Avengers West Coast #64Issue(s): Avengers West Coast #64 Review/plot: Captain America gets a fake call for help from Rick Jones. The message is relayed through a computer system at the West Coast Avengers compound (not sure who is in the background of the above panel, but the Whackos don't seem to have as consistent a staff as the East Coast team). The Golden Age Human Torch initially insists that the computer in question wasn't even active and couldn't have been used, but eventually he realizes that it was, and then realizes that the computer was hacked and leaves to join Cap. And the Great Lakes Avengers, in what i think is their last appearance for quite some time, get suckered in as well. The call from Rick is traced to an amusement park. Captain America tries out Dazzler's old catchphrase now that she's not using it. At the amusement park, Cap faces a number of animated wax statues of various super-characters. And other things. And so does the Human Torch when he arrives. So of course Cap and the Torch are primed to fight each other when they meet. And after that is settled, same with the GLA. It turns out that this is all being set up by a kid named Stevie that has found the Ruby of Cyttorak, which recently fell back to Earth. He wants Captain America's shield. Captain America, realizing that, swaps his shield with a wax version. He never meets Stevie. But he's disappointed when the shield melts during his Show and Tell. Note that it was Nova that knocked the Ruby of Cyttorak out of the sky. And that there's an untold story that takes place prior to this involving the Hulk and the Juggernaut. And also that this story is to be continued elsewhere. Neither of those stories have ever been published, as far as i know. Captain America also says that he ought to check in on the real Rick Jones, but that also doesn't happen (as least not as a direct consequence of this story.) So there are a lot of loose ends, so to speak, as a result of this. Seems like the sort of thing that could have become kind of like Danny Fingeroth's Dominic Fortune mini-saga, which was told across fill-ins of various comics. I like Terry Kavanagh's use of continuity here, although i'm not comfortable about leaving the Ruby of Cyttorak in the hands of a random kid and i wonder why it grants him the ability to animate wax statues instead of the normal Cyttorak powers. Something i wouldn't have minded seeing getting a follow-up, and i would never say no to a Hulk/Juggernaut fight, so it's too bad Kavanagh didn't do more with this. Quality Rating: C+ Chronological Placement Considerations: Can't take place while the Golden Age Torch is kidnapped after Namor #6-9. References:
Crossover: N/A Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: N/A
CommentsInterestingly, one of the statues is Cougar, who eventually appears in Liefeld's Youngblood series. Liefeld planned to debut the character in New Mutants but decided not to but somehow his image ended up amongst the statues here. Posted by: Michael | July 10, 2015 6:56 PM An image of Cougar was previewed in Marvel Age. I wonder if Wozniak was using that as reference for some reason. Posted by: Erik Robbins | July 11, 2015 12:13 AM god awful Posted by: kveto | July 11, 2015 12:48 AM Who's the guy between Hulk and Iron Man? I ask coz he also looks like a Youngblood character (Diehard) and I can't place him as a Marvel character. Posted by: AF | December 22, 2017 1:58 AM And the guy next to Spidey I can't place either. Posted by: AF | December 22, 2017 2:01 AM Here are the names of all the statues: http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Avengers:_West_Coast_Vol_1_64 Waxwork duplicates of: Posted by: clyde | December 22, 2017 10:02 AM Well, it fails to identify either, misidentifies Cougar, misses Nick Fury and reckons Baron Blood is there. Posted by: AF | December 22, 2017 10:12 AM https://78.media.tumblr.com/d132a9e27fbb921247e8a2572168ab1c/tumblr_p1covfF2yB1vt2ynno1_1280.jpg Posted by: AF | December 22, 2017 10:15 AM Could the guy between Iron Man and Hulk be Parnival Plunder? Or am i just letting the color scheme influence me? Posted by: fnord12 | December 22, 2017 2:43 PM Whoever wrote the Wikia entry Clyde linked to must have thought the blue & white guy between Hulk and Iron Man was Blizzard. I thought that at first two because of the similar color scheme to Blizzard’s last costume, but upon closer inspection there are too many differences. He also appears to be holding a wire or cable of some kind in his hands. So I would assume that’s a tell as to who he is, but damned if I have figured it out. Then again I would never have been able to peg Liefeld’s Timberwolf rip-off like AF did. Perhaps the blue & white guy is another character whose identity lies outside of Marvel. Posted by: Robert | December 22, 2017 4:28 PM Obligatory “wish I had an edit button” post: I realize now Michael first pointed out Cougar, not AF like I said. Also my sincere apologies to the late Mrs. Harrison, who is no doubt looking down and shaking her head at my typing ‘two’ when I meant ‘too.’ Posted by: Robert | December 22, 2017 4:34 PM At the end of the day, it's not all that important, and of course the art is bad, but i brought it up as a point of interest in it being very very similar to Youngblood's Diehard and considering Cougar is also there... if that is the case, this would mean Diehard was presented to Marvel editorial and was intended for a role in X-Force at some point which is, i suppose, interesting. Posted by: AF | December 22, 2017 5:57 PM Comments are now closed. |
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