Earth's Mightiest Annotations
By Sean McQuaid
AVENGERS (volume 3) # 23
December, 1999
"Showdown"
By Kurt Busiek & George Perez
with Al Vey (finishes), Tom Smith (colors), Richard Starkings &
Comicraft/AD (letters), Tom Brevoort (editor) & Bob Harras (editor-in-chief).
Avengers Assembled:
Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Vision [II], Firestar &
Justice (as active members); Giant-Man & Wasp (as reserve members); Black
Panther (as inactive member); and Wonder Man (as former member). In
addition, Thor, Iron Man, Yellowjacket, Wasp, Captain America, Hawkeye,
Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision [II], Beast, Jocasta, Wonder Man, Ms.
Marvel and the original Human Torch appear in various flashbacks.
Other Characters:
Edwin Jarvis, Megan McLaren, Carnivore, Conquest, Decay, Stonecutter and
various reporters & protestors. In addition, Ultron, Phineas Horton, Agatha
Harkness, Sanford Williams, Baron Heinrich Zemo, Enchantress, Executioner,
Grim Reaper, Johnny Carson and other characters appear in various flashbacks.
EXTERIOR COVER
This issue's cover illustration (drawn by George Perez and colored by Tom
Smith) features Wonder Man and Vision arguing while the anxious face of
Scarlet Witch floats in the background.
PAGE ONE
Captain America's classic shield, the shield he has wielded for most of his
career, first appeared in CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS # 2. The shield is a
one-of-kind object accidentally created by U.S. government scientist Myron
MacLain during a metallurgical experiment in the early 1940s (it is
disc-shaped since the test mold was disc-shaped, originally intended to
serve as a tank hatchway lid since the alloy would have been used to
produce tanks and other armament during the war if McLain had ever managed
to replicate and mass-produce the material). In 1941, this indestructible
disc was donated to the U.S. government super-agent Captain America, who
has used it as his personal shield throughout most of his career since
then. MacLain was never able to duplicate the unique admantium-vibranium
alloy the shield is composed of, but he did manage to perfect the
production of pure adamantium years later.
Under ordinary circumstances, Cap's shield is one of the most durable
objects on Earth, even more durable than pure adamantium. No conventional
force can damage it. It has also proven capable of absorbing or dispersing
almost any impact or force directed against it, probably due to its
vibranium content. The shield is 2.5 feet in diameter and weighs twelve
pounds. It has unusual aerodynamic properties; when thrown, it cuts through
the air with minimal wind resistance or path deflection, and it can
ricochet back and forth between various surfaces with minimal loss of
momentum. Virtually nothing can damage the shield, which is resistant to
penetration, temperature extremes and all known forms of radiation. Short
of alterations made at the molecular level, it is inalterable and utterly
indestructible.
The shield was the subject of a long-running subplot in the current
CAPTAIN AMERICA ongoing series (beginning with issue two) when it was first
lost at sea, then mysteriously shattered, and then restored to its normal
intact state. During its absence, Cap tried several substitute shields:
first an imperfect duplicate shield created by Tony Stark, then a replica
of his original badge-shaped shield (which he had retired from service
after adopting his disc-shaped shield), then an energy shield supplied by
Sharon Carter of SHIELD. The latter two shields have been seen in Cap's
possession in AVENGERS since issue 4 of this series, until now.
For more on admantium and vibranium, see past editions of the EMA
annotations.
PAGES TWO through SIX
Inactive member Black Panther assisted in the team's recent battles with
Ultron and Alkhema for the past four issues, and has obviously remained in
the group's company. The "vibranium plague" (a widespread destabilization
of vibranium) was chronicled in recent issues of CAPTAIN AMERICA. Justice's
"stage fright" and the tensions between Vision, Scarlet Witch & Wonder Man
have been chonicled in recent issues of AVENGERS and covered in various EMA
annotations.
PAGE SEVEN
The scarcity of visible minority members within the Avengers has been a
recurring issue among both characters and readers for years. On one level,
it's absurd since Avengers membership has traditionally been based on
merit, not racial or cultural traits. On another level, it's absurd since
superheroes themselves are a rare minority (as Iron Man pointed out in
AVENGERS [v1] # 181 when the government forced the Avengers to reserve a
slot in their membership for a member representing a visible minority). On
the other hand, while membership based on race is irrational and black
superheroes are scarce anyway, one can understand how some people might be
irritated with the fact that the Avengers--at least superficially--seem to
represent only the white American majority (most of the members) or the
freakishly unique (members such as Vision). There are few members who
represent conventional visible minorities (unless you count mutants), and
none of the group's past visible minority members are active with the team
at present. Black members of the Avengers to date include Black Panther
(T'Challa), Falcon (Sam Wilson), Photon (Monica Rambeau a.k.a. Captain
Marvel [II]), Jim Rhodes (a.k.a. Iron Man [V] or War Machine) & Rage (Elvin
Halliday). Other members representing conventional visible minorites
include Mantis, Firebird & Living Lightning.
Less visible or less conventional minorites within the existing Avengers
membership include...
-Mutants (Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Beast, Vance Astro, Starhawk,
Sub-Mariner, Firestar & Justice)
-Beings from non-human humanoid races connected to Earth (Thor, Hercules, Charlie-27, Martinex, Nikki, Starfox, Sub-Mariner, Gilgamesh, Sersi, Crystal)
-Aliens from other worlds (Captain Marvel, Charlie-27, Martinex, Yondu,
Starhawk, Nikki, Aleta, Starfox, Marrina & Deathcry)
-People from parallel Earths (Swordsman II & Magdalene)
-People from other time periods (Two-Gun Kid, Charlie-27, Martinex, Vance
Astro, Yondu, Starhawk, Nikki & Aleta)
-Artificial beings (Vision, Jocasta, Jim Hammond & Machine Man)
-Visibly anomalous beings (Hulk, Vision, Jocasta, Martinex, Yondu, Nikki,
Tigra, She-Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Marrina, Thing, Machine Man & Deathcry)
-Foreigners (Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Swordsman, Black Panther, Black
Widow & Mantis)
The race issue is first raised in the current AVENGERS series in AVENGERS
[v3] # 10, when a black man attending the Avengers Day parade speaks of how
he regards the Avengers as role models for his son but wishes that some of
the black Avengers could be present for the parade (presumably so his son
could see some black heroes as role models, too). The parent specifically
mentions the Black Panther, Photon and the Falcon, all currently inactive
members of the Avengers, and all black. Interestingly, he does not mention
the lesser-known and somewhat less upstanding Rage, another black inactive
Avengers member who also happens to be one of the most vocal Avengers when
it comes to racial issues. As noted above, other Avengers members drawn
from conventional visible minorities include Firebird, Living Lightning and
Mantis.
The BLACK PANTHER (T'Challa) is the warrior king of the African nation
Wakanda and an occasional member of the Avengers during leaves of absence
from his royal duties. He joined the team as Captain America’s hand-picked
replacement in AVENGERS [v1] # 51-52 and served with the group for quite
some time, but he has been an infrequent participant in Avengers business
in recent years due to his conflicting royal responsibilities. An inactive
Avengers member, he last worked with the team when he aided them against
Alkema & Ultron in AVENGERS [v3] # 19-22. Black Panther first appeared in
FANTASTIC FOUR [v1] # 52.
