So I'm thinking of buying the complete run of these series. All are affordable and I can get most for less than $2 an issue with a few expensive ones being closer to $4.

So which would you buy first. I'm leaning towards Avengers West Coast.

I'll say Avengers West Coast. Anything with a name like that has to have camp value.

Yeah, it wins. I just won an ebay auction for $4 that has 30 issues in it.

Wooo! I guess 1 vote can make a difference. :P

And $4 for 30 issues? Damn, you can't do much better than that.

Yeah, ebay's really useful for getting whole runs of books cheap or just getting huge lots cheap. I'll be happy if I can get all 102 issues for less than $70.

West Coast Avengers/ Avengers West Coast is a mixed bag. The first 35 issues or so are typical 80's Avengers stuff. There's a nifty time travelling story with Dominus that runs around #18-25. The original mini-series is also pretty fun.

There's some hilarious camp. Tony Stark is lounging around the complex with a bandana tied around his neck, amking him look like Burt Reynolds, 1977...in 1986. Mockingbird makes a big deal about her new costume--now without pants (mrrrroww!)!! Wonder Man goes through 8 costumes, all technicolor nightmares. Graviton has a few appearances and is the early team's archvillain. He freaks out by creating his own flying island and snagging Tigra in a sexist plot.

But the series really seems to lose focus after issue 50 or so. The Avengers gimmick at the time was that ANYONE who had ever been on the team could pop in on either team. It makes it difficult to see who is on the West Coast team, and it soon feels like a Triple A minor league Avengers. Or....it's like the Brand Extension Draft: splitting the roster and diluting the overall talent.

Around issue 75 there's a plot with Dr. Demonicus that is a DIRECT rip-off of GI Joe #40, where Cobra tricked everyone into making Cobra Island. There's also a stupid character involved with Spider-Woman called "The Manipulator" who looks exactly like Cobra Commander-- metal face plate and all.

The art on the series never really impresses, but it takes a massive nosedive after John Byrne leaves in the 50's. Some of the art from #70 until the end is just sick to look at. Byrne took over the Avengers franchise for about a year around 1989, instituted the wide-open roster, started a few of his patented "internal character turmoil" stories and both books lost something. As soon as Byrne came on, Vision was torn apart, Scarlet Witch did a heel turn and Tigra devolved. The original Human Torch also returns in the latest Vision origin retcon.

I'm missing a few issues from about 90-103, but overall the series was a disappointment.

Excalibur was essentially Chirs Claremont's book to try out his Wacky Ideas and Weird Shit. Lot of fantasy, mystical and sci-fi stuff. Not the same flavor as the X-men books. There's a funny scene around #19 or so, where Exalibur visits a twisted version of the Marvel U. The entire world is run by two guys at a computer screen. One is a gray haired guy with a beard, with the White Queen and Black Queen hanging on him. The other is a dark-haired guy with glasses, with Scarlet Witch and She-Hulk hanging on him. Little in-jokes for Chris Claremont and John Byrne. There's also a "Dirty Pair" spoof and other stuff that doesn't really fit in. Lots of homages and references to the Marvel UK heroes and other British comics. At the time, I had no idea these were happening.

In the 90's, they tried to make Excalibur more like X-men. I have maybe 2 of these issues and can't offer a good overview of the era.

I picked the Wally West Era Flash, because I didn't read the thread first. But Johns and Waid both did some awesome stuff, and if you want to check out some B and C list villians get elevated, John's run on it was incredible for it.

Yeah, I had always heard it started to go downhill when they went from West Coast Avengers to Avengers West Coast. I was drawn to it a little more in my early days as a fan because 1. Iron Man was on the team and 2. the regular Avengers roster was a disgrace at the time.

Excalibur was a fun book until about issue 60. After that the book was just an excuse to not have Nightcrawler and Shadowcat on the regular X-Men teams. Colossus joined up at some point and the book was again used as an excuse to keep him off the team.