Black Widow & Hawkeye #1 - Marvel Comics

BLACK WIDOW & HAWKEYE No. 1, May 2024

Announced in November 2023 by Marvel Comics Editor in Chief C.B. Cebulski whilst at the Lucca Comics & Games festival in Italy, Stephanie Phillips’ opening instalment to this “action-packed” sixty-year celebration of Black Widow and Hawkeye certainly seems to have had a fairly solid storyline lurking within its twenty-four page plot. Yet due to some quite questionable decisions as to this book’s pacing and persistently changing time zones, many a bibliophile probably gave up looking before reaching its rather startling conclusion; “I was on the rooftop across from the ceremony. I am sorry, Nat. The Russian minister… I shot him.”

To begin with however, “Broken Arrow” certainly seems to start off well enough by depicting “a symbiote-equipped Natasha Romanoff” consigning a Soviet assassin to a truly-dreadful death in Siberia. This disturbing scene, which offers no explanation as to just how the Black Widow became a host for her new alien friend or just why Clint Barton is suddenly the target of an Eastern Bloc hitman, ensnares the reader with a hefty veil of murderous mystery, and should've caused a fair few within the mini-series’ audience to yearn to know precisely as what mischief the sharp-eyed archer has recently caused to warrant such terminal attention.

Unfortunately though, this is debatably where the “fan-favourite” creator makes something of a misstep, by insisting on telling her tale back-to-front. Such penmanship may well work for the adrenalin-fuelled action sequence involving the Avenger and aforementioned Cold War killer in Madripoor – especially when it is so energetically pencilled by Italian illustrator Paolo Villanelli. But subsequent head-spinning trips back thirty-six hours, forty-eight hours, forty hours and twenty-eight hours will surely make even the most ardent roller-coaster enthusiast both disorientated and dizzy.

Somewhat more successful is the oddly-placed four-page bolt-on yarn which strangely follows this comic’s “new chapter in the (titular) pair's storied legacy!” Set way back when the two super-heroes were first establishing themselves within the Marvel Universe, and resultantly featuring the Black Widow wearing her original 1965 Don Heck designed strapless unitard costume, this no-nonsense ‘short’ shows an infatuated Hawkeye risking all against Snapdragon so as to prevent “the Red Spy” from being forcibly returned to her Russian masters.

The regular cover art of "BLACK WIDOW & HAWKEYE" #1 by Stephen Sergovia & Jesus Aburtov

The Amazing Spider-Man #794 - Marvel Comics

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN No. 794, March 2018

As ‘anniversary’ stories go, Dan Slott and Christos Gage’s script to “Last Chance” may well have provided its 51,412 readers with a modicum of entertainment courtesy of its insight as to where the most “dangerous, extranormal artefacts” on Earth are housed following the collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D.. This “Lock Box”, a top security facility hidden far beneath the waves on the bed of the Atlantic Ocean and dictatorially managed by Commander Hicks, provides a fascinatingly look at the naïve mix of super-weapon protection within a tight financial budget, and arguably could well have done with more exploratory ‘screen time’ as Miss Coleman and Mister Krane impressively ‘gun’ their way through several heavily-armed guards in order to locate the whereabouts of Carnage’s capsule.

Disappointingly though, the same fire-fighting fervour is perhaps not that evident within the rest of this periodical’s twenty-pages, despite “Marvel Worldwide” proclaiming this opening instalment to its creative team’s “Threat Level Red” event as featuring a “rematch” for which “the dangerous madman called Zodiac” has “had a whole year to prepare”. Indeed, considering all the trials and tribulations Vernon Jacob Fury has previously caused Spider-Man as the leader of “a terrorist organization with sights set on world domination”, his straightforward defeat at the hands of Mockingbird towards the conclusion of this particular publication is utterly underwhelming; “Damn you! You’ve stopped the upload. But all you’ve won is death! With my rage -- my mind controlling the key -- I’ll incinerate you! I’ll --KLOKK”

Naturally, that’s not to say Issue Seven Hundred And Ninety Four of “Amazing Spider-Man” doesn’t contain plenty of pulse pounding action, as Peter Parker’s plans to contain Scorpio’s presence within the Zodiac Vault in Greenwich, England go, unsurprisingly, horribly awry as the criminal businessman manages to breach the containment field supposedly imprisoning him with “an hour to go!” But the wall-crawler’s confrontation at the very top of Big Ben seems to have been stage-managed purely to provide artist Stuart Immonen with plenty of theatrical panels to pencil rather than ensure any believable plot progression. Unless any bibliophiles believe Fury’s contrived claim that his company purposely “installed a hidden transmitter made specifically for the key” into the clock tower some time in the past, in order to “send a master code to every satellite system” and further his nefarious ends..?