The FALCON (Samuel Wilson) is a native of Harlem who serves his community
as both a social worker and a costumed crimefighter. His true identity is
public knowledge. He wears a winged costume (a gift from the Black Panther)
that grants him the power of flight, and is accompanied by his pet falcon
Redwing, with whom shares a mental rapport. As a close friend and sometime
partner of Captain America, the Falcon worked alongside the Avengers as
early as AVENGERS [v1] # 88, but did not officially join the team until
AVENGERS [v1] # 183, when he was drafted into the group at the U.S.
government's insistence to fulfill a racial minority quota then imposed on
the team's membership. Uncomfortable with the circumstances of his
membership and feeling out of place with the group since he prefers to act
as a street-level superhero, Falcon resigned in AVENGERS [v1] # 194;
however, he has been a reliable reserve member of the group since then,
serving on many subsequent cases. He last worked with the Avengers in
AVENGERS [v3] # 1-4, when he aided the team against Morgan Le Fay and
Whirlwind. He is currently part of the team's inactive membership. The
Falcon first appeared in CAPTAIN AMERICA [v1] # 117.
FIREBIRD (Bonita Juarez) is a young Mexican-American woman who, like the
Falcon, leads a double life as a social worker and a costumed superhero.
While she has not taken pains to conceal her true identity, whether it has
become public knowledge is unclear. A devoutly religious Catholic, Bonita
gained miraculous powers over heat and flame after a fiery meteor impacted
near her in the desert, and she regards these powers as a gift from God to
be used for good. Her faith was momentarily shaken when she learned, much
later, that the meteor was discarded waste material from an alien's failed
scientific experiment, but it has not diminished her faith in her God or
her mission since she still sees her empowerment as God's will, however
indirectly it was exercised. Firebird became a recurring ally to the
Avengers in WEST COAST AVENGERS [v2] # 4 and had two informal membership
stints with the group, one as Firebird (WCA [v2] # 4-10) and one in her
short-lived alternate guise as Espirita (WCA [v2] # 17-25). She became an
official Avengers reservist circa AVENGERS [v1] # 305 and has served
infrequently with the group since then. She last worked with the Avengers
in AVENGERS [v3] # 12, when she aided the Avengers and the Thunderbolts
against the killer robot Dominex. She is currently an inactive Avengers
member. Firebird first appeared in INCREDIBLE HULK # 265.
The LIVING LIGHTNING (Miguel Santos) is a young Mexican-American man whose
father died while serving as a member of the subversive group known as The
Legion of the Living Lightning, a group that was defeated and destroyed in
battle with the Hulk. Years later, while trying to salvage some of the
Legion's equipment, Miguel accidentally subjected himself to an energy
discharge that transformed him into a being of living electrical energy.
Initially drunk with his newfound power, Miguel first encountered the
Avengers as an adversary in AVENGERS WEST COAST # 63, but joined the team
in AWC # 74 after aiding the team against the Pacific Overlords. He
downgraded to reserve status in AWC # 87-88 to pursue a college education
full-time, and is currently an inactive member of the team. He last worked
with the Avengers in AVENGERS [v3] # 1-3, when he aided the team against
Morgan Le Fay. He has also appeared in AVENGERS FOREVER # 4-6 as a member
of the 21st century Avengers of an alternate timeline. Living Lightning
first appeared in AVENGERS WEST COAST # 63.
MANTIS (true name unknown) is the daughter of Gustav Brandt and Lua Khruul.
Brandt was a German mercenary soldier working in Indochina when he fell in
love with Lua, whose brother, the infamous crimelord Monsieur Khruul, hated
Europeans and vowed to kill the couple after their wedding. The Brandts
lived on the run for some time, but they eventually settled down long
enough for Lua to give birth to a daughter. Shortly thereafter, Khruul's
men found the couple and torched their home. Lua was killed and Gustav was
blinded, but he managed to escape with their child and found shelter with
the Priests of Pama, a pacifistic sect of the alien Kree race who had taken
up secret residence on Earth. Brandt stayed long enough to learn the
priests' martial arts, including a mental technique that allowed him to
perceive the world around him despite his blindness; but Brandt's violent
nature made him incompatible with the priests' community and he soon
departed, leaving his daughter in their care. Brandt went on to become a
founding leader of the Zodiac crime cartel as Libra, battling the Avengers
and other heroes in this guise. More recently, he retired from crime to
devote himself to studying philosophies of balance, and he aided the
Avengers during the "Destiny War" in the AVENGERS FOREVER limited series.
The Priests of Pama knew Brandt’s child might grow up to be the Celestial
Madonna (a woman fated to bear a child of immense importance to the
universe), so they educated her, honing her mind and body to perfection.
She proved especially proficient at martial arts, defeating all her male
opponents, and took her name, Mantis, from the insects whose females kill
the males. She also developed undefined psychic and empathic powers through
her mental rapport with the Cotati, an alien race of sentient plants beings
cared for by the priests (the eldest Cotati was fated to father the
Celestial Madonna’s child). When Mantis turned eighteen, the priests
stripped her of her memory and left her in Ho Chi Minh City so that she
could live among humans and learn what it was to be human. She became a
barmaid and prostitute in the employ of her uncle, Khruul, neither
realizing who the other was. The failed super-criminal known as the
Swordsman had become Khruul’s enforcer and
Mantis saw a buried nobility within him, falling in love with him and
persuading him to renounce crime and rejoin the Avengers. When he did so,
she came with him, acting as a provisional or honorary member of the group,
a role she continued to play after the Swordsman died in action defending
Mantis from Kang, who had discovered that she was the Celestial Madonna and
attempted to take her for himself. Eventually, the Avengers helped Mantis
learn her true origins, after which she married the eldest Cotati and left
Earth to mate with him. The Avengers made her membership in their team
official at her wedding as a mark of respect.
Years later, Mantis returned to Earth after raising her child to
self-sufficiency, and shared some adventures with the Avengers. She
disappeared again, though, when Kang pursued her anew in search of her
child. To protect her child and her friends from future attacks, Mantis
willed her spirit to leave her body (something she had done for extended
periods in the past). She has appeared in physical form on occasion since
then, though the malevolent "Mantis" who menaced the Avengers during The
Crossing has since been exposed as a Space Phantom, who was posing as
Mantis as part of a larger scheme to disorient and demoralize the Avengers
on behalf of Immortus, as explained in AVENGERS FOREVER # 8.
Mantis first appeared in AVENGERS [v1] # 112 and began working alongside
the Avengers on an unofficial basis in AVENGERS [v1] # 114. Her membership
was made official on the same day she quit the team, in GIANT-SIZE AVENGERS
# 4. She last worked with the group during her brief affiliation with the
western Avengers roster, chronicled in WEST COAST AVENGERS [v2] # 37-39 and
WCA ANNUAL # 3.
PHOTON (Monica Rambeau) is a costumed adventurer who can transform herself
into any form of energy in the electromagnetic spectrum. Formerly a New
Orleans harbor patrol officer, she gained her superhuman powers after she
was exposed to an experimental device in the line of duty. Dubbed Captain
Marvel by the media shortly after her debut, Rambeau sought out the
Avengers for help in mastering her new powers and became a
member-in-training of their group. She soon graduated to full membership,
serving a lengthy stint that culminated in her election as the team's
seventh full-time chairperson; however, her active membership came to an
abrupt and unfortunate end when she suffered injuries in the line of duty
that reduced her to an invalid and stripped her of her superhuman powers.
