It was a day comic book fans hoped would never come. Sadly, legendary artist George Perez had passed away on May 6 due to complications from pancreatic cancer. Perez's contributions to comics are immeasurable. I can't say anything about him that anyone else can, but much better. For myself, as I have said in the past, he's one of the reasons I fell in love with comics as a medium.
On this blog in the past, I have talked about how much I loved his run on Avengers with Kurt Busiek. As a tribute to Mr. Perez, I thought I'd talk a bit about how I first got exposed to his run. You see, many years ago, I went to a Barnes and Noble. I had heard of the trade paperback, and the concept of it fascinated me. A bunch of comics collected into a book form? That sounds awesome. In that visit, I picked up a trade called Avengers: Living Legends. It would be my first exposure to the Avengers in comic form, my first exposure to the Busiek/Perez-era Avengers, and a love affair with a medium began. So, let's take a look at the very first issue of their run I read: Avengers #23!
The cover is a George Perez piece, and it's pretty awesome. It depicts Wonder Man and Vision facing off with a big pink Scarlet Witch being concerned in the background. It's the real meat of the issue. We don't quite get a fight, though. You'll understand.
"Showdown"
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: George Perez
Inker: Al Vey
Colorist: Tom Smith
Letterer: Richard Starkings, Comicraft, Albert Deschesne
Editor: Tom Brevoort
The story begins with Captain America throwing his Mighty Shield, commanding the Avengers to move. So, what villain or villains are they fighting? Kang? Ultron? The Masters of Evil? The Assassin? Well, not exactly. They're training!
Being the top-tier superhero team they are, the Avengers have to stay sharp. The team (Cap, Thor, Iron Man, Black Panther, Justice, and Firestar) are training in the "Playroom". It's a special room designed to allow the team to sharpen their powers and skills. It's basically their equivalent of the X-Men's Danger Room. The group share some casual banter while they exercise. Justice, one of the newbie Avengers at the time, has got himself a bit of a plan. He slips by the other Avengers while they deal with the various traps and obstacles of the Playroom, taking advantage of the defenses being distracted to reach his goal.
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| "JUSTICE WINS! ONE-NOTHIIIIING!" |
Even better, Justice's broken leg is healing up nicely, so he can come back to active duty soon. Elsewhere in Avengers Mansion, Wanda "Scarlet Witch" Maximoff approaches the room of the Vision. She really does want to talk to him, as there had been some issues between herself, Wonder Man, and the synthezoid recently.
Captain America finds Janet "Wasp" Van Dyne and Henry "Giant Man" Pym watching some protestors out a window.
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Iron Man points out the press arrived alongside the protestors, which makes him believe this whole thing is a massive setup. Elsewhere in the Mansion, Wanda tries to get Vision to talk to her. You see, in the previous issue, Vision admitted that he still does love the hexcaster...even though she's now with Simon Williams, aka the ionic-powered superhuman called Wonder Man.
He's got a lot of frustration and issues bottled up. Simon tries to talk to him as well, and it forces Vision to admit he's frustrated with Wonder Man. You see, when the Vision was created, his mind was created with the mental engrams of Wonder Man.
It has led to the two being similar in certain ways. Both of them are fond of jazz music, chess, and Pogo. Simon doesn't see this as an issue. As he sees it, the two have things in common. But this just infuriates the synthezoid, and he treats Simon to a Mighty Punch.
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| "I WAS PROUD OF THOSE COOKIES!" |
The punch rocks the Mansion. Yeah, Simon is a powerhouse, but don't discount the Vision. His power to alter his density allows him to play muscle if he needs to as well. Vision flies off, and Simon heads off after him. Vision tries to fight him, but Simon refuses to take the bait. Vision then admits that he now feels like a sham, a fake human being. All because of Simon.
You see, the Vision is a bit of what can be described as a "patchwork man", a Frankenstein's monster. In Avengers #57 (October 1968), he was built from the body of Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch and had a mind based on the mind of Wonder Man. And naturally, since his mind was modeled on Simon's, he had some of Simon's interests.
His first real taste of individuality also came with his first taste of love. He and Wanda married and started a family. However, it would be marred by tragedy. Vision would end up disassembled by rogue agents of the federal government. The Avengers were able to rebuild him, but because he no longer had his old mind, he was now essentially an emotionless robot. Wanda's children would be revealed to be fragments of Mephisto. After all of that, Vision didn't Wanda to go through any more pain, so he severed ties with the Scarlet Witch.
But now Simon is back, and he's with Wanda now. She gets to be with the "real person" at last, not the duplicate. Simon points out that both he and Vision had changed since then. They've become very different people since then. Even Ultron had pointed that out.
Vision refuses to believe that. Simon then points out something: He envies the Vision. You see, Simon sees Vision as the man he could have been...if his life was free of the shame and failure that defined his. You see, growing up, Simon Williams tried very hard to be the son his father wanted him to be. But it seemed that no matter how well he did, it was never good enough.
As an adult, he embezzled from his company, which led to Baron Zemo. Zemo would empower Simon, and that's how he became Wonder Man. Simon's brother Eric was assumed to be the embezzler, but that was obviously not the case. It led him down the path to become the Grim Reaper. Simon died...but then returned and became an Avenger. But he was haunted by the shame he felt of his past actions. It led him to confess to the embezzlement on national TV.
This led Simon to become arrogant and selfish, even going so far as to refuse to let his mind be recorded for rebuilding Vision. He would even lose his mind for a while thanks to the Nega-Bomb from Operation: Galactic Storm. When Force Works started, Simon seemingly died again. He felt like he was finally paying for his sins. But nope. Here he is. Back again, forgiven. And he even got to have Wanda, the girl of his dreams. But he still is ashamed of his past actions. He's never been able to forgive himself.
Vision is not Simon, but Simon sees him as the man he could have been if he were stronger. Vision is amazed by this. He flies off, wanting to think on it.
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| "I...I think I need to get drunk." |
Simon flies back to the other Avengers, fearing that he may have broken Vision beyond repair. The story ends in the Himalayas. A figure blasts its way underground, where he is seen by others.
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| "Get in, loser! We're goin' Revengin'!" |
They offer him a chance to rejoin the other Exemplars. The reason? Revenge.
This was a really good comic. It doesn't have a lot of action, but that's kind of the point. This is a character study. This issue basically is a primer on the history of the Vision and Wonder Man, examining their long histories and how it has affected them as people. Stories like this are why I love continuity. You can't tell a story like this without using a character's history. I HATE when people say that continuity is not important/prevents good storytelling. Busiek shows that a character's history can be used to examine them, and make it compelling to learn. Those past stories? They mattered. It made me fascinated with their histories, and gave me a desire to read those past stories. Perez turned in some spectacular artwork. Especially in the usage of layout and faces. The layouts do a great job guiding the eye, and Perez was able to make the characters truly unique.
If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2004 trade paperback Avengers: Living Legends or the 2012 trade paperback Avengers Assemble: Vol. 2. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, and wear a mask! See you next time!
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