Avengers West Coast #71
The Pacific Overlords Part II: … And Die in Infamy!
While investigating the Pacific Overlords, the Avengers West Coast has captured the massive bruiser called Big One. As it turns out, Big One is a child subjected to a horrible experiment. Locked in a cage the literal big baby begins to cry until the Avengers give it a teddy bear once belonging to the Scarlet Witch’s children to calm him down.[1] While the rest of their team, and their ally Spider-Woman, are calming Big One, Hawkeye has been looking into who owned the the wax museum where they found him. Clint confirms that it was recently purchased by Douglas Briley, aka Doctor Demonicus.[2]
Iron Man has also determined that the equipment found in the Doctor’s lab were provided by companies located in Japan and Australia.[3] Further confirming this, Hawkeye was able to find photos of Tokyo and Sydney further confirming this. Iron Man then suggests that the group split up and investigate both locations. He suggests that Hank, the Scarlet Witch, and Wonder Man go to Australia while he, the Wasp, and Tigra go check things out in Tokyo. When Wonder Man balks at this, Iron Man knows Simon is taking issue because of his issues with the Scarlet Witch and tells him to act like a professional.[4] With that, Hawkeye and Spider-Woman are instructed to stay behind while the rest of the team head off in Quinjets to begin their investigation.
After the rest of the team is gone, Hawkeye begins flirting with Spider-Woman. When she mentions that she heard he was married, Clint says that he is actually legally separated from his wife.[5] That’s when two phone calls come in, one from Doctor Jennie Falk from UCLA who was calling to confirm a dinner date with Hank Pym,[6] and another for the Wasp to discuss a screenplay she is working on.[7] That’s when Big One manages to get ahold of the photos the team were looking at earlier. When Spider-Woman uses her psi-webs to get them back, she notices that there was a third photo that they hadn’t noticed until just now. Looking at it, Hawkeye instantly recognizes the location and the two are soon off in a Quinjet of their own.
Meanwhile, Doctor Demonicus and his Pacific Overlords have set up a new secret headquarters. There they have set up the Lifestone — the source of their powers — is being rigged up. The Doctor is planning on setting up a new nation he calls Pax Demonicus that will make him the undisputed ruler of the Pacific Rim. He tells his assistant, a man named Kain, that he intentionally left behind false leads at their old hideout in order to send the Avengers West Coast on a wild goose chase giving him the time needed to achieve his goals. He estimates that, at that very moment, one of his distractions is about to kick off.
At that very moment, on the southern coast of Hawaii, the active volcano known as Kilauea suddenly explodes and two beings come flying out of its top. Not far away at Parl Harbor in Honolulu, the Sub-Mariner is receiving a plaque from the Navy to commemorate the work he did assisting the Allies during World War II.[8] Namor is then ambushed by the two beings who came out of the volcano: The Japanese mutant Sunfire and a new fire channeling super-human calling herself Pele, after the Hawaiian volcano god. Sunfire explains that he has come to attack Pearl Harbor in order to avenge his people who were killed in the atomic bomb drops on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the war. This comes as a shock as it is believed that Sunfire gave up his animosity toward the west some time ago.[9] However, before the pair can renew their attack Hawkeye and Spider-Woman arrive on the scene, with the bowman clouding the attacker’s view with a smoke arrow.
While Hawkeye deals with Sunfire, Spider-Woman deals with Pele. However, the task is very difficult to accomplish since they are in the middle of the ocean with only the Quinjet for solid ground. Eventually, the Sub-Mariner recovers from the surprise attack and helps Hawkeye and Spider-Woman knock out Sunfire and Pele.[10] Pulling them aboard the ship, Sunfire recovers and reveals that he and Pele were both brainwashed. Unfortunately, Sunfire has no memory of who was responsible and why, all he can recall is that tomorrow is an important date. Hawkeye promises to keep Namor in the loop while he investigates this further. It’s then that Spider-Woman insists that she needs to get back to California right away.
The following morning in San Diego, US Agent catches a car thief red handed when he gets a call from the Commission. He specifically speaks with Mike Clemson who has just heard that the Agent was kicked out of the West Coast Avengers and has a job for him.[11] Clemson informs him that Spider-Woman — another Commission operative — has gone rogue and was last seen with his old pals in the Avengers. He tells the Agent that Spider-Woman is to be located and eliminated as it is a matter of National Security.[12] Agreeing to take the job, US Agent hops onto a cap and tells the driver to head for Los Angeles.
Recurring Characters
Avengers West Coast (Iron Man, Hank Pym, Wasp, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, Tigra), US Agent, Spider-Woman, Sub-Mariner, Pacific Overlords (Doctor Demonicus, Kain, Pele, Sunfire, Big One), Mike Clemson (voice only)
Continuity Notes
Wanda mentions how her children no longer exist. Wanda made herself pregnant using her hex powers in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #3 and gave birth in issue #12 of that series. More recently, it was revealed that her children were merely figments of her imagination and were destroyed, as seen in Avengers West Coast #51-52.