Writers: Dan Slott & Christos Gage, Penciler: Stuart Immonen, and Inker: Wade Von Grawbadger

The Amazing Spider-Man #791 - Marvel Comics

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN No. 791, January 2018

Considering just how simplistic the script to Issue Seven Hundred And Ninety One of “The Amazing Spider-Man” arguably is, it probably didn’t come as too much of a surprise to the comic’s 50,358 readers in November 2017 that “Marvel Worldwide” desperately attempted to boost the book’s sensationalism by advertising that its biggest selling point was the titular character and Mockingbird “flying in the air, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Yet whilst this third instalment to Dan Slott’s “Fall Of Parker” does somewhat focus upon the ‘blooming romance’ between the former C.E.O. of Parker Industries and Bobbie Morse, the duo’s relationship is hardly as overt as Alex Ross’ cover illustration suggests, nor is it arguably ever placed in jeopardy as a result of “down on his luck” Peter’s “latest conflict”.

Indeed, the vast majority of "Back To Ground" actually focuses upon the first day at the Daily Bugle for Joseph Robertson’s latest “full-time employee” and the Science Section’s subsequent “field trip” to Humanitech Robotics Incorporated in Upstate New York, rather than the two lovers’ costumed alter-egos battling container-cracking criminals on the Waterfront. This “guided tour” of Doctor Xander Zynn’s major corporation feels strangely reminiscent of some of the former photographer’s earliest adventures, when his thirst for knowledge led the then teenaged human mutate into all sorts of misadventures, and whilst the visit invariably does conclude in a mass night-time battle with an army of robotic Humanitrons, it hardly places any pressure upon the fast-developing bond between "two of the Avengers"; “Hey, Petey. Yeah. Everything’s great over here. More important, how’s your first day at the new gig going?”

Of course, the highlight to this twenty-one page periodical is undoubtedly Spider-Man and Mockingbird’s stealthy sojourn into the aforementioned “high-tech place” and their discovery that the “bad guy” has been cyber-enslaving Quicksand. Dynamically drawn by Stuart Immonen, the revelation that the sand used to ‘power’ the cute-looking automatons’ smart silicon matrixes weren’t “actually trapped parts of” the Sandman after all, but instead belonged to an adversary of Thor who was once a “member of Superia's all-female criminal organization the Femizons” makes for a pleasant surprise, and doubtless caught many in this comic’s audience as off-guard as it does Web-Head himself.

Writer: Dan Slott, Penciler: Stuart Immnonen, and Inker: Wade von Grawbadger

The Amazing Spider-Man [2015] #28 - Marvel Comics

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN No. 28, August 2017

Boldly advertised as a climatic confrontation between Peter Parker’s alter-ego and his arch-nemesis Norman Osborn in a “No gadgets. No powers. No holds barred!” fist-fight, Issue Twenty Eight of “Amazing Spider-Man” must have proved something of a bitter disappointment to the majority of its 50,925 readers in June 2017. For starters, at the comic’s conclusion the former “amoral industrialist Head of Oscorp” is physically far from defeated by “the crime-fighting super hero” and simply runs off into the Symkarian snow upon seeing that S.H.I.E.L.D. has arrived to thwart his warmongering, and secondly, despite being outclassed by a woman who has “been trained to be the best swordsman in Europe”, a bloodied Silver Sable supposedly defeats the Countess Karkov by simply causing a slight cut to her face, and subsequently breaking her will to fight..? 

Such major ‘let-downs’ to the culmination of “The Osborn Identity” really ‘smack’ of Dan Slott running out of ideas as to how to satisfactorily conclude his four-parter, and arguably suggest that the Berkeley-born writer disconcertingly tired of “chronicling Spidey’s globe-trotting battle against the former Green Goblin…” Indeed, rather than provide an “epic showdown between the two” as the American author promised fans in a pre-publication interview with “Comic Book Resources”, this twenty-page periodical instead just lazily strips Web-head of his powers through a combination of toxic gases, and then depicts him getting battered by his facially-disfigured foe across numerous panels before Harry’s father (once again) escapes. 

