Line #37 ComicBook/WestCoastAvengers


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/west_coast_avengers_best_coast.jpg]]
2	The ''West Coast Avengers'' was an [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]] group established in Los Angeles, and the first Avengers spin-off series.
3
4	ComicBook/TheVision proposed to make this new group in ''Avengers'' #243 to expand the Avengers' influence over the country, and made ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} the leader. The other initial members were ComicBook/{{Mockingbird\|MarvelComics}}, ComicBook/WonderMan, Tigra, and the second ComicBook/IronMan.
5
6	The team debuted in a four-issue 1984 miniseries by Creator/RogerStern and Bob Hall. The original plan was for the West Coast team to appear from time to time in the main Avengers book so Stern could keep the characters close when he needed them. They were also part of the supporting cast in ''ComicBook/IronMan'' issues of this period. But one year later, Marvel decided to give the team its own ongoing series. It debuted in 1985 with Steve Englehart and Al Milgrom as the first creative team, and lasted until 1994. With issue 47, the title was changed to ''Avengers West Coast''. After Englehart and Milgrom, the book was written and drawn by Creator/JohnByrne, and when he abruptly quit, veteran Avengers writer Roy Thomas took over and stayed until its cancellation, when it was replaced by the DarkerAndEdgier ''Force Works''.
7
8	Tony Stark was already back as Iron Man when the series debuted, so he replaced Rhodey on the team. The team roster changed a lot over the series, including but not limited to [[ComicBook/AntMan Henry Pym]], ComicBook/MoonKnight, the ComicBook/ScarletWitch, ComicBook/USAgent, the [[ComicBook/TheWasp Wasp]], the second ComicBook/SpiderWoman, and even the Golden Age [[ComicBook/MarvelMysteryComics Human Torch]].
9
10	Twenty-four years later, the team was relaunched with a new lineup consisting of [[Characters/MarvelComicsKateBishop Kate Bishop]], [[ComicBook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool Gwenpool]], ComicBook/AmericaChavez, Quentin Quire, and a new character named Fuse, along with Hawkeye joining as the lone carryover. For tropes focusing on that series, see ''ComicBook/WestCoastAvengers2018''.
11
12
13	----
14	!!''West Coast Avengers'' contains examples of:
15	%%
16	%% PLEASE read Administrivia/ExampleIndentationInTropeLists
17	%%
18	* AbortedArc: Creator/JohnByrne quit the book in the middle of an arc where [[spoiler:the Scarlet Witch]] had turned evil and was teaming up with Magneto to help mutants take over the world. There was also the matter of Immortus wiping out divergent realities. Roy and Dann Thomas quickly wrapped up as much of it as they could and ignored the rest, quickly moving to a new status quo.
19	* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: When Hawkeye became Goliath, he had to fight Erik Josten, who went by Power Man at the time. He later takes the Goliath name. When he fights Clint again in this series, he can become bigger than him, and is still way stronger than him (he was already super-powerful at normal size). After this series ended, the two would eventually become teammates as part of the ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}.
20	* AmusementParkOfDoom: Captain America and Human Torch get lured in one of these in a fill-in issue, as part of a kid's plan to steal Cap's shield for a school project. They have to fight wax statues of many other heroes.
21	* BattleCouple: Hawkeye and Mockingbird. They got married in no time. Also Vision and the Scarlet Witch, until Vision got dismantled and eventually went back East.
22	* TheBlank: The miniseries featured a villain who actually called himself "The Blank" (picking it up from a bystander in the bank he was robbing at the time), a petty thief with nothing but a pistol and a stolen force field belt that made him bulletproof, hard to grab, and made his entire body look like a light gray silhouette when active. After escaping the team in their first encounter he entirely sensibly decided that he was badly outclassed against "real" superheroes and should leave town ASAP -- unfortunately for him other events prevented that, leading to his eventual apparent DisneyVillainDeath.
23	* CactusPerson: Cactus is an artificial being created from a saguaro cactus and given humanoid mobility and intelligence by the latest incarnation of the Dominus computer on Earth. It's encountered by the Avengers with others of Dominus' minions, but is ultimately defeated. Cactus looks like a vaguely humanoid saguaro, and possesses at least a basic intelligence.
24	* CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown: After they tossed Tony on his ass for his action in ''ComicBook/ArmorWars'', Tony as part of his lie about someone else being Iron Man, rejoins by pretending to be said other person in the armor.
25	* CombinationAttack: In the Immortus arc, Hawkeye fires an arrow at the same time U.S.Agent throws his shield, both targeting Immortus.
26	* DivorceIsTemporary: Mockingbird tried to get divorced from Hawkeye, but they got together again.
27	* DoubleStandardRapeSciFi: The "Lost in Space-Time" arc is one of the first mainstream superhero stories to avert this trope. The Phantom Rider uses a magical LovePotion to make Mockingbird into his mistress, and after she comes back to her senses, it's explicitly acknowledged that he raped her.
28	* DrivenToSuicide: Alone in the headquarters while the others are busy in the "Lost in Space-Time" arc, Hank Pym very nearly kills himself thinking his lack of actual superpowers would only make him [[TheLoad useless.]] (His body couldn't take the strain of changing size anymore in this period) Firebird showed up just in time to talk him out of it and even helped him get a new ScienceHero identity.
29	* FakeDefector: Quicksilver is this for the Avengers when [[spoiler:he pretends to follow Magneto and the temporarily insane Scarlet Witch in their plans.]] He soon gets discovered, mostly because he did everything he could to avoid [[ShootYourMate harming the Avengers]].
