Make way for the GLA!
"Franchise"
Writer & Penciler– John
Byrne
Inker – Mike Machlan
Colorist: – Bob Sharen
Letterer – Bill Oakley
Editor – Howard Mackie
Approved by – Tom
DeFalco
July 1989
I
have a love-hate relationship with the West Coast Avengers.
It
was the first book I bought when I got back into "serious" collecting
after high school. I decided I didn't have time to read real books due to my
college coursework. And I always loved comics as a kid, but first never had
money for them and then didn't have the ability to buck the social order that
at the time made being seen in public with a comic "uncool."
You
have to understand that they weren't generating movies with box office draws in
the triple-digits beyond "million" back then. They were just
"funny books."
Iron
man was on the cover of WCA #1's unlimited series opener and I had to have it.
Didn't matter to me that it was "uncool." I was about to be drowning
in a sea of textbooks the size of a small minivan. I NEEDED something to read.
Something lite and quick and soft on the eyes.
Plus
I was over the whole cool-uncool thing.
There
is MY love for WCA.
And
the hate for WCA? WCA's first two years has some of the WORST writing of any
Avengers…no, scratch that….of any MARVEL title of that day or any other. It is
the dialogue. Unnatural and overly angsty, not to mention stilted and filled
with exposition dumps in large awkward doses every single issue.
I
kept buying it way too long. Far into my second year collecting and only then
did I drop it due to price increases squeezing my buying dollar.
But
in 1989, the book and I caught a break: John Byrne came back to Marvel.
A
growing rift between Byrne and DC after his revamp of Superman reached a point
where both parties decided to part ways. Byrne came back to Marvel and took
over minor titles in what looked like shame to us fans. The guy after glorious
runs on X-Men and Fantastic Four and he came back to do Star Brand (more on
this another day), West Coast Avengers, She-Hulk (which I loved) and finally
Namor. He pulled a writing stint on Iron Man too.
I
hated him on Star Brand, loved him on She-Hulk, and was ambivalent to his
Namor. His West Coast Avengers stuff however, was way more controversial.
The
team was really a bunch of second stringers by this point. Hawkeye and
Mockingbird just made an exit. Vision and the Scarlet Witch were still around,
but neither had ever carried a series alone. USAgent, the crazy roided out dick
that took Captain America's place for a few weeks, had just joined. Wonder Man
had stayed on, but Simon Williams exuded the generic strongman vibe in such a
way that no one was ever excited. Tigra was still there, too… but beyond that I
don't know who the team comprised.
Bryne
wanted the title so he could thoroughly f-up the Vision. He got his wish,
although for those of us Vision fans we really wished he hadn't.
What
everyone (at least I think everyone) did love however was Byrne's introduction
of the Great Lakes Avengers. I'm not going to spoil any of this, but let the
book do its own talking for once.
We
begin with a surprise splash page which is totally Bryne at his best. Meet Mr.
I. I'll tell you what that stands for in a moment. But first, check out the
inking done here by Mike Machlan. I think it he does an exquisite job of
showing off Bryne's pencils. Bryne has been (in)famous in the past for talking
bad about people who inked him, but I could really care less what he thinks.
Machlan's inks here are a delight and remain so throughout the issue. Love
those hair waves!
Anyway…who
is this and why should we care?
This
is your superhero, folks. Or one of them at least. He's about to foil this bank
robbery. Let's watch shall we?
Look
at these two panels. Look at them. When I saw this, the child inside me
screamed with delight. THIS is what I wanted from John Byrne: panels and action
that overflowed with joy. Mr. I does okay against these guys, bouncing around like
a snazzier dressed "Speedball" but then…
…he
gets tagged and you feel like the mission to rescue these hostages all went to
H-E-double hockey sticks.
Except
that's when Reed Richards, MR FANTASTIC himself, arrived on the…wait! That's
not Reed. Unless he's started sporting fancy new racing stripes.
That's
the point where the wall caves in and 700 lbs of woman comes striding into the
room.
Jeebus!
I guess the Blob has a sister. What next could bedevil these robbers?
Woah!
A man-shaped portable hole and a girl version of that Dinosaur guy from X-Men.
What the crap is going on here?
Oh,
that's right! A rescue mission. And while the throwback to a Ray Harryhausen creature
feature flies rings around one of the robbers, another gets the idea to just
shoot the fat chick and call it a day. I mean hey! It worked on that first guy.
Well,
it doesn't work so good on her. And now that I mention him, shooting him really
doesn't work so good on that first guy, either.
And
dare I say it? That Mr. I guy came back a bit …off his rocker, if you know what
I mean. Good guys don't usually curb stomp bad guys that are down and out. It
gets so bad that discount Mr. Fantastic has to restrain him and the Pterosaur
chick puts some kind of whammy on him using her voice.
