Avengers West Coast #82
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAvengers West Coast #82 pulls double duty as both a pivotal chapter in one of Marvel's most ambitious early-1990s crossovers and the first appearance of Deathweb — the arachnid-themed villain trio who would become Julia Carpenter's most personal antagonists. The Deathweb cameo is deliberately understated, a shadowy three-panel scene that seeds a whole subsequent arc, demonstrating how the Thomas writing team could plant a street-level threat inside a galaxy-spanning war story without either element undercutting the other. As Part 16 of the 19-part 'Operation: Galactic Storm,' the issue also carries the Skrull-impostor revelation that cracks open the diplomatic deadlock at the Shi'ar throneworld, propelling the crossover toward its controversial, morally charged finale.
In "Shi'ar Hatred!", the Avengers West Coast find themselves caught in a volatile interstellar crisis as the Shi'ar homeworld teeters on the edge of war. With the Kree Starforce imprisoned, Earth under threat from a rogue Shi'ar stargate, and the Nega-Bomb vanished, the Avengers clash with the Imperial Guard—until a shocking revelation about Lilandra’s adviser changes everything. Written by Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas, with dynamic art by David Ross and Tim Dzon, this 1992 issue delivers high-stakes tension and a twist that redefines the conflict. Cover by David Ross and Tim Dzon.
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Operation: Galactic Storm was conceived by executive editor Mark Gruenwald, Avengers writer Bob Harras, and Fabian Nicieza as a deliberate spiritual sequel to the classic 1971–72 Kree-Skrull War, with its name explicitly riffing on the recently concluded Operation Desert Storm. The overarching plot was hammered out at an 'Avengers summit' of all participating writers and editors, but each chapter was executed by its title's regular creative team; for Avengers West Coast #82 that meant Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas on script with penciller David Ross and inker Tim Dzon — the same team shepherding the Deathweb subplot they were simultaneously developing for Julia Carpenter's ongoing story.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Deathweb as a group, and of each individual member — Arachne (Dr. Sylvie Yacqua), Therak (Theo), and Antro (Hashi Noto) — making this the book's primary key distinction.
- The Deathweb debut is a stealth cameo: the trio infiltrates the Avengers Compound, spies on Spider-Woman (Julia Carpenter), and teleports away without engaging — their full assault comes in issues #84–86.
- Serves as Part 16 of the 19-part 'Operation: Galactic Storm' crossover (March–May 1992), which ran across Avengers, Avengers West Coast, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Wonder Man, and Quasar.
- Within the Galactic Storm plot, this issue delivers the revelation that Lilandra's adviser Araki is a Skrull impostor — exposed when Living Lightning stuns him and he reverts — a turning point that persuades Lilandra to pursue peace with the Kree.
- Written by Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas, with pencils by David Ross, inks by Tim Dzon, colors by Bob Sharen, and letters by Joe Rosen.
- Deathweb's three members were transformed by a variation of the same government spider-serum that originally gave Julia Carpenter her Spider-Woman powers, making them her dark counterparts and tying their origin directly to her backstory.
- Reprinted in Avengers: Galactic Storm (Marvel, 2006) #2 and in Avengers Epic Collection #22 — Operation Galactic Storm (2017); also collected in Avengers West Coast Epic Collection Vol. 6: California Screaming (2023).
- Operation: Galactic Storm's title was a deliberate allusion to Operation Desert Storm, the 1991 Gulf War campaign, conceived shortly after that conflict concluded.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Avengers: Galactic Storm #2 (2006), Avengers Epic Collection #22 (2017), Marvel Comics - La collection #184 (2021), Avengers West Coast Epic Collection #6 (2023), Marvel Héroes #121 (2024)
Key issues in Avengers West Coast
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