteroid M.[85] The Avengers proved to be unable to penetrate Magneto's defenses and reach the insane Scarlet Witch by themselves.[86]

On Earth, the Avengers resisted Magneto's and the Scarlet Witch's catastrophic attacks, being helped by Hawkeye, who returned to the team. Quicksilver revealed his true alliances by surprisingly teleporting Magneto and the Scarlet Witch to the Avengers Compound, where Magneto decided to abandon his plan after realizing there was a secret mastermind behind the tragic recent events: the lord of time Immortus.[87] Immortus' plan was revealed to be fragilizing, seizing control of and safeguarding the Scarlet Witch from the wrath of the Time-Keepers, for she was a "nexus being" capable of deciding the future of humanity. With the help of Agatha Harkness, the Avengers were able to travel to Limbo to save the Scarlet Witch. By defeating the Legion of the Unliving[88] and the brutal Tempus, the Avengers were successful in helping the Scarlet Witch recover her sanity and in stopping Immortus, who was restrained by the Time-Keepers.[89]

Ultron Unbound[]

Recovering from Immortus' attack, the Avengers faced individual problems. Upon his reactivation after being damaged by one of the Scarlet Witch's hexes, the Torch clashed with the mysterious Living Lightning, being assisted and retrieved by the Avengers.[90] Tigra was healed of her inner conflicts by Agatha Harkness.[91] Wonder Man and the powerless Scarlet Witch were haunted by the Grim Reaper by chance, after he was revived as a zombie by Nekra, whom he thanked with murder. Meanwhile, the Wasp and Pym stumbled upon Ultron-13's activities,[92] prompting them to assemble the Avengers. Wonder Man protested, being more worried about the Reaper's return and leaving the group to track him. As Wonder Man uselessly fought his brother, Hawkeye, Tigra and Quicksilver were captured by Ultron,[93] who transformed them into cyborgs and forced them to attack their teammates. The two incidents intertwined when the Reaper and Ultron reformed their alliance against the Avengers. The Avengers were cleaned of Ultron's infection by the Scarlet Witch, whose powers returned.[94] Bringing the battle to the Rose Parade, Ultron and the Grim Reaper were put out of commission by the Avengers after they betrayed each other.[95]

With the Avengers regulated by the United Nations,[96] the U.S. Agent was no longer a requirement on the team. Following a heated feud between U.S. Agent and Hawkeye, the former was rejected by the Avengers and the latter was put on probation. The members of the team voted for candidates in their new regular formation, electing Hawkeye, the Wasp, Hank Pym, Tigra, the Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, and Iron Man, though the Wasp and Pym chose to go to reserve status, leaving two positions available.[97] The new team was joined by Spider-Woman in the Avengers Compound, who approached them after she stumbled upon the criminal organization known as the Pacific Overlords, run by the macabre Doctor Demonicus.[98] Iron Man became the acting chairman, leading an investigation on the Pacific. Meanwhile, Hawkeye and Spider-Woman teamed up with Namor the Submariner and learned that the Overlords brainwashed Japanese warrior Sunfire and the volcano goddess Pele into attacking Pearl Harbor.[99]

In Japan, the Avengers were attacked and captured by the Overlords Irezumi, Jawbreaker and Cybertooth. In Demonicus' base, they learned about his intentions of erecting a new continent on the Pacific under his rule, Demonica. Simultaneously, U.S. Agent was tasked by Michael Clemson from the Commission of eliminating Spider-Woman for being a rogue agent. In the Avengers Compound, he was morally unable to complete his mission.[100] However, the Living Lightning, who had been forced by Demonicus to join the Overlord in exchange of having his powers under check, betrayed his master, being joined by Hawkeye, Spider-Woman, Sunfire and U.S. Agent in freeing the Avengers. Unexpectedly, Demonica was granted recognition by the United Nations and the Avengers left the Overlords with their new continent. With Tigra, Doctor Pym and the Wasp deciding to permanently leave the active team, Spider-Woman, U.S. Agent and the Living Lightning replaced them in the team.[101]