Admittedly, the limits to which Norman has gone to in order to “inhibit” all of the wall-crawler’s different powers is rather impressive, as is his trap to rid Spider-man of “that pathetic spider-armour of yours” using an electro-magnetic pulse. But as Parker himself later states, all Osborn had to do when his spider-senses were down was poison him with another gas and kill him. It makes little sense that one of the cleverest men in the world went to so much trouble simply to “put us on equal footing” and start rolling around with their deadliest enemy in the snow..?

Fortunately, “One-On-One” is undoubtedly saved by the superb fast-paced story-boarding of Stuart Immonen, whose dynamic sketching of both the main event, as well as Sable’s fencing lesson with “the Symkarian Monarch”, is an absolute delight to behold. There’s a real arrogance to the posture and duelling stance of Countess Karkov which speaks a thousand words, and clearly reinforces editor Nick Lowe’s belief that the Canadian artist’s characters “feel real and they feel like there's a life behind those eyes that he draws, and that's so cool to see.”

Writer: Dan Slott, Penciler: Stuart Immnonen, and Inker: Wade von Grawbadger

The Amazing Spider-Man [2015] #27 - Marvel Comics

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN No. 27, July 2017

Rather less action-orientated than one would perhaps anticipate for a narrative supposedly depicting a countrywide revolution by the “citizens of Symkaria” against the Countess Katarina Karkov, Dan Slott’s script for Issue Twenty Seven of “Amazing Spider-Man” is nonetheless packed full of some scintillating surprises which arguably must have delighted the title’s loyal 51,404 followers in April 2017. Certainly, Bobbi Morse’s ‘betrayal’ of Nick Fury and immediate “resignation from S.H.I.E.L.D.” in order to help the titular character is just one of this tome’s more startling revelations which must have caught the odd flat-footed bibliophile somewhat off-guard; “Well, that was a nice career while it lasted.”

The Berkeley-born writer’s development of Norman Osborn as a cold-hearted, calculating, yet oddly vulnerable, homicidal maniac also proves to be one of this comic’s more enthralling aspects. Grotesquely disfigured by Doctor Dragovic’s operation, Harry’s father both demonstrates his inability to resist being goaded into undergoing a bout of less than successful face-changing surgery simply because Spider-Man had previously rebuked him for fearing to ‘show his own face in public’, as well as his complete coolness when under-fire by calmly cancelling “port and cigars” with the countess when his evening meal is interrupted by Silver Sable’s “assault [occurring] sooner than expected.” Indeed, in many ways the “man who deserves respect at all times” is arguably (and perhaps disconcertingly) penned as being a far more charismatically interesting figure to read about than this book’s “crime-fighting super hero”.

Of course, once Spider-Man “has all the forces and weaponry that Parker Industries can gather” arrive close to Osborn’s “main munitions factory” then the Eisner Award-winner’s character exploration somewhat sadly ceases in favour of pure unadulterated conflict. This significant shift in the storyline’s pace starts with the Wild Pack’s assault upon the armament facility as Arachno-Jets, Spider-Mobiles, the Spider-Cycle and Web-Tanks cataclysmically clash with Kingslayer titans and Goblin Gliders, and doesn't stop even when “a proud daughter of the lands” verbally rallies her people around her in order to “see to it that Symkaria is free again!”

Delightfully, all of this exposition and large-scale warfare is incredibly well-drawn by Stuart Immonen, whose atmospheric pencilling throughout the comic’s twenty-pages makes it clear just why Slott told “ComicBook.com” in an interview that “there are moments where I wrote some scenes for certain characters that just had all this extra chemistry going on because of the magic Stuart was bringing to the mix…”

Writer: Dan Slott, Pencils: Stuart Immnonen, and Inks: Wade von Grawbadger

The Amazing Spider-Man [2015] #26 - Marvel Comics

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN No. 26, June 2017

There can surely be little doubt that, if nothing else, Dan Slott’s script for Issue Twenty Six of “Amazing Spider-Man” is frantically fast-paced, as well as packed with an incredible amount of gun-play and explosions. Indeed, with the exception of an utterly bizarre shareholders conference call disconcertingly crowbarred smack into the middle of Web-head’s confrontation with Norman Osborn, “Fight Or Flight” just doesn’t let up on the action until the comic’s final few pages when Nick Fury dramatically decides that Peter Parker, who “has provided S.H.I.E.L.D. with our current crop of weapons and technology”, is now “no different than A.I.M. or Hydra” simply because the American contractor has decided “to invade the sovereign nation of Symkaria.”   

