Writers – Dave Ross, Dann Thomas, and Roy Thomas

Artist – Dave Ross

How much of the 1990s can be contained inside one comic?

We are going to break that down as I discuss Avengers West Coast #93!

Dr. Demonicus has raised an island he has dubbed Demonica from the depths of the Pacific Ocean. He negotiates a deal with the U.N. General Assembly – if the assembly recognizes and accepts the island into their fold, then the good doctor will share the untold mineral wealth contained on the island with the entire world. However, once the island nation begins bringing in a populace to live there, the U.N. reneges on the deal. Dr. Demonicus sends his Pacific Overlords to hijack a Wakandan plane in order to free Klaw from stasis. Once Klaw is brought back to Demonica, Dr. Demonicus makes the villain Vice- President of the island nation.

When Kuroko, one of the Overlords, finds out the doctor is placing the other members of the group under his thrall without them realizing it, she escapes the island by plane and seeks out the assistance of the Avengers West Coast. As she tells the Avengers her story, the impromptu meeting is interrupted by the arrival of Darkhawk, who was asked to visit the Avengers compound by Spider-Woman to help add some strength and power to the depleted roster of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Klaw and Morningstar, a Russian supervillain, attack the Avengers in an effort to capture Kuroko and bring her back to Demonica.

It was either this issue of Avengers West Coast or a previous one that my mother bought me as a surprise for getting a good report card in middle school. I came across this comic while at home not too long ago and decided to finally read it.

One of the hottest superheroes of the 1990s was Darkhawk. In 1990, if you wanted a comic book to sell, all you had to do was add one of these following characters as a guest star and BOOM!  – – the comic book would fly off the shelves – Darkhawk, Venom, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, and Thanos. Darkhawk does indeed add some strength to the Avengers West Coast roster this issue, but he does have a hard time holding his own against Klaw. Its always nice to see a rookie superhero trying his best to fight bad guys and seeing how green they really are in these intense situations.  

During the big melee between heroes and villains, Morningstar wanted to face off against U.S. Agent to see who would reign supreme and make their home country proud. Another USA vs U.S.S.R Smackdown! Over the course of the fight, the writers mention that the U.S.S.R is no more, and the fight between these two ends in a draw once Klaw and Morningstar escape with Kuroko in their clutches. U.S. Agent vs Morningstar doesn’t hold a candle to Rocky vs Drago, but I’m glad the writers acknowledged historic, real-world events and how this massive sociopolitical shift had a far reaching impact in pop culture in the 90s.

I have always liked the Avengers West Coast and this roster was a favorite of mine for one reason – Clint Barton gave up his bow and arrows and costumed identity as Hawkeye to become Goliath. The 1990s will always be remembered for changes to superheroes that should be long forgotten. Some of these changes hit the mark, while others made comic book lovers scratch their heads and ask themselves – how could they do this? Some heroes got brand new powers or costumes. Some heroes were replaced by new and younger legacy characters to help boost comic sales or to help rejuvenate a long standing comic series. I enjoyed Clint as Goliath because it was interesting to see him try to use his new power set to help his fellow teammates in the heat of battle. Sometimes Clint would ignore the limitations of his new gifts, which ended up hurting him and hindering his fellow Avengers from securing victory against their foes. Clint’s stint as Goliath wouldn’t last long but it was a nice homage to Hank Pym and all his costume changes he made in the 1960s and 1970s.

Out of 100, I give this issue an 80% for the amount of 1990s contained within. If this issue had some sort of crazy cover gimmick to it (holographic, holofoil, or scratch and sniff) then it would have hit 100%.

Next Issue – War Machine joins as the newest member of the Avengers West Coast. And they’ll need every bit of his firepower to take on the Pacific Overlords.