Issue(s): West Coast Avengers #2
Cover Date: Oct 84
Title: "Blanking out!"
Credits:
Roger Stern - Writer
Bob Hall - Penciler
Brett Breeding - Inker

Review/plot:
After a training session...

...most of this issue focuses on a new villain called the Blank.

He got his powers when an employee of Stark Industries, who quit after the Stane takeover, got hit by a car, leaving his R&D project behind for the taking. The device gives him a slippery forcefield that also completely... blanks out his features.

Wonder Man encounters him first...

...but he gets away.

Hawkeye shows his first step towards real leadership by getting Wonder Man to calm down and agree to work with the rest of the team to find the Blank.

But the second encounter doesn't go much better, due to the Blank's willingness to cause a gas tank explosion in order to escape. Still, the Blank isn't really interested in the Avengers' attention, so he decides to get out of town, after charging up his forcefield one last time. This time, however, the device lets out a surprise.

It's Graviton. And he promises to help Blank with the Avengers.

Tigra is still having doubts about her ability to handle being on the Avengers. I take her point about her power level, but she's on a team with Hawkeye and Mockingbird, and surely she's at least at their level. Iron Man also has concerns, since he's not the original.

Stern is doing a good job working having these characters dealing with their new situations. Sometimes it feels a little overdone - Tigra's a little too full of doubt, Wonder Man a little too ready to angrily go off by himself - but it's still enjoyable. And the Blank is certainly a... unique villain.

Quality Rating: B-

Historical Significance Rating: 3 - still laying the groundwork for the West Coast Avengers team.

Chronological Placement Considerations: Iron Man uses his repulsors in this issue, so this needs to take place after they are repaired in Iron Man #187. The MCP places this after Iron Man annual #7, but due to a mention of Iron Man being away from his company for a week in that annual, i prefer for this issue to go first.

References:

• Iron Man contemplates telling his fellow Avengers that he's not the original, but he decides against it. He enjoyed being treated like an Avenger during Secret Wars and he doesn't want them to now start treating him like an amateur.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A