WEST COAST AVENGERS

WEST COAST AVENGERS

# 109

MV1 - Northern Bear Productions

September, Year 3

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE! - And there came a day … Hawkeye! Wonder Man! Tigra! US Agent! Cannonball? These are the WEST COAST AVENGERS!!!

Previously … Acting on a tip from someone he trusts, and taking advantage of Hawkeye’s absence, US Agent leads the WCA and Cannonball on a drug bust, making a citizen’s arrest on Los Angeles city Councilman Michael Proctor, who was caught with mass quantities of cocaine inside a warehouse that he owned and plans on turning into a community recreation center. Councilman Proctor has called in his long time friend Sam Wilson, aka the former Avenger known as the Falcon.

The word whispers in the shadows of the wind. It reverberates, an echo in the cosmos and it’s getting louder.

Listen, but not too closely. Concentration isn’t needed, but calmness. You need to become attuned to the winds to ready yourself for the next time the word slips past you.

Did you hear it? Just then? No? Were you listening too closely? Were you trying to hard to grasp the echo of a million voices? I thought I told you to relax. Yes, that’s it, let yourself go. Relax, open your mind … but don’t listen for it. It’s a sound, but you won’t hear this word with your ears.

You’ll feel it deep inside and you’ll know that something out there is making the galaxy a darker place.

It ripples outward from the center, tendrils reaching out, giving you a glimpse of your future. It’s a word that has shaken your world a thousand times, because it represents a man that no one - no one - doesn’t fear when they look into that mirror.

There are many evil beings in the Everything, and many that are better known throughout the galaxies, but to every being that has encountered him, there is no one - no one - that worries them more than this single man.

The voice of twenty planets, deep inside the Shi’ar Empire, shout the name of their Conqueror. One man who has taken whatever he chose. One man who has conquered planets. Not destroyed them like Galactus, but conquered them. Enslaved them. Bended them to his will.

As he stumbles backwards, Jack Walker, the US Agent, wonders exactly what it is he’s done that could possibly get the Falcon this upset.

"Cool it, Sam!" Tigra shouted, leaping across a couch with all the grace you’d expect from a woman who looked like a big, furry humanoid-cat. Sam Guthrie, Cannonball, couldn’t believe what he’d seen. No, not Tigra’s tail, though there was something … mesmerizing about the way it flowed, almost with a life of it’s own. The Falcon had entered the Compound, appearing quite calm, walked over to US Agent and slugged him right in the face.

"Back off, Tigra," the Falcon stuck up his hand. "I’m okay. I just want to know," he seethed as he took a step towards Agent, "what this piece of scum thinks he was doing arresting Councilman Proctor in front of a national audience on SCN?"*

Jack was on his feet. The blow had hurt, but only because he wasn’t expecting it. He was angry, but so far still in control, "Wow, I’ve been sucker punched by the Falcon. The original ‘Avenger no one wanted.’ We’re like brothers."

"Good thing you sucker punched me, Falcon," Agent shot back, taking a step forward to get into Falcon’s chest. "If we ever went at it for real, you’d be sucking birdseed through a straw."

"That’s enough!" Tigra ordered as she stepped in between them. "Cool it. You’ve got no right to come in here and just start punching people, Sam."

Falcon and Agent didn’t back down and neither looked at Tigra. "You arrested an innocent man, Agent."

"Michael? What, this guy’s a pal of yours? Sweet little scam he’s got running. Stealing from the junkies to feed the poor."

"The only scam he’s involved in is the one that’s used you - and the Avengers - as puppets to arrest an innocent man."

Tigra was pushing on both chests, but neither was backing down. She shot Sam - Cannonball - a look across the room and shook her head as he was about to step forward to help. Sam didn’t intervene. Tigra wanted to do this her way and he’d play along. For a while, at least.

"Think you can take me, Falcon?" Agent challenged. "I don’t see your little bird sidekick hanging arou- OW!" Agent’s hand shot to his ear and he looked around with wild eyes. Falcon didn’t smile as his bird, Redwing, came to rest on his outstretched arm.

Tigra looked at Agent, then back to Falcon, then back to Agent, but she was too slow. Agent hurled himself passed Tigra at Falcon, who crouched into a defensive position, ready to meet Agent’s charge. Redwing flapped upwards, hovering in mid-air, ready to strike.

