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nitpickrider · 1 year ago

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a bit silly, but if you had to fill an Avengers roster, who would you pick?

Wooof, oh me oh my. Let's lay down some ground rules before I do this. 1). Only people who have been Avengers at some previous point in time. Doesn't narrow it down a LOT but this list would be a jigsaw of my favorite Z-Listers otherwise 2). Limiting it to seven people. That's the magic number with superhero teams and it gives me a reason to stop

Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America: Sometimes you just cannot beat a classic and when it comes to Avengers line ups there is no one that I think is more integral than Captain America. The pathos that he brings to the table no matter what character he is interacting with is palpable and reading through his first big volume has given me a deep respect and love for the character. He's our leader for sure, the axis of solid, steady service I can hang my weirder picks on.

Dr. Walter Newell AKA Stingray: You all saw this coming and don't act like you didn't. One of my favorite if not my FAVORITE Marvel Characters of all time. He's a doctor with an interesting specialization. His "I'm only a part time superhero" hangup is even funnier and more interesting if forced into the limelight on THE hero team. Not to mention he comes with his own swanky Hydrobase we can use for an HQ and with his wife and four kids running around underfoot we have the kind of domestic adorability I think any good team needs.

Miguel Santos AKA Living Lightning: The first time I can ever remember reading about a comic book hero being gay, as just like, part of who they are. A tiny detail in their rich inner life. Not to mention the less respect a character gets the more I want to lift them up on my shoulders. He could be the sweetheart with a little chip on his shoulder from not getting the respect his objectively awesome powers objectively deserve.

Angelica Jones AKA Firestar: Something you may not know about me. The first piece of media that really opened my eyes as to the potential and depth and scope of the Marvel Universe was Spiderman and His Amazing Friends. It was cheesy, it was cheap and yet Angelica was the first character that I felt SPECIAL for knowing and caring about. She's happy, she's passionate, her simple classic costume kicks ass and the New Warriors need their goddamn respect. 'Nuff said.

Sersi, Just Sersi: What little I have seen of this character fucking FASCINATES me. This woman is chaos incarnate. It's like she is actively making on the fly decisions with everyone she meets whether she's going to kill them, screw them, turn them into a small mammal or some combination of the three. She's *Instant Plot Complication Just Add Water* because she saw a butterfly and that somehow translates to her blowing the entire team's cover.

Dane Whitman AKA The Black Knight: I love everything about him. I love his vibe, I love the fact that his backstory is built partially around recontextualizing the lore of a mostly forgotten Atlas fantasy comic. I love that he has a wickedly evil cursed blade that comes with the side effect of basically holding him hostage to a heroic moral code. And on top of that he's a dorky intellectual who can't see a social cue if it's blaring at him from oncoming traffic.

Jennifer Walters AKA She-Hulk: ...I do not feel the need to explain or justify this choice. YOU know Jen is awesome. *I* know Jen is awesome. She-Hulk does not need justification. She shows up in stories and makes them better by existing. Also yes this is the bodytype I'd use. Yes, I have an addiction. No, I don't feel the need to explain that either. RESERVISTS: Characters I really like but either don't know enough about or don't think they make good Avengers

Marc Spector and System AKA Moon Knight: One of my favorite dudes but does NOT play well with others. Was interesting for about 10 seconds as a member of the West Coast team but I'd prefer he never touch the ranks again.

Flint Marko AKA Sandman: Marvel did Sandman fucking dirty by never letting him fully reform and be the good guy. I want Sandman to be the good guy dammit

Maria de Guadalupe Santiago AKA Silverclaw: I know literally nothing about her outside of reference books but her powers are dope and I dig her vibe.

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thebibliomancer · 2 months ago

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Essential Avengers: Avengers West Coast #63: "When Lives the LIGHTNING"

October, 1990

The original HUMAN TORCH vs the LIVING LIGHTNING!

Living Lightning? Comic fans in 1990 probably were thinking 'who?' but fans of specifically 60s Hulk comics were like whaaaaaat?

I know this guy from the future. He sharked the Grandmaster at poker. He was revealed to be gay in an off-hand joke about how the Great Lakes Avengers have the same initials as the Gay/Lesbian Alliance. Fun guy.

And this is his debut, woo!

Not sure why he's gotta bully poor Jim Hammond when life already does that enough, shrug.