She eventually recovered her health and regained her powers but never
returned to full-time membership in the Avengers, though she has been one
of the team's more reliable reservists in the past. She is currently an
inactive member, devoting most of her time to a charter fishing business
she started with her father. She recently changed her costumed alias to
Photon out of respect for the legend of the original Captain Marvel, the
alien warrior Mar-Vell, who had been an honorary member of the Avengers
before his death. Rambeau had always felt awkward about inheriting his
title after she learned there had been a previous Captain Marvel, but she
retained the name since the Avengers and others accepted her as a worthy
heir to Mar-Vell's heroic legacy; however, when Mar-Vell's son Genis became
active as an adventurer and also became known as Captain Marvel, she
decided the Captain Marvel title should be his and opted to rechristen
herself Photon.
As Captain Marvel, Monica joined the team in AVENGERS [v1] # 227, became
the team's chairperson in AVENGERS [v1] # 279 and retired from the active
roster in AVENGERS [v1] # 294. She changed her name to Photon in AVENGERS
UNPLUGGED # 5. She last worked with the team in AVENGERS [v3] # 16-18, when
she helped the Avengers defeat the Wrecking Crew. She first appeared (as
Captain Marvel) in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL # 16.
RAGE (Elvin Halliday) is a young teen mutated by toxic waste into a
superhumanly strong adult, and was briefly a reserve member of the Avengers
before they expelled him after learning he was underage. Rage first
appeared in AVENGERS [v1] # 326 and joined the Avengers in AVENGERS [v1] #
329; they bounced him from their active roster in AVENGERS [v1] # 341-342,
after which he became affiliated with the New Warriors superteam. He last
worked with the Avengers in AVENGERS [v3] # 13, when the Warriors and the
Avengers teamed up to shut down an AIM weapons warehouse and battled the
interfering Lord Templar. Rage has recently semi-retired from superheroics
to concentrate on his studies, as revealed in NEW WARRIORS # 0 & NEW
WARRIORS [v2] # 1.
JAMES RHODES is a longtime friend, confidant and former employee of Tony
Stark, who entrusted his Iron Man armor and identity to Rhodes after
succumbing to alcoholism. As the new Iron Man, Rhodes helped found the
Avengers’ western roster (in WEST COAST AVENGERS [v1] # 1-4) and served
until he was sidelined by injuries in IRON MAN # 199-200, allowing the
newly sober Stark to reclaim the Iron Man guise. Rhodes continued to act
occasionally as a substitute Iron Man thereafter, sometimes with the
Avengers (as in WEST COAST AVENGERS ANNUAL # 1), and eventually became Iron
Man full-time again when Stark faked his own death. Upon learning of
Stark’s survival, Rhodes severed their friendship and struck out on his
own, using a variation of the Iron Man armor as War Machine. In this guise,
he rejoined the Avengers (AVENGERS WEST COAST # 94) and served until the
dissolution of the group’s western roster and a related argument with Iron
Man prompted him to quit the team in AWC # 102. Shortly afterward, Rhodes
lost his War Machine suit but gained a new suit of alien armor, which has
since been destroyed as well (in TALES OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE # 1). Rhodes
is currently on good terms with both Stark and the Avengers but has decided
to retire from adventuring, concentrating on his new salvage business (as
mentioned in IRON MAN [v3] # 1). He last worked with the Avengers during
The Crossing. The original War Machine armor has since been salvaged and
adopted by a new, criminal War Machine in IRON MAN [v3] # 11. Jim Rhodes
first appeared in IRON MAN [v1] # 118. He first became Iron Man in IRON MAN
[v1] # 169, and first became War Machine in AVENGERS WEST COAST # 94.
The "OF COLOR DOESN'T MEAN RED PLASTIC" sign is an obvious reference to the
Vision, whose synthetic skin is bright red.
The television reporter on Wasp's miniature TV seems to be Megan McLaren,
who first appeared in THUNDERBOLTS # 1 and most recently appeared in
AVENGERS [v3] # 19.
Alkhema, Grim Reaper and Ultron all appeared in the "Ultron Unlimited"
storyline that ran through AVENGERS [v3] # 19-22, and are described in
detail in past editions of the EMA annotations. The mad killer robot
Ultron, created by Avengers founder Hank Pym years ago, conquered the
country of Slorenia and slaughtered its population in AVENGERS [v3] #
19-20. He was defeated and destroyed by Pym and the other Avengers in
AVENGERS [v3] # 22. Alkhema, the female killer robot created by Ultron as
his intended bride, was captured by the Avengers in AVENGERS [v3] # 19 but
escaped military custody in AVENGERS [v3] # 21-22, secretly salvaging the
brain pattern recordings that Ultron had copied from the Avengers and the
Grim Reaper in hopes of using them to create a new robotic master race. The
Grim Reaper (Eric Williams), mad criminal brother of Wonder Man, was
captured by the Avengers in AVENGERS [v3] # 10-11 and placed in psychiatric
care, was kidnapped away from his mental hospital by Ultron in AVENGERS #
0, and escaped during the Avengers' battle with Ultron in AVENGERS [v3] # 22.
PAGE EIGHT
Iron Man's appearance in this scene unmasked indicates that Black Panther
is among the few veteran Avengers who have been re-informed of Iron Man's
secret identity as Tony Stark since IRON MAN/CAPTAIN AMERICA '98, when Tony
wiped the then-widespread knowledge of his dual identity from the minds of
everyone on Earth.
The pseudo-religious popular movement known as the Triune Understanding has
been a recurring presence in the current Avengers series for some time.
There are indications that the Avengers' government liaison, Duane Jerome
Freeman, is a Triune follower, though the Avengers seem unaware of this to
date (Freeman has been depicted with Triune symbols on his clothing more
than once).
The costumed adventurer known as Triathlon, who first met the team in
AVENGERS [v3] # 8-9 when he aided them against Moses Magnum, is a Triune
believer who credits the Triune Understanding with unlocking his previously
latent superhuman powers. Triathlon and the Avengers parted on friendly
terms after their first meeting, but circumstances changed in AVENGERS [v3]
# 15 when the Avengers tracked the mysterious menace known as Lord Templar
to the Triune Understanding's headquarters, which the Triunes refused to
allow the Avengers to search. When another mystery menace at large, the
monstrous Pagan, suddenly appeared and engaged the Avengers & Triathlon in
battle, Lord Templar appeared minutes later and seemingly defeated Pagan,
spiriting him away. In the wake of the conflict, Triune Understanding
leader Jonathan Tremont denounced the Avengers in the media, painting the
Avengers as religiously intolerant and suggesting that the Avengers had
implicated the Triunes in their search for Templar to dodge the blame for
allowing both Templar and Pagan to repeatedly escape. Believing his
leader's interpretation of the events, Triathlon now regards the Avengers
with hostility; however, unknown to Triathlon and the most of the other
Triune believers, Tremont is somehow secretly connected to Templar (and
perhaps to Pagan as well), and Tremont is using his influence in a media
campaign designed to discredit the Avengers and win public sympathy for the
Triunes at the Avengers' expense. The Avengers have been suffering through
Triune-inspired bad press for weeks now, as seen in AVENGERS [v3] # 15 & 19
and AVENGERS # 0.
Though it seems unlikely now, Busiek-Perez creation Triathlon was created
as a prospective Avenger, a character who would be considered for Avengers
membership. It could still happen, despite the current Avengers-Triune
hostilities. Triathlon admired and respected the Avengers prior to their
conflict with the Triunes, and he worked well with the group when they
teamed up against Moses Magnum. Also, if Triathlon did somehow join the
Avengers, the recruitment of a black Triune believer would probably help
deflect accusations of religious intolerance and racism aimed at the
Avengers.