But Agent never made it as his body jerked suddenly to the right, like he was caught and tossed to the ground by the wind.

"I hear Hawkeye’s looking for me," came the strong, deep voice that stood above Agent’s body, a hint of a European accent lacing his English. "Can we cease the childish games until after then?"

She took hammer and nail and set metal to wood, further securing the wall of her new house.

Her old house remained only as a pile of rubble, destroyed by their new Emperor. She cared not - one Emperor or another, they were all the same to her. This one, however, had demanded they all rebuild their houses in the style of his homeland.

As she stood upon a ladder in the hot afternoon, she caught a sound brought in from the western winds and she stopped to look in that direction. It was the direction of the capital city.

The girl, who hadn’t spoken a word since she saw the stranger snap her father’s neck like a twig, nodded yes. Her mother came down from the ladder and held her daughter close.

"This is no business of yours, Pietro," Falcon admonished Quicksilver as Agent slowly got to his feet.

"Two Avengers ready to throw fists at another and it’s not my business?" Quicksilver scoffed. "I’ve been an Avenger longer than everyone in this room. Combined. I’ve made it my business, Falcon." Agent and Falcon seethed at Pietro, but neither said a word. "Now, where’s Hawkeye?"

"He’s not here," Tigra sighed, upset that Agent and Falcon had ignored her.

"What’s going on out here?" Simon Williams, Wonder Man, asked as he strolled into the room. "I’m in the - oh, hello Pietro."

Wonder Man felt something break inside him. Standing here in the living room was Quicksilver. Pietro. Pietro MAXIMOFF. Brother of Wanda Maximoff, otherwise known as the Scarlet Witch.

Otherwise known as the woman Simon loved above all else. A woman that did not return his love. Wanda’s rejection of him was the cause of Simon’s recent malaise. He was trying to get over her, but it was a failing mission. Seeing her brother standing here at the Compound only made it worse.

He had to ask himself again, did he really want to stay in a place where everything somehow reminded him of the woman who wouldn’t return his love?

"It seems," Cannonball interjected, trying to bring everyone around to the same page, "that Falcon is rather upset at the actions of US Agent in arresting that Councilman. It appears that he’s a friend of the Falcon’s."

"We can - we will - prove his innocence," Falcon said flatly, though all could tell he was still burning inside. "You three - he pointed to Cannonball, Tigra and Wonder Man - were there, too. As far as I’m concerned, you’re just as guilty as Agent is."

"For the love of god!" Tigra let out. "Easy with the High and Mighty attitude, Falcon! What were we supposed to do? Let the guy go? We didn’t know he was your friend, and even if we did, we found crate loads of cocaine in his warehouse."

"Oh, zip it, Jack!" Tigra turned on Agent. "You get word from some secret government contact about something like this, you call the police. You don’t take a Quinjet and play John Wayne!"

Sam Guthrie looked across the room at Quicksilver, who sighed disgustedly and shrugged. Welcome to the Avengers, he seemed to be saying.

The room filled suddenly with smoke. The Avengers all fell into defensive positions, turning towards the nearest door. Quicksilver, a mutant with the power of acceleration, spun his hands in tight circles, blowing the smoke gently away.

Standing in the doorway, with a sour look on his face, was a man that looked like he hadn’t shaved in five days, the West Coast Avengers chairman, Hawkeye. "Alright, exactly what in the name of Hell is going on here?" *

* Why is Hawkeye the way he is? Check out the OLD WEST Sage that started over in HAWKEYE # 12 – Old West Mark …

If the governments of Earth knew of what I’m telling you, they would hunt you down and imprison you until you told them everything you knew. Then, maybe, they would release you. But don’t count on it.

Somewhere up here, circling the Earth, undetected by any scanners, rests a space station of alien design. It’s new, in orbit only a week Earth time, but it’s going to upset a lot of people on the small blue planet it circles.

Uatu, the Watcher, knows it exists, but he’s not talking. Watchers are funny that way.

This station is going to make some changes down below that are going to upset a lot of people. Understand, this station isn’t bound by any governmental rules. It reports to no nation. All it wants is to make the world a changed, and hopefully, better place.

The few people who have taken up residence in the space station have dubbed it … the LIGHTHOUSE.