Whether or not this twenty-page periodical’s 62,515-strong audience actually felt the Berkeley-born writer’s narrative made sense though, is arguably an entirely different matter. To begin with, if this book’s basic premise was for Harry’s father to use the wall-crawler and Silver Sable as advertising guinea pigs for his Kingslayer Mark 1 mechanoid, then the arrogant arms dealer clearly made an uncharacteristically unwise decision. For whilst Stuart Immonen’s marvellously dynamic pencils suggest the killing machine is both toweringly-tall and phenomenally well-armed, the large robot is still rather easily dispatched by the super-heroic pair due to their re-enactment of the final scene in Steven Spielberg’s 1975 thriller film “Jaws”; “Smile, you son of a --”

Similarly nonsensical is the titular character’s decision to “ship millions of dollars of equipment to topple a lawful regime” simply because it’ll supposedly “help spider-man stop a bad guy.” This reckless resolution is entirely based upon the word of a woman who up until a few minutes earlier, Parker had thought dead, and may, at least according to Mockingbird, be one of the Jackal’s clones. Indeed, the “single-minded” Sablinova’s apparent survival from Doctor Octopus's sea fortress (see the 2012 story-arc “Ends of the Earth”) is infuriatingly swept aside by Slott with the single line “it doesn’t matter.” Considering how guilty Peter felt at the time of the mercenary’s “demise”, such a reaction seems wholly unacceptable.

What is clear from this second instalment of “The Osborn Identity” is just why the publication’s American author told ComicBook.com in an interview that "Stuart [Immonen] is fantastic at everything". The Canadian penciller provides Norman Osborn with a real maniacal glint to his eye, and there’s a serious sense of scintillating speed to his scenes involving the Green Goblin’s glide-cycles which is highly reminiscent of the speeder bike chase on Endor in the 1983 science fiction flick “Return of The Jedi”.

Writer: Dan Slott, Pencils: Stuart Immnonen, and Inks: Wade von Grawbadger

The Amazing Spider-Man [2015] #25 - Marvel Comics

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN No. 25, May 2017

Publicised by “Marvel Worldwide” as a “huge blowout issue”, and shifting an impressive 113,934 copies in March 2017, this “massively oversized” magazine “with a cover price to match" hits the ground running by pitching Spider-man, Mockingbird, Tarantula and Devil Spider head-first straight into the underground lair of the Las Colinas Rojas villain, El Facoquero, and simply doesn’t stop their action-packed rampage through the arms supplier’s subterranean base until it’s been utterly destroyed. But whilst such scintillating shenanigans and ferocious fisticuffs could easily have allowed Dan Slott to allow the title’s incoming artist, Stuart Immnonen, to carry the workload, “Bug Hunt” instead sees the Berkeley-born writer pack the punch-out full of dramatic dialogue and engaging exposition.

For starters, there’s a real divide between the titular character and Delvadia’s best operatives, despite the different super-heroes supposedly working together for the greater good. Indeed, the sheer arrogance Jacinda Rodriguez displays by requesting that she “take command of the mission” just as soon as they enter the Warthog’s headquarters, shows a real disrespect for the titular character’s breath-taking experience, and is arguably only surpassed by the woman later insolently screaming that Web-head is an “idiot” simply because “that impressive spider-sense of his” didn’t “warn us of any danger!”

Likewise, the Eisner Award-winner’s decision to stop this forty-page narrative’s Spider-man from being funny or cracking any witty jokes, genuinely adds some extra gravitas to proceedings, and provides Peter Parker’s hatred of Norman Osborn a real steely edge; “There’s nothing to laugh about down here.” This serious tone, amplified by a frustrated web-slinger’s destruction of a S.H.I.E.L.D. interrogation table later in the story, permeates throughout “the most expensive comic book ever to top the monthly sales charts” and arguably allows its readers to feel the crime-fighter’s earnest, obsessional desire to finally capture his arch-enemy, the Green Goblin, and bring him to justice.

One final highlight of Issue Twenty Five of “Amazing Spider-Man” is “The Superior Octopus”. This secondary Slott short, pretty poorly pencilled by Giuseppe Camuuncoli, depicts Otto Gunther Octavius re-capturing his West Coast Base from Hydra using the proto-clone body he perfected, then subsequently stole, from the Jackal. Unashamedly a promotional piece, the tale simply tells how Arnim Zola and “the vast resources at Hydra’s disposal” have helped shape an “unparalleled” new Doctor Octopus, during the Wall-crawler’s aforementioned adventure, but as such, sets things up for a mouth-watering future re-match between Stan Lee’s co-creation and the CEO of Parker Industries.

