While many of us flock to the theaters to see The Avengers, I can’t help but reflect on the source material. There was an entertaining run in the ‘90s by Kurt Busiek and George Perez and then in the last 10 years there’s been The Ultimates and the various books written by Brian Michael Bendis. These I have read and, for the most part, enjoyed, but the first Avengers comics I remember buying were not of the core New York team but their satellite branch in California. Initially led by Hawkeye, never quite up to snuff with the main team and often referring to themselves as “Wackos,” these were the West Coast Avengers. (more…)