Avengers West Coast #60

So this was a weird issue. Avengers West Coast #60 was the pack in comic that comes with the Quicksilver and Wonder Man Marvel Universe action figure set. Reading it was like catching a movie after missing the first 35 minutes.

The issue starts with time traveling villain preventing the assassination of John F. Kennedy–with no reason given. Just as you process that, the story jumps to the Avengers West Coast’s base in California which was damaged from a recent attack. They really don’t explain what had happened, but the point is made that everyone thinks that USAgent is a bit of a tool and that they want Hawkeye to take a more active leadership role in the team, which anyone can understand.

The story then jumps again to Asteroid M, where Magneto and Scarlet Witch are trying to get Quicksilver to join their latest evil family scheme, to which he says no. They battle, Quicksilver pulls the teleporting Inhuman dog Lockjaw out of his belt (apparently Pietro likes to carry this poor animal around at all times), and they all reappear at the West Coast compound. There’s fighting and the book ends with Immortus claiming Scarlet Witch as his bride. Wow.

Writers Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas seem to have written this issue in the story of what would be known as crash television in professional wrestling circles. For those of you who don’t know, that’s the style of writing a wrestling program where things are constantly happening in a jarring manner that was super popular in the late 1990s. This comic–even though it debuted way before the crash tv era in wrestling–is a perfect example of it.

I’m all confused now so I think I’ll take a nap.

U.S.Agent

Remember the 1990s when we had a new Batman, new Green Lantern, new Spider-Man and even a gaggle of new Supermen? The character now known as U.S.Agent was a replacement Captain America back in 1986, and eventually wound up carving his own identity once Steve Rogers took the job back.

So when they released a figure of U.S.Agent as part of the recent Captain America line of action figures, I was pretty excited to get a chance to add him to the collection. It also gets me one step closer to having a set of the West Coast Avengers.

His costume is awesome, as it is a darker version of the American flag. The accessories are pretty cool. U.S.Agent comes with his most recent shield and a Uzi. After all, he’s a much tougher (and more violent) version of Cap. For picture and display sake, I swapped it out for one of the M-16 assault rifles that are so prevalent with GI Joe figures.

U.S.Agent is a brute of a guy, so I imagine him being one of my most combat-ready toys. I could really see him being air-dropped over an AIM or Hydra base, with two machine guns, a lot of ammo and maybe a Monster energy drink,.