Last times: there was this whole thing with Immortus manipulating Wanda to turn her into a conduit for the Proper Timeline to flow through, or something. For some reason, this involved turning her into a racist. But then Wanda maximoffed Immortus so hard that his bosses came down and gave him a promotion to inanimate object.

Also, Terminus and Terminus bouncing baby boy Terminus combined into a bigger Terminus in San Francisco, then went to St Louis, and then went into space and imploded into a black hole. The West Coast team was around for that too.

IT HAS BEEN A BUSY WEEK.

See, Wanda is only now getting check up after everything she went through. That's how busy it's been.

"When lives the lightning" is such an odd way to phrase something. Is that a complete sentence?

The Avengers are going to arrange a nurse so Wanda can recover at home. Money is no object. Janet van Dyne and Iron Man are both in the room and they love throwing money at friends.

But for now, doctor's orders are for everyone to give Wanda some space to rest and everyone filters out. Except Wonder Man, who lingers.

There's weird romance subplot baggage between them. Which got even weirder when she was briefly evil because she taunted him about it.

But now that she's not evil, they have an awkward conversation.

Scarlet Witch: "Simon... wait... please... I... I guess we showed Immortus where he could get off, didn't we?" Wonder Man: "You showed him, Wanda... when you threw off all that excess power he'd secretly bred in you. The rest of us were mostly just along for the ride." Scarlet Witch: "Sometimes, Simon Williams, you can be so silly. Well... good night." Wonder Man: "Good night."

Please don't use the word bred in context of Wanda and Immortus, Simon.

Also, gosh I really can't get behind this awkward romance subplot. I'm too salty about how the marriage Wanda was already in was hit in the knees with a crowbar because John Byrne didn't like it.

Even given Wanda has been through a lot, I think it would take her a long time before she'd want to date again considering her husband dumped her and moved to the other cost while she was having an emotional breakdown.

Anyway. Well away from Wanda's room, Quicksilver asks if Wanda will get her powers back when she's rested from her ordeal.

The doctor answers that he can't say because he's no authority. Unfortunately, he says it in a way that notoriously prickly Quicksilver takes as mutantphobia.

Quicksilver: "I hesitated to ask this in front of my sister, doctor, but... Will her so-called hex power return, when she is stronger?" Dr Sanford: "I'm afraid I really couldn't say, Mr. Maximoff. Before tonight, I never before treated a -- well, you know -- a mutant." Quicksilver: "You speak the word 'mutant' -- as it it were something unclean! By all that is holy, I will--"

And then Hawkeye slides in and tells Quicksilver to calm his tits. For his own sake and for Wanda's try to not to be so touchy. Quicksilver apologizes and runs off.

Wasp is impressed that Hawkeye is acting the peacekeeper instead of the hothead but, geez. We've had this character beat from him already. At least before Byrne reset his character. When Wonder Man was chafing at the demands of being an Avenger and the glitzy life of starring in a Not-Conan movie, he started giving Hawkeye a lot of grief and Hawkeye realized 'wow, this is what I put Cap through, back in the day.'

Anyway, Wasp also remembers that the Tigra subplot has just been dangling like mad for so long. They need to do a Tigra hunt, find teeny tiny six inch tall feral Tigra somewhere in the compound grounds.

It's amazing how much stuff Byrne set up and then did nothing with but now has to be addressed.

Iron Man can't help with the Tigra Hunt right now because he's been blowing off corporate work to help with various Immortus and Terminus-related things. And Hawkeye is meeting estranged wife Mockingbird in Hollywood.

In the only bit of 'huh I wonder if Iron Man is Tony Stark' wheel spinning from the Avengers, Hawkeye cheekily tells Iron Man not to let Tony Stark yell at him too much for skipping work because "we all know what a hard case he can be" to which Iron Man Who Is Definitely Tony Stark can just awkwardly agree.

That was mean and funny, Clint Barton.

So how about this Living Lightning thing?

Well, a guy follows a map that was in his dead father's possessions out to the Santa Ana Mountains and finds the hidden and abandoned lair of the Legion of the Living Lightning.

image

Miguel Santos has a probably biased view on what went down and who the Legion of the Living Lightning were, because his dad was a member and Miguel heard from a surviving legionnaire what happened.

They were a group that tried to take over the US "for its own good."

Miguel Santos: "The Lightning Lord would've saved America from people who didn't love it as much as my father, who'd come here from Mexico -- if not for that green-skinned monster."