"We’ve got a large energy fluctuation in lower orbit making haywire out of our radar units, sir!" came the excited voice of a young man who, until recently, performed a similar function at Star City, the Russian version of NASA.

"Nuclear?" asked the Commander, a man who, until recently, was a strict follower of a Dream.

"Negative, sir," answered the tech. "Readouts indicate it’s of spatial and possibly temporal origin. Computer analysis indicates that’s it’s most likely-"

"Look at your screen again. Source of the ripple is the size of a man. That much energy coming out of that small an object … Thor is the best guess." The Dreamer furrowed his brow. "Plot the course of the falling body. Tell me where it’s going to land."

Another tech, this one an American and former employee of a large software company belted quickly on her dark grey keyboard. "Best guess, sir-"

A bead of sweat trickled off the American’s brow. "Pacific Coast of North America, sir." She blinked at her screen. "Sir! If the falling object continues along it’s present trajectory it’s going to impact …" - more punching into the keyboard as the map in front of her zoomed in closer - "… a spot of woods south of Los Angeles at … 1800 Palos Verdes Drive …"

Burning bright, like a meteor on fire from the velocity of descent, fell a man. He wasn’t unconscious, but he was close. He struggled to stay aloft, struggled to use his hammer to slow his fall to the Earth, struggled to look where he fell.

Despite the pain that racked his body, despite the mental fatigue, he somehow managed to slow, but not stop, his descent. He was worthy to wield Mjolnir, afterall. Defeat was not an option. He noted, vaguely, that the ground was fast approach-

The impact on the grounds of Avengers Compound sounded to all like an explosion. The assembled Avengers - Hawkeye, Wonder Man, Tigra, US Agent, Cannonball, Falcon and Quicksilver - sprinted for the back of their complex. Hawkeye sent Pietro to do a recon run around the grounds to check for damages. From one of the just knocked down bungalows, Shape and Jolt emerged, shaken.

A small impact crater sat in the woods, thirty feet in diameter. The West Coast Avengers arrived together and looked down into the crater to see a man, barely conscious, trying to wrest himself out of the impact zone.

"Wonder Man, let’s get him up," Hawkeye ordered, descending into the collapsed ground. Simon followed, jumping down to help the warrior to his feet.

"Hang on," Hawkeye ordered and Simon gently lowered Bill back down. "What happened to you?" Hawkeye asked.

Beta Ray Bill moaned something, but Hawkeye couldn’t hear him. He leaned in closer to Bill’s large, dark orange face. "Come again, Bill?"

The Avengers could see Bill’s lips move, whispering a few words, and then Hawkeye’s face drained of blood. Beta Ray Bill fell unconscious. Hawkeye set his face and stood up, looking over to the Avengers.

"Quicksilver, get on the horn. Call everyone - and I mean everyone - and tell them to get here as quick as possible. The next time I shout Avengers Assemble I want to see every friendly face we’ve got. This is for real, folks. We’ve got worlds to save."

Her name was Xasha. A week ago she watched a man dressed in metal pick her father up by his throat and snap his neck like a twig. She had waited from that moment until ten seconds ago to speak - when she told her mother she was scared.

"I know, honey," her mother tried to comfort, but as the voices from the capital city grew louder she had to admit that she, too, was frightened.

The sound of a billion billion voices across twenty planets chanting together in the name of their new god. The winds carry the voices across the surface and out into space, heralding what is to come.

Our first letter this month comes from the writer of two new series here at MV1, X-FORCE and PROTECT AND SERVE …

Well, hot damn! Mark, I find myself enjoying your West Coast Avengers even more than I expected to... although I do have to note that if Cannonball decides not to stay with the Whackos, there'll always be a place for him back over in X-FORCE

I see you have a different take on Jolt than I would... I don't know if she'd still have that bright-eyed enthusiasm anymore... but, writer's perogative. I look forward to seeing what you do with her. And then, of course, there is my FAVORITE whacko of all... the Shape! "Shape like sun!" BWAH HAH HAH!

And on that note, this is Shawn Connolly, signing off. Good day, and Odin bless.

Cannonball may or may not become available in the near future. <g> I don’t see Jolt as bright-eyed and enthusiastic, either. I see here more as "Damnit, I deserve a spot here." and the fact that Hawkeye doesn’t make her an Avenger is going to continue to be a sore spot for Hallie.

