Avengers West Coast #85
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAvengers West Coast #85 delivers the first on-panel appearance of the Manipulator — the shadowy mastermind pulling the strings behind the arachnid super-villain team Death Web — making it a key chapter in the larger mythology built around Julia Carpenter, the second Spider-Woman. The 'Death Has Eight Legs' arc running through issues #84–86 is the story that most thoroughly develops Carpenter as a character in her own right, binding her personal life (her daughter Rachel's kidnapping, the tension with her ex-husband) directly to the team's superhero mission. This blend of domestic stakes and government-conspiracy plotting was somewhat atypical for an Avengers book of the era and laid the groundwork for Julia's own four-issue Spider-Woman miniseries. The story also functions as a key crossover node, bringing Spider-Man into the West Coast team's orbit at a moment when the Avengers franchise was actively broadening its cast of street-level allies.
ComicBooks.com Value
This exact issue on ebay
Raw — VF/NM ▾ $2–$3.74 2 listings
Raw / ungraded ▾ $2–$13.6 6 listings
More listings for this title
Read it digitally
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
Roy Thomas — the veteran writer who had helmed the original Avengers title decades earlier — returned to the franchise with co-writer Dann Thomas on the book during this period. The 'Death Has Eight Legs' storyline was crafted in deliberate parallel with the standalone Julia Carpenter Spider-Woman miniseries that Roy and Dann Thomas were also writing, with the Avengers West Coast issues providing the main-continuity stage for the same villains and conspiracy. Editor Nel Yomtov oversaw the issue, with special thanks credited in adjacent issues to Danny Fingeroth for contributions to Spider-Woman II's origin concept. Artist David Ross and inker Tim Dzon handled the visuals, maintaining the title's house style as the book entered its final phase before cancellation in 1994.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of the Manipulator, the secretive villain who controls Death Web and manipulates the U.S. government's Conclave from behind the scenes.
- Part 2 of the 3-part 'Death Has Eight Legs' story arc (Avengers West Coast #84–86), which forms the main-continuity companion to the Julia Carpenter Spider-Woman miniseries.
- Written by Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas, with pencils by David Ross and inks by Tim Dzon; edited by Nel Yomtov.
- Guest-stars Spider-Man alongside the West Coast Avengers roster of Hawkeye, Wonder Man, Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, U.S. Agent, Spider-Woman II (Julia Carpenter), and Living Lightning.
- Central plot driver: Death Web's founder Mike Clemson kidnaps Spider-Woman's daughter Rachel Carpenter, using her as leverage to force Spider-Woman into combat against Spider-Man.
- The Death Web villain team — Arachne, Antro, and Therak — were created by The Commission using a variation of the same spider-venom serum that gave Julia Carpenter her powers.
- Julia Carpenter (Spider-Woman II) subsequently became a starring member of the West Coast Avengers and later joined their spin-off team Force Works; she eventually assumed the mantle of Madame Web.
- Cover date: August 1992; release date: June 2, 1992; 32 pages.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Titans #173 (1993), Marvel Extra #14 (1995), Avengers West Coast Epic Collection #7 (2024)
Key issues in Avengers West Coast
Variants (2)
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.