The West Coast Avengers serve a special spot in the hearts of many comic readers from the 1980s. Ostensibly a second Avengers title, the book departed significantly in tone and direction from its counterpart. It was on this title that figures like Hawkeye and Mockingbird really developed as figures, as the book explored Marvel mythos while injecting plenty of superheroic drama into its characters’ interactions. While the issues collected here are not the best the book would produce, it established to tone this title going forward, giving Avengers fans plenty to enjoy.
Collected in this trade are issues #8-24 of West Coast Avengers, as well as Annual #1 and Avengers Annual #15. Plot wise, the West Coast Avengers are propelled across different eras, encountering Marvel’s Wild West and confronting ancient Egyptian rulers. The story focuses on the Wackos as they navigate encounters with legendary figures like the Two-Gun Kid, the Phantom Rider, and the Rawhide Kid, all while facing the temporal mischief of Rama-Tut and Immortus. As was in keeping with the title, there are ample cameos, with the Fantastic Four and Dr. Strange, Texas Rangers, and Moon Knight all dropping in to help bring order to the universe.
Scripter Steve Englehart and pencilers Mark Bright and Al Milgrom get most of the credit for the plot in these issues, and it’s clear this storyline is not their first rodeo. Each issues moves briskly, with enough accomplished in each to feel like a satisfying single comic while still serving the larger narrative. It’s heavy on the melodrama while giving its cast ample opportunities to shine and develop. Time travel arcs are a hard thing to land, and this book does it surprisingly well. I especially like the interactions between Iron Man and Wonder Man throughout the entirety of this run.
Unfortunately, not everything in this trade stands the test of time. The art, while clearly aiming for a mid-’70s retro feel, doesn’t elevate the storyline and feels at odds with the book’s tone at times. The characters look blocky and clunky, which may have been a result of the publishing cycle of its day. For a book from the 1980s, it also feels like Tigra and Mockingbird are made to be weak-willed, highly emotional female characters. Perhaps this is simply a relic of its time, but it did strike me reading through this Epic Collection.
There are a handful of supplemental sketch pages and covers from previous trade paperbacks, but nothing that will see existing owners of this run rushing out to by this new printing. Lost in Space-Time is not my favorite West Coast Avengers arc, but it does pack a great deal of galaxy-bending plot and characterization into each issue. Fans of the Avengers looking to get a taste of what the book was in the mid-’80s might enjoy this trip down memory lane.
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