In their next adventure, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four were caught in the middle of a battle between Thundra the Femizon and Arkon the Magnificent in Polemachus, which got solved unexpectedly as they chose love over war.[102] Next, the Night Shift, now commanded by the lethal Hangman, sought revenge against the filming industry, running down Wonder Man's gig as an actor. The Avengers intervened, by bodyguarding the movie set workers. Empowered by the devil Satannish, the Night Shift managed to entrap the Avengers in a bizarre ritual though. Ultimately, the Night Shift secretly blackmailed Wonder Man into starring in their independently produced movie.[103] Joined by Mockingbird, the Avengers stroke at the Night Shift in Hollywood while Iron Man recruited Doctor Strange to deal with Satannish.[104] As Satannish attempted to materialize on Earth by consuming souls, the Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange joined forces to banish him. Meanwhile, the Night Shift turned against the Hangman after realizing their souls might be at risk due to their deal with Satannish, ultimately helping the Avengers to effectively weaken the ritual.[105]

Contacted by Captain America after Rick Jones was targetted by aliens, the West Coast Avengers found themselves forced to intervene in the intergalactic war between the Kree and the Shi'ar Empires. Avengers East, West and reserves were assembled in three different diplomatic squads in an attempt to prevent the alien armadas from damaging the Solar System's Sun by moving their troops through a Stargate. In the Compound, the Avengers was unable to prevent the Shi'ar Imperial Guard from stealing the Nega-Bands from captive Kree soldiers. In a culmination of events, that had been also manipulated by Skrulls, the Kree Empire was devastated by a Nega-Bomb with the Avengers being unable of stopping the calamity. The Avengers learned that the Kree Supreme Intelligence had planned the genocide all along in order to jumpstart its own people's stagnated evolutionary process. The Avengers were divided on how to respond. A group led by Iron Man executed the Intelligence for its act of genocide. The aggression sparked a significant rift with the Avengers aligned with Captain America's ideals of no murdering.[106]

In the aftermath of the war, reserve West Coast Avengers the Wasp, Doctor Pym, Tigra, Mockingbird, Quicksilver and Machine Man helped a powerless Torch in arresting an old nemesis of his, the Hyena, who had threatened Los Angeles.[107] Next, when patrolling a presidential campaign, the Avengers had to combat the lethal Deathweb.[108] Assisted by Spider-Man, the Avengers fended the villains off, but Spider-Woman's daughter Rachel was kidnapped. Michael Clemson was revealed to be behind the schemes as an agent of Deathweb's employer, the Manipulator.[109] Spider-Woman and Spider-Man teamed up and managed to recue Rachel, while the Avengers restrained Deathweb. Tragically, in the battle, Spider-Woman's ex-husband was killed by the Manipulator, who escaped.[110] Next, the Avengers were joined by the feral Wolverine in a mission led by Comission operative U.S. Agent to stop the Soviet Bogatyri group from freezing North America.[111]

Ultron eventually managed to escape his prison in the Vault, upgraded to an ultimate version of himself. He was able to seize control of the Avengers Compound and misguide the Avengers, facilitating his intentions of eliminating all organic life on Earth. Unexpectedly, Ultron was opposed by the Vision,[112] but easily escaped the Avengers, destroying the Compound, kidnapping Mockingbird and collecting scraps of the invulnerable metal Adamantium for his plan. After mesmerizing Doctor Pym and Doctor MacLain to build him an ally, Ultron introduced the Avengers to his mate, an android version of Mockingbird, Alkhema the War Toy. Using Pym Particles as the giant Goliath, Barton fought alongside the Avengers to save his now metallic estranged wife.[113]