Writer: Dan Slott, Pencils: Stuart Immnonen, and Inks: Wade von Grawbadger

The Amazing Spider-Man [2015] #11 - Marvel Comics

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN No. 11, June 2016

Wrapping up both the “Scorpio Rising” story-arc and the ‘Zodiac Saga’, it is hard to believe that many of this twenty-page periodical’s 73,643 readers in April 2016 obtained too much satisfaction from a script littered with celestial-inspired gobbledygook and nonsensical astronomical gibberish. For whilst Dan Slott’s narrative undoubtedly contains enough explosions, fist-fights and energy blasts to sate the thirst of even the most action-demanding junkie, it does so for seemingly no other reason than to frustratingly ‘pad out’ the final (perhaps fatal) confrontation between Peter Parker’s alter-ego and Vernon Jacobs Fury.

Foremost of this comic’s substantial failings is the Berkeley-born writer’s ill-placed belief that he can simply have Spider-Man’s main antagonist, Scorpio, rationalize all of the script’s bizarre plot developments by crudely explaining that it is all connected to the Grand Orrery, “a gift from the same dimension as my Zodiac Key”. This hand-sized “clockwork model of our Solar System”, a device which has conveniently lain undetected within the Rosetta Stone for millennium, is insignificant-looking at best and yet the American author would have his audience believe it can generate an energy pulse strong enough to encourage the twelve zodiacal constellations in the sky to mysteriously “blaze a trail” towards some mystical doorway buried deep within the grounds of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London; “So, just to be clear… Yadda yadda holy ascension. Blah blah blah Key to your destiny.”

Such lack-lustre lazy writing is further compounded by Slott’s inability to explain just what is happening within the white abyss Scorpio unlocks with his “giant key”? Just where is this chamber's precognisant power coming from and how is it possible that the Zodiac’s leader can ‘tap into it’ in order to obtain a knowledge of future events and not the titular character? It’s certainly unclear as to why Spidey shoulder-barging his nemesis further into the brightly-lit compartment so very simply “took out” his potentially all-powerful opponent?

Perhaps because he was as bemused by his co-creators unfollowable penmanship as doubtless many of this publication’s bibliophiles were, Giuseppe Camuncoli’s breakdowns for Issue Eleven of “The Amazing Spider-Man” are somewhat disappointing. The Italian illustrator’s depiction of the wiry Wall-crawler himself is excellent, as is his wonderfully retro imagery of the Living Brain battling Zodiac with his large whirring arms. But such pulse-pounding energy-charged panels are somewhat marginal, with the vast majority of the artist’s drawings appearing rather overblown and superfluous, as if there simply wasn’t quite enough story to go around…

Writer: Dan Slott, Artist: Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Inker: Cam Smith

The Amazing Spider-Man [2015] #5 - Marvel Comics

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN No. 5, February 2016

As Dan Slott has previously said himself “it used to be in the old days that if Peter was having an adventure, he would [simply] web his camera to a wall, take pictures of his fights, and then sell them." In Issue Five of “The Amazing Spider-Man” however, the Diamond Gem Award-winner somewhat disconcertingly has his incarnation of Uncle Ben’s nephew using a Quinjet to deduce that Zodiac’s hacking of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s defences is “just a decoy in order to gain access to your satellite scans”, imperiously co-ordinate a plan of attack which brings every Parker Industries surveillance asset "into play", and incredulously tell the likes of Nick Fury, Mockingbird, the Prowler, the Human Torch and Phil Coulson what to do when the international terrorist group strikes; “Huh. Whaddaya know. Peter Parker in charge. Amazing.”

So authoritarian and “cutting-edge” a wall-crawling crime-fighter must undoubtedly have caught many of this twenty-page periodical’s 79,122 strong audience somewhat off-guard. But fortunately by the time the Berkeley-born writer (and collaborator Christos Gage) has Scorpio initiate an all-out attack upon the British Museum halfway through “Set In Stone” and the former Daily Bugle photographer has activated his state-of-the-art suit, Spidey is once again the smart-mouthed wise-cracking superhero which has become the “flagship character” of “Marvel Worldwide” and the publisher’s “mascot.”