PAGE NINE
While the Avengers themselves have never set racial quotas for their
membership, the government did force them to conform to an equal
opportunity racial quota in AVENGERS [v1] # 181, when the Falcon's
membership was imposed on the team. This particular period of government
interference was suspended in AVENGERS [v1] # 190-191 when a Senate hearing
concluded that the federal authorites should restrict their interference in
Avengers affairs to a minimum. Shortly afterward, the Falcon--who had been
uncomfortable with the circumstances of his recruitment--resigned in
AVENGERS [v1] # 194.
Interestingly, Rage is the only black former Avenger not mentioned as a
potential recruit in this scene--probably because he's still too young to
serve as an active member, but it's also true that he has the least
distinguished service record among the various black Avengers. Which is
ironic, since Rage is the one black Avenger to date who regarded himself
and conducted himself as a vocal black activist during his time with the
team.
PAGE TEN
WALT KELLY (1913-1973) was an artist and storyteller best known for his
creation and ongoing execution of the long-running syndicated newspaper
comic strip POGO. After jobs with the Bridgeport POST and Walt Disney
Studios (where he animated portions of FANTASIA and DUMBO), Kelly began
working for the Dell comic book company, drawing stories for publications
such as ANIMAL COMICS and OUR GANG. Beginning with ANIMAL COMICS # 1, Kelly
drew a series of stories in 1942-1947 ANIMAL COMICS about the
anthropomorphic inhabitants of a swamp, and their various comic
interactions and misadventures. The initial central characters were the
comic villain Albert Alligator and a human child, Bumbazine. Over time,
Albert became much more benign and Bumbazine became much less prominent, to
the point where he was eventually phased out of the feature altogether.
Taking his place as a lead character was supporting character Pogo Possum,
who had small roles in the stories at first but became more prominent over
time. When Kelly became art editor for the New York STAR in 1949, he
revived his swamp tales as an ongoing POGO comic strip. When the STAR
folded, POGO was picked up by the New York POST and its Post-Hall
Syndicate, then by Field Enterprises. The gentle but cleverly satirical
POGO strip became a huge success in newspaper syndication, and was also
collected into a series of popular compilation books. Kelly continued to
produce POGO until his death in 1973. During the strip's run, Kelly also
produced sixteen issues of a POGO POSSUM comic book (1949-1954).
PAGE TWELVE
Sky-Skimmers appear to have replaced Sky Cycles as the Avengers' small
personal aircraft of choice (the first such vehicle in use by the Avengers
being the Stark-designed jet scooters, first seen in AVENGERS [v1] # 30).
Interestingly, Sky-Skimmer was the name given to the Justice Society of
America's specialized aircraft in the 1970s run of ALL-STAR COMICS.
PAGE THIRTEEN
The affection, respect and concern that Simon has shown for Vison in the
current AVENGERS series remains somewhat surprising and puzzling. The two
men did have an affectionate relationship years ago as of VISION & SCARLET
WITCH [v2] # 2, when the realization that they shared different versions of
the same mind made them see each other as brothers, even twins; but when
Vision was dismantled, mind-wiped and reduced to an emotionless humanoid
machine in WEST COAST AVENGERS [v2] # 42-45, Simon revealed that he'd
always secretly resented the use of his brain patterns in Vision's
programming and felt violated by the invasion and duplication of his mind
(Vision was created while Simon was in a death-like coma that lasted for
years). Because of this, and because Simon was secretly in love with
Vision's wife Scarlet Witch, Simon initially refused to assist in efforts
to restore the Vision's mind after his dismantling. Simon only broke down
and agreed to help months later in AVENGERS WEST COAST # 53 when Scarlet
Witch had become so emotionally distraught that she lapsed into a catatonic
state; ironically, though, Vision himself explained that Simon's brain
patterns could not truly repair the damage done to his mind, so Simon's
belated offer of assistance was refused.
In the years that followed, Wonder Man generally regarded the more
"robotic", seemingly emotionless Vision with varying degrees of scorn,
indifference, resentment and outright contempt, though he occasionally
expressed regrets about the seeming demise of Vision's original Simon-based
personality. Regardless, they have not been close or remotely friendly for
years, so Simon's affectionate attitude toward Vision in the current series
has seemed odd--especially since Simon wasn't aware, at first, of Vision
having recently regained his original personality and his full capacity for
human-like emotion. Simon has since become aware of the restoration of
Vision's mind, though, which probably strengthens any brotherly bond he
feels with his estranged twin. As well, Wonder Man's latest return from the
dead and Vision's own near-fatal injuries (suffered at the hands of Morgan
Le Fay in issue 3) may have encouraged Simon to mend fences while he still
can, since they're both alive and well and together again for the first
time in some time.
PAGE FOURTEEN
Simon explicitly states what's been implied since AVENGERS [v3] # 8, that
he's sleeping with Wanda; however, while Vision may not be ecstatic about
this, Simon's relationship with Wanda is apparently not the worst of
Vision's worries. More specifically, Vision has come to feel that Simon's
very existence makes a mockery of his own existence since Vision's mind was
created from a duplication of Simon's brain patterns. In effect, Simon's
return from the dead makes Vision feel like a mere copy of another person,
a superfluous imitation. Vision went through these feelings of inadequacy
once before, circa AVENGERS [v1] # 151-160, when Wonder Man returned from
the dead for the first time; however, Vision ultimately concluded (in
AVENGERS [v1] # 160) that he was a unique person distinct from Simon
Williams, and seemed to be at peace with Simon's existence for years
thereafter. Why Vision's long-dormant feelings of inadequacy have recently
resurfaced is unclear at first but is made clear later in this exchange,
when Vision explains that Simon's romance with Wanda seemed to rob Vision
of the last thing in his life that was uniquely his own, even if Vision's
romance with her was already long over. Everything Vision feels and thinks
and loves, even the greatest love of his life--in Vision's eyes, it all
seems like hollow echoes of Simon.
PAGE FIFTEEN
In panel one, we see Phineas Horton reluctantly reconstructing the original
Human Torch under the supervision of Ultron-5. In panel 2, we see Ultron-5
copying Wonder Man's brain patterns into the mind of the Vision (the image
above Vision's head is that of Wonder Man in his original costume). In
panels three through five, we see Vision enjoying jazz, chess and satire.
The chess scene shows Vision playing with his former brother-in-law Pietro
Maximoff, alias Quicksilver.
The original HUMAN TORCH (now known as James Hammond) was an android
created by Phineas Horton in 1939, but marred by a bizarre flaw that caused
his body to burst into flame on contact with air. Escaping confinement and
honing his power into a mental mastery of heat and flame, the Torch became
a policeman and a costumed adventurer, using his power for good in the
1940s and 1950s until he disappeared and was presumed dead. In recent
years, beginning with AVENGERS [v1] # 133-135, the Vision was revealed to
be a reconstructed Human Torch. This information came from the Avengers'
mysterious longtime adversary and occasional ally, Immortus. Later, during
John Byrne's Avengers run (including WEST COAST AVENGERS [v2] # 42-46 &
AVENGERS WEST COAST # 47-57), Immortus led the Avengers to believe that
Vision's Human Torch origins were a hoax, and this revised version of
Vision's history was seemingly proven when the Torch was unearthed and
reactivated, having been placed in suspended animation by the criminal Mad
Thinker years earlier. Doctor Pym theorized that the structurally similar
Vision and Torch were two different constructs who had been built using the
same parts and equipment, that Ultron had simply pilfered Horton's spare
parts and surviving equipment to create the Vision.
