Since its launch in 1963, The Avengers have expanded into a comic franchise. The title spawned many spin-offs, such as The New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Avengers Academy, Dark Avengers, Great Lakes Avengers, Secret Avengers, Young Avengers, and more!
None of this would have been possible without the success of the first Avengers spin-off: West Coast Avengers. Following the success of the four-issue miniseries created by Roger Stern and Bob Hall released in 1984, the team really settled on the western side for around 10 years.
While the idea of having another Avengers branch to protect the other coast in a world where space and time travel exist can seem a little bit ridiculous, things were different in the eighties. More than moving on the other side of the country, the West Coast Avengers simply expanded the Avengers Universe, opening the doors for more types of adventures.
Today, we are taking a closer look at this historical second squad created by Vision and led at first by Hawkeye. From their debut to their recent reformation, discover how to read the West Coast Avengers Comics in Epic Collection, Omnibus, and trades!
West Coast Avengers Comics Guide & Reading Order
Created in 1984, the West Coast Avengers went on to have some wild adventures in the Marvel Universe over the next ten years before disappearing for a while. New iterations of the team have recently been assembled. Below is a list of all the titles starring the West Coast Avengers:
- West Coast Avengers Vol. 1 (1984) – Created by Roger Stern and Bob Hall, this four-issue limited series was also the first Avengers spin-off. Its success led to an ongoing series launched the next year.
- The West Coast Avengers Vol. 2 (1985-1993) – The Avengers franchise really took off with the launch of the West Coast Avengers ongoing title in 1985, initially written by Steve Englehart and penciled by Al Milgrom. John Byrne and Roy Thomas also had a run on the title that lasted 102 regular issues & 8 Annuals. The title also changed to “Avengers West Coast” with issue #47.
- Force Works (1994) – Spinning out from the pages of Avengers West Coast was Force Works, formed from the remains of the team after Iron Man left the Avengers. Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, the title ran for 22 issues and 1 ashcan mini-comic.
- West Coast Avengers Vol. 3 (2018-2019) – The West Coast Avengers were revived during Marvel’s Fresh Start by Hawkeyes Kate Bishop and Clint Barton. Written by Kelly Thompson. 10 issues only.
- West Coast Avengers Vol. 4 (2024-2025) – Iron Man and War Machine reformed the team to help the reformation of some supervillains, including Ultron. From Gerry Duggan and Danny Kim. It also lasted only 10 issues.
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Collection
Marvel Comics has collected half of the West Coast Avengers comics in the Omnibus line, although the main volumes were released more than 10 years ago and are mostly out of print now.
- Avengers: West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vol. 1
Collects West Coast Avengers (1984) #1-4, Iron Man Annual #7, Avengers (1963) #250, West Coast Avengers (1985) #1-16, Vision And The Scarlet Witch (1985) #1-2, Avengers Annual (1967) #15, West Coast Avengers Annual #1; And Material From Avengers (1963) #239, #243-244 And #246, And Avengers West Coast #100. - Avengers: West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vol. 2
Collects West Coast Avengers (1985) #17-41 And Annual #2-3, Avengers Annual #16, And Material From Fantastic Four (1961) #19, And Dr. Strange (1974) #53. - Avengers by John Byrne Omnibus
Collects West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42–46; Avengers West Coast #47–62; Avengers West Coast Annual #4; Avengers #305–318; Avengers Annual #18; and material from Avengers Spotlight #23 and What the–?! #6 - Avengers West Coast #63-102 and Force Works (1994) have not been collected in the Omnibus format except for:
- Avengers West Coast #96-97 has been reprinted in The Infinity Crusade Omnibus.
- Force Works (1994) #16-22 has been reprinted in Avengers: The Crossing Omnibus.
- Avengers West Coast #101 has been reprinted in Avengers: The Gathering Omnibus.
- Gwenpool Omnibus
Collects The Unbelievable Gwenpool (2016) #1-25; Rocket Raccoon And Groot (2016) #8-10; Champions (2016) #5; Edge Of Venomverse (2017) #2; West Coast Avengers (2018) #1-10; Superior Spider-Man (2018) #7-8; Gwenpool Strikes Back (2019) #1-5; Material From Howard The Duck (2015b) #1-3; Gwenpool Holiday Special (2015) #1, Gwenpool Holiday Special: Merry Mix-Up (2016) #1 And Secret Empire: Brave New World (2017) #1. - West Coast Avengers Vol. 3 is quite recent and not part of the Omnibus line yet.
West Coast Avengers Paperback Collection
Avengers West Coast Vol. 1, The Epic Collection (1984-1993)
Editor Mark Gruenwald asked Roger Stern to produce a miniseries, and the writer came up with West Coast Avengers as a way to “nail down some of the non-active Avengers” and have the members of both teams available for stories.
What Stern didn’t predict was that the success of the miniseries would lead to an ongoing series, destroying his plans for future stories. The West Coast Avengers were put into the hands of writer Steve Englehart.
Hawkeye was the leader of the team and recruited Mockingbird, Iron Man, Wonder Man, and Tigra and Englehart kept the roster, although some heroes came and left (Firebird, The Thing), Iron Man was expelled, Hank Pym took on a more active role, and Moon Knight joined them.