Ultron and Alkhema left the Avengers after severely beating them up, wishing to use nuclear weapons to eradicate life on Earth. The Avengers then found Mockingbird, learning Alkhema was merely a robotic duplicate.[114] In fact, the real Mockingbird had actually been kidnapped and replaced by a Skrull agent as part of an elaborate secret invasion of Earth. Rekindling their relationship, Hawkeye and "Mockingbird" gave up on their divorce.[115] In their mission, Ultron and Alkhema disagreed with each other on how to eliminate biological life, as he wished for instant and clean annihilation while she wanted a slow and cruel massacre. This distraction allowed the Avengers and the Vision to destroy Ultron and Alkhema using one of the very weapons they attempted to usurp.[114]

To Kill a Mockingbird[]

The Avengers also suffered with Wonder Man going wild on them and leaving the team.[116] Learning about his erratic activities, the villainous Goliath went on a rampage, breaking free from prison and looking for Wonder Man in the Avengers Compound. Instead, he was opposed by Barton, who still went by Goliath. In an epic battle, the two Goliaths clashed against each other, with Hawkeye being victorious. Simultaneously, the Pacific Overlord Kuroko asked for the Avengers help in impeding Doctor Demonicus from destroying the world.[117] Spider-Woman invited Darkhawk to join the mission on reserve status. Joined by Klaw and Bogatyri member Zvezda Dennista, Demonicus was strong enough to attack the Avengers and capture the rogue Kuroko, who retaliated by planning to invade Demonica.[118]

Wishing to get a Quinjet from Stark International, the Avengers were met by Jim Rhodes, who provided them with the flying aircraft and joined them as War Machine. In Demonica, the Avengers fought the Overlords in an attempt to prevent the liberation the demonic army Raksasa.[9] Joined by the defective Klaw and Zvezda Dennista, the Avengers put an end in Demonicus' plans, destroying the demonic hordes and drowning Demonica.[119] Soon after, the Avengers with spiritual or religious beliefs Living Lightning, the Scarlet Witch and U.S. Agent were manipulated by the machinations of the Goddess as the rest of the team fought Quantum's Power Platoon and Wundarr.[120] But the ordeal was eventually solved.[121]

In a deadly attack, Hangman led a Lethal Legion with lost souls to serve his master Satannish. Their target was the West Coast Avengers, now led by the Scarlet Witch as a result of Hawkeye stepping down from his position and calling an election. U.S. Agent was the first victim of the Legion, who ambushed him and brutalized him in combat.[122] In a following confrontation, the vengeful villains captured Mockingbird and took her to Satannish's realm.[123] To retrieve her, the West Coast Avengers were offered assistance by Mephisto, who wished to recollect the souls of the Lethal Legion by alledging they had been drawn from his realm. Rejecting Mephisto, the Scarlet Witch led the Avengers to Satannish's infernal plane. Witnessing Mephisto and Satannish clash against each other, the Avengers defeated the Lethal Legion and attempted to return to Earth. However, the Scarlet Witch was trapped, with Mockingbird tragically sacrificing herself at the hands of Mephisto to save her teammate.[18] Her Skrull heritage would only be revealed years later after the real Mockingbird returned to Earth.[124]

In order to liberate Genosha from Fabian Cortez and Exodus alongside the X-Men, the Avengers explicitly defied the United Nations' requests of keeping neutrality.[125] Soon after, the Avengers convened a meeting to discuss the future of the West Coast team. Reviewed by the Vision as a failed experiment with fluctuating membership, cavalier behavior, and overextended resources, the team was judged to be folded back into the East Coast branch as reservists. During the voting, Iron Man unexpectedly gave a casting vote for dismantling of the West Coast Avengers. In protest, the former West Coast Avengers resigned duty.[13] Under Iron Man's funding and guiding, they formed a totally independent team, Force Works.[14]

Hawkeye Investigations[]