Miguel wants to revive the Legion's dream of abolishing war and hatred by taking over the country and so he tries to reactivate the Legion's lightning machine and gets electrocuted.

Whoopsiedoodle.

Back at the Avengers side of the plot, US Agent makes an earnest if awkward attempt to bond with the team.

He suggests to Wonder Man that they play a quick game of pool before starting the Tigra Hunt. But Wonder Man is preoccupied with his own thoughts and turns down the offer to go make a phone call.

US Agent: "The story of my life as an Avenger, West Coast variety. They resent the way Uncle Sam forced me down their throats. Maybe I should've tried to make myself easier to swallow. Well, maybe it's not too late, right? Pym and his ex-wife, over there talking to that witch-dame, Agatha Harkness... they haven't cold-shouldered me the way that bone-headed bowman did... The way even Wonder Man did just now."

US Agent: "Maybe I should just walk right up to them... Tell them how proud I am to be an Avenger... But, hey -- what am I doing kissing up to them? The government appointed me an Avenger, and that's good enough for Jack Daniels, a.k.a. U.S. Agent. Who do these bozos think they are, anyway, looking down their noses at me? Frag' em!"

I want to point out that US Agent was so offended about the thought that maybe his off-putting personality was why he doesn't have any friends, that he forgot his name is John Walker, not Jack Daniels. Dingus.

Also, he was so close to an epiphany and then pride got in the way. There's a lot of reasons why John Jack Daniels Walker could never be a good Captain America and that there is one reason.

Anyway, Hank has no idea why US Agent walked up to them and then shook his fist and walked away. So he just continues his conversation with Agatha Harkness and invites her to move in. It'd be good for Wanda to have her around, since she sees Agatha as family.

A feeling which is mutual, so Agatha decides to stay until Wanda is recovered.

She also offers to have her terrifyingly cute horrible monster cat familiar Ebony help with the Tigra Hunt.

Hank and Wasp are grateful for the help but decide to go check on the robot Human Torch before starting the Tigra Hunt.

(Aw, man, they're never going to get to the fireworks factory...)

Human Torch was revived from the Immortus stuff in the West Coast Avengers Annual but maybe people didn't see that. So Hank explains for the sake of the audience that Jim Hammond had to go into downtime to replenish his energy after the fight against Terminus and also Terminus.

As Hank and Jan wander through the halls of the Avengers Mansion, the West Coast One, they also wonder if Human Torch (robot) will ever adjust to being an Avenger and also in the present.

Hank thinks so but it took even Cap a while to adjust.

Then the two happen to amble past the room where Wonder Man is making his call. To Vision.

Wonder Man quickly recaps everything that's happened with 'we got her out of Magneto's and then Immortus' clutches, long story' and then asks if Vision can come visit. Because Wanda has been through hell and lost her powers. She could use some cheering up.

Vision repeats the same ol' emotionless robot bit. Since the memories up to Byrne's run were deleted, he doesn't consider himself the same synthezoid that married Wanda. Therefore, they are not. And Vision has decided that ghosting her, going completely no contact, is the best approach.

Geez, white Vision. I don't know how much I can call you a dick because you're operating on very limited information, you're basically a baby in terms of having less than a year's worth of memories, and you haven't relearned social nuance yet. But dick move!

Wonder Man says he understands but then he crushes the phone receiver, smashes through the window, and flies off into the night.

Wonder Man: "Oh, I understand, all right... You better believe I do! I'm in love with a woman who loves a husband who's dead to her, and always will be! So how do I fight -- a ghost?"

Completely unnecessary to smash the window like that. Some of your big Hollywood bucks better find their way into the repair fund.

But, like, I get it. I don't like it. I don't like this romance plot and it was been initially written in a way that makes Wonder Man look like an ass before course correction happened.

He loves Wanda. But he's (now) not a jerk that's going to make a move when she's messed up emotionally from her husband dying and then ditching. Simon wants Vision to come visit Wanda so they get back together and there's no possibility for him to agonize over or so they don't get back together and Wanda has closure and can date again. But as it is, all three of them are stuck in a terrible romantic limbo.

That's dramatic.

But I don't have to like it.

Also, even if Vision came and he and Wanda had a talk that gave her closure on their relationship, I think she'd still not be in the headspace to date for a while.

Meanwhile, back in the Santa Ana Mountains, Miguel Santos did not get electrocuted to death. It hurt like hell but he lives.

