West Coast Avengers No. 7 review: Return of Noh-Varr the Ex-Man
By Alex Widen
He’s been Marvel Boy and the Protector! Yet to Kate Bishop, Noh-Varr is just trouble!
West Coast Avengers No. 7
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Daniele Di Nicuolo
Colorist: Triona Farrell
Cover Artist: Eduard Petrovich
First, Kate Bishop is trying to run a superhero team full of combative personalities amid being filmed by a reality TV crew. Then she and her team were kidnapped by supervillains eager to torment them out of California. How could things possibly get any worse for the younger Hawkeye? Besides awkward tan-lines from her costume amid the west coast sun, running into her ex-boyfriend has to be near the top of the list. It turns out that Noh-Varr, a Kree soldier from another dimension whose sanity is questionable, has been undercover with the rogues gallery! But how much of it was an act for him? Which version of Marvel Boy will this be?
Image by Marvel Comics
According to Noh-Varr, he was only masquerading as the villain Graviton to infiltrate Madame Masque’s west coast branch of the “Masters of Evil.” Quite why he did this is unknown, and Noh-Varr insists that the recent kick to Kate’s head was a part of it. The bottom line is that he’s here to help, and right now, Kate can’t pass up an assist from another one of her former Young Avengers teammates. The rest of the team still have their powers and skills sapped and are in danger!
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Hellfire Is a Dry Heat!
Speaking of the rest of the West Coast Avengers, they’re still in Madame Masque’s “Thunderdome.” A sonic device from MODOK has sapped their powers and skills to only a fraction of their might. Even worse, Fuse’s sister (and Miss America’s date), Ramone, has been sucked into the affair as well, and she’s a total civilian. Satana is menacing the captive heroes with a giant Golem made of pure “hellfire.” And it isn’t long before Ramone bares the Golem’s brunt!
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Masque has seemingly assembled all of the notable villains on the west coast to her team. They include MODOK as well as Satana, Lady Bullseye, and the Eel. Masque insists on not killing the heroes — not out of mercy, but to avoid the wrath of their vengeance seeking comrades from New York. Instead, she’s hoping to terrorize them into disbanding and leaving California as it often is — devoid of any long-term superheroes. Unfortunately, Satana begins to get a little overzealous.
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Kate Bishop may not trust her ex, but she’s not about to waste the opportunity she’s been handed. Her mother — or possibly a clone that resembles her — told Kate about MODOK’s device in an attempt to save her. Remembering the elder Hawkeye (Clint Barton) is deaf and knows sign language, Kate uses it to tell him about her plan to nullify MODOK’s power sapping machine. Once Clint removes his hearing aid, he immediately feels freedom from the power dampener.
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The Villains Flee with Ludicrous Speed!
A handful of sonic arrows does the trick for the rest of the team. While they’re not up to full power, they now have enough to escape their cages and take the fight to the villains. Said villains are furious at the turn of events, especially since Kate Bishop appears to be the most difficult of the team to contain. “Graviton” reappears before the group, but it appears that meeting Kate again has sapped whatever acting skills Noh-Varr had, as he finds that his jig is up within two panels.
Image by Marvel Comics
Clint has been left without a shirt, Gwenpool without her swords, and Kid Omega without patience. In other words, it’s business as usual. The Avengers are ready to avenge themselves on their captors, only to find Marvel Boy is capably fighting all of them by himself. Madame Masque is uninterested in a direct confrontation and orders a hasty retreat. She finds Kate barring her path, but alas, Kate finds herself ambushed by her sort-of mother. Talk about tough love!
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The villains have just enough time to make a Spaceballs reference before beaming out, Star Trek style. Unfortunately, Satana has left some “hellfire hounds” to occupy the heroes without them. Miss America manages to defeat most of them, before they find MODOK’s power-sapping gizmo. One explosion later, and the team are left with ringing in their ears, but with their powers and skills theirs to command again. Kate, as usual, took the brunt of the adventure in terms of lumps.
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Everyone Welcome Jeff, Land-Shark Puppy!
Unfortunately, dealing with supervillains may be the least of the team’s worries. Madame Masque had hoped to disassemble the team, and the aftermath of their battle does cause angst. Fuse isn’t thrilled at Noh-Varr’s presence among them, especially since he’s still hitting on Kate whenever he gets the chance. Even worse, Gwenpool has decided to adopt the smallest of MODOK’s “land-sharks” as a pet, and is still talking in 4th wall jargon. Quire, for his part, is irritated that their fight is over.