The West Coast Avengers' legacy persisted when Kate Bishop, an archer who shared her vigilante moniker with Barton, established an amateur private eye business, Hawkeye Investigations, in Los Angeles.[126] Encouraged by Barton, the new Hawkeye formed and led a team to act on the West Coast considering it was afflicted by criminal activities related to super villains. The Hawkeyes were joined by super heroic bruiser America and Bishop's boyfriend Fuse in their objective. Due to a lack of local superheroes, she put up a call for candidates to her team. Her only recruit was the unbelievable Gwenpool. The announcement also caught the attention of omega-level mutant prick Quentin Quire, who offered funding as part of a contract with a reality television show crew, which would also sponsor the team.[15]

Bishop's team first crisis concerned an invasion of bizarre monsters in Santa Monica, including Land Sharks and a giant and brainwashed Tigra. Unexpectedly, they were met by the odd B.R.O.D.O.K. in preventing destruction.[15] B.R.O.D.O.K. was distracted while the Hawkeyes investigated his activities. Upon learning about their intromission, B.R.O.D.O.K. rebelled against the super heroes, sending an army of giant-sized women turned into monsters against them.[127] Though Tigra as broken free from the villain's control, Bishop was turned into one of his monsters.[128] B.R.O.D.O.K. was put out of commission upon the revelation he was actually M.O.D.O.K.. In the end, the transformed women were reverted back to normal. Kate Bishop then publicly announced that the West Coast Avengers were back to action.[129]

The reformation of the team worried a group of villains led by Bishop's former nemesis Madame Masque, who lured the team to a trap in an abandoned amusement park. During a disorienting attack, Bishop was greeted by her mother who she believed to be dead.[130] With the Avengers being tortured, Bishop was surprisingly met by her ex, the alien Noh-Varr, who had infiltrated Masque's group. With his help, Bishop reed the West Coast Avengers. Madame Masque and her allies retreated, being secretly working with Bishop's father.[131]

Noh-Varr informed the team he had been undercover to investigate an elaborate invasion plan by Skrulls that was connected to Masque. In the Temple of the Shifting Sun, the Avengers realized they did not face Skrulls, but vampires, who managed to capture them.[132] To save the Avengers, Fuse's sister Ramone sacrificed her humanity by fusing herself to a Vibranium armor, becoming Alloy, and joined Gwenpool and Quire who were led by Bishop's mother in their quest. The vampire cult wished to harm America in a ritual. Unexpectedly, Bishop's mother was revealed to be a vampire, and attacked America herself.[133] Bishop stopped her and, in the end, the Avengers managed to banish the cult to another dimension. Following this attack, the group was presented by a new WCA Headquarters in Venice Beach.[134]

During Malekith's War of the Realms, Bishop was drafted onto a Babysitters Club tasked to protect Thor's newborn sister Laussa.[135] The rest of the team resisted the Frost Giants' frigid invasion of North America in San Francisco. The Superior Spider-Man who acted on California wanted to use America's powers to drive the Giants away with concentrated teleported sun rays. After approaching the West Coast Avengers, he managed to convinced them about the plan, but if failed since magical properties prevented America from executing it. The group left for New York City with Spider-Man, teaming up with the Fantastic Four against the Giants.[136] With Mister Fantastic's studies, Spider-Man artificially replicated the Bifrost magic energy to enable America to open a portal to Jotunheim, the Frost Giant Realm. However, the Jotunheim Strikeforce heroes convinced the group to fight on Earth instead of going to the war's core.[137]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Weapons

Each teammates' arsenal

Transportation

Trivia

  • In the early 90's, the title changed from West Coast Avengers to Avengers West Coast. This was in conjunction with Solo Avengers changing to Avengers Spotlight, as part of a marketing move to have all Avengers titles adjacent on the news-stand.