As often happens in comic books, instead of dying from something that should definitely have killed him, he gained superpowers.

Miguel realizes that he's glowing with an awesome power. When he tried to fix the lightning machine, instead of fixing the superweapon, he has become one.

Miguel Santos: "That felt great -- Maravilloso! If the Legion'd had a few vatos like me, instead of having to use missiles and -- the machine! It could've been anybody who got charged up like this -- even somebody who hated everything the Legion -- and my father -- stood for! Well -- not any more!" -blows up the machine- "I can see now -- it's better this way. From this night on -- there's only one Living Lightning -- and its name is Miguel Santos!"

Usually, these freak empowering accidents are one in a million flukes that can't be replicated to mass produce superpowers. And it was probably the case here too. But he wasn't taking the chance.

Anyway, back at the West Coast Avengers Mansion, Hank and Wasp reach his lab and finds that the place is trashed. The robot Human Torch's resting tube is all melted and there's a hole melted in the roof. And Ann Raymond, who is still here for some reason, is staring in a daze and a little charred.

She was watching the Human Torch as he, well, not slept but was dormant. She wanted to ask more questions about her dead husband Toro who is definitely dead when Jim Hammond woke up/booted up, but when he did, he got this weird look and suddenly flamed on bright enough that it temporarily blinded Ann.

Judging by a melted clock (Hank Pym: "Hello, Dali!"), they can estimate robot Human Torch Jim Hammond flew off hours ago. Probably very confused.

But thankfully, Hank Pym has Rover, the flying vehicle who loves Hank.

He never gets tired of showing it off and I'm always glad when he gets the chance.

We love Rover here.

Meanwhile, robot Human Torch flies off Orange County and muses about how much time has passed since the 50s. His robot brain may as well be trapped in a logic loop because all he really does in these Avengers West Coast comics is fly over stuff and muse about how much time has passed.

Writers really have no idea what to do with him.

Anyway, Jim worries that the world has passed him by. Is there a place in a world that already has a more popular Human Torch blazing around as part of the Fantastic Four?

Maybe. The one thing Jim is sure of is that he's lost. Whoops.

He stops by a donut shop to ask for directions (because he used to be a cop, you see. He even lampshades it) but gets distracted once again musing about how he doesn't fit into society, even back in the 40s and 50s.

I guess all of Vision's robo-angst has concentrated on just Jim Hammond now that Vision lacks the emotional depth to worry about existential things.

Jim happens to overhear a news report about a flying, glowing man causing fires and electrical damage over at Fullerton and goes 'this looks like a job for me, the robot Human Torch!'

Also, Jim doesn't know how to get to Fullerton. He just flies off and figures he'll figure it out.

Over in Rover, Hank, Jan, and Ann Raymond hear the same news report. Even though Ann affirms that Jim wouldn't be causing such a ruckus, the superheroes go to investigate anyway.

Which you'd hope that they would! So I'm glad that they do!

Robot Human Torch lucks out and spots a black-out while flying around and figures that's gotta be Fullerton and goes to investigate a bright glow in the middle of the blacked out area. Which happens to be a gas station fire.

A bunch of panicking civilians assume that Human Torch is whoever did this, back to cause more trouble. And they don't listen when he tells them he's a different guy.

He puts out the fire by absorbing the fire, as Human Torches are known to do, and then looks for anybody who can explain to him what's going on.

Nobody is willing to have a conversation with him but luckily, what's going on shows up to explain himself.

The Living Lightning throws some ball lightning at Human Torch, then claims he was just testing his powers. Jim goes huh ok, well, we have a lot in common, actually... but Living Lightning starts ranting that Human Torch won't stop him, like how the Hulk stopped the Legion!

Which confuses Human Torch more because he has zero context for any of this. He didn't see the subplot where the guy got powers or recapped that old Hulk story.

So Jim starts throwing fireballs back at Living Lightning. Only for his great balls of fire to bounce off an electrical field around Lightning.

When Lightning retaliates with ball lightning, he misses Jim but the electricity hits the road, blinds a driver, and causes them to drive into a tree.

Human Torch: "Good thing seat belts have caught on, the past few decades!"

But Living Lightning declares that next he wants to try his powers out on a living person and targets the teens from the car.

Human Torch intercepts the attack, seemingly with his crotch, falling right into Living Lightning's trap. He didn't care about the teens, he just wanted a free shot at the Human Torch.