More recently, the Avengers learned that Vision was indeed a reconstructed
Human Torch, and that Immortus had made this possible by creating an
identical temporal duplicate of the Torch that was rebuilt into Vision by
Ultron while the remaining Torch was buried by the Mad Thinker for the
Avengers to find years later. Immortus had duplicated the Torch and
manipulated the Avengers for the sake of his long-term plots against
Avengers member Scarlet Witch. Immortus was determined to prevent Scarlet
Witch from bearing children since her offspring were destined to be
immensely powerful, so he revealed the Vision's Torch origins to give
Vision a sense of personal history and humanity that in turn gave him the
confidence to propose marriage to the Scarlet Witch, forming a union that
Immortus assumed would leave the Witch childless; but when the Scarlet
Witch used her magic to help herself and the Vision conceive twin children,
Immortus went back in time to create the duplicate Torch and then allowed
the Avengers to discover this second Torch's existence, revealing that
Vision's Torch origins were seemingly a lie. This revelation was part of a
larger scheme by Immortus to dissolve the Vision-Witch union and weaken the
Witch's mystical-emotional bond with her children, a scheme that ultimately
succeeded in destroying the Scarlet Witch's children. Immortus's schemes
regarding the Vision's origins were recently revisited and finally fully
explained in AVENGERS FOREVER # 8.
The Avengers invited the revived Human Torch to join their team, and he
gratefully accepted in AWC # 50; however, he served for only a short time
before taking a personal leave of absence (as of AWC # 65), during which
time he lost his powers in NAMOR THE SUB-MARINER # 12. He has since retired
from adventuring (though he maintained his reserve Avengers membership for
a time even after his depowering, last serving with the group in AWC # 83).
For a time, he accepted an executive position within Namor’s Oracle
Incorporated company, in which capacity he managed the Heroes for Hire
super-team funded by Oracle. When the unscrupulous Stark-Fujikawa
corporation bought Oracle and began restructuring Heroes for Hire, Hammond
resigned. Hammond's fire power has regenerated to a limited extent,
allowing him to generate and manipulate small quantities of flame, but he
can no longer use his full powers without risking physical collapse.
The mutant speedster QUICKSILVER (Pietro Maximoff) is a longtime Avengers
member who joined alongside his sister, the Scarlet Witch, in AVENGERS [v1]
# 16. He is curently an inactive member of the group, and last worked with
them in AVENGERS [v3] # 7 when he fought the Kree Lunatic Legion alongside
them. He is currently serving in the political cabinet of Genosha, the
mutant-dominated island nation recently taken over by his infamous mutant
terrorist father, Magneto. Pietro hopes he will be able to influence
Magneto's rule in a positive way, but Magneto's goal is to either make his
son as ruthless as himself or destroy him. How their conflict will play out
remains to be seen. In this miscolored picture, Quicksilver's gloves are
green, his shirt is light blue and its lightning bolt pattern is light
blue. If this is meant to be the original version of Quicksilver's classic
outfit, his gloves should be light green, his shirt should be a darker
green, and the lightning bolt pattern should be white. If this is meant to
be the second version of Quicksilver's classic outfit, his gloves should be
white, his shirt should be a light blue, and the lightning bolt pattern
should be white.
PAGE SIXTEEN
Panel two is a flashback to Vision & Scarlet Witch honeymooning on the
beaches of Rurutu. When Vision and Scarlet Witch first married in
GIANT-SIZE AVENGERS # 4, they honeymooned on the Polynesian island of
Rurutu for months, as seen in AVENGERS [v1] # 137-139. Panel 3 is a
flashback to Wanda arriving too late in her attempt to rescue Vision from
the international coalition of intelligence agencies who abducted and
deconstructed him, finding his dismantled body instead (in WEST COAST
AVENGERS [v2] # 45). Panel 4 is a flashback to the disappearance of Vision
& Wanda's children in AVENGERS WEST COAST # 51. Wanda's flesh tones from
the neck down should be pink in panels 3 & 4 since she wore a pink body
stocking under her costume at this time. Vision became pale-skinned and
adopted a white, spectral costume in WEST COAST AVENGERS [v2] # 45 after
his dismantling and reconstruction. He returned to a reasonable facsimile
of his original appearance in AVENGERS [v1] # 360-363 when his brain was
transferred into the body of a Vision from an alternate reality.
Vision & Scarlet Witch first met in AVENGERS [v1] # 76 and married in
GIANT-SIZE AVENGERS # 4. They were a happy, loving couple for years until
an apparently Immortus-directed government conspiracy resulted in the
dismantling of the Vision and the seeming erasure of his original
personality (WEST COAST AVENGERS [v2] # 42-45). This effectively ended
their marriage since Vision was now an emotionless machine, though a
devastated Scarlet Witch didn't fully accept this until AVENGERS WEST COAST
# 91. Later, Vision regained a semblance of his original personality in the
VISION limited series and began courting Wanda anew as of AVENGERS: THE
CROSSING # 1, but she was reluctant to become involved with him again and
rejected his overtures. Later, once Vision's original personality had
completely returned (circa AVENGERS [v3] # 1), Wanda began to express
interest in him again (as of AVENGERS [v3] # 4) but he rebuffed her
attentions, pretending that he was still emotionless, since he now believed
Wanda would be better off without him. Shortly thereafter, Wonder Man began
a romance with the Scarlet Witch (as of AVENGERS [v3] # 8), a romance that
became an ongoing relationship in AVENGERS [v3] # 11 when Wonder Man fully
returned to the realm of the living. Wanda eventually learned of Vision's
actual state of mind and his true feelings (she forced him to admit it in
AVENGERS [v3] # 12), but she has continued her love affair with Wonder Man
regardless.
As Vision says, his romance with Wanda was fraught with tragedy, including
the demise of their mystically conceived children (in AVENGERS WEST COAST #
51-52), his own disassembly & reconstruction into an altered form (WEST
COAST AVENGERS [v2] # 42-45), and the emotionless, robotic state this
reconstruction left the Vision in for years thereafter, bringing their
marriage to an end. This caused Wanda no end of anguish for a long time,
even provoking a complete mental breakdown in AWC # 53-62, so it's no
wonder Vision can't bear to hurt Wanda any further now that he has feelings
again. When Wanda tried to reach out to him in AVENGERS [v3] # 4 just after
his lower body had been blown off and he was beginning the long
reconstruction process, he apparently couldn't bear to put her through any
further anxiety and encouraged her to leave him, which she did.
PAGE SEVENTEEN
Panel one depicts the closing moments of AVENGERS [v3] # 11, when Simon
(newly back from the dead) and Wanda settle down in front of a fire after
finally beginning their romance in earnest, while Vision watches bitterly.
As various readers and characters have said (most notably Ultron in the
previous issue), Vision and Simon are similar but unique beings. They
started out with the same basic mental material (which means they have
similar personality traits, tastes and values), but their vastly different
life experiences have led them to evolve into two completely different
people. Ultron even scientifically confirmed it in issue 22, when his
recent recordings of Vision's & Wonder Man's brain patterns proved to be
significantly different from each other.
PAGE EIGHTEEN
Simon has said before that he regards the Vision as a better version of
himself (notably in VISION & SCARLET WITCH [v2] # 2), but this is the first
time he's explicitly told Vision how and why he envies him. Simon envies
Vision because they may have similar minds, but they don't have similar
memories--and Simon's memories are tainted by what he himself describes as
a lifetime of "shame and failure." Simon has often suffered from feelings of
guilt and low self esteem, expressed most recently in issue 14 of the
current AVENGERS series, but this issue represents perhaps the most
detailed and most passionate examination of Simon's life and the sources of
his self-loathing, and his most complete confession of his various mistakes
and misdeeds.
