The West Coast Avengers Annual #4
West Coast Avengers Annual #4 serves as the pivotal Chapter Twelve of the 1989 'Atlantis Attacks' crossover — the sprawling all-annuals event that expanded the format pioneered by the previous year's 'Evolutionary War' to an unprecedented 14 parts spanning nearly the entire Marvel line. This is the issue where Ghaur's long-building scheme fully crystallizes: all seven mind-controlled Brides of Set — Storm, Jean Grey (Marvel Girl), Dagger, Andromeda, She-Hulk, the Invisible Woman, and the Scarlet Witch — are finally assembled and dispatched to gather the artifacts required to physically manifest the Elder God, making this the narrative engine that drives the event toward its climax in Thor Annual #14. The issue also carries a substantial 'Saga of the Serpent Crown' backup installment resolving the Earth-712 Squadron Supreme thread, tying together nearly fifteen years of Serpent Crown continuity stretching back to Steve Englehart and George Pérez's Avengers run of the mid-1970s.
In "Gather Now Ye 7 Brides!", Firebird takes a bold stand in Baja, Mexico, when she intercepts a group of Attuma’s scouts fleeing from a clash in the Panama Canal Zone. With calm resolve, she convinces them to abandon the fight, offering guidance and aid as she helps them repair their ship and send them to Tahiti to stay safe. Written by Fabian Nicieza and illustrated by Gavin Curtis, with inks by Chris Ivy and colors by Chris Ivy, this standout annual features a striking cover by John Byrne.
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The main story was written and pencilled by John Byrne, inked by Terry Austin — a pairing that had an enthusiastic following from their celebrated Uncanny X-Men collaboration — with colors by Bob Sharen and letters by Jack Morelli, under editor Howard Mackie. The issue also carried multiple backup features by a rotating creative pool including Mark Gruenwald, Fabian Nicieza, and Peter Sanderson, with pencil contributions from Mike Manley, Gavin Curtis, Amanda Conner, and Mark Bagley. Tom DeFalco served as Editor-in-Chief. The 'Atlantis Attacks' event itself was conceived as a direct follow-on to 1988's 'Evolutionary War,' consciously expanding that annuals-only crossover format; Marvel revived annual publication for Daredevil, Iron Man, and Thor specifically to increase the chapter count from eleven to fourteen.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Chapter Twelve of the fourteen-part 'Atlantis Attacks' crossover event, which ran exclusively through Marvel's 1989 annuals; the story picks up directly from Web of Spider-Man Annual #5 and continues into Thor Annual #14.
- Main story titled 'Gather Now Ye Seven Brides!' — written and pencilled by John Byrne, inked by Terry Austin — depicts Ghaur assembling all seven Brides of Set (Storm, Jean Grey/Marvel Girl, Dagger, Andromeda, She-Hulk, Invisible Woman, Scarlet Witch) at a Deviant base and deploying them to retrieve artifacts needed to summon Set; the god Set physically rises at story's end.
- The Avengers — augmented by Beast and the Thing — mount a direct assault on Ghaur's base in an attempt to stop the summoning ritual, but fail to prevent Set from manifesting.
- Contains a 'Saga of the Serpent Crown' backup (Chapter 12, written by Peter Sanderson, art by Mark Bagley and Keith Williams) set on Earth-712, featuring Squadron Supreme members Arcanna, Nighthawk, and Power Princess, along with the Serpent Cartel and the Earth-712 President Nelson Rockefeller; this installment resolves the Squadron Supreme's Serpent Crown enslavement plotline.
- A humorous 'Rate the Hunks' backup feature is narrated by She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters) and the Wasp, who score the East and West Coast Avengers on a 1–10 scale — a lighter tonal counterpoint to the main story.
- Additional backup stories include a U.S. Agent solo feature, a Firebird solo installment set in Baja, Mexico, and a comedic segment starring Hawkeye, Iron Man, Vision, and U.S. Agent at a monster truck show, written by Dwayne McDuffie.
- Cover by John Byrne; the book was published with both a direct edition and a newsstand edition. It was reprinted in the Atlantis Attacks Omnibus (2011), Atlantis Attacks: The Original Epic (2021), the Avengers by John Byrne Omnibus (2016), and the Squadron Supreme Classic Omnibus (2016).
- The issue's indicia reads 'West Coast Avengers Annual' while the cover bears the 'Avengers West Coast' branding, reflecting the mid-run title transition that had taken effect with issue #47 of the ongoing series.
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In Baja, Mexico, Firebird encounters a detachment of Attuma's scouts who previously escaped from a battle in the Panama Canal Zone against Iron Man and Namor. She convinces them that they have nothing to gain from fighting superheroes and helps them repair their ship. She sends them to Tahiti to stay out of the fighting until the war has ended.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).