While
"Diana" does that, we get a few more code names. The Blob's sister is
called Big Bertha and the stretchy guy is Flatman. Mr. I is their leader, when
he isn't recovering from being shot to death or out of his skull crazy. As to
who these guys think they are? Why not let them tell the press here?
Yah?
Yah? The maple kind? Uh-huh?
The
Great Lakes Avengers!
The
announcement is of particular import to the resident of this dingy motel room.
That being one Clint "Hawkeye" Barton, currently estranged from his wife
Mockingbird and on one of his many hiatus's from the Avengers. He was team
leader of the West Coast branch last time I checked in, so him being out is a
surprise to me.
Possibly
as much of a surprise as the GLA is to him. Clint knows these guys aren't legit
Avengers, since he recently was privy to all the group's top secrets. He wonders
what, if anything, he should do about them.
Just
then a knock sounds on the door.
And
there stands Bobbi "Mockingbird" Morse, his wife.
A
huge argument ensues that fills in the gaps on what has been going on between
them. Bobbi kicked Clint off the team for his rash actions. Clint is still
nursing the hurt of losing a team he helped found. Bobbi is still nursing
wounds from when the Phantom Rider drugged and used her, wounds made all the
worse by Clint's reaction not being very supportive of her. In short they are
considering divorce. It's a bit like when your parents are arguing and you
uncomfortably trapped in the room with them.
While
they fight, we turn back to the West Coast Avenger's compound proper, where
USAgent is having breakfast.
Byrne
worked extra hard on "normalizing" USAgent. The character had been a
raging psychopath when he wore Captain America's mantle, and was sorely in need
of repackaging. I was never sure I bought him as a good guy. Just too much
water under that bridge for me. I mean, he killed people in cold blood and
stuff.
Neat
costume though.
Tigra
interrupts and this is another shift that Byrne introduced: Make Tigra have
control problems with her "wild side." It is an okay story concept as
far as it goes, even though I generally tend to be disappointed with storylines
that try to give everyone a glaring dysfunction to move the plot along. What
I'm saying is that I'll allow it, specifically because Byrne's pencils make any
plotline go down easier, even ones we think are kinda silly.
I
mean look at this:
USAgent
vows to do something about her out of control urges.
Meanwhile,
Bobbi and Clint have decided to put aside their differences and investigate the
GLA. I’m just going to give you some great Byrne shots here. This book is
filled with them.
And
it is here that we finally get a look at the team's powers, as they use them to
infiltrate a building that Clint and Bobbi have setup as a trap. First our Pterosaur
chick is called, get this, Diana Soar. Ugh!
Our
shimmery friend here is called Doorman, and his power appears to be linked to
opening temporary holes in things with his body.
When
Clint trusses up Diana Soar, Mr I and Big Bertha move to investigate. They
scale the building in quite a unique way.
Big
Bertha can't pull herself up or keep that perch for long. Before she plummets
back to Earth, Mr. I hops off to deal with Clint. And I do mean
"hops".
Love
the way Byrne silhouettes Clint all in white here.
What
ensues is a few short panels of fisticuffs that Byrne uses to play up the fact
that Mr. I isn't buying these heroes are who they say they are as well as get
in some great dialogue. He really can craft a story.
And
he really knows how to work a joke.
Finally
Mr. I has had enough and he takes a header off the rooftop. Mockingbird follows
him down because it appears he's fallen to this death.
Once
it is apparent that these are the REAL Mock and Hawk, Flatman stops the battle
to converse with them. He also gives them the skinny on Mister Immortal, who has
a healing factor on Wolverine level.
Love
the "do you have a partner" joke. Byrne was hitting on all cylinders
when he did this issue. The right amount of action, drama, and humor to make it
a joy to read. Out of his entire run on WCA, this is perhaps my favorite. Sadly
it became a stand-alone issue, as Byrne didn't return to these characters in
this run.
Anyway,
they shuffle off to Big Bertha's crib which doubles as the team's headquarters.
Turns
out Big Bertha is a slim model who can mutate her body into a more chubby state
that has Blob-like density and strength. It's a neat twist.
As
is the glint in Clint's eye.
This
was Byrne's way of exiting Mock and Hawk from center-stage and giving the other
characters a chance to shine for a bit. They got a few cameos in later issues,
but it was mostly sideline stuff. It was a good exit for Clint and Bobbi
although at the time if they had a GLA limited series I believe it would have
sold well. At least it would have sold well with Byrne at the helm. He really
seemed to have fun creating these guys.
After
popping up in issues of Thunderbolts and Deadpool, GLA DID go on to have a
limited series, however that series looks to have been more jokey and less
serious than they are presented here. It was written by Dan Slott and although
I've seen issues in the discount bin, none of them have ambled my way. Likely I
would not be impressed, as I didn't think of the characters as
"silly" but as actually heroic.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.