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 West Coast Avengers #1
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #4
  3. Avengers #336
  4. New Avengers (ES)
  5. 5.0 5.1 Avengers #243
  6. 6.0 6.1 West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #14
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Avengers West Coast #51
  8. Avengers West Coast #76
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 Avengers West Coast #94
  10. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #100
  11. 11.0 11.1 West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #1
  12. 12.0 12.1 West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #31
  13. 13.0 13.1 Avengers West Coast #102
  14. 14.0 14.1 Force Works #1
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 West Coast Avengers (Vol. 3) #1
  16. Avengers #242
  17. 17.0 17.1 Avengers #252
  18. 18.0 18.1 Avengers West Coast #100
  19. Iron Man Annual #7
  20. 20.0 20.1 West Coast Avengers #4
  21. West Coast Avengers #2
  22. Avengers #159
  23. West Coast Avengers #3
  24. Avengers #250
  25. Iron Man #200
  26. Vision and the Scarlet Witch (Vol. 2) #1
  27. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #2
  28. Vision and the Scarlet Witch (Vol. 2) #2
  29. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #3
  30. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #5
  31. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #6
  32. 32.0 32.1 West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #8
  33. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #7
  34. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #9
  35. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #10
  36. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #11
  37. Avengers Annual #15
  38. West Coast Avengers Annual #1
  39. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #12
  40. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #13
  41. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #15
  42. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #16
  43. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #17
  44. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #18
  45. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #19
  46. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #20
  47. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #21
  48. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #22
  49. 49.0 49.1 West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #23
  50. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #24
  51. West Coast Avengers Annual #2
  52. Avengers Annual #16
  53. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #25
  54. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #26
  55. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #27
  56. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #28
  57. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #29
  58. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #32
  59. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #33
  60. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #34
  61. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #35
  62. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #36
  63. 63.0 63.1 West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #37
  64. West Coast Avengers Annual #3
  65. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #39
  66. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #40
  67. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #41
  68. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #42
  69. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #43
  70. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #44
  71. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #45
  72. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #46
  73. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #47
  74. Avengers West Coast #48
  75. Avengers West Coast #49
  76. Avengers West Coast #50
  77. Avengers West Coast #52
  78. West Coast Avengers Annual #4
  79. Fantastic Four Annual #22
  80. Avengers West Coast #53
  81. Avengers #312
  82. Avengers West Coast #54
  83. Avengers #313
  84. Avengers West Coast #55
  85. 85.0 85.1 Avengers West Coast #56
  86. Avengers West Coast #57
  87. Avengers West Coast #60
  88. Avengers West Coast #61
  89. Avengers West Coast #62
  90. Avengers West Coast #63
  91. Avengers Spotlight #38
  92. Avengers West Coast #65
  93. Avengers West Coast #66
  94. Avengers West Coast #67
  95. Avengers West Coast #68
  96. Avengers #329
  97. Avengers West Coast #69
  98. Avengers West Coast #70
  99. Avengers West Coast #71
  100. Avengers West Coast #7273
  101. Avengers West Coast #74
  102. Avengers West Coast #75
  103. Avengers West Coast #7677
  104. Avengers West Coast #78
  105. Avengers West Coast #79
  106. Operation Galactic Storm
  107. Avengers West Coast #83
  108. Avengers West Coast #84
  109. Avengers West Coast #85
  110. Avengers West Coast #86
  111. Avengers West Coast #8788
  112. Avengers West Coast #89
  113. Avengers West Coast #90
  114. 114.0 114.1 Avengers West Coast #91
  115. New Avengers: The Reunion #2
  116. Wonder Man (Vol. 2) #18
  117. Avengers West Coast #92
  118. Avengers West Coast #93
  119. Avengers West Coast #95
  120. Avengers West Coast #9697
  121. Infinity Crusade #6
  122. Avengers West Coast #98
  123. Avengers West Coast #99
  124. Secret Invasion #8
  125. Bloodties
  126. Hawkeye (Vol. 4) #1
  127. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 3) #2
  128. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 3) #3
  129. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 3) #4
  130. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 3) #5
  131. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 3) #67
  132. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 3) #8
  133. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 3) #9
  134. West Coast Avengers (Vol. 3) #10
  135. War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery #1
  136. Superior Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #7
  137. Superior Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #8
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