Avengers West Coast Epic Collection: Vision Quest

The West Coast Avengers undergo an era of seismic shifts, led by some of the greatest creators in comic history!

The team must survive showdowns with the Defiler and the Night Shift — and Mockingbird is haunted by the terrible specter of the Phantom Rider! Then, John Byrne takes charge — and the legendary writer/artist immediately leaves his mark on the Whackos with a startling change for the Vision! As the team grapples with what’s happened to their old friend, Vision’s wife, the Scarlet Witch, descends into darkness — and learns shocking revelations about her children! Amid the chaos, U.S.Agent muscles his way onto the roster, the Great Lakes Avengers assemble, and a Golden Age legend blazes his way back from the grave!

COLLECTING: 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

John Byrne has worked continuously in the comics industry as both writer and artist since 1975. After he initially collaborated with writer Chris Claremont on Iron Fist, Byrne and Claremont moved on to X-Men for a run still regarded as one of the title’s finest. Byrne contributed an equally famed stint on Fantastic Four, earning comparisons to the original Lee/Kirby issues for his imaginative plotlines and dynamic artwork. He also spun Alpha Flight into its own title. In 1986, he revamped DC’s flagship hero, Superman, reimagining the Man of Steel in a historic project heralded by a Time magazine cover. His remarkable contribution to the Marvel Universe extends to memorable associations with virtually every major hero, including celebrated runs on Captain America, Iron Man, Sensational She-Hulk, Namor the Sub-Mariner and Thing. In the 21st century, Byrne’s considerable body of work includes IDW’s Star Trek and Angel.

Steve Englehart’s history-making contributions to the Marvel Universe began with the Beast’s solo feature in Amazing Adventures, in which the eloquent X-Man first assumed furry form. As Avengers writer, he masterminded such major events as “The Avengers/Defenders War” (in both teams’ titles) and “The Celestial Madonna Saga.” In Captain America, he identified and solved the “mystery” of the 1950s Captain America (later revived by Ed Brubaker), and gave the true Cap the alternate identity of Nomad. Englehart’s Dr. Strange storyline in Marvel Premiere established the character as Sorcerer Supreme and covered the creation of the universe itself. At DC, he helped revamp Batman, Green Lantern, Superman and other major heroes for the 1970s. Back at Marvel, he wrote the first few years of West Coast Avengers and Silver Surfer. His published novels include Countdown to Flight, Hellstorm (part of the TALON Force series), Majorca, The Point Man and, with wife Terry Beach, books in the DNAgers young-adult series. Englehart has also written TV episodes and designed video games.

Few writers/editors influenced Marvel more than Mark Gruenwald (1953-1996). Famed for pioneering work on Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and his magnum opus Squadron Supreme, he also wrote a hundred-plus-issue run of Captain America; multiple Marvel Two-in-One sagas; and several miniseries, including Contest of Champions, the first of Marvel’s multi-hero sagas. He explored the Marvel Universe’s ancient history in a series of What If? backup stories he also penciled.

Tom Morgan started his comics career at Marvel in the mid-1980s. He contributed inks, pencils and cover art to a variety of series, including several Spider-Man and New Universe titles. Morgan next illustrated short runs on Captain America, Power Pack and Alpha Flight, along with the miniseries The War and two Excalibur special editions. During the early 1990s, Morgan landed his first long-term assignment as penciler of Punisher 2099. He went on to illustrate several Iron Man issues, an Extreme Justice arc for DC Comics and Topps Comics’ licensed miniseries Xena: Warrior Princess vs. Callisto. In 2008, Morgan illustrated IDW’s comic biography Presidential Material: Barack Obama.

Al Milgrom, A.K.A. “Editori-Al,” is renowned as writer, editor, penciler and inker — and held most of those positions on Spectacular Spider-Man. He also contributed to SSM’s sibling Amazing Spider-Man. He penciled West Coast Avengers for four years and inked X-Factor for eight. His artwork has also appeared in Avengers, Captain America, Thor and most X-titles, including the classic Kitty Pryde and Wolverine. As editor, he oversaw Marvel’s Epic imprint and the sixty-issue run of Marvel Fanfare, where his satirical self-portraits made his face as recognizable as any super hero’s mask. At DC, he co-created Firestorm the Nuclear Man with Gerry Conway.