West Coast Avengers #7

History

The West Coast Avengers Vol. 3 series was launched in August 2018 as part of Marvel's 'Fresh Start' publishing initiative, written by Kelly Thompson — who had just concluded her acclaimed Kate Bishop solo Hawkeye series — with opening-arc art by Stefano Caselli. Marvel editors felt a West Coast Avengers team book spinning directly out of Thompson's Hawkeye work was a natural fit, and Thompson was signed to an exclusive Marvel contract in January 2018. Starting with issue #6, the art duties shifted to Daniele Di Nicuolo, who co-designed Jeff the Land Shark for issue #7; Thompson has credited the character's genesis to a visually expressive background landshark she noticed in Caselli's pages from issue #1, which she then developed by blending shark imagery with the personality of her own cats. The series was edited by Alanna Smith under Tom Brevoort and ran for ten issues before cancellation in April 2019.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First official, named appearance of Jeff the Land Shark (created by writer Kelly Thompson and artist Daniele Di Nicuolo), cover-dated January 2019 and published March 2019.
• A landshark resembling Jeff appears unnamed in issue #6 (October 2018); Thompson herself designates #7 as Jeff's 'first official appearance' — the debate between #6 and #7 is an acknowledged collector ambiguity.
• Written by Kelly Thompson; interior art by Daniele Di Nicuolo; cover by Eduard Petrovich.
• In-story, Jeff is a baby landshark — one of an army engineered by M.O.D.O.K. Superior (operating as B.R.O.D.O.K.) to attack Santa Monica — who is adopted by Gwenpool and named after a kitten she had previously lost.
• The issue also features the return of Noh-Varr (Marvel Boy), Kate Bishop's former Young Avengers teammate and ex-boyfriend, adding romantic and interpersonal tension to the team dynamic.
• Jeff subsequently starred in the Eisner Award–winning digital Infinity Comics series It's Jeff! (2021–ongoing, art by Gurihiru) and headlined his own print limited series Jeff The Land Shark Vol. 1 (June 2025, illustrated by Tokitokoro).
• Jeff debuted as a playable Strategist hero in the 2024 video game Marvel Rivals — his mainstream pop-culture breakthrough — voiced by Jon Bailey.
• The issue is collected in West Coast Avengers Vol. 2: City of Evils (2019 trade paperback, ISBN 978-1302913465), which collects issues #5–10 of the series.

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