In 1984, in the aftermath of Secret Wars, the Avengers decided to franchise themselves, setting up a branch on the West Coast. Hawkeye finally got his chance to be in charge, with Mockingbird as the first member of the team. That, along with a fairly nifty new hacienda HQ, is about all the "Wackos" have got to start with. So Clint's got to do a recruitment drive, and then immediately deal with the return of Graviton.
When I was discussing Hawkeye's 1984 solo mini-series in Sunday Splash Page #229, I mentioned that especially in the first two issues, Gruenwald's art reminded me of Bob Hall's. Some of the, I imagine, Buscema influence to the style, but solid art that tells the story, sells the emotional beats, makes the action sequences look good. Those first two issues were inked by Brett Breeding and I look at the credits for this mini-series, and there's Bob Hall inked by Brett Breeding (although on the 4th issue, Hall is credited with breakdowns, while Breeding and Peter Ferardi handle finishes.)
There's nothing particularly flashy to the art, but it works, and sells the little touches that make the characters feel fleshed out. When Wonder Man is packing up to move into the HQ, he just stuffs everything into one big box, which he seals up by pushing nails in with his finger. Because why would a guy that strong need a hammer? Mockingbird casually dusting Hawkeye's backside off after Iron Man knocked him flat in the training exercise.
This is one of my two favorite Avengers rosters, up there with the Kooky Quartet. I've mentioned previously preferring small Avengers lime-ups, and at five characters, this is definitely on the small side. Especially for tangling with Graviton, who mentions more than once he fought an Avengers team with twice this many characters.
Most of it is Stern picked a group that all have something to prove. After years of running his mouth about how he could do a better job than Captain America, Hawkeye gets his chance to put up or shut up, with a team that has a low amount of superhero experience (less than he knows), and basically none working with each other. Mockingbird's been a SHIELD agent, but she's relatively new to superheroics. Her team-up with Spider-Man in Marvel Team-Up nearly got her killed, and Crossfire's weird sonic weapon drove her nuts and almost got her beaten to death by Hawkeye. Her track record ain't great, is what I'm getting at.
Wonder Man died the first time he tried to do the hero thing, and that left a mark. Stern doesn't delve so much into the fact Simon had a tendency to freeze up when he came back from the dead, but there is the fact Wonder Man ditched crimefighting to become a stunt man. He's got to prove to himself he can hack it, and his inability to catch a low-level bank robber like The Blank (no, that's his name) eats at him. Tigra had been doing alright helping Jessica Drew in the P.I. business, but her Avengers stint went even worse than Wonder Man's, leaving her convinced she had no business trying to work at that level.
But hey, they've got Iron Man! One of the original Avengers. A true stalwart, who has been through everything one could face. Oh wait, it's Jim Rhodes inside the armor. Now, you and I know Rhodey is cooler than Tony Stark, but he doesn't have nearly the experience or engineering knowhow. And since he kept the helmet on during Secret Wars, the whole team figures he's the biggest rookie of them all. Until he sets them (more specifically, Hawkeye and his big fat mouth) straight, of course.
It was a solid story that set up inner conflicts for everyone, but also gave them each a chance to showcase what they brought to the table. I would have liked for this to stick as the roster, but that was not to be, as we'll see next week.
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