Today's Lunchtime Reading West Coast Avengers 38 Redemption

West Coast Avengers 38 Redemption

Published: November 10th, 1988

Writer: Dan Chichester, Margaret Clark Penciler: Al Milgrom

Cover Artist: Al Milgrom

While flying to help Mantis recover her memories, Wonder Man reflects on the time that they faced the Defiler!

Wonder Man and Tigra come upon the Defiler attacking two kids and think he is just an ordinary street thug, but they soon find out otherwise

The encounter leaves the Defiler drained and he hurries off to reenergize. Turns out that he is sending people into another dimension to get power and lots of it! The bad part is that the Defiler is having a show that night and plans to send the entire audience into the dimension to increase his power 100 fold!

The Defiler has an energy barrier to stop the West Coast Avengers, but they just go under it to confront the villain! Wonder Man and Tigra are keeping him occupied while Dr Pym and Iron Man figure out how to free everyone from the other dimension. Inside the other dimension, the Defiler feeling weak because of all the people getting pulled out goes after Iron Man only to have Wonder Man take him out

The portal to the other dimension starts to collapse on itself and the Defiler gets knocked into it but one of the teens that was freed. As Wonder Man comes out of his memory of that event, the Quinjet is rocking and losing control (to be continued in West Coast Avengers 39!)

 

Today's Lunchtime Reading West Coast Avengers 33 The Man in the Ant Hill!

 West Coast Avengers 33 The Man in the Ant Hill!

Published: June 10th, 1988

Writer: Steve Englehart Penciler: Al Milgrom

Cover Artist: Al Milgrom

While the rest of the West Coast Avengers, and an observing Wasp, are formalizing Moon Knight's membership, Henry Pym bursts into the room. He was "just having some fun" by trying to start an international incident hacking into the Soviet Union's computer systems (isn't that what got the Vision in trouble?) when he found out that his first wife, Maria is still alive.

With Khonshu now vested in the idea of him becoming an Avenger, Moon Knight wastes no time closing the deal on his membership, making the pitch that as a former mercenary he is used to fighting governments. So Pym casts the final vote to include him, and all of the West Coast Avengers agree to help Pym. The Wasp goes along as well, and there's basically a full retelling of her origin story while they are on the Quinjet.

When they arrive in Hungary, they meet the US Ambassador, but are quickly accosted by The People's Security Forces, which includes a whole lot of Communist Apes (aka the Beasts of Berlin). And also El Toro, Madam X, and other Communist villains from Henry Pym's early days as Ant-Man and Giant-Man.

 

Despite having valid visas, the Avengers are under arrest, so they are attacked by the Security Forces. Since (aside from the gorillas!) these guys were mostly normal humans, they have now taken to using poison to increase their chances against the Avengers. But the poison manages to take everyone out except for Wonder Man.

 

 

And also Pym and the Wasp, since Pym ran away from the fight to get into the country to start looking for Maria, and Jan followed him. He wants her to use her antennae to contact the insect world and get the ants to look for Maria.

 

Her connection with the ants is fuzzy, but she does get a hit and leads Pym to a prison that turns out to contain not Maria, but the Vision and the Scarlet Witch.

 

Today's Lunchtime Reading West Coast Avengers 32 Buried Monsters!

 West Coast Avengers 32 Buried Monsters!

Published: May 10th, 1988

Writer: Steve Englehart Penciler: Al Milgrom

Cover Artist: Al Milgrom

The Wasp visits the West Coast Avengers compound to help out in lieu of the recent absence of Iron Man (who is off fighting the Armor Wars). There is a lot of tension in the air at the HQ, but everyone welcomes Janet with open arms. Mockingbird suggests that what everyone needs is a vacation to help wind down from recent events. She arranges for everyone to make a field trip to visit the Grand Canyon.

But Mockingbird has an ulterior motive for this. She knows that this section of Arizona is the last known appearance of Hamilton Slade, the Night Rider. She has not told Hawkeye the truth about what happened in 1876, nor does she tell him about her recent fight with the modern Night Rider the evening prior. Everyone dresses in their civilian attire (with costumes underneath) and goes to the Grand Canyon. Bobbi leads them on a trail that takes them past a very specific geographical location. While nobody is watching, she drops a mini-bomb down into the canyon which awakens the huge cave-beast known as Yetrigar.

The Avengers snap to attention and begin fighting the savage Yetrigar. Mockingbird sneaks off to go find Hamilton Slade. Moon Knight takes note of Mockingbird's exit and follows her.

She finds Hamilton Slade and accuses him of being the Night Rider. Hamilton seems to have no idea what she is talking about. Flying into a rage, she lunges at Hamilton and begins ferociously beating on him.

Moon Knight arrives and has to pull her back. He offers to pay for any damages that may have been caused by Mockingbird's attack and brings her back to the Yetrigar fight. He asks her the nature behind her attack against Slade. As the two leave the archaeological camp where Hamilton had been working, the spirit of Lincoln Slade takes control of his descendant and begins laughing mockingly behind Bobbi's back.

The rest of the team (along with the Wasp) makes short work of Yetrigar. The Wasp zips around him distracting him with her bio-stings while Hawkeye hog-ties him with some harpoon arrows. Hank Pym places a miniature device in Yetrigar's ear, which forces the lumbering creature to fall over unconscious. He then shrinks him to a more manageable size.