Mention is made of the last time the AWC fought Demonicus. That was in Iron Man #193 and 196.
Here, Iron Man talks as though he and Tony Stark are two different people. They aren’t and the reason for this is quite complicated. Recently, Tony discovered that a number of outfits were making unauthorized use of his Iron Man technology and went on a mission to shut it all down as Iron Man. This put him at odds with the government. Since Tony’s double-identity was a secret from the general public he faked Iron Man’s death and convinced the world that he hired a replacement to wear the suit. See Iron Man #225-232. He’s even been trying to maintain this charade among his fellow Avengers even though many of them knew his secret. He will drop this pretense with his teammates next issue.
Simon realized he was attracted to the Scarlet Witch in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #45. However, Wanda wouldn’t reciprocate until her husband, the Vision, abandoned her in Avengers #312. She and Simon started dating around Avengers West Coast #63, but she decided to end things in issue #69. Simon didn’t take it very well.
When Mockingbird allowed the Phantom Rider to die in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #23, Clint didn’t take it very well when he found out in issue #34. This put a strain on their marriage. The two tried to work things out starting in issue #46, but Clint later gave up and rejoined the AWC in Avengers West Coast #60.
A footnote here reminds readers that we last saw Jennie Falk in Avengers West Coast #67.
For more on Janet’s screenplay see Avengers West Coast Annual #6.
Namor decided to help fight the Nazis back in Marvel Mystery Comics #3. Pearl Harbor is mentioned here. That real world conflict also happened in the Marvel Universe and its events will later be depicted in Marvels Project #8. Here, Namor states that he is no longer Atlantean royalty. He agreed to give up his throne in Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner #1-4. He will remain in exile until Namor the Sub-Mariner #40.
Sunfire was initially a Japanese nationalist who had a strong dislike for the west and the United States in particular due to the atomic bombs used in World War II as first seen in X-Men #64. He has softened his views since Giant-Size X-Men #1/X-Men #94. It’s stated here that his mother was a survivor of the bombs and the radiation she was exposed to was what caused Shiro to gain his mutant powers. That is now considered a topical reference as of The Heroic Age: X-Men #1 which states that while his mother was exposed to radiation during her pregnancy, all references to World War II have now been excised from his origins.
The Sub-Mariner states here that he and Sunfire used to be foes. The pair had previously clashed on two different occasions in Sub-Mariner #52-54 and Avengers #117.
US Agent was imposed on the WCA in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #45 due to their affiliation with the United States Government. When the Avengers as a whole became a UN operation in Avengers #329, the west coast team underwent the same change. As such, the team voted US Agent off the roster in Avengers West Coast #69.
Spider-Woman got her powers via the Comission and was in their service for some time as a member of Freedom Force. However, she turned on the Commission to free the Avengers from the Vault when they were framed for crimes they did not commit. Clemson found her on the run and forced her to do covert operations for the Commission promising to clear her of treason if she played ball. However, Clemson has no intentions of clearing her name and is using her as part of a vendetta against Elizabeth Corwall, Spider-Woman’s mother, for marrying another man. See Avengers West Coast #84, Uncanny X-Men #206, X-Factor #8-9, Avengers Annual #15, Iron Man #214, Spectacular Spider-Man #125-126, and Spider-Woman (vol. 2) #1-4.
Topical References
When the phone calls start coming in at Avengers Compound, Hawkeye jokingly wonders if people are mixing up Larry King’s phone number for theirs. This is a reference to Larry King Live an interview program that ran on CNN from 1985 to 2010. The show frequently had call-in segments where viewers could phone the show and give comment. This joke should be considered topical not only because Larry King Live ended its run over 10 years ago (time of this writing) but also because Larry King died in 2021.
Clint refers to Big One as “Baby Huey”, this is in reference to the cartoon character of the same name. Baby Huey first appeared in a Paramount produced animated short called Quack-a-Doodle-Doo in 1950. He would be featured in many shorts, cartoons, and movies, usually associated with the Casper the Friendly Ghost brand of characters. He was characterized as a literal big dumb baby.
As stated above, any references that directly tie Sunfire’s immediate family to World War II should now be considered topical. Japanese nationalism and ill feelings toward the United States due to the wartime bombings still endure to this day even in generations that were not around during the war, so the idea that Sunfire is no longer tied directly to World War II wouldn’t preclude his nationalist ideals.
The car thief stopped by US Agent is depicted trying to break into 80s model Datsun automobile. He makes a comment as though he frequently breaks into these types of cars. This should be considered a topical reference as Detsun stopped making automobiles in 1986 and the likelihood of models that old still being on the road are slim. They certainly wouldn’t be common place. More over, even though Datsun was briefly revived from 2013 to 2022, it would still be considered a topical reference as this is a real world automobile company.