The way Vision and Simon feel about each other has only been addressed in
this sort of detail once before, in the Steve Englehart story running
through WEST COAST AVENGERS [v2] # 1-2 and VISION & SCARLET WITCH [v2] # 1-2.
In WCA [v2] # 1 and V&SW [v2] # 1, The Grim Reaper and his allies abduct
Wonder Man and Hank Pym, and try unsuccessfully to abduct the Vision. In
WCA [v2] # 2, the Avengers (including the Vision) visit Martha Williams in
search of background information on her sons, Simon and Eric, as part of
their search for Simon. Martha tells them how Simon was always a quiet,
studious boy while Eric was adventurous and athletic, and that both boys
had to cope with a demanding and abusive father, the late Sanford Williams,
who never seemed satisfied with anything his children did. Perhaps, she
speculates, Sanford's attitude was what turned Eric bad. Regardless, Eric
became involved in petty crime as a youth and tried to pressure Simon into
joining him, but Simon just sank more of his time and his self esteem into
his studies. That approach seemed to pay off at first when Simon took over
the family business, but soon Williams Innovations was being outperformed
by rival company Stark Industries, and the Williams firm was in trouble.
Simon's equation of his brains with his self esteem began to work against
him, then, and he blamed himself for the company's failure. Desperate, he
turned to Eric--who had joined the Maggia crime family--and Eric used
strongarm tactics on prospective customers to try to boost Williams
business. It didn't work, though, and the company failed anyway. Simon was
arrested for embezzling from the company shortly thereafter, but Martha
tells the Avengers that Eric was the one who actually stole the money,
leaving Simon to take the blame. Eric returned to his Maggia work in Las
Vegas, while Simon went to court and fell into the circumstances that made
him Wonder Man. In closing, Martha tells the Avengers she won't blame the
Avengers for whatever happens when they find Eric and Simon. "I'm an OLD
WOMAN now," she says, "and my ONE PRAYER is that you put an END to this
insane vendetta--and give me back--my SONS--!" At this, the Vision rises to
his feet, reaches out to Martha and tentatively speaks...
Vision:
"M-mother--!"
Martha:
"But you're--the one they call the VISION--! An ARTIFICIAL MAN...!"
Vision:
"Yes, ARTIFICIAL--but a MAN nonetheless! My arms, my legs--these
are SYNTHETIC--but my MIND is VERY REAL! And my mind was derived from
SIMON'S!"
Martha:
"What? What did you--??"
Vision:
"I--I'm sorry, I didn't mean to--I--Mother, I am a part of your SON!"
Martha [crying]:
"You--you have Simon's mind--?"
Vision:
"I am what HE would be, if he had been transformed into a
SYNTHEZOID, instead of a--WONDER MAN! I am not HE--I will never BE he--but
I LOVE YOU, Mother! FORGIVE me!" [They embrace.]
Martha:
"FORGIVE you--! Oh, Vision! You're giving me back the gentle boy I
thought I'd lost FOREVER...!"
Later, in V&SW [v2] # 2, Vision, Wanda, Hank Pym and the western Avengers
(including Wonder Man) have been captured by the Grim Reaper and his
cronies. The Reaper reacts angrily to Vision calling him Eric, and Vision
responds:
Vision:
"I've just met our MOTHER--MARTHA WILLIAMS! I've just, for the
first time, found a HUMAN parent, to go with my ROBOTIC one--I am NOT Simon Williams, no--nor do I NEED to be! I'm The VISION, that's ENOUGH! But I'm related to YOU, Eric!"
And this sets Simon a-pondering...
Wonder Man [thinking to himself]:
"The Vision--with Mom? I never thought--! Mom's MY mom--SIMON WILLIAMS' mom! And I'M Simon Williams, whatever Eric says! But--so is HE--sort of! I'm Simon MUTATED, and he is Simon
TRANSPLANTED! --and HE'S not afraid of DEATH--! Because he's a SYNTHEZOID? No--you can hear it when he talks about MOM! He's HUMAN inside! Simon IS in there! I am in there--! And I KNOW it! I always HAVE known it! We're MORE than brothers--we're TWINS! But I didn't want to SEE it! I thought of him as LIMITED--an inferior MECHANICAL REPLICA of a real man! I saw his RESERVE, his metallic VOICE, his pinpoint EYES, and said 'I'M not in there! Not REALLY! That's just a SIMULATION!' But I'M the inferior one..."
Later, Wonder Man is released to face his fate and tells Vision he's glad
he met their mother. Then Simon and a newly arrived Mockingbird join forces
to free the others, soon sending most of the villains into retreat. Simon
and Vision insist on going off together to pursue the fleeing Reaper, and
Vision says this is something he has to do with his brother. Later, during
their pursuit of the Reaper, Vision says to Simon, "I know what it MEANS
for us to be BROTHERS, now," and they embrace. When they finally catch up to the Reaper and confront him, Simon confesses that he was the one who embezzled from Williams Innovations years ago, not Eric, and that Simon was never the saint Eric or anyone else made him out to be. Eric tries to
insist that Simon was blameless and perfect, but Simon responds with this
speech...
Wonder Man:
"NO! All my LIFE, people told me how GOOD I was--especially
compared to YOU--but I wasn't GOOD ENOUGH in the END! I wasn't good enough to keep the COMPANY alive! I wasn't good enough to turn ZEMO down! And I wasn't good enough not to STEAL! The only GOOD thing I ever DID--because I chose it over EVIL--was to DIE for the AVENGERS! But when I CAME BACK and tried to tell people how strange--how WRONG--I felt to be cast as a hero, they just patted me on the back and SMILED! 'You're GOOD,' they said! 'You're SMART! You're STRONG! You're HANDSOME! And you're an AVENGER! So you'll work it OUT!' But that was because I never told them the TRUTH--that I was GUILTY! They all thought YOU stole the money, even if the official verdict was OTHERWISE--so after a while, even I stopped thinking about THAT part! I started looking NOT at my disease, but at the SYMPTOMS--like the fear that RETRIBUTION might be coming for me out of the DARK! And my guilt just FESTERED, POISONING me--until TONIGHT! Until I finally saw The VISION clearly and saw what Simon Williams MIGHT HAVE BEEN if he hadn't known what he'd done before he became Wonder Man and died! Until I saw--my BETTER TWIN! So now I can CLEANSE myself--now I MUST cleanse myself! Now I can try to CHANGE! But--nobody knows what really happened--except--my BROTHER and me! If you REALLY KNOW!"
After Simon's outpouring of emotion, the Reaper breaks down. Eric finally
realizes and admits that Simon wasn't perfect, that Wonder Man is Simon,
and that Vision is their brother of sorts. Unable to cope with what he's
done and how he almost destroyed his brothers, the Reaper flees in shame
and falls from a ledge to his death.
Beginning with WEST COAST AVENGERS [v2] # 2, Simon's father Sanford
Williams has been consistently portrayed as a harsh, demanding parent whose
children could never satisfy him no matter what they did.
PAGE NINETEEN
Simon was arrested for embezzlement and transformed into Wonder Man in
AVENGERS [v1] # 9. As he says, though, he escaped punishment (from a legal perspective anyway) for both his embezzlement and his collaboration with Zemo's Masters of Evil. When Simon seemingly died saving the Avengers from Zemo only to revive years later, he was forgiven for his misdeeds. Simon's criminal brother Eric was assumed to be the real embezzler, and no one ever tried to prosecute Simon for either the embezzlement of his part in Zemo's plot to destroy the Avengers. Panel one depicts Simon wearing his original Wonder Man costume for the first time while Baron Heinrich Zemo, Enchantress and Executioner look on.
