Recently in The Vision Category

Last Sunday, I wrote about the amazing Silver Surfer #1 poster from Asgard Press.  Asgard Press also makes the perfect gift for any classic Marvel fan, their Vintage Marvel Comics 2010 Calendar.  I must confess that I was given this as a gift by someone at the company, but that doesn’t sway my recommendation at all.  I had been eyeing this calendar for weeks at Flying Colors Comics (in Concord, CA, my favorite LCS close to home).  Please note that all images shown here and in my previous post are scans taken from other sources than the actual calendar.

The calendar (around $19) features 16 Giant-Sized Marvel covers ready for framing at an 11"x14" size.  Even if you don’t need a calendar or buy this mid-year, it’s a great gift.  Asgard Press has designed this calendar so that you can separate the cover image from the calendar through perforations on the top or bottom, and it’s in perfect condition (no holes from thumb-tacks or nails). 

The inside front cover features Steve Ditko’s cover to Amazing Spider-Man #33—one of the defining moments in Peter Parker’s life, with the hero pinned under a giant piece of machinery.  The Ditko cover isn’t displayed on the back or even on Asgard’s website, and it’s a great bonus print.

Amazing Spider-Man #68, by John Romita Sr., is also included.  The famous cover blurb Crisis on Campus! reflects the anti-war and civil rights protests in 1968.  Marvel Comics were popular among college students, and Stan Lee decided to put Spidey smack dab in the middle of current events.  This cover was previously made into a poster by Marvel a couple of years after it came out.  I had that on my wall as a kid, so I’m glad to get this again.  BTW, the paper used for these reproductions are on good, thick, sturdy paper stock.

Giant-Size Marvel readers who also share my love for The Vision will be pleased by the inclusion of Avengers #57 in the calendar.  Note that the scan above shows this cover with colors that are extremely vibrant (probably taken from a Masterworks collection).  The Asgard Press covers are reproduced in a way that mimics the feeling of the original comic book.  At any rate, I certainly plan on framing up this one in my comic-vault garage.

You can find the Vintage Marvel 2010 calendar on Asgard Press Marvel site, along with their line of Marvel posters.  On my previous Silver Surfer post, you can see the Surfer covers that are also in this calendar.  Nuff said!

Neal Adams joined Roy Thomas on the Avengers with issue #93 (1971) to kick off the Kree-Skrull War.  That story was titled This Beachhead Earth by Thomas.

Adams originally wanted the story to be titled Three Cows Shot Me Down!  As you all know, the story opens with the Vision stumbling into Avengers Mansion.  He's severely damaged after a skirmish with three cows...who happen to be Skrulls in disguise!  When the Kree-Skrull saga was collected in trade paperback, Adams was able to use his original title on this dynamic new cover.

Here are the pencils to this cover.  This was published in the Neal Adams 2007 sketchbook.  Adams commented: You have no idea how many years I have waited to put those words on this picture.

And now the inked version, which was featured in the Neal Adams 2008 sketchbook.

For more tidbits on Neal Adams Avengers (and other Marvel) work, you can read the excellent interview with him from TwoMorrows Comic Book Artist #3.  Nuff said.

One of the opening chapters to the Avengers-Defenders war started with Avengers 116, with this fantastic cover.

Silver Surfer vs the Vision, as Wanda looks on somewhat helplessly in the background--never mind that she could wipe them all out with a hex spell!  This cover is really well executed by Johnny Romita, with the silver guy nearly flying into the viewer.  Nuff said.

In Foom #12 (1975), Dave Cockrum provided this double-page look at the Vision and Scarlet Witch.

You have to picture the Vision's romance with Scarlet Witch as being the high point of Avengers soap opera.  Cockrum presents their love affair, with Ultron seeking to pull him back to the robotic side on the left, while Quicksilver (Pietro, Wanda's brother) was highly against her sister sleeping with an android.  Nuff said.

This cover to FOOM #12 (1975) featuring the Vision was a unique John Buscema drawing, inked by P. Craig Russell!