Indeed apart from the Human mutate’s annoyingly crass offer to “pay for any damages… and a new wing” when the institution’s curators plead for their exhibits not to be broken during the melee, Slott’s storyline momentarily resembles something similar to a Roy Thomas “Marvel Team-Up” tale from the Bronze Age of Comics… At least until Steve Ditko’s co-creation suddenly achieves a “nice win” by safely ‘zapping’ all six of the Zodiac Sect leaders with his antitoxin in a single splash panel which defies belief…

Equally as unsatisfactory as the writing team’s characterisation of Spider-Man, is some of this title’s artwork by regular contributor Giuseppe Camuncoli. The vast majority of the Italian’s breakdowns are first-rate, especially the action sequences set within Sir Robert Smirke's famous institution for Antiquities. But every now and then, most notably during Parker’s dismissal of Sajani and sketching of “the new head of the London Facility” Anna Maria, his pencilling appears a little rushed and angularly wooden.

Writer: Dan Slott & Christos Gage, and Penciler: Giuseppe Camuncoli

The Amazing Spider-Man [2015] #4 - Marvel Comics

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN No. 4, February 2016

Whilst it is very clear within the narrative for “High Priority” that “Peter Parker has [undeniably] stepped up” and taken his “gumption… to new heights” on account of Dan Slott suddenly transforming the former Daily Bugle photographer into “a globe-spanning entrepreneur”. Similar, rather disconcerting, changes could also be said to have come into being for the Berkeley-born writer’s “All-New All-Different” incarnation of Aunt May as well.

Indeed the frail, elderly “adoptive mother” originally conceived by Stan Lee and subsequently published in August 1962, has been almost unrecognisably replaced in this comic book by a ‘fighting fit’ Nadua charity worker, who seems perfectly at home coordinating the installation of “water pumps and purification systems”, as well as ensuring a deprived African village has the “power to run schools and hospitals.” So much for a supporting cast member whose nephew once feared would actually die of shock “if she ever learned about his dual identity as Spider-Man.” This humanitarian version of the ‘infirm’ pensioner is actually quite capable of outrunning a pumpkin-bombing glider-riding mercenary when the occasion calls for it: “We’re here to help! Oh, My! I Swear!”

Fortunately any of this title’s 82,066 readers perturbed by so noticeable an alteration to May Reilly Parker Jameson’s physical capabilities shouldn’t have dwelt on such a discrepancy for too long though, thanks to this twenty-one page periodical’s incredible action sequences. Admittedly having Spidey (Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.) ‘gunning down’ a host of Green Goblin wannabes with his state-of-the-art web-jet smacks more like something you’d see within an issue of “Moon Knight” than one based upon the exploits of your friendly neighbourhood Web-Slinger. But the Diamond Gem Award-winner soon has the costumed crime-fighter back on foot athletically dodging explosions and automatic weapons fire (despite there being “no buildings to swing from and no cover”) once the super-hero's hi-tech ride is brought crashing down to earth.

Equally as pulse-pounding as Slott’s plot is Giuseppe Camuncoli’s excellent artwork. The Italian’s incredible attention to detail during the terrorist attack upon Okiro’s remote settlement, as well S.H.I.E.L.D.’s “co-ordinated strike on enemy bases around the globe”, imbues his panels with some delightful dynamism. Whilst the former "Superior Spider-Man" penciller's well-animated facial expressions for Nick Fury when he learns of the Wall-crawler's  sudden departure and that the Zodiac’s Chilean Base is “just sets and props” genuinely seems to breathe life into the frustrated one-eyed Public Director. 

Writer: Dan Slott, Penciler: Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Inker: Cam Smith

West Coast Avengers #4 - Marvel Comics

WEST COAST AVENGERS No. 4, December 1984

Having initially started with Jim Rhodes ‘shellshocking’ his teammates by revealing that he’s replaced Tony Stark as Iron Man, Roger Stern’s script to Issue Four of “West Coast Avengers” subsequently transforms itself into an all-out action fest which not only sees the super-group rescue a truly waterlogged Wonder Man from the clutches of the formidably powerful Graviton. But also hand Franklin Hall a considerable ‘smackdown’ in the process. Indeed the Wackos' victory over “the Master of Gravity” is so compellingly conclusive that few readers must have shown surprise at the Vision’s ringing endorsement of the “…progress… made in just the first few weeks since the founding of our Western Division!”