Zemo, Enchantress and Executioner were then the only members of the
original MASTERS OF EVIL who remained at large after the Masters' first two defeats at the hands of the Avengers. The Masters formed in AVENGERS [v1] # 6 with Zemo as leader and Black Knight [II], Melter & Radioactive Man as his first recruits. They were defeated by the Avengers, and all but Zemo were captured. Shortly afterward, in AVENGERS [v1] # 7, Enchantress and Executioner replaced the captured Masters as Zemo's new allies, but the group was defeated again. The trio of Masters fought the Avengers twice more, taking a powerful ally each time (Wonder Man in AVENGERS [v1] # 9 and Immortus in AVENGERS [v1] # 10), but they were defeated each time. Finally, in AVENGERS [v1] # 15-16, all of the Masters except Radioactive Man regrouped and attacked the Avengers one last time. Zemo was killed, Black Knight and Melter were captured, and Enchantress & Executioner fled. The original Masters disbanded as of that defeat, though several subsequent versions of the Masters of Evil have emerged over the years. The only suriving members of the original Masters are Radioactive Man and Enchantress. Black Knight, Melter and Executioner all died later in
unrelated incidents.
BARON HEINRICH ZEMO was a brilliant scientist and infamous World War II
Nazi war criminal who became the sworn enemy of Captain America, the man Zemo blamed for the accident that fused Zemo's hood to his face with his own super-strong Adhesive X. Zemo had his revenge when he engineered an accident that seemingly killed Captain America and his partner Bucky during the final days of World War II, but the Captain turned up alive decades later after spending years in a state of suspended animation. When Captain America joined the Avengers, Zemo founded the Masters of Evil to destroy them (in AVENGERS [v1] # 6) and battled the Avengers repeatedly. He died in battle with Captain America in AVENGERS [v1] # 15. His Avengers appearances include AVENGERS [v1] # 6-7, 9-10, 15 & 56; he appeared as an undead member of the Legion of the Unliving in AVENGERS [v1] # 131-132, GIANT-SIZE AVENGERS # 3 and AVENGERS [v1] # 353-354. He first appeared in a shadowy cameo in AVENGERS [v1] # 4 and made his first full appearance in AVENGERS [v1] # 6.
The ENCHANTRESS (Amora) is an Asgardian goddess who pursues her lusts for
power and pleasure through her great sorcerous skills and her seductive
physical beauty. A recurring adversary and sometime ally of Thor, Amora
first appeared in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY # 103. She has battled the Avengers
many times, usually in tandem with male partners and pawns such as her late
longtime accomplice, the Executioner. The Enchantress and the Executioner
were members of the original Masters of Evil. Amora's Avengers appearances
include AVENGERS [v1] # 7, 9-10, 15-16, 21-22 & 38; AVENGERS ANNUAL # 1;
and AVENGERS [v1] # 83-84 & 100. Enchantress is depicted in her original
costuming here.
The EXECUTIONER (Skurge) is an Asgardian warrior god whose infatuation with
the scheming Enchantress led him into recurring conflict with Thor and
other heroes. Later, Skurge and the Enchantress battled the Avengers as
members of the original Masters of Evil, and remained enemies of the
Avengers after the Masters broke up. Skurge first appeared in JOURNEY INTO
MYSTERY # 103. His Avengers appearances include AVENGERS [v1] # 7, 9-10 &
15-16; AVENGERS ANNUAL # 1; and AVENGERS [v1] # 83 (in flashback). He also
appeared in AVENGERS ANNUAL # 16 as an undead member of the Legion of the
Unliving, having died heroically in THOR [v1] # 362 when he helped Thor and
Balder liberate a group of stolen mortal spirits from the realm of the
Asgardian death goddess Hela.
In panel 2, we see two versions of the Grim Reaper: the Reaper in his
original costume (background) and the Reaper as demonic monster
(foreground). The former comes from AVENGERS [v1] # 52, while the latter
comes from AVENGERS [v1] # 352-354. Eric became the Grim Reaper to avenge
Simon's death (for which Eric blamed the Avengers) in AVENGERS [v1] # 52,
using high-tech weaponry in attacks on the Avengers. Eric's many
misadventures as the Grim Reaper ultimately led to his accidental death (in
VISION & SCARLET WITCH [v2] # 2), but he returned in a variety of monstrous
forms: first as a zombie (VISION & SCARLET WITCH [v2] # 12), then as a
life-siphoning undead serial killer (AVENGERS WEST COAST # 65-68), and
finally as a demonic mystic (AVENGERS [v1] # 352-354 & AVENGERS [v3] #
10-11). Most recently, he was resurrected and restored to a normal human
existence in AVENGERS [v3] # 11 through the magic of the Scarlet Witch and
the love of his brother Simon.
Wonder Man seemingly died in his first appearance (AVENGERS [v1] # 9) when
he infiltrated the Avengers on behalf of the Masters of Evil but turned on
the Masters to save the Avengers in the end, apparently dying in the
process. The Avengers buried him, but he was actually in a death-like coma
while the process Baron Heinrich Zemo used to give him superhuman powers
slowly mutated his body into a seemingly immortal superhumanoid form
permeated with ionic energy. Revived as a zombie pawn of the Black Talon in
AVENGERS [v1] # 151-152, Simon was soon restored to full consciousness by
the Living Laser and, having nowhere else to go, began fighting alongside
the Avengers as the reborn Wonder Man (as of AVENGERS ANNUAL # 6). Simon
was affiliated with the Avengers in an unofficial capacity for a long time,
and was not officially accredited as a member until AVENGERS [v1] #
181--though at the time, he was forced off the active roster and into the
team's reserves. Later, in AVENGERS [v1] # 194, he became a full active
member of the group to replace the departing Falcon, but resigned during a
roster reshuffling in AVENGERS [v1] # 211 to pursue non-superheroic career
options such as acting.
He rejoined the team as a founding member of its new western roster in
WEST COAST AVENGERS [v1] # 1-4, and was one of the longest-serving members
of the team's western division thereafter. He quit for personal reasons
during a period of mental and physical instability circa AVENGERS WEST
COAST [v1] # 92, and by the time he returned in AVENGERS WEST COAST # 102,
the team's western division had been shut down during an operational
dispute between the team's eastern and western members. Annoyed at this
turn of events, Simon joined several other disgruntled western Avengers in
forming a rival superteam known as Force Works, but Simon seemingly died
during their first mission in FORCE WORKS # 1 when he was blown to atoms
during a space battle with the alien Kree and Scater.
In panel 3, we see many of the heroes who were associated with the Avengers
during Simon's first long-term affiliation with the team: Iron Man,
Jocasta, Thor, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, Wonder Man himself, Beast, Captain
America, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Yellowjacket and Wasp. All these characters
have been covered extensively in past editions of the EMA annotations, some
of them several times. Most of the characters are wearing the original or
"classic" versions of their various costumes. Jocasta appears in her
original robotic form. Ms. Marvel appears in her second costume, a modified
version of which she now wears as Warbird. Wonder Man sports the
jacket-and-sunglasses look that he adopted as of AVENGERS [v1] # 167 and
abandoned as of WEST COAST AVENGERS [v2] # 1. Again, Scarlet Witch's flesh
tones should be pink from the neck down since she wore a pink body stocking
under her costume at this time.
