Thanks. I'm glad too. In fact, it has a lot of '80s goodies, like the West Coast Avengers and other stuff. I hope to share some of my reading experience of them here in the forum.

West Coast Avengers v1 #2

0.75 USD @ October 1984

"Blanking Out!"

Writer: Roger Stern
Penciler: Bob Hall
Inker: Brett Breeding
Letterer: Diana Albers
Colorist: Julianna Ferriter
Editor: Mark Gruenwald
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Synopsis: Just outside the West Coast Avengers Compound, four of the WCA are having a workout with Iron Man posing as the enemy, and Hawkeye, Mockingbird, and Tigra working together as a team. Jim Rhodes/Iron Man underestimated Tigra's speed and reflexes, and found himself held by her long enough to be disoriented momentarily from a hit by Mockingbird's stick. Then it was followed up by Hawkeye's accurate arrows hitting him by the boots, and clogging his boot jets with some sort of adhesive thus grounding him. Hawkeye told them that team work always works, and Iron Man with palms down on the ground let loose a repulsor ray sending shockwaves around them thus knocking the three Avengers on their posterior, thus reminding them always make sure the opponent is down and out. On another part of California, Simon Williams new household is visited by his stuntman friend. While doing some carpentry work on the side of the house, Simon told his friend that he is going back to being Wonder Man full time, and still perhaps find time to work as a stuntman. He is out of nails, and he asked his friend if he would like to accompany him downtown to the hardware store.

Simon Williams/Wonder Man and his friend are in downtown and they hear a bank alarm ring. Simon can't believe someone would rob a bank in broad daylight. Inside the bank, a meta-human, "Blank" man is robbing the bank, and the security guard fired at him with no effect, but the "Blank" can shoot at him with a "blank gun." As the meta-human robber walked out of the bank with his stolen money, he was encountered outside by the Avenger, Simon Williams. The "Blank" shot at him with no effect, and Wonder Man punch him, and the "Blank" whizzed through the air crashing through the bank glass doors sending him inside. Inside, both men battled, and seeing that he is overpowered, the "Blank" crashed through the glass walls and escaped outside. As Wonder Man went outside, he saw no traces of the villain. However, nobody noticed a man walking away from the scene outside who just pocketed the money he stole inside his jacket.

The scene fast forwards to an apartment of the bank robber. He goes into a mini origin story where an old man left a company with is invention. And while watching the old man from a bus stop, the old man was hit by a truck, and the bank robber took his bag containing the invention. And it had a belt and machine where it generated a power of becoming somewhat invulnerable by becoming a "blank." As he left his apartment, he didn't notice a life form from the machine was calling out to him. Apparently the machine is either sentient or has a life form within it as well. Meanwhile, at the West Coast Avengers compound, Wonder Man is upset that he couldn't handle a gimmicky bank robber by himself, and wants the "Blank" really bad. Hank reassured him they'll get him as a team with separate patrols. It didn't sit well with Simon, but Hawkeye convinced him that's the best course of action in which Wonder Man eventually agreed after calming down.

Later that night, the whole Avengers team scoured the Los Angeles area separately. Just outside the city limits, the "Blank" turned on his power belt and went "blank" and proceeded to hold up a Wells Fargo armored vehicle carrying money. As he approached the truck, the security noticed him, and he shot at them, and one of them got to the driver side and started to drive the vehicle away. The "Blank" was able to hop in the open back area of the armored vehicle and overpower the other security guard in the back and steal some money bags and was getting ready to jump out of the moving vehicle. Mockingbird who was in the vicinity heard a police radio alert about the robbery and proceeded to the location of the moving vehicle, and just caught a glimpse of the "Blank" jumping off the vehicle. She radioed for backup and momentarily Hawkeye in a sky cycle and Iron Man arrived. The "Blank" went to a construction site to avoid them. A battle ensued and he went back to the street by a gasoline station, and he crashed into one of the pumps and gasoline was all over the place and exposed hot shards of metal and electrical cables combusted and the next thing you know an explosion occurred. The Avengers went into immediate damage control as Hawkeye and Mockingbird took the mechanics from the gasoline station to safety immediately. Iron Man wanted to contain the fire and went back to the construction site to get one of the dump trucks full of sand and dropped it in the fire and extinguished it. Wonder Man and Tigra arrived too late and Hawkeye told Wonder Man there was no sign from the "Blank."

Back at the robber's apartment. This experience with the West Coast Avengers rattled him and he didn't want any part of them and decided to leave town. He went to the machine to power up, and just as he was about to turn it off, a voice told him not to turn the machine off, and to keep it on. And leaving it on, a sentient being formed. A man who was trapped in the machine emerged. The robber gave the man some coffee and they talked and he told the man that he wanted to leave town because he didn't want any further trouble with the Avengers. The man told the robber not to worry and just to help him and he won't have problems with the Avengers anymore, as he controls the most powerful force in creation. He introduced himself, the man's name is Graviton.

Comments: I am really enjoying reading this title. It just has that '80s vibe that is both entertaining and enjoyable. It's a combination of slam bang action with some angst and doubt. I love the clash between the characters, and yet Hawkeye emerging as a capable leader, and at the same time seeing the brashness and problems encountered as something that he was a proponent of back then in his younger Avengers days.

The villain of the story is a generic bad guy. He's not too interesting. Although at the end, his power source provided something or better yet, someone interesting in the form of a powerful super-villain in Graviton. My only exposure to Graviton is in the Avengers animated series and I remember it took a few episodes and the combined might of the Avengers to subdue him. And that team both had The Hulk and Thor as part of their team. Seeing Graviton appear at the end doesn't bode well for the West Coast Avengers.

Definitely well said Wildfire2099. I wholeheartedly agree with you. I especially loved it when, civilian Hank Pym joined the team. And I'm not sure but even Janet dropped by for a few adventures when it was a regular series. 

I definitely agree. I remember several years ago, Gail Simone suddenly left the new All New Atom series, and it was taken over by Uncle Rog (Roger Stern) until cancellation, and he hit it out of the ball park, continuing an entertaining series of the new Atom, Ryan Choi, albeit detouring to a more darker mood.

The main reason why I like this forum so much ... is that a member like you shared that Roger Stern who is an excellent writer took over the Atom (Ryan Choi) and made it better and more attune to my tastes and that's why I prefer reading Stern's work on the Atom than Simone's work that was done previously.

Good Call here ... sabongero!

Thanks MechaGodzilla. I won't say anything about Gail Simone as her original lengthy run on Birds of Prey is one of the comic books that made me love reading this things again back in 2006. I was not overly impressed with her Atom work, but I was satisfied.

I definitely love Uncle Rog's work. I remember the last work I read of his was the Justice League Classified collected work from issue 50-54 "That Was Then, This is Now" storyarc. It was illustrated by John Byrne and I couldn't remember who the other illustrator was. But Uncle Rog was on it, then it's a definite read on my book.

By far my ultimate favorite Uncle Rog story is Avengers Under Siege from the mid 1980's. Holy smokes! Uncle Rog made me respect Janet Van Dyne in that storyline. Remember Ant Man and the Wasp vs Titania and Absorbing Man and defeated them. The heartbreaking beating that Hercules and Jarvis took. And Captain America crying because Avengers Mansion was destroyed and along with it the only picture he had of his mother. Uncle Rog deserved more recognition for that storyline than some stories that are recognized today.