However that doesn’t simply mean that the co-creator of the Hobgoblin has the heroes wade into the villain’s Santa Monica Retreat and just start throwing punches or firing repulsor rays. Instead the Noblesville-born writer pens a genuinely engaging plot packed full of intrigue and guile, as well as occasional bursts of raw power, that sees a fast-maturing Hawkeye using his brains as opposed to his team’s brawn in order to get the job done. In fact, up until the sudden appearance of the golden Avenger halfway through the twenty-three page periodical, it doesn’t appear as if the master archer's team have even yet arrived at the Canadian physicist’s lair. Let alone infiltrated it by disguising themselves as a barmaid, Maggia henchman and Madame Masque…

Such a well-devised cleverly-executed scheme really helps draw in the reader, and even provides a few stand-out moments such as an overconfident “amateur Iron Man” directly tapping into “the entire south-western power grid” and Tigra viciously slapping a moustached Clint Barton around the face when he momentarily gapes at the submerged ‘cadaver’ of Simon Williams in full view of Graviton; “Louis! What is the matter with you?! You’ve killed dozens of men! How dare you weaken at the sight of one corpse!” Is it any wonder that a year later in 1985, “Marvel Comics Group” launched a “second ongoing Avengers series” based upon the self-same line-up?

Bob Hall’s breakdowns are also nicely rendered throughout the majority of “Finale”. Finished by Brett Breeding and Peter Berardi, the American artist manages to pencil some incredibly expressive close-ups of the main cast, most notably Hawkeye, as well as draw some awesomely dynamic set-pieces like Wonder Man literally tearing down Hall’s lavish retreat just before “Phase Three” of the West Coast Avengers' plan takes effect.

Writer: Roger Stern, Breakdowns: Bob Hall, and Finishers: Brett Breeding & Peter Berardi

West Coast Avengers #3 - Marvel Comics

WEST COAST AVENGERS No. 3, November 1984

Fans of Wonder Man were probably in two minds about Roger Stern’s handling of the Ionic-energy empowered superhero in this penultimate issue of the “West Coast Avengers” Limited Series. For whilst Simon Williams is shown ruggedly clearing the Santa Monica Freeway of unseasonal snow at the start of the comic, and later provides an enjoyable plotted history of his origin, Don Heck’s co-creation is for the most-part depicted as little more than a sullen, brooding super-hero who is rather worryingly solely preoccupied with his public image and the perceived battering it has taken following “that Blank… getting away… a couple of weeks ago.”

Admittedly such a flawed personality trait as hubris does make “the son of rich industrialist Sandford Williams” a far more compelling character, especially when he quite touchingly confides in fellow ‘Wacko’ Tigra that he doesn’t feel much of an Avenger having let the force field generator-powered felon escape his custody. But any reader’s sympathy to his confidence-lacking plight is then soon dispelled by the Noblesville-born writer dressing him up with the most absurd-looking curly blond wig and shades imaginable, just so the ‘experienced stuntman’ isn’t recognisable when escorting the Shroud on a visit to “what was once the home of one “Lucky Man” Galeno…”

Fortunately the narrative to “Taking Care of Business!” also spends a considerable time focussing upon former gravity researcher Franklin Hall and his return from being “exiled to the interdimensional void” by Thor. Able to manipulate “the subatomic particles that carry the force of gravitational attraction”, Graviton proves as formidable a foe for Wonder Man, Maximillian Coleridge and Greer Nelson in this comic’s later stages as he is mentally deranged. Indeed the supervillain’s spiteful toying of Clyde, the man whose charging field actually helped rescue the Canadian physicist from his “state of suspended animation” shows a decidedly nasty streak to a criminal clearly capable of taking on “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”; “There is no room in my organisation for whiners, Blank!”

Equally as engrossing as Graviton’s determination to “organize California’s criminal element!” is Bob Hall’s wonderful artwork for a twenty-three page periodical that is rather dialogue-heavy in parts. In fact the University of Nebraska-Lincoln attendee’s drawings of the Shorud repeatedly stepping from out of his Darkforce is arguably worth the cost of this comic’s cover price alone, even if the ‘Master of Darkness’ is accompanied by a ludicrous-looking Williams.

Writer: Roger Stern, Penciler: Bob Hall, and Inker: Brett Breeding

West Coast Avengers #2 - Marvel Comics

WEST COAST AVENGERS No. 2, October 1984

Featuring the debut of Roger Stern and Bob Hall’s creation The Blank, Issue Two of “West Coast Avengers” disappointingly pits the ‘fledgling’ super-group’s rather formidable roster up against one of the New York publisher’s most uninspiring and frankly third-rate villains ever. Indeed, if the “unemployed drifter” hadn’t conveniently encountered a Stark International Research scientist whilst waiting for a bus and subsequently stolen the inventor’s force field generator, then the Wackos really would spend the entire length of this comic book battling nothing more than an ordinary, powerless, criminally-minded “disgruntled” nobody.

