Hawkeye — both of them — loves Los Angeles.

Clint Barton called the City of Angels home for many years as the leader and a founding member of the original West Coast Avengers, while Kate Bishop got her first taste of L.A. when she took a break from her partnership with Barton and began working as a super powered P.I. She returned there to set up shop permanently in her recently completed series, which concluded with a reunion between her and Clint. So now that both Hawkeyes are back in Los Angeles, it seems only natural that they send out a call for the West Coast’s mightiest heroes to assemble.

That call is answered in August’s West Coast Avengers #1 by Hawkeye writer Kelly Thompson and artist Stefano Caselli. The heroes that respond to their call are an eclectic cast of friends, acquaintances — and one obnoxious and brutally honest mutant. CBR spoke with Thompson about her cast, the appeal of writing team books, and how the series will employ a “documentary” storytelling style to chronicle the team’s adventures.

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CBR: With West Coast Avengers, you’re continuing Kate Bishop’s California-based adventures as Hawkeye while reintroducing a fan favorite super team that hasn’t been part of the Marvel Universe for a while. I’ve noticed a few team books in your body of work; is this type of book something that you enjoy doing, or is it something that just sort of springs out of the story you were telling in Hawkeye? Or is it a little bit of both?

Kelly Thompson: I think it’s a little bit of both for sure. I love team books, because I love that magic chemistry you can get. But I also think they can be the most complicated. Especially for someone like me that wants to jam in all the jokes all the time, which can quickly overwhelm everything – the narrative you need, the art, everything. So there’s a certain amount of restraint you need, and I hope I’m getting better at that.

But yes, Marvel really loved Hawkeye and was very supportive of it, and they all felt a West Coast Avengers spinning out of Kate’s book was a really natural fit and great timing. I obviously agree, 100%. [Laughs]

Page 2: Putting the New West Coast Avengers Team Together

Kate and Clint have worked together as partners, but what it’s like for them to be part of a larger team like the West Coast Avengers, a team Clint led for a large part of its history?

Clint and Kate can definitely lean into what’s already great about their dynamic, but there’s no doubt that this team adds some complexity – which I hope is going to be interesting. It presents a lot of challenges for them both. Kate isn’t always great at being mentored (bossed!) and Clint isn’t always great at being a responsible mentor. Add to that the pressure of Kate leading a team again and the potential weirdness for Clint of being “the old guy” among younger recruits. So far, it’s making for some good awkward fun.

Kate has two other close companions on the team in the form of her friend America Chavez and her boyfriend Johnny. It seems like they would offer some interesting perspectives, since Johnny hasn’t been part of a super team before and America has saved the universe many times as a member of the Ultimates. What can you tell us about their initial roles in the book?

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America is clearly the big powerhouse on the team, other than Quentin Quire, perhaps. There’s even the question of what she’s doing there, almost like she’s slumming it with them after her time with the Ultimates doing very big, save the world stuff. It’s a question we’re going to be attacking head on.

Paul Renaud and Nolan Woodard’s variant cover for West Coast Avengers #1

As for Johnny, he’s in way over his head. He’s someone who has had powers and really just barely used them and now he finds himself on a superhero team, in a costume, living with his new girlfriend and a bunch of strangers… it’s a lot.

It didn’t happen in her solo book, but Kate has worked with Gwenpool in the past. What’s it like for her to reunite with Gwen in this book? And what’s your sense of Gwen’s personality and abilities?

I don’t want to spoil the sort of weird way that Gwenpool comes to the team, but Kate definitely already knows her and has a relationship with her. Gwen is obviously a bit of a strange mix with the other characters, and while her solo book was some very cool groundbreaking stuff, finding how she fits into an ensemble is… complicated. But I think we’ve got a good take, and I hope fans will enjoy it.

Rounding out your initial line up is the very interesting choice of Quentin Quire. What made you want to bring Quentin into the book? What do you find most interesting about him as a character?

I’m always a big fan of “truth teller” characters. They keep the dynamic interesting and keep the narrative honest. America and Gwenpool both can act in that capacity as well, but not the way Quire can. He is a handful and a half and in a book full of other strong personalities I think he’s going to find himself very challenged. But I’m also a big fan of smashing together unexpected pairings and seeing if you can find magic and I was really happy with how the first script came together with this team and I’m excited for how it’s going to develop.

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