WOTN Review: West Coast Avengers #10 (Marvel)

Get Ready to Say Goodbye in West Coast Avengers #10

It’s safe to say it, but the West Coast Avengers is ending early. Thankfully, the creative team involved knew that it was coming, so they were able to complete the current arc and give us a chance to say goodbye.

West Coast Avengers #10 concludes the current plot arc and the series. There’s always a chance the series could return – you never know. But at least we won’t get stuck with any eternal cliffhangers.

It’s worth noting that there is a note at the end of the issue written by Kelly Thompson. It’s her way of thanking fans and saying goodbye. It’s worth reading, even if it will make fans a little sad at the same time. Thanks for always fighting, Kelly Thompson!

Writing

West Coast Avengers #10 had much to wrap up and little time to work with. Still, this issue never actually ends up feeling rushed. In fact, it sort of read like it was a couple of different issues, with all of the information that was carefully snuck in.

Kelly Thompson was the writer for the final issue of the series, and she successfully concluded the vampire plot arc that the West Coast Avengers have been dealing with. And oh, so much more.

Hawkeye, and by that, I mean Kate Bishop, has hinted a few times now that there’s much more going on with her family than meets the eye. Believe it or not, the West Coast Avengers covers a bit of that, with this issue directly confronting some of it. It was unexpected and emotional, and something I hope will resolve in Kate’s next appearance (wherever that will be).

Along with the serious moments are all of the funny moments we’ve come to expect from the series. I think these moments were critical in helping us to say goodbye to the series. In a way, it was the best sendoff we could have hoped for.

Every character got a moment here, though perhaps some more than others. Iconic moments in the series were brought up again, as were some running jokes for characters like Kate, who have had their own series in the past.

While it is sad to see this humorous series go, at least it was able to go off on a good note. And that the team could actually say goodbye instead of abruptly ending.

Art

Moy R. and Triona Farrell were the artists for West Coast Avengers #10. You can tell that they had a lot of fun working on some of the scenes in this issue. The amount of variety likely helped keep their creative minds engaged as well.

There’s a dramatic monologue sequence, fight scenes, superpowers to highlight, and then the weirdness that always occurs around people like Gwenpool. In short, many different things happened in this issue for the artists to portray. But they did it, and they did it well.

And yes, for those out there wondering if Quentin found an excuse to change his shirt again. He did. And it was perfect in so many ways. However, for obvious reasons, my favorite will always be the one he was wearing at the beginning of this issue.

Conclusion

If a series has to end, and sadly, that was the case here, it’s always best when it gets the chance to properly wrap up. There’s nothing worse than a perpetual cliffhanger in a series. Thankfully, West Coast Avengers saw it coming, and Kelly Thompson was able to write a proper send-off for our quirky crew.

West Coast Avengers #10 quickly wrapped up the current plot, giving us time to see how all the characters were after the fact and giving us a chance to say goodbye. It may have been a little sappy and silly, but that is perfect for these characters.

There was a lot to love about this series, so I am honestly really upset to see it end (as made obvious by the fact that I’ve said that at least three times in this review). It was fun and different, bringing one of my favorite characters back to the brightly colored pages. There’s a lot that I’ll remember from this series and a lot to be grateful for as well. Like the creation of a new ship, which ultimately became one of my favorites (which was totally unexpected). Quinpool for life!

This review was originally written for Word of the Nerd, but has been ported over to Quirky Cat’s Fat Stacks now that the site has shut down.

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