Panel 4 depicts Wonder Man (in the costuming he adopted as of WCA [v2] # 1
and discarded as of WCA [v2] # 12) making a public confession of his
embezzlement to Johnny Carson on THE TONIGHT SHOW in WCA [v2] # 4. As Simon
says, he was forgiven yet again--the general public, like Carson, praised
Simon for his honesty and courage, and the resultant publicity boosted both
his budding movie career and his established Avengers stardom. Seemingly
unable to cope with the adulation and attention, Simon gradually became
arrogant and smug in subsequent issues of WCA.
PAGE TWENTY
Panel one is a scene from WEST COAST AVENGERS [v2] # 22, with the Avengers
(including Iron Man and Wonder Man) battling the robot minions of Rama-Tut
during a time travel trip to ancient Egypt. As this scene from the "Lost in
Space-Time" storyline indicates, the increasingly arrogant Wonder Man had
come to regard Iron Man as an inferior rival claimant to the role of team
powerhouse, and there was a great deal of tension between the two
teammates. This was actually one of the more minor instances of Simon's bad
attitude in "Lost in Space-Time" (WCA [v1] # 17-23 with epilogues in 24 &
25): other, more troubling incidents from that story included Wonder Man
accidentally inflicting near-fatal injuries on Hawkeye while showing off
his strength during a battle (in WCA [v2] # 19) and tackily lobbying to
usurp the dying Hawkeye's leadership role thereafter (in WCA [v2] # 20).
Also, as Simon says, he repeatedly belittled others and boasted of his own
prowess during this period.
There are several colouring errors in this scene. Iron Man's armor should
be red and silver instead of red and gold, since this scene comes from the
period during which he was wearing his red & silver armor (WCA [v2] #
1-31). Wonder Man's hair should be black, since he began dying his hair
black in WCA [v2] # 12 to conceal his prematurely gray hair and make
himself look younger. He kept dying it black until his most recent return
from the dead. The diamond formed on Simon's chest by his costume's "W"
patterns should be yellow. Simon adopted this infamous "Christmas Tree"
costume in WCA [v2] # 12 and discarded it in WCA [v2] # 25 due to negative
public feedback (both from real-life readers and the fictional public of
the Marvel Universe).
Panel two is a scene from WCA [v2] # 45, when Wanda reacted angrily to
Simon's refusal to allow a a second duplication of his brain patterns
required for the Vision's reprogramming after his dismantling. At the time,
Simon said he'd always resented the unwanted duplication of his mind within
the Vision--and as he revealed in a subsequent conversation with the Wasp
(AVENGERS WEST COAST # 47), he was also reluctant to help restore Vision
since he was secretly in love with Wanda and wanted her for himself. Simon
did not relent and agree to assist in Vision's restoration until the
traumatized Wanda suffered a mental breakdown months later in AWC # 53.
The costume Simon wears in this scene was adopted in WCA [v2] # 25 and
worn for the rest of his western Avengers membership stint (he discarded it
in favour of a new suit in WONDER MAN [v2] # 25). Again, Simon's hair
should be black in this scene.
Panel three is a reference to events already discussed in AVENGERS [v3] #
14, how a mentally and physically unstable Simon became murderously violent
after his exposure to the detonating Nega-Bomb during the "Galactic Storm"
storyline (chronicled in CAPTAIN AMERICA [v1] # 398-400, AVENGERS WEST
COAST # 80-82, QUASAR # 32-34, WONDER MAN [v2] # 7-9, AVENGERS [v1] #
345-347, IRON MAN [v1] 278-279 and THOR [v1] # 445-446).
Panel four is a flashback to the conclusion of FORCE WORKS # 1, when Simon
seemingly died a second time--blown to atoms during a battle with the alien
forces of the Kree and the Scatter; however, Simon's then-unrequited love
for the Scarlet Witch served as a psychic anchor of sorts that kept him
from fully surrendering to death even though he was a disembodied
consciousness, and he hovered between life and death as bodiless energy for
months. When Scarlet Witch cast a super-powerful spell meant to summon
anyone connected with the Avengers to help her overthrow the alternate
reality kingdom established by Morgan Le Fay, Wonder Man tapped into that
mystical summons and reformed as an undead energy being in AVENGERS [v3] #
2. He was seemingly destroyed again in the subsequent battle with Morgan Le
Fay (AVENGERS [v3] # 3), but began to periodically reappear in Wanda's
vicinity through his emotional link to her (AVENGERS [v3] # 4-9). When
Wanda finally returned Simon's feelings of love during their battle with
Simon's mad brother the Grim Reaper, Simon was mystically restored to full
physical life once more (AVENGERS [v3] # 10-11). Simon and Wanda have been
lovers since then, but Simon remains tormented and uneasy--partly due to
the fact that he's romancing the former wife of his erstwhile twin, and
partly because he still doesn't feel like he's truly redeemed himself for
all his past misdeeds.
Simon's assertion that Vision got to be "the boy I was before I went wrong"
sounds oddly similar to something Simon's mother Martha said about Vision
after she first met him--that he was giving her back the "gentle boy" she
thought she'd "lost forever" (WCA [v2] # 2). Both statements seem to
represent Vision as a less corrupted or at least less tormented version of
Simon, a stronger and more innocent Simon.
PAGE TWENTY-ONE
Again, the affection, respect and concern that Simon has shown for Vison in
the current AVENGERS series remains somewhat surprising and puzzling; but
however it came about, this feeling seems to be both genuine and strong.
Unfortunately, Vision's departure makes Simon regard their current
relationship as simply the latest of his many failures.
PAGE TWENTY-TWO
Millennia ago, there was a gathering of eight great mystic entities:
Balthakk, Cyttorak, Farallah, Ikonn, Krakkan, Raggadorr, Valtorr & Watoomb.
The mystic entities argued about which of them was the most powerful, and
concocted an elaborate scheme to settle the dispute, a bargain known as the
Wager of the Octessence. Each entity created a totem infused with a
fraction of the entity's power, and the first human who touched each totem
would be transformed into an "exemplar"...a living embodiment of the entity
who empowered the totem, imbued with tremendous superhuman powers. Each
entity arranged for the construction of a temple on Earth to house its
totem. After a human discovered one of the totems and was transformed into
an Exemplar, a spell would compel other humans to seek out the seven
remaining totems and use them to become Exemplars. Once all eight Exemplars
were empowered, they would enslave the minds of humanity and divide Earth's
population among themselves, forming eight armies that would battle each
other until nothing on Earth survived except for whichever Exemplar emerged
victorious. The first of these Examplars was Cain Marko, who discovered the
temple of Cyttorak and became the Exemplar of Cyttorak, using his
tremendous power to become a supre-criminal known as The Juggernaut.
Juggernaut first appeared in X-MEN [v1] # 12. The other Exemplars emerged
only recently, years after Juggernaut's debut, in the "Eighth Day"
crossover storyline running through IRON MAN [v3] # 21-22, THOR [v2] # 17
and PETER PARKER: SPIDER-MAN # 11 as well as THE EIGHTH DAY itself. The
Exemplars' attempts to fulfill their prophesied destiny were thwarted by
Thor, Iron Man, Spider-Man and the one rogue Exemplar, Juggernaut. The
other Exemplars include Bedlam, Carnivore, Conquest, Decay, Inferno,
Stonecutter and Tempest. Carnivore, Conquest, Decay and Stonecutter appear
here.