West Coast Avengers Vol. 1: Best Coast

by Kelly Thompson

[Quirky Cat]

The West Coast Avengers is a newly formed team, using an older name from the world of Marvel. The team itself is…unexpected, but actually ends up being a lot of fun. The team consists of Kate Bishop (AKA Hawkeye, also the team leader), Clint Barton (AKA Hawkeye), Gwenpool, America Chavez, Quentin Quire (AKA Kid Omega), and Johnny Watts (AKA Fuse). Not exactly the team you’d expect, right? Their different abilities, personalities, and quirks make for a highly entertaining team-up.
The West Coast Avengers is a team-up that I never realized I needed, but now couldn’t imagine giving them up. It’s hilarious and relaxing, while also throwing real moments at us when we least expect them. I hate that this series has already been sidelined – but please don’t let that discourage you from giving the series a try. The more people that buy and read it, the more likely it is to get a revival. And honestly, I really hope that happens. I don’t want to lose the series, and honestly, I don’t think I can handle having to say goodbye to Gwen again (seriously, all of my favorite series seem to get cancelled. Maybe I’m cursed).


I read West Coast Avengers in single issue format, but loved the series so much that I had to buy the volume and read it all over again. I just couldn’t resist. So please take that as the praise that it is. (Also, to my friends reading this: beware, because I’m absolutely going to lend you the volume and make you read it).
This volume had me laughing from start to finish. It was the introduction of all the characters that truly sold me on the series. Each one has SO much personality, and their reasons for joining the team vary dramatically. My favorite is probably Gwenpool’s reason, but I won’t spoil it for you, promise.
The plots and enemies are intentionally a little silly, but it works perfectly for the series. Its light and a fantastic break from the real world (or some of the heavier comics known for crushing our souls). The plots do follow a set of rules and structures, despite their silly appearance, which I appreciate. I love having the world around them make sense.
I keep reading this series waiting to see when Barton is going to bail. I mean, there’s only so long he can handle dealing with this crew, right? But so far he’s stuck it out longer than I expected. He’s the only adult to actually take up the offer (and trust me, they’ve made offers to other characters), and that surely has more to do with his protégé than anything else. Plus he may be taking it easy after what happened in Civil War II.
The biggest surprise for me? This series gave me a new ship. It was one I had never imagined or expected to ever have. Yet it’s officially one of my favorite Marvel ships. I won’t say who it is (but if you want to know, just ask and I won’t be able to stop myself from telling you) because spoilers and all that. I will say that it makes me smile every time I think of it and that there is a surprising amount of depth to their relationship hidden amongst the pages. It’s really well done.
I think there’s going to be at least one, if not two more volumes of the series before it’s officially over. But that will depend mostly on how many issues they put it in volume. I’m already cringing at the idea of this one being over, I love it so much. Just going to try and focus on the positive in the meantime, I suppose.


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