- Avengers West Coast Epic Collection: How the West Was Won
Collects West Coast Avengers (1984) #1-4, Iron Man Annual #7, Avengers (1963) #250, West Coast Avengers (1985) #1-7, Vision And The Scarlet Witch (1985) #1-2, Wonder Man (1986) #1. - Avengers West Coast Epic Collection: Lost In Space-Time
Collects West Coast Avengers (1985) #8-24, Annual #1; Avengers Annual #15. - Avengers West Coast Epic Collection: Tales To Astonish
Collects West Coast Avengers (1985) #25-37, West Coast Avengers Annual (1986) #2, Avengers Annual (1967) #16, Marvel Graphic Novel (1982) #27: Emperor Doom.
John Byrne was put in charge of the Avengers franchise, taking over the West Coast Avengers from issue #42. This gave him the opportunity to mix and match Avengers as needed, just as Stern had wanted to do from the beginning.
Following Byrne’s tenure, Roy Thomas soon became the new main writer on West Coast, until the end of the series, with the last issue written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.
- Avengers West Coast Epic Collection: Vision Quest [2025 edition]
Collects West Coast Avengers (1985) #38-46, Avengers West Coast (1989) #47-52, West Coast Avengers Annual (1986) #3, Avengers West Coast Annual (1989) #4, material from Avengers Spotlight (1989) #23.- WCA #46 introduced the (unofficial) team called the Great Lakes Avengers. And in #50, the original Human Torch makes a comeback.
- Avengers West Coast Epic Collection: Darker Than Scarlet
Collects Avengers West Coast (1989) #53-64, Avengers West Coast Annual (1989) #5, Avengers (1963) #311-313; material from Avengers Annual (1967) #19, What The–?! (1988) #6. - Avengers West Coast Epic Collection: California Screaming
Collects Avengers West Coast #65-82, Annual #6- Spider-Woman (Julia Carpenter) and Living Lightning joined the Avengers West Coast in issue #74. X-51 became a reserve member in #69 and an active member in #83.
- Avengers West Coast Epic Collection: Ultron Unbound
Collects Avengers West Coast #83-95, Annual #7-8; and material from Darkhawk Annual #1, Iron Man Annual #13 - The Avengers West Coast Epic Collection stops here at the moment! The missing issues in this collection can be found in:
- Avengers: The Death of Mockingbird
Collects Avengers West Coast #92-100 And #102, Spider-Woman (1993) #1-4 And Material From Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #143-144. - Avengers West Coast #101 is collected in The Avengers Epic Collection: The Gathering
- Avengers: The Death of Mockingbird
Force Works (1994)
Spanning out from the West Coast Avengers were Force Works, a team created by Iron Man following the shutdown of West Coast. The idea behind this new team was to be proactive and to act before threats unfold.
Force Works was handled by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, the duo most famous today for their reinvention of the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Modern Marvel Cosmic Saga.
And while Force Works was built on the ruins of West Coast Avengers, Hawkeye and Wonder Man weren’t part of this team. The group, composed by Iron Man, U.S. Agent, Spider-Woman, and Scarlet Witch, was joined by Century (created for the title), and later Moonraker.
- Force Works
Collects Force Works #1-11, #12 (Main Story) And #13-15; Force Works Ashcan Edition; Century: Distant Sons; And Material From Iron Man/Force Works Collectors’ Preview. Rated T - Iron Man Epic Collection: The Crossing
Collects Collecting Iron Man (1968) #319-324, Avengers (1963) #390-394, Avengers: The Crossing, Force Works #16-20 And War Machine (1994) #20-22. - Force Works #21-22 have been reprinted only in Avengers: The Crossing Omnibus.
After some traumatic experience, the team chose to disband. Force Works was reinstated many years later, during the Robot Revolution, in Iron Man 2020, although this version doesn’t have links to the West Coast Avengers.
Hawkeyes Investigation, a Fresh Start for West Coast Avengers (2018-2019)
The classic team was brought back more than 20 years later as part of Marvel’s Fresh Start initiative! This new version of the team was created by Kelly Thompson and features Kate Bishop, also known as Hawkeye, as the leader of this financially broke version of the West Coast Avengers. In need of funding, the team that reunited America Chavez, Quentin Quire, Fuse, and Gwenpool, took part in a reality show! The original Hawkeye, Clint Barton, also joined them on this fun adventure. It was also in this title that Marvel’s cult-favourite land shark, Jeff, was introduced!
- West Coast Avengers Vol. 1: Best Coast
Collects West Coast Avengers (2018) #1-4, Young Avengers Presents #6, and The Unbelievable Gwenpool #1. - West Coast Avengers Vol. 2: City of Evils
Collects West Coast Avengers (2018) #5-10.
West Coast Avengers Reformed (2024-2025)
From Gerry Duggan and Danny Kim came a new version of the West Coast Avengers! The team has recently reformed, this time under Iron Man and War Machine’s leadership. This roster also included Spider-Woman and Firestar, two previous members of the classic team, as well as Ultron and Blue Bolt, seeking a path to redemption!
- West Coast Avengers Vol. 1: The Gospel of Ultron
Collects West Coast Avengers (2024) #1-5. - West Coast Avengers Vol. 2: War of Ultron
Collecting West Coast Avengers (2024) #6-10.