30	* GoodTwin: Ultron Mark 12, or "Mark" as he called himself, was the only version of ComicBook/{{Ultron}} who grew past his UsefulNotes/OedipusComplex, [[HeelFaceTurn gave up being a villain]], and actually tried to get closer to Hank. Unfortunately, [[spoiler: a recently restored Ultron-11 found and killed him in front of Hank]].
31	* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: The fifth Lethal Legion, four spirits taken from Hell by Satannish. They are Axe of Violence, Cyana, Zyklon and Cold Steel (who wanted the name "Man of Steel", but unfortunately it was already taken). As the story advances, we are informed that those villains were actually Lizzie Borden, Lucrezia Borgia, Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Stalin, turned into supervillains (or, more exactly, receiving superpowers). No CommieNazis: Zyklon and Cold Steel tried to kill each other on sight; they only worked toguether because Satanish forces them to. No afterlife for them, not even in hell: they ceased to exist during the fight of Satannish and Mephisto.
32	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Agatha Harkness removes Wanda's memories of her children after it is discovered [[spoiler:they don't really exist]], because the trauma is too much for her to handle.
33	* LightningFireJuxtaposition: The Living Lightning fights Human Torch in his introduction and his powers make him a dangerous counterpart of the Golden Age hero. At the same time, he's shown as a foil: he's younger, originally a human and the son of a revolutionary, while Torch is an older android who often worked for the government.
34	* MirroredConfrontationShot: [[http://www.puffchrissy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/West-Coast-Avengers-96.jpg West Coast Avengers #96]].
35	* ProsceniumReveal: The first time we see him, Simon Williams is chasing a thief, and his car is blown to pieces by a grenade. He was actually working as a stunt double for a film. But the grenade and the explosion were real, he can simply take the damage with no problem.
36	* PutOnABus: Iron Man is kicked out from the team because of his reputation as a traitor after the Armor Wars storyline. He doesn't return until he solved the problem, almost 20 issues later.
37	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere:
38	** This is Hawkeye's reaction to the government's decision of making U.S.Agent the new leader of the team. Mockingbird follows him.
39	** In the final issue, War Machine leaves after Iron Man shows up. After the team is dissolved, the four members still in attendance (Scarlet Witch, Iron Man, US Agent, and Spider-Woman) all quit as Avengers.
40	* SexyCatPerson: Tigra, a furry half-feline heroine in a bikini with definite animal instincts.
41	* SoapWheel: John Byrne's run uses this to build up suspense (until it gets cut short, at least). During the "Vision Disassembled" arc hints are dropped about the Great Lakes Avengers. When the GLA take the main stage, you start seeing subplots about the Scarlet Witch's potential abduction. During all of this, the Witch's "imaginary children" plotline is given a few panels each issue.
42	* TeethClenchedTeamwork:
43	** Wonder Man became [[TookALevelInJerkass increasingly self-centered and annoying]] around the time of the "Lost in Time-Space" arc, competing with Iron Man about everything. They couldn't stand each other but still managed to reluctantly work together. Simon eventually went back to his usual much nicer self not too long after this arc.
44	** When Hawkeye returned to the team, he still couldn't stand U.S.Agent. The dislike was mutual and they were prone to fighting each other. They still work together pretty well when the situation calls for it.
45	* TraumaCongaLine: As soon as John Byrne's run starts, Wanda's synthezoid husband the Vision is dismantled and his personality erased, effectively ending her marriage. All while she was kidnapped by a secret society trying to use her to create a race of super-mutants. Then [[spoiler:her children are revealed to be nothing more than pieces of Mephisto's soul.]] Her mentor Agatha Harkness erases her memories in an attempt to lessen the trauma. Then the Deviant Ghaur tries to make her a bride of Set. No wonder she eventually goes catatonic [[spoiler:then insane]] for a while. And Byrne managed to do it all in little more than a year.
46	* TwoGirlsToATeam: The original line-up. The girls being Mockingbird and Tigra.
47	* TheUnapologetic: Yes, Mockingbird let the Phantom Rider die, and did nothing to save him. She is not sorry about that, and if she got back in time she would have done exactly the same.
48	* WestCoastTeam: The main reason for this group to exist is to serve this role for ComicBook/TheAvengers. Issue 46 introduces the ComicBook/GreatLakesAvengers, which unofficially serve this role for both teams.
49	* WhatTheHellHero
50	** Mockingbird received a lot of crap for letting the Phantom Rider die, though most of it was for lying to Hawkeye about it, and most of her teammates considered it understandable knowing what he did to her.
51	** Vision got a lot of hatred for proposing to close the West Coast branch, with his arrogant "east coasters are better" attitude. Also Iron Man, who casted the decisive vote.
52	* WorkingWithTheEx: Hank and the Wasp, once she joined the team. Things were a bit awkward, but they quickly [[AmicableExes became friendly]] again.
53	* YoyoPlotPoint: Tigra had problems controlling her cat-like instincts early in the series. She was more ferocious, and quite infamously, couldn't keep it in her pants. She eventually got her cat and human souls merged together during a trip to the land of the Cat People, fixing her identity problems. One would think it would be the end of it, especially with Englehart leaving the series, but Byrne went back to Tigra's instability as soon as he took over the series, in his own way: he had Tigra shrink to an actual cat-like form and run around hunting mice. It was solved offscreen by Agatha Harkness during the next writers' run.
54

Context ComicBook / WestCoastAvengers