The teens try to run to Hammond's aid but he tells them to clear out of the area so they run away.

Living Lightning is going to finish off Hammond when Rover, our beloved flying ant-brained airship, swoops between Lightning and the Torch.

Hank Pym: "Well, ladies, that solves the mystery of the 'flying, glowing man'! Looks like the Torch dropped by to investigate, too." Wasp: "And nearly got his head handed to him for his trouble!"

You don't have to be mean, Jan.

She flies out of Rover to check on Hammond, who is feeling equally dismissive of his performance, to be fair.

Wasp: "You all right?" Human Torch: "Oh, sure. I'm just great. My first solo outing since the Eisenhower administration -- and I wind up flat on my backside!"

Meanwhile, Hank is trying various things. Like. Acid spray. He just goes right to acid spray. He sprays acid at a man he doesn't know whether or not can survive acid.

He can. He even thanks Hank for confirming that for him since Living Lightning is still in the trying things out phase.

Wasp tries to talk the Torch into getting back into the fight but he's decided he's a no-good has-been. Until Living Lightning zaps Rover, sending it into a crash.

So alarmed that Mrs Raymond has been put in harm's way, Hammond FLAMEs ON and starts throwing fireballs at Living Lightning.

Hank comes up with a Plan and throws Torch a metal cable. Which he misses catching. But Wasp catches it and flies it up to him.

Teamwork. Makes the dream work.

Human Torch throws the cable to Living Lightning, who catches it without really thinking about it. But that was a grounding wire and it slurps Living Lightning into Rover's battery. Also, Rover blows up because the electrical charge sets off the fuel tanks.

;_;_\

Farewell, you beautiful ant-craft.

Also, bye, Living Lightning. You'll be back and at some point you'll mellow out. I mean, Hammond even lampshades that the guy will probably be back.

Good thing Hawkeye wasn't around. This would definitely have been a wrinkle in the 'Avengers don't kill' debate.

Was Hank's intention just to trap him, siphon away his power, or did he know that he'd get exploded?

Who can say.

But Jim Hammond's emotional crisis is resolved anyway with Hank (kinda lying) and saying that it was Hammond's years of fighting experience that ensured victory and truthfully saying that Torch has a place in the Avengers West Coast.

Wasp even points out that robot Human Torch Jim Hammond has quite a history as a team player with his sidekick Toro, with the Invaders, and with the All-Winners Squad.

Hammond admits he was confused when he woke up but that everything seems to be falling into place for the first time in a long time. Hooray.

Now to get back to the compound.

Wasp: "That could be awhile. Unless, of course, Hank's got a spare miniaturized Rover in his pocket." Hank Pym: "Not exactly, Jan... Will a Quinjet do?" Wasp: "You know, Hank, I can't always recall why I divorced you... but somehow I can usually remember why I married you!"

Because he struck you and then tried to kill all of your friends to prove that he was a good team player.

Look, I go back and forth on whether Hank and Jan could get back together. And writers have different opinions on it too. But if they do get back together, they'll end in the same ugly place unless they remember why the relationship didn't work the first time.

And by they I mean the characters and the writers.

I don't have faith that the writers remember because since Byrne started shipping the characters together again, Wasp has been regressed back to her old, clinging to Hank and being his ego booster characterization.

I can't really see the Wasp that led the Avengers in her recent appearances in this book. And that's disappointing. And seeing writers trying to shove the characters back into a relationship and ignoring rather than addressing why they aren't together anymore... well, that's disappointing too.

As for this issue... Eh, it's a good one-off. A nice little adventure to unwind and rerail after a big event.

If this was Living Lightning's only appearance, he'd be a waste of an interesting character. But it's not so I won't judge too harshly.

Next in Avengers West Coast, my goodness, some Great Lakes Avengers filler! But also, we're back to alternating so instead of that, next week is more East Coast Avengers and the introduction of Rage.

Follow @essential-avengers because why not? What do you have to lose? Or to gaiiiiiiiin? Like and reblog to find out.

#avengers #essential avengers #west coast avengers #living lightning #robot Human Torch #hank pym #dr pym #the wasp #hawkeye #US Agent #Wonder Man #Iron Man #Scarlet Witch #Quicksilver #Agatha Harkness #Vision #lightning man fights fire man #whoever wins Fullerton doesn't

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