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The team returns home to Kate’s office, which is still being built into a superhero headquarters by a reality TV crew. Gwenpool’s land-shark puppy is already named Jeff and is apparently on the team so long as he doesn’t bite anyone who isn’t evil. Kate has barely regained consciousness before Noh-Varr insists that everyone help him on a mission “to save the world.” Unfortunately, such hyperbole is standard for their community and not terribly appreciated after a long day.
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As usual, the reality TV crew are mostly off panel and really just serve as a device that allows the cast to discuss their feelings and reactions without it being out of context. Fuse, as a rookie hero and someone Kate just met a few months ago, is intimidated by Noh-Varr’s presence among them. Gwenpool is convinced she needs a romantic subplot to avoid dying, while Quire fears for her sanity. Miss America is suspicious of the crew, and Noh-Varr talks of a Skrull alien threat!
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Are Kate Bishop’s Parents Really the Worst?
Meanwhile, Masque’s “Masters of Evil” gather at their own lair to lick their wounds and plan their next move. Much of it is spent bickering, as each blames the other for the disaster of a trap. The genuine Graviton seemingly joins in, but considering Marvel Boy is hunting for shape-changing Skrulls, who knows if anyone is who they say they are? Madame Masque reveals a secret partner — Kate’s father, Derek Bishop. The tycoon can dominate minds and seems to be in cahoots!
Image by Marvel Comics
Kelly Thompson is in her element with this title. Her strengths involve juggling an extended cast and providing rapid fire, and often hilarious, dialogue among them as they deal with absurd situations. This is a strength whether the title is a solo series or about a rock band, but works very well with a superhero team. No character is wasted, and everyone gets some memorable moments. Even Gwenpool is starting to get delightfully zanier, with her 4th wall busting banter being closer to the mark than she may know.
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Despite that focus, it still feels like this is Kate Bishop’s series; the rest are essentially her cast, and Madame Masque is her villain. This is no bad thing, as it helps center and ground the team around a focal point. The addition of Noh-Varr, her ex boyfriend, only adds to this drama. The two were teammates on the Young Avengers, as well as lovers, until Noh-Varr ditched her to return to his own ex — who proved to be an illusion by a cosmic parasite. There is still clearly baggage here.
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Marvel Boy, Speed, and Quicksilver All Look Alike!
Noh-Varr, ever since his creation by Grant Morrison and J.G. Jones in 2000, has been all over the map in the Marvel Universe. He began as an antihero, who even had delusions of conquering the world, and was once an enemy of the Young Avengers and Runaways. Then, Brian Bendis during his Avengers run sought to “redeem” him and have him become more noble, adopting the guise of “the Protector” and being inspired by Mar-Vell, for no reason. He was back as Marvel Boy during the highly acclaimed Kieron Gillen/Jamie McKelvie run on Young Avengers from 2013-2014.
Image by Marvel Comics
Thompson certainly seems to be leaning closer to Noh-Varr’s roots than Bendis was. His motives are ambiguous and almost random, and he’s proving to be more of a wild card than even Quire or Gwenpool are. Although Madame Masque, it turned out, was unaware of his presence on her team, the irony is she succeeded in bringing them turmoil through him, albeit unintentionally. His presence will put both Kate and Fuse on edge, and who knows how bad his mission for them is.
Image by Marvel Comics
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Daniele Di Nicuolo is no stranger to costumed heroics, being an artist on BOOM! Studios’ Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comics. He is within his element on West Coast Avengers and makes the most of an action packed script. He handles the fiery monsters well, along with the fight sequences. Not even complicated costume designs like Marvel Boy’s faze him. It is curious whether the t-shirts which appear in this series have text supplied by Thompson or if the gags are conceived by Di Nicuolo. Either way, they are often hilarious and should be legitimately sold.
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Those Shirts Really Are Awesome!
As much fun as this is, there are some holes here and there. Negating MODOK’s device involves effecting the hearing of the team short-term, and aside for some momentary discomfort, such auditory loss causes no ill effect. Perhaps even bigger is Noh-Var’s impersonation. It was clever for Thompson to tease that Noh-Varr had legitimately joined Masque, only to pull a twist with the disguise. Yet Masque discovers the ruse so quickly that it’s hard to see why she fell for it at all.
Image by Marvel Comics
Next. The team faces a real shark tank in No. 6!. dark
Regardless, this remains a fast-paced and exciting reboot to an Avengers team that had been legitimately dormant for decades. Thompson is working hard to elevate Madame Masque into being a mastermind all her own and is crafting a genuine mystery about Kate’s past. Her making use of Clint’s handicap in smart ways, when many writers forget it, is also great. The team are oddballs that shouldn’t get along, but that adds to the drama. Whatever happens, it will be worth reading. Anything involving Kate Bishop brings out the best in Thompson at Marvel Comics.