By Paul Cornell (writer), Mark Brooks (pencils), Jaime Mendoza (inks)
I miss the Vision. There was a time when he was the coolest character in the Marvel universe. He was the reason you bought The Avengers, a synthetic cross between Dr. Spock and Superman. But over the years, the writers ran out of stories to tell about him. They broke up his marriage, drove him crazy, had him taken apart and rebuilt him more times than I could count. When several heroes died during Avengers Disassembled, all the fuss was about Hawkeye; the Vision sank with barely a ripple.
Someday they’ll bring the original Vision back, in the meantime I’ll have to make due with the character in Avengers Presents #4. This Vision is younger, more fashion-conscious, has eyes where he should have dark unfathomable pits, and once went by the horrifically Legionesque name of Iron Lad. But you know what? I like him anyway.
As with the other issues in this series, the story is a where-are-they-now vignette. The Vision is trying to reconcile with Stature, who picked the other side during Marvel’s Civil War, when they get ambushed by the hordes of A.I.M. (Not only Hydra has hordes, you know.) We get to learn a little about what this Vision’s been up to and what his powers are. In the fight that ensues, his powers backfire in a way that gives new meaning to the phrase “physical intimacy”.
This book is definitely not for anyone new to comics — the story relies heavily on several years of Marvel history for its emotional resonance — but if you’ve passed this book by while looking for the latest Avengers or Secret Invasion book, I’d recommend picking it up. (Grade: B)
-Andrew C. Murphy
A Second Opinion
I recently asked a friend “Whatever happened to the Vision?” as I hadn’t seen this mainstay in the Avengers since my return to reading comics in the past year. He told me to check out New Avengers, so when I saw this issue featuring the Vision I nabbed it. It turns out that this isn’t quite the character I grew up with. This Vision is based on the brain waves of a character named Iron-Lad (does anyone outside of comics use the word “lad” anymore, and didn’t it go out of style 40 years ago?), Cassie Lang’s deceased boyfriend. The focus of the book is a lengthy conversation at the local diner between the anti-registration Vision and the pro-initiative Cassie (aka Stature and the daughter of Scott Lang) during which we learn about his recent past and, ultimately, his affection for her. One could well think, “Oh come on, this doesn’t sound very exciting!” but it did serve to fill me in fairly quickly on the Vision’s recent whereabouts. During the conversation our heroes are attacked by some AIM bad guys who are dealt with effectively in a 7-8 page fight sequence.
On the plus side for this book I enjoyed a 2-page spread featuring Cassie in profile angrily explaining her point of view while all the movement towards the action in the next page is subtly set up in the background, nicely done. On the minus side, at the beginning of the battle the Vision is hit with a disrupter beam the result of which leaves his arm accidentally materialized in Cassie’s chest. This didn’t bother her and the pair was able to fight with this hindrance but it bothered me. The materialized arm in the chest was always the Vision’s most devastating weapon but I didn’t understand why it had no effect on Cassie here.
In sum, the issue did a fine job of informing me, essentially a new reader, about a new version of an old favorite. This new version is less robotic and more human than the old. While I still prefer the old vision, I wouldn’t rule out reading more about this one. (Grade: B)
- Arthur Cooke
Filed under: Marvel Comics, Reviews Tagged: | Avengers, Civil War, Jaime Mendoza, Mark Brooks, Paul Cornell, Scarlet Witch, The Vision, Young Avengers, Young Avengers Presents #4