Hi, Mark. I just finished reading your first issue of AWC, and here's what I thought.

To be honest, the title, while funny, had me a little apprehensive. Invariably any new writer taking over a team book is going to make some changes in the lineup - it's merely a question of when and how much. Considering this new incarnation of the Whackos had only been together for four issues before this point, I was afraid a sudden lineup shift might be inappropriate. However, I was very pleased to find that there was no major overhaul, and the changes were logical and didn't seem to significantly alter the makeup of the team.

That said, I hope we do see a constantly evolving lineup on this book. I feel that Roger Stern's run on Avengers was textbook - a lineup that, in retrospect, seemed to constantly change, but flowed without any sense of disruption. In other words, no big "Old Order Changeth" issues. Just people coming and going on occasion - like life. I like the addition of Cannonball, and trust you'll use him well. It was fun seeing a good loser villain like Slyde also. The characters are all well handled, although I'll confess I'm sick of Wonder Man behaving as he has been. But, that's the constraints of a shared universe - for the time being, you're bound by continuity to portray him as such. But please, break him out of that funk as soon as possible.

Some other thoughts on what I'd like to see for the general direction of this title: Fun. I want Avengers hanging out around the pool, having barbeques, going to movie premieres - doing the West Coast thing. Of course, the occasional earth-shattering epic is necessary, but in between I think the Whackos should take full advantage of their location.

A membership request: She may be tied up, but I think She-Hulk would make the ultimate Whacko. She's proved she's a great Avenger, she's a California girl, and I love it when she gets together with Hawkeye. My guess on what issue your first letter was printed: Some day I'm just going to have to bring my whole collection with me to school. I think it was in the low teens, but I can't remember for sure. I'll guess #14.

This title is an interesting change of pace for you, especially compared to All God's Children. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you're going to do with this type of series.

Thanks for the detailed letter, Matt. I’ll try to touch on most of your points.

1) The Line-Up - The shift in the line-up is something I felt I needed to do. My knowledge/interest in some of the characters that beezer had knowledge/interest in are different than mine. Continuing with his cast just because they were already here would have done a disservice to the readership, I felt. The changes aren’t done, either. With only four fulltime members, an "Old Order Changeth" issue would be tough, but I get your point. I’ll try to make the changes as logical as possible, but I try to be open with the characters. Other writers have asked for certain people that are here (or who were scheduled to arrive) and I have tried to be as helpful as I can. If I think their plans are superior to mine, than chances are I’m going to let a character go. And when I took a look at the dib list and saw the people who I could get … I just think they will provide for better stories from me. I prefer the Stern method of roster changes, as well, though, and I’d like to run as many past Avengers through the book as I can over my run.

2) Wonder Man - He’s stuck like he is for awhile, but I think I’ve got some plans that should make it interesting.

3) Fun In the Sun - I plan on having the Whackos take advantage of their sunny location and heck, who doesn’t want to write one of Hawkeye’s Barbecues? <g> There’ll be some interesting developments with the LA locale after the team gets done with the WORLD WITHOUT storyline.

4) She-Hulk - She-Hulk is dibbed for a project by another writer and, truthfully, I’ve had my fill of writing Shulkie for the time being. Of course, if she were to become available … <g>

5) My letter in WCA - You are correct, sir! WCA 14 it was and even though beezer guessed it first, consider yourself No-Prized! Anyone have any guesses on where in the series beezer’s letter was?

Thanks for such a detailed letter, Matt. People seem to have high expectations for this title and I hope I can live up to them. When you look at the Marvel run of WCA, for my money the strength of the series wasn’t the villains or the stories as much as it was the great character work Englehart did. ( Post-Englehart there’s not much I’m fond of … ) The work done with Hank Pym, the blossoming of Firebird, the "what makes an Avenger?" questions with Mockingbird … these are the ties that I hope bind my work with the earlier series.

Also this month: HAWKEYE # 13 by Lonni Holland … More with Two-Gun Kid and the OLD WEST SAGA.

That's right! A double-sized issue featuring the West Coast Avengers heading into space to face off against Dr. Doom!!! Plus, what THREE people will be joing the Whackos? That's right, next issue will see three new Avengers signing up for duty including a member of Cap's Kooky Quartet, a former Chairman with a NEW name and someone who's never before been an Avenger!