Presumably however, such a forgettable foe was actually devised in order to allow the American author to spend a considerable portion of this twenty-three page periodical concentrating upon the doubts and fears of this “expansion of the main Avengers team”. Something the Noblesville-born novelist does to a disconcerting depth as practically every single one of the super-heroes featured within the narrative inwardly demonstrates some considerable team angst; “I’m not anywhere near being in his league… Why did I let Hawkeye talk me into joining his new Avengers team?”

Foremost of these doubting Thomas’ is arguably Wonder Man, the son of a rich industrialist who is clearly not half as confident with his “personal performance” as his self-assured Simon ‘stunt man’ Williams alter ego would suggest. In fact having demonstrated his inability to “handle one gimmicky bank robber by myself” the angry “ionic” powerhouse becomes worryingly obsessed with “nabbing” the Blank by himself just to prove ‘what good he is to the Avengers’.

Equally as image-driven, and quite possibly power-mad as well, is Jim Rhodes’ Iron Man. Concerned that Hawkeye’s gruelling daily workout showed him up and that he may be trading “on another man’s rep” since replacing Tony Stark “inside this metal suit”, the armoured “amateur” admits to revelling in the power bestowed upon him because it “felt good… read good!”

Fortunately this magazine does feature some incredibly lively action-packed artwork by Bob Hall. Admittedly the one-time “Charlton Comics” inker isn’t as consistent with his illustrations as some readers may have hoped for, particularly when sketching the Blank’s origin flashback. But the former “Marvel Comics” editor’s drawings of Iron Man, Tigra, Mockingbird and Hawkeye during the Wackos ‘mock’ battle against “Shellhead” prove to be an incredibly dynamically-charged way to start an otherwise rather run-of-the-mill story.

Writer: Roger Stern, Penciler: Bob Hall, and Inker: Brett Breeding

West Coast Avengers #1 - Marvel Comics

WEST COAST AVENGERS No. 1, September 1984

Whilst Roger Stern’s somewhat pedestrian-paced script for Issue One of the “West Coast Avengers” limited series is nowhere near as frustratingly tedious a read as Stan Lee’s Silver Age story “The Old Order Changeth!” There is, perhaps understandably, a number of similarities between this “bold new chapter in the annals of Earth’s mightiest heroes” and the May 1965 “spectacular special issue” of “The Avengers” which heralded “the start of a great new Avengers line-up!”

In fact the narratives for “Avengers Assemble!” and its thirty year old predecessor are in some ways upsettingly undistinguishable from one another with both featuring a new team leader pulling together a fresh collection of hesitant, nervous and somewhat unproven super-heroes, and then housing them within an expensively lavish state-of-the-art compound. The Noblesville-born writer even goes so far as to include several ominous nods to the one-time publishing President’s original storyline by having 'his' Hawkeye once again refer to the Super-soldier serum enhanced Captain America as an Avenger who doesn’t have “any amazing powers” and then offer a perceived super-villain, in this case the anti-hero Maximillian Quincy, a place on the “Wackos” having been impressed with the Shoud’s skill in penetrating their Los Angeles-based estate's defences; “Besides, what you did reminds me a little of how I introduced myself to the Avengers -- I broke in too!”

Putting aside such potential plagiarism of a “classic Avengers” comic however, Stern’s twenty-three page periodical also proves to be something of an inauspicious experience due to its failure to live up to its initial concept’s promise. Bob Hall and Brett Breeding’s cover art genuinely gives the impression that this ‘new’ title could really be something innovatively different, and even suggests that diverse characters such as Rom the Space Knight, the diminutive acrobat Puck and “genius psychiatrist” Doc Samson may be permanent cast members. Disappointingly though, with the exception of Mockingbird, the American author instead simply regurgitates a number of arguably failed former “New York team” associates, and even portrays a couple of these “out of my league[rs]” as being somewhat displeased when awarded a “spot” on the line-up. Indeed Tigra is actually paid $1,000 by the Vision just to catch “the next shuttle flight” to California and “help the [West Coast] Avengers out.”

Fortunately Hall’s precise and detailed pencilling goes a long way to help make amends for the graphic novelist’s uninspiring storytelling. With the former “Charlton Comics” inker’s depictions of an overly enthusiastic, somewhat pushy Hawkeye and self-doubting "Jimmy Rhodes" Iron Man, resplendent in his shiny red and gold armour, looking as good as any bibliophile could ask for.

Writer: Roger Stern, Penciler: Bob Hall, and Inker: Brett Breeding