I love any cover that makes inventive use of the logo—and having the Vision intangibly glide through FOOM was simply inspired.  Russell keep Buscema’s lines intact, but you can see his style here and there.  Nuff said.

I think the Avengers comics are pretty darn great these days.  Bendis has shaken up the team with one big event after another: Disassembled, House of M, Civil War, Secret Invasion, and Dark Reign.  But there's one classic element to the Avengers team that seems lost in all of this.  And that is the Vision.

Fans who loved the 1970s era of the Avengers will know what I am talking about.  The Vision was the standard bearer of the Avengers.  He appeared front and center on many covers as well as the above pic from the 1975 Marvel Calendar.

The Vision was popular for a number of reasons.  The design of the character and his costume was out of this world.  He looked spooky and unreal--like DC Comics' Spectre--and his power to control density and transform into near-ghostly intangibility contributed to this effect.  The Vision was also a robot who struggled with emotions, as you can see on the cover to Avengers 96 by Neal Adams.

The Vision, along with the Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye, were characters who made the Avengers' stories exciting.  That was because Roy Thomas and Steve Englehart could actually change them over time--sometime they couldn't do that easily with Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man.

Sure, I know the Vision's been resurrected in Young Avengers, and he's now in Dan Slott's Mighty Avengers team.  But that version sure as heck isn't the Vision I grew up with.  I want the Vision with Simon Williams' brain patterns, the one who remembers his failed marriage to Wanda, and his entire history with the Avengers' team.  It should be a snap to bring all of this back--just find some memory backups somewhere and rebuild his android body according to original specs.

Here's the biggest flaw to me in the entire Avengers saga since Bendis took over.  The Vision was destroyed, ripped apart by She-Hulk during Disassembled, yet none of the Avengers made an effort to restore him back to life?  It doesn't compute.  The Vision saved his team-mates and the world countless times since he joined the team.  In West Coast Avengers #45--after the Vision was taken apart by the US government--Hank Pym rebuilds the Vision very quickly (ok, minus a few memory tapes).  You could say that Skrull Pym would have no incentive to rebuild the Vision after Disassembled--but why wouldn't the rest of the Avengers?

I think 2010, which brings Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man back in Siege, is the perfect time to restore the Vision back to full glory.  And maybe the Scarlet Witch as well.  Do you agree?  Nuff said.

Mighty Avengers has been recreating a number of classic covers for this series of stories during the Secret Invasion.  The cover to Mighty Avengers #14 has Marko Djurdjevic recreating one of my favorite Avengers covers of all time...

Avengers #57 cover by John Buscema, inks by George Klein.  What a dramatic way to introduce a new character!  Is he friend or foe?  The answer was not obvious, as the Vision was sent to destroy the Avengers by his creator, Ultron.  He was able to defy Ultron, which led to the Vision becoming a full fledged Avenger.  He was a unique character that was created solely to be in this team book, unlike the other Avengers, who had all been created elsewhere.  His origins and behavior were shrouded in mystery which provided a meaty subplot for the next five years worth of stories.

West Coast Avengers #45 cover by John Byrne.  Notice Byrne's signature on the lower left, giving credit not only to John Buscema, but to George Klein as well.  This is a philosophy that both John Byrne and Walt Simonson shared, giving credit back to the original artist when recreating a famous cover.  I just thought both of them were complete gentlemen for doing this.

Mighty Avengers #14 cover by Marko Djurdjevic.  It's a shame that credit was not given to Buscema on the cover or inside the credits page.  I cannot fault Djurdjevic, it seems to be a corporate policy now at Marvel.  Djurdjevic follows the original composition by Buscema very closely.  Note the position of the four figures (Black Panther, Giant-Man, Hawkeye, Wasp) are exactly the same as the original.

While I've come to really love Bendis' Avengers, I cannot forgive him for destroying the Vision back in Avengers #500.  I know he's still running around in Young Avengers, but without his memories or the Human Torch's body parts, it ain't the same.  I was really hoping the Vision who came out of the Skrull ship in Secret Invasion #1 would be the real deal.  Alas, as this cover indicates, Bendis robbed us again.  Nuff said.